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Speech Delivered at the PDP YC 3rd New Members Induction Ceremony in Abuja by Lai Labode, Chairman PDP Youth Circuit
On behalf of the PDP YC Caucus, Advisory Board, NEC and Members globally, I welcome you to this historic event.
Let me start by quoting my very able and most passionate Deputy, Chief Raymond Dokpesi Jnr, at one of our PDP YC Policy Strategy sessions. He said: “If complaints could fix a country, Nigeria would be the envy of the US, China and Europe combined.”
Fellow young Nigerians, we the imperfect young men and women of the PDP Youth Circuit, in recognition of the great desires we all share for our country have conclusively decided that we shall no longer be part of those who wish to only complain about how bad things have become in our country.
A few months ago, myself and a few patriots decided that the time had finally come where we must start a new journey that will set a new tone of democratic advancement and prosperity for the Nigerian people through a political platform that is not slanted toward a regional or religious agenda.
After a very rigorous research and soul searching, we decided that the very imperfect Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) stood out from all other parties for one major reason – it is undoubtedly Nigeria’s only party with an agenda that transcends ethnicity and religion. This fitted perfectly into our vision of a united people leaving in harmony under one proud flag of a strong, caring and prosperous nation where every citizen’s happiness is the business of all citizens.
Fellow Nigerian youths, we decided to articulate our vision and clearly define our mission in our quest to create a bright new future for all our people. We worked day and night to design a practical strategy that will forever shape the destiny of our country and its people positively and permanently.
We decided to strategically move millions of youths, women and Persons Living With Disability into Africa’s largest political party with a clear vision to transform the party, transform our country and Africa at large.
The PDP YC is not a household of saints or of men and women who have never broken a traffic law or never paid a bribe. We are not a group of men and women who have never condoned a wrong action or the other at one point in our lives.
We are a group of young men and women who have decided that we can no longer think, act and do things the same ways we have done in the past if we must build a truly great nation.
Fellow young Nigerians, we can no longer afford to sit on the fence, we can no longer remain Facebook, Twitter or BB activists. The time has come to harness the full potential of our strengths, creativity and numbers to the benefit of our country and its people.
We have adopted an approach that spells a clear ideology of our great party, a clear vision that connects the best of the present to the future of our dreams. We have defined a vision that will bring out the best of the good, the bad and the ugly of our party and our people.
We firmly believe that what our country needs are strong, well structured and well managed political parties that have great ideas institutionalized in the fabrics of their existence. A political party system that translates to a truly better life and pursuit of happiness for the ordinary people. We believe in a party system that derives its legitimacy and potency from the power of its ideas, respect for the will of the people and faith in the unseen hand of a supreme being.
The PDP YC’s vision is to build the most organized political party system Africa has ever seen; a political party that firmly stands and acts only in the interest of its people. A party system that doesn’t depend on the whims of a single individual or the machinations of a few men whose dreams are at variance with the dreams of our people.
We will maintain a great level of humility in our execution and lay out a clear agenda for the development of this country. We will debate, we will engage, we will listen, we will turn a new page in the history of this country where all ethnic formations feel a sense of belonging and are part of the great story of transformation of Africa’s largest nation .
Fellow young Nigerians, while ACN, CPC and other parties ordinarily are opposition parties to many, the PDP YC sees it differently. We believe there are people in ACN, CPC and other parties who love this country as much as we do in the PDP. We will maintain a respectful and strategic relationship with other political parties and engage them with the power of our ideas and belief in our governance and leadership ideology.
The question we should begin to ask is what is the difference between PDP and other parties? The answer isn’t far fetched. There isn’t much difference. Most parties have come to depend on the individual successes of a few members. There are no clear ideological bases to build on for consistency of policy or programmes in Nigerian political parties.
What we present to you today is a PDP that is truly self-reforming, a PDP that has opened its doors to the youths in a different way as has never been witnessed before in Nigeria’s political history. The PDP is breaking new grounds to completely open its doors to its youth constituency in order to galvanise them to fully participate in the politics and leadership of their country.
Fellow young people, we do not promise a perfect PDP neither do we promise that the party can fix all its problems in a week. What we promise is a new page in Nigeria’s political history that opens up new opportunities for good governance, sustainable growth, transparency, better planning, selflessness and true love of country.
Many of you joining us today will become leaders in this country through this platform, you will become a new set of leaders groomed by the PDP YC and we will ensure you will make us proud as a party by never straying from our ideals and what we stand for.
As you take the oath of allegiance to the PDP YC and pledge your loyalty to the PDP, we ask that you prepare yourselves for great sacrifices to your country.
Our time has come. Let us embrace it with great humility, unrivaled sense of responsibility and unyielding faith in the promise of the future.
History will be kind to you all. Amen.
God bless you and God bless Nigeria!
Lai Labode, 2nd December 2012
Chairman, PDP Youth Circuit
