By Tina George, Minna
The Vice president of Mastercard, Mr Paul Tswanya has called on Christain youths in Niger state, to overcome their unconscious bias and get involved in politics.
Tswanya, in a keynote address titled, ‘Strategy and Action Focus for Desired Relevance in Our State’, at a Leadership Summit organized by the Niger Christain Youth Forum in Minna, bemoaned the lukewarm attitude of Christian youths towards politics.
While stressing the need for them to rise and become more involved in political processes, he further stated that the youths needed to take charge if they wanted a change in the political and socio-economic narratives of the state.
“One of our biases as Christian youth is that we perceive politics as a dirty game and Christians do not play dirty. There is also the bias that politicians are liars and Christians should not lie.
“But you all need to know that the impact of politics in the state is the impact on the lives we live. Whoever is in government makes policies that affect your life. Politics is a game of numbers and for Christian youth to be relevant politically, they have to work on their numbers and be united.
“Get involved in any political party; make sure you are registered with INEC; make sure you collect your permanent voter’s card and in a place where you can vote on election day, and on the day of the election, cast your vote”, Tswanya declared.
The youths during the summit and socio-economic enlightenment for the youth leaders, discussed issues affecting Christain youths in the state.
The youths were drawn from the nine local government areas in the senatorial zone and ambassadors were selected from each local government area to sensitize and mobilize the Christian youth towards getting the desired result socio-politically.
The Chairman of the Niger Christian Youth Forum, Alexander Tsado said that the summit was organized to engage and enlighten Christian youth leaders in Niger East Senatorial District.
According to him, the summit would be conducted in all the senatorial districts across the state.