Mr Ketil Karlsen, the Head of European Union (EU) Delegation has urged Nigerian youths to contest for elective positions in 2019.
Karlsen, at the Not-Too-Young-To-Run Conference on Thursday in Abuja, commended the National Assembly and President Muhammadu Buhari for making the law a reality.
According to him, the demographic distribution of Nigeria’s population shows that the youth make up 60 per cent of the population and are the future of the country.
“It is time to get all involved in politics, you don’t win a match by having half of your team sit on the bench; you need to have more participation whether from youths, women and people with disabilities.
“The Not-Too-young-to-Run Law is a huge opportunity to take the youth agenda forward but I will also like to warn against complacency here.
“This is no time to rest on your oars. There is a saying that everything fits on paper but implementation takes a complete renewed energy”.
Denmark Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr Torben Gettermann, commended the Not-Too-young-to-Run Movement for its success of getting the bill to become law.
He said: “When I first saw the hashtag on Not-Too-young-to-Run, it made me think and say there is a universal issue of youth inclusion in politics.
“The issue is not just a Nigerian one, it goes far beyond Nigerian borders and today the movement is influencing other people globally.
“Though Denmark has some young people in politics like the youngest parliamentarian is 21 years old but there is still a long way to go.”
Mr Dominic Williams, a representative of the British High Commission, said constitutional change was hard the world over.
“What this shows is that when you are together you can move mountains, so having moved one, you can now see clearly to move the other ones and with all units working together.
“This will help to get young people into political offices at all levels. You have the support of the British Government as you to do this ahead of the elections in 2019,” he said.
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