An amalgam of youths, under the auspices of Coalition of Osun Youth Organisation in collaboration with Development Advocacy group, on Tuesday locked down Osogbo, the Osun State capital, in protest against agitation for zoning of the governorship seat to Osun West senatorial district.
They staged a procession, which kicked off from Ayetoro area of the metropolis and terminated at the popular Ogo-Oluwa junction, where the leader of the group addressed newsmen.
The leader of the group, Dr Ademola Oyedokun, in his address, berated the clamour for zoning system, describing it as antithetical to democratic principles and ethos.
He accused zoning proponents of striving to protect their “parochial economic interests “, alleging that majority of them are senior citizens who are apprehensive of their political fate in the coming years.
Oyedokun emphasised the need to insist on competence and vibrancy in the choice of who would lead the state to enviable heights.
He said that equity, as protagonists of zoning system canvassed, implies giving equal opportunities to every individual in the state to showcase competence and requisite political-economic strength needed by the state for advancement and sustainable development.
“As young citizens of the state, our concern finds expression in the submission of Mao Tsezong that: The success of a society depends on the ability of the leader.
“The imperative of leadership in propelling development or otherwise is more crucial than that of a surgeon in the hospital, because the greatest disease is poverty, which could only be cured by political surgery and care.
“For us, the agitation for zoning, aside the fact that it finds no expression in any extant laws, party constitution, party ethics, and our political culture, is also retrogressive and undemocratic.
“Democracy, Justice, Fairness, and Equity, are to allow every eligible citizen from any part of the state to express interest and face delegates, and ultimately the electorate.
“More compelling is the fact that the international political community is now inclusive-driven, development inclined and no more individual, sectarian and regional focused.
“As at today, Nigerians and people of other races and colour are voted as mayors and chancellors in white-dominated European countries. Why then do we continue to fan the embers of division and discord on our soil?” he queried.
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