Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has charged Nigerian youths to take their destiny in their hands by fighting to remove all the barriers hindering them from demonstrating their leadership capacity.
Obasanjo challenged the youths to reject the toga of being called leaders of tomorrow “because you are leaders of today and that tomorrow may never come.”
The former President gave the charge while speaking at the Presidential Youth Retreat with the theme: “Contributing To Green Economy”, held at the Youth Development Centre inside the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library (OOPL), Abeokuta, Ogun state.
“And let no one keep deceiving you that youths are the leaders of tomorrow, no, you are the leaders of today, but don’t ever think that anybody will help you remove the barrier, those who put the barrier will never remove it because it is not in their interests to remove it.
“So, you have to get together and remove the barrier and go ahead to demonstrate that God’s given leadership capacity in you. As long as you continue to accept that you are the leaders of tomorrow, that tomorrow may never come”, the former President said.
Obasanjo also urged the youths to take the leadership in the campaign against climate change and push for green economy that promotes sustainable development and make the world a better place to live in.
He also advocated for renewable energy, use of electric cars, organic manure, tree planting among others to reduce the challenge of climate change.
The former President blamed humans for the climate change which he said has resulted into flooding, extreme droughts, deforestation, pollution among others.
He said “climate change is a reality, though some still believe it is a myth or not real but we have seen it in flood, drought, the extreme weather conditions among others.
“The scientists have helped us to understand that man has abused the balance of all that God created, the forest, the hills, valleys, animals among others to the extent that there is now imbalance and it is we that caused the imbalance will also be victims of these consequences like the sea level rising, victims of floods, drought, extreme weather conditions and of course changes in climate, food insecurity among others.
“The use of fossil fuels is one of the greatest sources of carbon dioxide emissions which contribute greatly to climate change. This is why we talk of clean and renewable energy like the use of wind, solar power and electric cars to reduce carbon dioxide emissions.
“We also talk about planting more trees that help to absorb carbon dioxide, the more trees we plant the less of the carbon dioxide that we have. The same thing goes for proper handling of waste generated, waste recycling especially. These are the areas as youth you must take leadership, these are the areas you can make your contribution to the green economy and help reduce drastically the challenge of climate change.”