Not too young to run bill not answer to Nigeria’s problems

My personal opinion on leadership is that it is certainly not about a person’s age, but rather capacity, capability, competence, integrity and honesty. I believe in the combination of both young and the old in leadership positions because the society will benefit from the youthfulness of a competent young leader just as it will benefit […]

My personal opinion on leadership is that it is certainly not about a person’s age, but rather capacity, capability, competence, integrity and honesty. I believe in the combination of both young and the old in leadership positions because the society will benefit from the youthfulness of a competent young leader just as it will benefit from the maturity of an old leader.

It is however difficult to define youth. The United Nations defines youth as someone between the ages of 15 and 24. But the African Youth Charter defines it as someone between the ages of 15 and 35. In most countries in sub-Saharan Africa, youths are persons between the ages of 15 and 30.  We have had young leaders who did well and some who performed badly. The same can be said of the older generation.

While the amendment of the constitution to allow younger people to seek elective positions is a good one, I must state clearly that there is more to credible leadership than the age of an individual. 

Nurudeen Dauda from Kaduna State and can be reached at:[email protected]