Presidential candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Prince Adewole Adebayo, has urged young professionals to take an active interest in politics and contribute to efforts to address Nigeria’s development challenges.
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Adebayo spoke on Wednesday in Abuja while interacting with members of the SDP Young Professionals and the Confederation of West African Youths at the party’s national secretariat. He told the group that young Nigerians must take ownership of the country’s political future, urging them to anchor their engagement on the ideals contained in Chapter Two of the Constitution, which sets out the fundamental objectives and directive principles of state policy.
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The SDP candidate said Nigeria needed unity of purpose rather than individual brilliance to make meaningful progress, arguing that the country’s challenges were man-made and therefore solvable. He urged young professionals to reject political apathy and participate actively in governance, stressing that political authority ultimately derives from the will of the people and that disengagement was incompatible with efforts to influence national development.
Adebayo said Nigeria had no natural barriers, limitations or hostile neighbours preventing its development, attributing the country’s problems instead to leadership failures and the absence of structured pathways for producing capable leaders. “This country has no natural barrier, no natural limitation, no natural enemies, and we are surrounded by good neighbours who love us,” he said.
He lamented the absence of a deliberate system for training political leaders, comparing it unfavourably with professional fields such as law, and described political parties as the “university” through which political leadership should be cultivated.
The presidential candidate disclosed that he joined the SDP in 1991 at age 19 while studying law at the University of Ife, now Obafemi Awolowo University. He said his early scepticism toward political parties formed by the military eased after he studied the SDP’s foundational documents, including the report of the 1977 Constitutional Assembly, which contributed to the fundamental objectives contained in Chapter Two of the Constitution. “Without unity of purpose, without coming together, you cannot achieve,” he said.
Adebayo also warned against political arrangements that exclude or disadvantage any section of the country on the basis of religion, ethnicity, gender or region. He disclosed plans by the SDP to hold town hall meetings across the 36 states and local government areas to broaden the party’s reach, and urged the young professionals to translate their engagement into grassroots activity, noting that political influence is ultimately determined at the polling-unit level. “Politics is not a game of the mouth. It’s a game of the heart,” he said.
In his own remarks, SDP National Chairman Professor Sadiq Gombe also urged young professionals to take active interest in politics. He said the group’s visit showed that young Nigerians still had hope in the country’s future, and that their involvement was especially important given concerns over poverty, insecurity, unemployment and other socio-economic challenges. Gombe urged the group to deepen political participation and support what he described as competent and purposeful leadership, adding that the country’s future depended largely on the younger generation.
He said Adebayo and the SDP’s vice-presidential candidate, Professor Usman Bugaje, were committed to offering an alternative approach to governance, and urged the young professionals to engage their peers and encourage wider participation in the electoral process while promoting national unity. He also cautioned the group against allowing ethnic, religious or regional considerations to determine political participation.
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