Adebayo to Youth: Stop Talking, Take Politics to Polling Units

* SDP presidential candidate says Nigeria’s problems are man-made

* Urges young professionals to reject religious, ethnic and regional politics

Sunday Aborisade in Abuja 

The presidential candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Prince Adewole Adebayo, on Thursday, challenged Nigerian youths and young professionals to take ownership of the country’s political future, declaring that politics must move beyond intellectual discourse and be taken to the grassroots where electoral decisions are made.

Adebayo, who spoke in Abuja while receiving members of the Young Professionals for Social Change and the Confederation of West African Youths at the SDP National Secretariat, said Nigeria’s economic, security and developmental challenges were largely man-made and could therefore be resolved through purposeful leadership, competence and unity of purpose.

He urged the youths to reject political mobilisation based on religion, ethnicity, gender or region, arguing that no sustainable solution could emerge from a system that deliberately excludes any section of the country.

According to him, Nigeria possesses the human and natural resources required for development and has no natural impediment preventing it from achieving prosperity.

Adebayo said: “This country has no natural barrier, no natural limitation, no natural enemies, and we are surrounded by good neighbours who love us.

“You have inherited the greatest inheritance any generation can get, which is Nigeria. 

“In settled communities, young people scratch their heads asking what to contribute because all problems seem solved. In our case, we have a country to build virtually from scratch. To me, that’s a great opportunity.”

The SDP candidate said the central challenge confronting Nigeria was not a shortage of talented individuals but the absence of a structured system for producing leaders capable of working towards a common national objective.

He drew an analogy with the legal profession, where aspiring lawyers pass through clearly defined stages of education and professional training before being admitted to practise, arguing that politics should similarly serve as a training ground for responsible leadership.

He described political parties as the “university” through which leaders should be developed and prepared for public service.

Adebayo, who disclosed that he joined the SDP in 1991 at the age of 19 while studying law at the University of Ife, said his initial reservations about political parties formed under military rule changed after he studied the party’s foundational documents.

He said particular attention was paid to the 1977 Constitutional Assembly report that contributed to the development of Chapter Two of the Nigerian Constitution, which sets out the fundamental objectives and directive principles of state policy.

The presidential candidate urged the youths to make the principles contained in Chapter Two central to their political engagement, insisting that national progress required a shared philosophy rather than the pursuit of individual brilliance.

“Individual brilliant parts don’t make a car. What we are trying to do with our work in the SDP is selling a common philosophy to Nigeria,” he said.

Adebayo argued that the persistence of poverty, insecurity and unemployment was linked to the failure to place the welfare of Nigerians at the centre of governance.

“Why it is difficult to kill poverty, insecurity, and joblessness is that the welfare of the people is the last thing on the mind of the current government.

“You have no option but to love Nigeria because Nigeria is the only one you have,” he stated.

Adebayo also warned young professionals against withdrawing from politics because of frustration with the political system, saying political disengagement could not produce the change they desired.

He maintained that intelligence, education and professional accomplishments would have limited political impact if they did not translate into grassroots mobilisation and civic participation.

According to him, “Go back to our own districts. Politics is done in the neighbourhoods.

“Any amount of command of English that you have that does not convince your neighbour about how they are going to vote, any influence you have from Timbuktu to Accra that cannot influence how people vote in the community where you come from, that influence is academic.

“Politics is not a game of the mouth; it’s a game of the heart.”

The SDP presidential candidate said the party would embark on town hall meetings across the 36 states and local government areas to deepen engagement with Nigerians and broaden its political base beyond the professional and elite circles.

He urged the young professionals to take the message to their communities, stressing that electoral politics would ultimately be determined by voters at polling units and not by discussions in elite circles or on social media.

Adebayo also drew parallels between the current generation of Nigerian youths and the West African students who played prominent roles in the struggle for decolonisation.

He said: “Everything that came back to independence in Nigeria, everything that came back to asking the British to leave, to decolonisation, was when the Federation of West African Students met in London.

“They were much younger than you and said, ‘We need to go back home and get independence and rule ourselves’.”

He challenged the young professionals to demonstrate a similar unity of purpose in confronting the contemporary challenges facing Nigeria and West Africa.

At the event, the Young Legal Professionals formally endorsed Adebayo as the SDP presidential candidate ahead of the 2027 general election, saying their decision reflected their support for accountable, justice-driven and people-centred leadership.

The endorsement came as the SDP leadership intensified its engagement with youth groups and professional organisations ahead of the 2027 elections.

The party’s vice-presidential candidate, Professor Usman Bugaje, told the gathering that Nigeria’s developmental crisis was rooted in what he described as a deficit of political will and leadership competence.

“The major problem of this country is the lack of that political will to do the right thing, and the lack of competence in leadership to know what to do and do it properly,” Bugaje said.

He cited the transformation experienced by countries such as Japan, South Korea and Singapore as evidence that nations could overcome severe developmental challenges through purposeful leadership and effective institutions.

“We represent the change that you are looking for, and what we are trying to do is to put this country on a different trajectory,” Bugaje said.

“We are confident that there is no problem in this country that we cannot solve.”

Adebayo further stressed the need for political unity, insisting that Nigeria could not make meaningful progress if political competition continued to exploit religious, ethnic and regional differences.

“Without unity of purpose, without coming together, you cannot achieve,” the SDP presidential candidate said.

He urged the young professionals to replace political apathy with grassroots engagement and a commitment to national development.

Also speaking, the SDP National Chairman, Professor Abubakar Sadiq Gombe, urged the visiting youth leaders to mobilise non-voters across their constituencies and work towards increasing participation in future elections.

Gombe said voter apathy remained a major challenge to Nigeria’s democratic development, stressing that political participation was essential if young Nigerians wanted to influence decisions affecting their future.

“Your coming shows that there is a lot of hope,” he said.

“Knowledge is the greatest capital in the 21st century. Out of almost 100 million registered voters, only about 24 million votes were cast in the last general election.

“You are not coming here just to help the SDP; you are here to help yourselves, your future, and the generations yet to come.”

He charged the youth organisations to expand their civic enlightenment networks nationwide and encourage eligible Nigerians to participate actively in the electoral process.