By Shola Oyeyipo in Abuja
Convinced that Nigerian youths are not oblivious of the commitment of President Muhammadu Buhari to providing better future for the younger generation, the Director, Mobilisation, Women and Youths of the Presidential Campaign Council for Buhari/Osinbajo 2019, Wole Aboderin, has said youth in the country will give massive support to the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate in this Saturday’s election.
Making the assertion Tuesday during a chat with THISDAY, Aboderin said with the responses received from Nigerians during the campaigns it was obvious that Nigerians appreciate the noble achievements of the Buhari-led administration.
According to him, “We are going to get massive support from the youth and women. Look at all we have been doing. In fact, sometimes when we get to these rallies; you will know when someone is on the same page with you. In fact, the turnout has always been so overwhelming.
‘’We have gotten so many volunteers – we keep getting volunteers every day. People coming around to endorse and to be volunteers for the president; they say the reason they are coming around is because they believe in the president.”
He said mobilising women and youths has been overwhelming, saying that the wife of the president, Aisha Muhammadu Buhari, chairs women and youth campaign mobilisation and has been going all over the federation doing door-to-door, markets-to-market, neighour-to-neighbour campaign.
“The other day our chairman, Gen Buba Marwa (rtd), led some other generals to endorse the president; the other day, the NURTW came to endorse the president, the Market Women Association of Nigeria, came to endorse the president.
“So, we have been doing a lot of grassroots works; youth organisations, youth groups and all that, they have been coming around. The support has been overwhelming because they believe so much in Mr. President and they believe that for his wife to be very much involved in this campaign and they know the kind of person she is.
‘’She is a woman of justice. She is a woman of integrity as well. So, they believe Dr. Aisha Buhari being part of this, things will move forward.”
Asked how the campaign organisation has been attracting the support of the youth population, Aboderin said the campaign team has been talking to the voters using the government’s achievements.
‘’You can see N-Power, you can see school feeding and you can see a lot of things this government has been doing to ameliorate the effect of the fact that Nigeria went to recession and came out of recession.
‘’So, we have been telling people the programmes, the achievements, and the plans for next four years, which is the reason why we should vote for the president. That is what we have been doing.”
He said the wife of the president was very keen about the re-election of her husband and that her personality had further boosted Buhari’s acceptance among Nigerians.
Aboderin, scion of the prominent Aboderin family of Ibadan, Oyo State, said his support for President Buhari dates back to 90s when he had been convinced that he possesses the moral standard capable of reversing the ugly anomalies bedeviling Nigeria.
“I have been supporting the president. In 2011, I was the Youth Director of the president’s presidential campaign of Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) Buhari/Bakare. 2015, I was the Coordinator, Election Monitoring Evaluation, so, I have been supporting the president even since 2003.
“I got so much interested because my dad actually influenced me. He told me in the 90s when people were complaining about what was going on in governance; I remember him saying how he wished Buhari can come back as the president. I then asked him, is it possible? Somebody that was military head of state!
“It is as if he saw the future that the only person that is most sincere, most outstanding, that has got the integrity, the zeal and the ability to get Nigeria forward, and if he can be given another chance things will be better. That is exactly what is happening now. That has encouraged me more to be passionate about what I am doing”, he added.
Imploring Nigerian youths to support the President’s re-election bid so as to continue the transformation of the country, he warned that this election was about the ‘’future of Nigeria because right now, Nigeria is at a critical situation we can’t go back to what has been happening.’’
