Music Icon Harps On Youths Involvement In Governance 

An icon in the music industry, Chief Michael Ejeagha has called on Nigerian government to embrace youths inclusiveness in governance, as a measure to curtail agitations and youths restiveness in the country.

Chief Ejeagha who spoke through his eldest son, Mr. Emmanuel Chibuike Ejeagha, made the call in an exclusive interview with Voice Of Nigeria in Enugu, in the aftermath of the just concluded  “End Bad Governance” nationwide protests.

He criticised what he described as politics of exclusion against the youths which he said, has become a pattern in Nigeria’s political administration, explaining that it is one of the major causes of continued agitations in the country.

His words: “the youths invariably are the leaders of tomorrow and I think that our political space ought to be broadened enough to accommodate them. You may not know that these young people that roam the streets waisting, have a lot to offer, until you get them involved either through political appointments or elective positions. So, I urge our leaders to think towards this direction. Let our young ones have a place in the system so they can take us to the next level.”

On the just concluded nationwide protests in the country, the musical legend said there was nothing wrong about protest, if the protesters were not ill informed and can conduct themselves with utmost civility and orderliness, devoid of any form of violence.

Message across to the larger society

Ejeagha described protest as a medium of getting a message across to the larger society or the rulling class, by groups of individuals, concerning their interests and the general well being of the people.

He said, “every human being knows what is right. I mean, the elites and the commoners, everybody has something meaningful to contribute to the growth and development of the country. So while people are protesting, they should be protected. There should be a combined team of the various security agencies, the military, the police and the civil defense to secure them and ensure that no soul is lost.”

Continuing he said, “it is worth doing, it is something good, it is not out of place to protest. There has been a lot of protests in the country. It is immemorial and a lot of people have used it to achieve their interests, so it largely depends on the spirit of the protesters.”

Chief Ejeagha dismissed the insinuations in some quarters, that his trending “gwogwo gwo ngwo” music was mischievously used by Igbo youths as the protest song to discredit President Bola Tinubu’s administration, during the “End Bad Governance” nationwide protests.

He explained that Igbo youths carefully chose the music and it was generally accepted by the people, to buttress their agitation for good governance, in the  interest of Nigerians, adding that anything short of that is totally out of place as it does not represent the interest of the people.

He said the youth decided to choose the “gwogwo gwo ngwo challenge music as recently popularised by Brain Jotter, because they observed that it tallies with the aim of the protest which suits the prevailing circumstance. In the music, the elephant is the chairman and needed the support of other smaller animals, just as in Nigeria today, the president is the chairman and should be given all the necessary support by Nigerian.

Lateefah Ibrahim