Youths Shut Down Osogbo In Protest Against Clamour For Zoning Guber Ticket To Osun West

Major areas in Osogbo were on Tuesday shut down by hundreds of youths who protested the agitation for zoning of the Osun governorship ticket to Osun West Senatorial District.

The protesters under the group, Coalition of Osun Youth Organisation collaborated with another group, Development Advocacy in kicking against clamour for zoning ahead of the September 22 governorship election in Osun state.

While handling a protest letter to the leadership of the All Progressives Congress at the party Secretariat in Osogbo, the leader of the group, Dr Ademola Oyedokun described zoning system as antithetical to democratic principles and ethos.

Oyedokun accused agitators of zoning of selfishness alleging that majority of them are senior citizens who are apprehensive of their political fate in the coming years.

The group leader said there was a need for competence and vibrancy to guide the choice of the next governor of the state.

According to him, “as young citizens of the state,  our concern finds expression in the submission of Mao Tsezong that: The success of a society depends on the ability of the leader.

“The imperative of leadership in propelling development or otherwise is more crucial than that of a surgeon in the hospital,  because the greatest disease is poverty,  which could only be cured by political surgery and care.

“For us,  the agitation for zoning, aside the fact that it finds no expression in any extant laws,  party constitution,  party ethics,  and our political culture,  is also retrogressive and undemocratic.

“Democracy,  Justice, Fairness, and Equity, are to allow every eligible citizen from any part of the state to express interest and face  delegates,  and ultimately the electorate.

“More compelling is the fact that the international political community is now inclusive-driven,  development inclined and no more individual,  sectarian and regional focused.

“As at today, Nigerians and people of other races and colour are voted as mayors and chancellors in white dominated European countries. Why then do we continue to fern the ember of division and discord on our soil.”