Concerned Northern Youths and the Coalition for National Agenda, a political interest group, have advocated for mandatory drug testing and medical and psychological evaluations for all presidential and gubernatorial candidates. While speaking at a news conference in Abuja, Suleiman Tambay, coordinator of the Concerned Northern Youths, and Nnamdi Iroegbu, coordinator of the Coalition for National Agenda, urged all Nigeria, not just the north, should act to prevent the 2023 elections from being won by any candidate who cannot explain where his money comes from or who has a questionable character.
According to Tambay, who read the coalition’s statement, they intend to take this campaign seriously and will work to pass a law requiring all political candidates in Nigeria to be subject to drug and medical testing before they can be elected to office. He added that things have changed in the political landscape since the days of the previous drama when candidates would taunt the poor and disrespect the Nigerian people’s intelligence by drinking sachet water and milk, frying Kose on the side of the road, and lapping kids with a runny nose during campaign rallies.
Nigeria should raise the bar higher to sanitize the polity.
Nowadays, the strategy for the campaign is currently shifting to include issue-based debates, town hall meetings, comparisons of manifestos, and stakeholder discussions. Obviously, this is a positive development. In order to sanitize the polity, ensure that only appropriate and fit persons take up political offices, and enthrone equity and justice, he asserted, it is necessary to set a much higher bar by requiring all presidential and gubernatorial aspirants to take drug tests and undertake medical and psychological assessment tests to determine their preparedness for the virtuous and hectic task of good governance.
He further said that no candidate who had cases of ongoing drug issues or who was laden with corruption allegations should even be considered for the position of president of Nigeria. Those who are running for office and unable to explain their wealth raise serious character concerns. Because hunger and insecurity do not respect boundaries of race, ethnicity, or religion, he urged the people of the north to seize control of their future by electing leaders in the image of Sir Ahmadu Bello, Maitama Sule, Shehu and Umar Musa Yar’Adua, Aminu Kano, and Tafawa Balewa.
Nigeria’s northern region has been ravaged by poverty and inequality.
Tambay expressed concerns that the once peaceful and homey northern region is already being torn apart by kidnapping, banditry, and terrorism because of the helplessness and hopelessness caused by poverty and inequality. This made many people in the region become drug addicts. The security situation in Nigeria is getting worse, regardless of government efforts to improve it. Despite the northwest being poorer, worse governed in certain parts, and having lower levels of human development than the northeast, the unprecedented spike in violent attacks is breaking the consistent narrative.
According to him, there are more than 20 million children in the north who are not enrolled in school, and the vast majority of the 133 million people in Nigeria fall under the category of multidimensional poverty according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) are of Northern region. Again, the current problem of over five million young people struggling with drug addiction and another ten million people struggling with unemployment in the north call for attention. To put a stop to this disheartening trend, a bold stance is needed.
The country should retake its place as the giant of Africa – Tambay.
Lastly, he affirmed that Nigeria has to reclaim its position as the giant of Africa and provide a Nigeria that is functional for all of its citizens. It’s not that history repeats itself, but rather that people keep making the same mistakes that lead to the same results. They call on all Concerned Nigerian Youths around the country to be patriotic and to make sure that they do not put the future of the country in jeopardy by voting for an accused drug lord or any candidate with dubious qualifications or wealth.
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