By Andrew Ikehi
The convener, Atiku/Okowa Student’s Movement and Member, People’s Democratic party (PDP) Presidential Campaign Council, Comrade Jerry Ehiwarior has described the PDP as the only party in the country that is actively grooming youths to become responsible future leaders by engaging and supporting them in the current political space.
Ehiwarior who is also the Senior Special Assistant to the Delta State Governor, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa, on Student Affairs, made the assertion at the weekend in Asaba, the Delta State capital during a town hall meeting with student leaders and stakeholders in the various tertiary institutions in the State.
The meeting, the Governor’s aide said, was aimed at meeting minds and seek support for the party in the forth coming general elections.
According to him, since the inception of Democratic rule in the country, the PDP led government has always prioritized the welfare of Students, adding that the student community has been in the forefront of its (PDP) agenda.
While urging the youths, particularly the student community to sustain their support for the Party in the forth coming general elections, Comrade Ehiwarior expressed optimism that the government of Alhaji Atiku Abubakar and Senator Ifeanyi Okowa as President and Vice President hopeful would be people-oriented and youth -driven.
He told the student leaders that the Atiku/Okowa government is set to rescue Nigerian youths and redefine their future as, according to him, it has robust programmes aimed at making the lives of students better, as well as ensuring that it broadens their accessibility to education at all levels by establishing new universities.
While lauding the administrative ingenuity of the current Governor of Delta State and the PDP vice Presidential candidate, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa, the Governor’s aide said, “This administration is the first of it’s kind, with three appointees from the student community who are saddled with overseeing the student community.
“This administration is also the only one that has been consistent in the payment of bursary commitments amidst the financial meltdown, from inception till date, while also promoting other capacity building programmes for students”.
“This is the reason why we in the student community have set the agenda within ourselves, the need to galvanize students and other members of our community in our campuses, who have benefitted massively from this administration and also to influence others positively to vote enmasse for the party, which has given them maximum support as student leaders “, he declared.
He assured the student leadership that with the party’s victory at the upcoming polls , more developmental programmes would be implemented.
Ehiwarior appealed to students to continue to cohabit peacefully with indigenes of their host communities, to engender peace that the state is known for, which is a precursor to development, while also assuring them that every other challenge being experienced in their various communities would be decisively tackled.
He implored female students to actively pursue participation in student unionism and politics, before graduating into secular politics, as part of measure to enhance gender equality.
