SPEECH DELIVERED BY HON. ADEKUNLE ABDULKABIR AKINLADE TRIPLE-A AT TMNEWS ANNUAL LECTURE 2015

SPEECH DELIVERED BY HON ADEKUNLE ABDULKABIR AKINLADE AT THE YOUTH PROGRAM ON WEDNESDAY OCTOBER 7TH 2015 AT MERCYLAND EVENT CENTER , IDIROKO, IPOKIA LOCAL GOVERNMENT , OGUN STATE. SPONSOR: TEMIS PRIME MEDIA AND VENTURES I want to thank Temis Prime Media and Ventures for organizingthis youth program and for the invitation given to me to be your guest speaker and address you on some of the issues that are germane to this youth program. My special appreciation goes to the people of Yewa South and Ipokia for voting me into office, without their votes, I will not be here today and our great party All Progressives Congress for providing the platform for me to contest. I believe that the growth of any society hinges on the development of its youths, be it educationally, socially, culturally or economically. The youths are said to be the leaders of tomorrow, but not without preparations. Poor upbringing, poverty, drug abuse, unemployment, crime, cultism and many other vises continue to threaten this tomorrow. It is worth mentioning here that the older the person, the more difficult it would be to change his or her behavior, it is a social law. It is therefore very timely for us as young people to come together and identity what we should do to better ourselves, our tomorrow and generations unborn. Therefore the theme of this program, "harnessing knowledge for change, future excellence and competitive advantage" is on point. As a people, we are greatly blessed but we must reposition our potentials for the betterment of ourselves. Let me make it profoundly clear that, there is no justification or reason whatsoever for any youth to perpetually remain stagnant, we must constantly seek new sources of knowledge to empower ourselves. I will use myself as an example, I ran for public office because I believe that with the right attitude, one can build oneself and collectively, we can build a sustainable society where everyone will be able to provide for him or herself, a society where we can take pride in whom we are as a people. A society where dignity and integrity is the order of the day. For us to have competitive advantage in our future endeavors, I make a pledge to you today that I will use the opportunity given to me as your representative at the National Assembly to empower my people in the areas of agriculture, education, commerce and infrastructure, I will work closely with various government agencies to attract developmental projects to our communities. I assure you that I will do my best to serve and explore other relevant House Committees that will afford me the opportunity to bring the dividend of democracy to all. Working together, we can create many hundreds of jobs locally to stimulate our economy locally and make our future great. It is therefore very timely for us as young people to come together and identity what we should do to improve ourselves, our tomorrow and generations unborn. I will strongly urge you all to join hands with me to make these things happen. We must all change this attitude of “ political handouts” or “pay – off” syndrome where you vote someone into office and then everyone starts to ask for handouts rather than compel the politician to work diligently to deliver on the mandate given to him or her. At the end of the day, what counts the most will be what we can do to develop ourselves knowledge wise as youths thus making us competitive in the future and grow our communities locally. I have made a pledge to you all today and I pray God will give me the wherewithal to fulfill them. Each one of us can make a difference . Today I ask everyone here, what is your pledge to improve your knowledge and advance your community for a greater tomorrow? Make a pledge today and start working at fulfilling it. I thank you all again for the opportunity to serve you and Almighty Allah for his grace upon all of us. Hon. Adekunle Abdulkabir Akinlade.