The member representing Aniocha North Constituency in Delta State House of Assembly and PDP candidate for the State House of Assembly election in 2023, Nwaobi, has delivered an emotionally captivating and motivating paper.
This was at a one day symposium, organised by the Delta State Youth Parliament to mark the International Day of the Youth, tagged “Bridging The Inter-Generational Gap: A Recipe For A Better Delta”.
Delivering the lecture at the Unity Hall, Government House, Asaba, Nwaobi illustrated his teachings with the Principles of an Eagle, adding that youths need determination, focus, hardwork and faith in God to achieve their desired dreams in life, including leadership pursuits.He said the signs are clear for the youths to take over leadership and be in charge of their destinies and those trusting their capacities, but the challenge still remains wrong orientation.
Nwaobi During His Paper Presentation At The Delta State Youth Parliament Symposium
The lawmaker said, a situation where a youth believes that it does not matter to work but sleeps and wakes up believing to become a millionaire over night, he affirmed that such orientation would continue to hamper the chances of such a youth to amount to something in future, not to talk of taking possession of power and leadership.
Using his life and personal experiences as illustration, Nwaobi said he had always wanted to practice his profession – engineering and also play politics after school.
He said such dream made him not to seek for employment after his university education, rather he opened a shop in Asaba where he had only one computer to do his designs and most times slept in office trying to meet up with targets.
His words, “I have never written any aptitude test in my life nor had any job interview. It was rough for me because my mates and friends were making contacts with me, wanting me to apply for so so and so jobs, but I refused. It was really rough because I started on a rough footing.
“I used to sleep in my office. I had once been on my computer one night when a neighbour bade me goodnight and the next morning, he greeted me good morning while I was still on my computer. Then I also printed lots of complimentary cards and anybody I suspected to be somebody in the society, I would just approach and hand my card to him or her. Before you knew it, I had projects I was handling everywhere. I was equally in politics where I eventually became an SA to the then Acting Governor of Delta State.
“Today, the difference is clear. I didn’t just wake up and became a member of the Delta State House of Assembly, it took a lot of hardwork, perseverance and dedication to get to this point. This is the point I am making, that the youths must prepare themselves through education backed with learning of other trades and skills to add up. It doesn’t matter if you read a professional course in the university, you can delve into other areas and start small before getting to your dream level in life.
“I want to let you know that if you follow the path of humility and readiness to learn, you will make a whole lot of difference as youths. You must have a growth plan outside of government; enough of the government patronage. In most cases when government even made effort to empower some youths with starter packs after learning a skill, they end up selling them far cheaper than the worth of the equipment”, Nwaobi revealed.
On what the youths must do to get it right, Nwaobi referred to the effort of the Legislature very recently, to pass the Not Too Young To Run Bill into Law, adding that when the bill came to them at the State level, Delta State voted for it and so becoming one of the 24 states that voted for the passage of the Bill into law.
Further explaining that effort which was targeted at giving the youths an opportunity of leadership in the Constitution, Nwaobi admonished that youths must imbibe the six leadership principles he enunciated in his Eagle Examples to be able to live a fulfilled and impactful life.
He posited that only by that personal development through education and other critical certifications can a youth be said to be ready to lead.
After Hon. Nwaobi’s delivery, a former Attorney General and Honourable Commissioner for Justice of Delta State, Dr. Peter Mrakpor SAN delivered a second paper on Election and Judicial Matters.
Meanwhile, the Panel session, made up of Hon. Nwaobi, Dr. Mrakpor and the Speaker of the Delta State Youth Parliament, Dr. George Ohwoekevwo was moderated by two renowned presenters from Lagos, Izik Erikemu and Augustine Aigbokhaevbo.
The session came to an end with Hon. Judith Ikediashi, representing Aniocha North Constituency in the Delta State Youth Parliament giving a passionate vote of thanks, laced with youth appreciation to all that graced the occasion.
