Things you chose to do with power, are functions of your character, Gbajabiamila tells youths in politics

Chief of Staff (CoS) to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, has cautioned young people hoping to rise to positions of authority in the future to be careful about the choices they make, as their actions will reflect on their character.

Gbajabiamila said this on Monday while delivering his remark at the second cohort of legislative mentorship initiative (LMI) in Abuja.

According to him a progressive society is one that embraces all voices, recognising the essential truth that all humans deserve dignity and respect and, given the opportunity, are capable of contributing to the advancement of society.

He said such progressive ideal has motivated “my decision throughout my career to choose and empower young people to serve in senior roles where, more often than not, they have distinguished themselves through the quality of their service.

Speaking on the essence of credible elections in the society, Gbajabiamila described it as an essential to retaining the public’s faith in democracy.

He said, “Election outcomes must reflect the people’s will, and citizens must have confidence that they can hold political leaders accountable through the ballot box.

“Therefore, if we want to harness the power of our young population to ensure the future of democracy in Nigeria, we must harness all resources and dedicate our efforts to continue to improve our electoral processes to provide free, fair, and credible elections at all levels.

“I began my remarks this afternoon by saying that “the point of holding power is to get things done and accomplish things”. To fellows-in-training of the Legislative Mentorship Initiative (LMI), let me also share with you the incontestable truth that the things you will choose to do with power and the objectives you will strive to accomplish are functions of your character.

“While the skills you will acquire in this programme can one day help you be more effective at using public office to get things done, it is the quality of your character that will determine whether you will deploy power in the communal interest or in service of your ambitions.