BUCHANAN – Liberian youths have been told to embrace peace and shun violence as future leaders of the nation. They have also been advised to ask for major roles in the ongoing efforts to rebuild Liberia.
Speaking at the official launch of its Youth and Civic Engagement and Democratic Participation program held in Buchanan, Grand Bassa County on September 11, the president of the Federation of Liberian Youths (FLY), Amos Williams, called on youths of the country to desist from violence and focus on positive things to help move Liberia forward.
He said there were growing calls by failed politicians to hire innocent youths to instigate violence during political rallies, a development he said was detrimental to the future of the youths themselves and the country. “Let me urge the youths of Liberia against being misguided by politicians to hire innocent youths to instigate violence during political rallies,” he said.
Williams said that some politicians have nothing to offer to the people in terms of development, hence entice the youths to cause pandemonium to confuse and divert the attention of the electorates.
“We have discovered that the best way to make progress is to embrace non-violence and also as a frontrunner to what we call non-violence, which we believe, if we employ, will bring development to Liberia,” he said.
‘We are empowering the youths to think beyond politics, by studying those blue prints of the future,” he said.
He added that it is high time that youth started to think of their future and denounce any attempt of being used as a violence tool. “The young people of Liberia should reject violence in Liberia’s contemporary political discourse and insist that political actors who drive the agenda for violence have no place in public institutions,” he said.
The program brought together scores of young people, students of various high schools in Grand Bassa County as well as local and national leaders, who all pledged their support to promoting peaceful initiatives and a non-violent election ahead of the December 8 Special Senatorial elections. Meanwhile, the project which is sponsored by the Catholic Relief Service will be implemented in three counties – namely: Monsterrado, Grand Bassa and Nimba counties. Palava hut discussions, town hall meetings and youth-related civic engagements aimed at creating the necessary