By Ben Duru
Correspondent, Owerri

Ararume said there was the need to see that the young men and women of the senatorial zone in particular and Imo State in general are encouraged to be themselves rather than be used as thugs in any political dispensation.

Speaking at Okigwe during an interactive session with the people, he insisted that gone were the days when the youths, most of whom are graduates. were used and dumped saying the time has come for their potentials to be fully harnessed.

He maintained that the present democratic dispensation under President Olusegun Obasanjo has been doing a lot to alleviate the sufferings of the young men and women across the country and that it is only fair that individuals should join him in such efforts.

He described the youths not only as leaders of tomorrow but those who are expected to gain from the present democratic experiment hence the need to ensure that they are not deceived but given every opportunity to learn and succeed.

He added that the Youth Empowerment Scheme would ensure that those who benefit are supported in such a way that they would be useful not only to themselves but to the entire nation.

Araraume, who is the leader of the senators from the South-South expressed the view that programme would succeed in meeting the aspirations of the youths and put them in a better place to appreciate the position of the country now.

He insisted that it is no more fashionable to see the youths as vehicles of electoral success stressing that they ought to be part and parcel of the government so that the future of the country can be guaranteed.

To this end, he urged the youths to support the present democratic government of President Obasanjo and Governor Ahike Udenwa because “these men have done and are still doing a lot to ensure that you all succeed and have a good future.”

On the abandoned Nigeria Television Authority (NTA) Okigwe, he insisted that the project was still on the front burner of the administration and that he has met with the Federal Minister of Information and Culture, Chukwuemeka Chikelu who gave assurances that work would soon commence.