The Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate, Peter Obi, on Friday rejected an award presented to him by a group, Boys Champions (BC), saying they should present it to him when he won the election and finished his tenure as president.
He said he will value the award if he performs well in office at the end of his tenure and Nigerians are happy with him.
Mr Obi said this at this group’s conference in Enugu.
BC was founded by UN award winning Nigerian, Noel Alumona, to support young boys and men on their journey to manhood through mentoring and training.
Mr Obi advised the youths not to vote for tribe or religion, stressing that no tribe religion would buy bread or rice cheaper as it was in the country presently.
“I am an applicant seeking for job, that is why I appear before you my employer (Youths) and it is the turn of Nigerian youths to take back their country.
“I am committed to the job and hold me responsible if I fail you. If you do the wrong thing today, the future will take revenge on you,” he warned.
Mr Obi urged the youth to vote only competent and credible leaders that would change their future come 2023 general elections.
“18 of us will say the same thing but you must verify what they are telling you. There is no room for experiment in 2023.
“We will remove their structure of criminality and replace it with the structure of development,” Mr Obi said.
The former Anambra governor said that he would provide security for all Nigerians to enable farmers to go back to their farms to reduce food inflation.
“We will provide manpower in security by employing more police and equipping them to tackle insecurity.
“This is the only way we can move Nigeria from consumption to productive society by investing in youths and Nigeria must feed itself.
“My government will remove fuel subsidies and use the money to create jobs for the youths and this is the future we want to bring,” he added.
Earlier, Mr Alumona said he brought the conference to Enugu to spotlight the talents of the young people in Nigeria.
He explained that it was time for Nigerian youths to commit to sustainable action that would change their future and reshape the way things were being done.
“It is not a man’s show but through collective efforts, we will drive a sustainable change we all craved for.
“We are going to use all our strength, talent and intellect to drive this cause, this way, we can change our country and continent,” Mr Alumona said.
Mr Alumona beat over 400 contestants to be the first African to win the AFS Award for Young Global Citizens since its inception in 1914.