By Tajuddeen Ahmad Tijjani
Sir: Every year on August 12, International Youth Day is commemorated to bring youth issues to the attention of the international community and to celebrate the potential of youth as partners in today’s global society. It is an occasion to recognize and mainstream the voices, actions, and initiatives of young people, as well as their meaningful, universal, and equal participation.
No community’s success would be possible without the active participation of young people. The young must see the need to contribute their quota to positive political, social, or economic progress of the country. Our youths must keep in mind that nothing good can be realized without participation in the activities, particularly political ones, to advance human rights and to foster healthy democratic space.
Regrettably, we frequently curse our leaders for mistreating us while failing to recognize that our refusal to participate in government is what allows them to continue to retain top positions of leadership.
To be sure, the social media is not the place to fight for our rights, neither is it the forum to report our problems to the appropriate authorities. Voting during the electioneering process is one sure route to alleviate and bring attention to our problems. We must remind ourselves that we have sufficient capacities to imagine our potential for occupying any type of position, whether leadership or whatever. However, if we continue to be perennial critics, we will most likely remain where we are, in meaningless jamboree.
Without a doubt, everyone believes that youth are the backbone of any society. For any society to flourish, it must tap into the full potentials of its youths. Innovations, fresh ideas, and economic growth can only be realized with youths’ full participation. Today, the most recent advancements in computer technology all over the world have the footprints of youths.
Reports show that there are over 1.8 billion young people in the world today, 90 per cent of who live in developing countries where they make up a large proportion of the population. They have the required capacity to change the world for better place that all of us can live comfortably in. Sadly, in most of the developing countries, their population which constitutes majority are left far behind perhaps, due to lack of proper understanding of their potentiality and capabilities in various fields of human endeavour.
Things cannot continue this way. Here is challenging our youths to come out and unveil their abilities in all their ramifications.
- Tajuddeen Ahmad Tijjani,
Azare, Bauchi State.
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