The Senator representing Niger North Senatorial District at the National Assembly, Dr. Aliyu Sabi Abdullahi has stated that the only way to curtail the security challenges bedeviling the nation is to empower women and youths in community and national peace building.
According to him, women and youths have enviable characteristics that equip them for effective community peace building adding that such would become an invaluable asset to the country if well harnessed.
Speaking at a Peace and Unity Colloquium themed Community Peace Building – Engaging Women and Youths in Minna over the weekend, Aliyu stated that with the fall in oil prices, the chances of depending on the governments for job opportunities are getting slimmer stressing that the alternative to this predicament is to create enabling platforms for women and youth to acquire different skills which would enable them to become job creators.
He therefore urged women and youths to participate in the country Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)-Entrepreneurial Development Centre (EDC) programmes on skills acquisition in areas like agriculture, commerce, environment, information and communication technology.
Niger state Governor, Alhaji Abubakar Sani Bello assuring women and youths of adequate support in the state stating that women and youths are one of the cardinal points of his administration for the social and political development of Niger State.
The governor who was represented by Head of Service, Alhaji Mohammed Maude Lapai, then expressed optimism that the partnership between the state and all Non Governmental Organisations (NGO) would further strengthen the development of people of the state and country at large.
Meanwhile, the Central Bank of Nigeria, Entrepreneurial Development Centre , North Central Zone Coordinator, Professor Casmir Obialom said Nigeria cannot talk about peace when the women and youths are idle stating that empowerment is an instrument of peace and unity.
“There can be no peace when the people are idle and the women are doing nothing. It is only when people are comfortable that you can talk about peace.
“Our target therefore is to ensure people are occupied and capable of fending for themselves so as to have peace and rest of mind,” he said.
The Coordinator then urged all hands to be on desk as only government cannot bring about peace building in the country.
The Vice Chancellor of the Federal University of Technology, Akure, Professor Adebiyi G. Daramola, has called on governments at all levels to actively promote agro-allied business as part of the strategy to deal with youth unemployment in the country. In a lecture; Agriculture: A panacea for youth unemployment in Nigeria, delivered in Ikorodu, Lagos State, the don identified lack of technical efficiency, lack of entrepreneurial skill, population explosion, rural urban migration and economic recession as causes of youth unemployment in the country and blamed government for the situation.
He also itemized migration, conflict, crime, low production and poverty as consequences of youth unemployment and urged governments to put a stop to all these through the promotion of agriculture by putting relevant policies in place.
He was represented by Prof. Taiwo Amos of the same university.
The occasion was the 15th Prof. A.A Adegbola Memorial Lecture and it was organized by the Ikorodu Division Resource Development Group (IDRDG).
The Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN’s) financial inclusion project is motivating banks to take their services to the underserved, especially the youth. Sterling Bank is not only providing products and services to meet youths’ needs, it has also built an e-library and promoted financial literacy among them, writes COLLINS NWEZE.
Banking is no longer exclusive to adults. Children can also engage in the exercise, saving their ‘hard-earned’ resources in preparation for a prosperous future. Doing this requires the backing of not only their parents or guardians, but financial institutions that are committed to their financial future and education.
Sterling Bank Plc has not only shown commitment in getting the youths to know more about banking through its financial literacy schemes, but has introduced array of products with attached benefits to youthful savers.
• Adeola
The bank’s Managing Director/CEO, Yemi Adeola said funding and supporting education sector remains management’s priority. “The bank’s focus on education is strategic. It is looking at all actors in the value chain. For instance, it has set up an education desk to look at the total value chain of education, from suppliers of inputs to the end users. It intends to use its expertise to contribute to the development of the sector through a variety of initiatives,” bank said.
Continuing, he said: “Sterling Bank is poised to change the poor state of education sector in the country for good. Its focus is to enrich lives by adding value through quality capacity building and development as government alone cannot solve the problem of education in Nigeria. There is a need for the intervention of the private sector in the development of education to bring the sector back to its rightful place in the country. Government is doing its best, but we are not there yet”.
The bank chief believes the private sector must come in and invest in the education sector to enable the children get quality education without having to pay so much for it adding that its intervention in the sector will help to ameliorate some of the challenges currently affecting it.
He explained that in line with this objective, the bank introduced the ‘I-Can-Save’ Reward Scheme for its new and existing customers, who have opened and maintained a balance of N50,000 and N10,000 in their accounts. The customers, he said, will be rewarded with various types of gifts like school bags among others. The product provides other freebies such as exercise books, cultural heritage books, pencils and pens to children at the account opening point.
Explaining further, he said the parents can get school fees finance facility to bridge cash crunches experienced with instant financing for school fees. The product allows parents to put their kids in school while awaiting salaries and other receivables.
“Also, schools that open (or pledge) salary accounts for their teachers this season automatically qualify their teachers for our Personal Financial Management training,” he said.
The product, according to the bank, also gives account holders opportunity to acquire household equipment like refrigerating sets, television sets among others with flexible repayment schedule spread over three months at discounted rates.
“Through the product, schools can access facilities to bridge working capital gaps, expansion purposes and asset acquisition with a maximum tenor of 60 months at interest rates lower than the industry benchmark. The funds can be used for acquisition of school buses, generators, renovation, among others,” he said.
Adeola said the bank’s commitment to education motivated it to commission e-library built for the College of Education, Ikere-Ekiti, Ekiti State. It also presented branded uniforms for street sweepers and highway managers. The banker, who was commended by the state government for the projects, noted that the e-library project was meant to reposition the state’s education sector in line with the goals of government.
“We commend Sterling Bank for the e-library project. This shows its commitment as a responsible corporate citizen of this country to support government at repositioning the education sector in the country. With this development, Sterling Bank has keyed into the landmark programmes of the Ekiti State government towards providing quality education to our children,” the state government said.
Prof. Aladejana
Provost of the College, Prof. Francisca Aladejana said with the commissioning of the e-library, the institution has fulfilled one of the major requirements for which her academic programmes had been denied or granted interim accreditation in the recent past, by both the National Commission for Colleges of Education and the National Universities Commission (NUC).
“The e-library is the first product of any partnership with any organisation in the history of the college and we must commend Sterling Bank for this. Equipped with computers of high grade and broad bandwidth of a very high capacity to connect users with international libraries, the e-library is unquestionably at par with global standards. Such a facility can rarely be found in higher institutions in the country. Sterling Bank has indeed, put smiles on the faces of all stakeholders,” she said.
Adeola assured that the lender will continue to support educational institutions with projects that impact positively on the students.
The bank chief, who was represented by its Commercial Banking Business Executive for the southwest, Ademola Adeyemi, said the e-library will provide the students and other users with unlimited access to real time global educational resources that aid learning and research, adding that the project is part of the bank’s contributions towards improving the nation’s education sector under its ‘One Education’ initiative.
“Sterling Bank is known for innovation in several areas. As it concerns Education, which has become a major focus of the Bank. We believe our business is to enrich lives in innovative ways. When you invest in people, especially young people, you are enriching their lives and they will in turn enrich the society,”he said.
Also, in fulfillment of its commitment to raise the bar in education financing and support government efforts at repositioning the education sector, Sterling Bank Plc has rolled out various offerings that would make education funding easier.
The bank has also partnered with the Lagos EKO Project, using its staff as volunteer teachers to teach various subjects. “All of these are part of our corporate social responsibility to support education. Apart from that, bank has helped to improve the look and feel of some schools and is also supporting with books, writing materials, as well as textbooks. Its books ‘My Little Money Book’ and ‘Funds’, is its way of providing a learning/teaching guide on savings, loans and other financial concepts,” he said.
He continued: “Some other landmark events instituted by the bank include building of e-library for College of Education, IkereEkiti, Ekiti State; introduction of shopping dash to appreciate the students; provision of tablets for secondary and university students with pre loaded content to aid learning and research and also rolling out of various products and services for stakeholders in the education sector.”
Financial literacy
During this year’s Financial Literacy Week observed annually under the National Money Week, the bank put in place an initiative that would see it enriching the lives of children in the country, especially in the area of financial literacy. The bank said the exercise was part of its strategic focus on education and commitment to youth empowerment and development.
It also adopted a school in Port Harcourt where a team of staff under its Volunteers Teaching Programme and other top management staff, engage the children on financial literacy.
Adeola described the Sterling Volunteers team as a collection of dedicated and resourceful professionals, noting that the existing partnership with the Eko Project, an initiative of the Lagos State Government, would help address the challenges of inadequate teachers and consequently improve students’ performance in various examinations in the state. “The Sterling volunteers’ team will use the opportunity of this year’s programme to impart useful knowledge, discipline and patriotism to the younger generation,”he said.
He recalled that as part of the activities to mark the week last year, the bank supported the “We are the Future of our Nation” (WATFON) programme, an Initiative of Edumark Consult, which attracted over 3,500 final year pupils of secondary schools.
The Sterling Bank chief executive added that the programme provided opportunity for young Nigerians to meet and interact with accomplished professionals and national leaders in the society, who have excelled in their chosen endeavours.
The bank, according to him, demonstrated its commitment to youth empowerment through initiatives such as “Raise A Child” and the sponsorship of Computer Science Education Week (CSEdWeek), Hour of Code and a free Boot Camp for kids and adults to spread awareness of the need for computer science education among the youth in partnership with Audax.
Sterling Bank is also supporting the ‘Raise A Child Project’, which is aimed at putting smiles on faces of millions of children in the country and giving hope to those who need it most.
The project is an online fundraising platform that enables people, who are passionate about raising money for charitable causes the means to connect with donors and raise money securely online to put smiles on millions of children across the nation this season of love.
The bank’s Group Head, Strategy & Communications, Shina Atilola, said the Raise A Child Project’ was to enable the lender to give back to the society particularly the children in continuation of its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) disposition especially at a time when they needed to be shown love and care.
“This is a mission dedicated to support our children through different charities across Nigeria. It goes a long way to show how much Sterling cares about the children and the extent to which the society, the general public, who are expected to make a difference by supporting the Sterling Bank through online donations care about the Nigerian child. However, Sterling Bank will match every naira donated towards the course by members of the general public,” he said.
Capacity Building
As part of its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) drive towards supporting skill acquisition among youths to prepare them for self-employment, Sterling Bank Plc has signed a partnership agreement with Field of Skills and Dreams (FSD), a vocational training institution that provides training programmes for members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC).
Under the agreement, the bank will sponsor the training of NYSC corps members in various vocations during the course of their service year to align with its expressed purpose of enriching lives. The bank has also funded the training of about 100 NYSC members in various vocations during the pilot stage through the NYSC-Skills Acquisition and Entrepreneurship Development.
It has equally equipped a 20-seat ICT laboratory of the FSD, which will provide all participants with rotational access to free ICT training.
Sterling Bank in a statement explained that the need to support the development of skills among the youth has become inevitable given the growing rate of unemployment in the country. “We believe that the steps we have taken so far would help in ameliorating the problem of unemployment in the country and support other initiatives such as the Youth Empowerment Scheme (YES) and the Youth Enterprise with Innovation in Nigeria (YOU-WIN) introduced by the government to checkmate the relatively high rate of unemployment in the country,” it said.
An organisation, African Women in Agricultural Research and Development (AWARD) has held a career-counselling for youths in Abia State, urging them to take up careers in agriculture.
The event was held in conjunction with the Michael Okpara University of Agriculture Umudike, (MOUAU) Demonstration Secondary School.
No fewer than 176 SS1 and SS2 students of the school attanded.
Speaking during the counselling in Umuahia, a fellow of AWARD, Dr. Chinelo Ezeocha said that the event was organised to ensure that the youths of the state are encouraged to return to agriculture.
Ezeocha recalled that agriculture in the 1960s was the economic back bone of the state and that many of the infrastructural development of the state were done through the revenue generated from agriculture.
She recalled that there are several farm settlements scattered across the state and that they have been wasting away, “There is need for them to be revived and made habitable for the teeming youths of the state to be fully engaged”.
The lecturer in food science department of MOUAU said that there is a sharp decline in the number of youths that go into agriculture as a career, stressing that there is need for the trend to be reversed.
She explained that the youths going into agriculture will ensure food security, job opportunities and also help to reduce youth restiveness in the state, while crime rate will be reduced to the lowest level.
Ezeocha regretted that the youths in the state are finding it hard to take up agriculture as a career, “They [children] are complaining that agriculture is a hard profession bearing in mind that many people are still using obsolete equipment to farm.”
She called on state and federal governments to provide modern day equipment so that the youths will be willing and encouraged to go in to agriculture for the good of the people of the country and also ensure food security.
The food science lecturer said that agriculture does not mean only food production, “It includes cash crops like cocoa, rubber, cashew, oil palm and many others which if well managed will ensure increase in revenue generation for the youths”.
Ezeocha said that youths should never shy award from agriculture, stressing that agriculture does not require custom men harassing them as they would in the other way round export the excess produce to the outside world.
Few days after the late General Sani Abacha seized power from the controversial contraption called the “Interim National Government” led by Chief Ernest Shonekan, a British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) reporter asked the late Chief MKO Abiola a tough question. I will try and paraphrase the question. “Chief Abiola, are you expecting General Abacha, after planning a coup, to call you and say Chief Abiola here is your presidency?”
The point the reporter was trying to let Chief Abiola – who we all know won the June 12, 1993 election squarely – know was that the late general risked his life by plotting a coup to install himself in power and not to revisit the annulled election or an intention to revise the decision taken by the then Provisional Ruling Council under which he was a very senior and active member.
In 1983, after the coup that toppled the Alhaji Shehu Shagari regime, two majors of the Nigerian Army were made Military Governors of Kaduna and Borno States respectively. The Major General Muhammadu Buhari regime appointed Majors Abubakar Umar and Abdulmumini Aminu as governors even though there were hundreds of senior officers that could have been appointed. What made the difference for these two young officers? They put their necks on the chopping block by joining the putschist and they were rewarded for the risks they took.
At the fifth edition of “The Bola Tinubu Colloquium” held as part of activities marking the 61st birthday of the former Lagos State Governor now leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), former Central Bank of Nigeria Governor, now Emir of Kano, Lamido Sanusi Lamido, charged the youths present to form political movements and take their destiny in their hands. He said they can make a huge difference by their share size.
Tinubu, being the political strategist that he is immediately countered Sanusi. He appealed to the youths to join forces with then emerging APC which will have a firm political structure in place. “I disagree with my brother and friend Sanusi Lamido Sanusi who says youth may form their party. Politics is not economic policy where you can change a bank note. If only to merge, some people are already forging names, and trying to prevent the creation of APC (before the party was registered). You can imagine what you will go through.”
Both Tinubu and Sanusi made credible points. After listening to youth leaders presenting eloquent positions on how Nigeria can make progress, Sanusi was convinced that the answer lies in the youths forming their own political movement which can translate to a full-fledged party later. On the other hand, Tinubu who has been in the “field” for years knows it is not as easy as it sounds.
This was during the epic battle for the registration of the APC. Recollect that a party, the African People’s Congress with party flag and office was formed – out of the blues – to checkmate the APC. What happened to that “party” and its founders?
The point I’m trying to make with these stories is that you must participate in a movement to benefit from victory when it comes. I say this against the backdrop of the hues and cry that has thus far followed President Buhari’s ministerial list. I remember throwing this up with some students to gauge their positons on the nominees arising from the criticisms that trailed the non-inclusion of youths in the list. Surprisingly, majority of them felt the list was in order.
I must state categorically here that I am a firm believer of youth participation in governance, but it will be naïve for anyone to believe they can just stroll into power; it is far more complex than we think. The bottomline is this: to participate and benefit, you must be part of a struggle. There are two options available here. You either follow the Sanusi option of forming your own party or the Tinubu option of aligning with an existing party and walking your way through.
Beyond Nigeria, the issue of youth and governance has always been a contentious one. In a March 2015 paper titled “Does a politician’s age matter for policy?” researchers Alberto Alesina, Traviss Cassidy and Ugo Troiano started with this: “In 2012, the average age of European parliamentarians was 53 years. In the US, the average age of current Members of the House of Representatives is 57 years, and the average age of current Senators is 62 years.” With this research based figures Nigerian sceptics should know that they are not alone; even those we copied democracy from are passing through the same problem.
They added: “Motivated by the concern that aging electorates would increasingly select older politicians, the Foundation for the Rights of Future Generations advocates a right to vote from birth, exercised by parents as surrogates until the child reaches a certain age. Such a proposal reflects the conventional wisdom that a politician’s age influences policy choices. But does a policymaker’s age really matter? This is an empirical question which until recently had not been explored.”
They concluded with this statement: “it appears that political ambition – rather than ability or patience – drives the different policy choices of older and younger politicians.” Note that theirs was a research based article.
When it comes to governance, the key thing to note is active participation. Yes, once a while technocrats can be called upon to participate like Obasanjo and Jonathan did. But there is a huge difference between being called upon and being an active participant.
This notwithstanding, I believe young people have great perspectives and ideas. By allowing them to voice their opinion we could be opening and moving the political world forward. This is not only good, but necessary for society. If our youth don’t engage in politics, even if it is through pressure groups, there would be many issues with our political establishments in trying to keep policy fair and sustainable for future generations.
Partaking in social organisations is prime opportunity for a young person to get involved. But how many of them are involved in a good and conscience based cause like the “Bring Back Our Girls” movement championed by Oby Ezekwesili, Hadiza Usman and others? Yet it is through a cause of this nature that they can interact with those in power and through that understand the intricate nature of politics. They should also understand that active citizenship is equally a part of politics.
I will recommend that our youths borrow a leaf from the United Kingdom where youth parliament is open to 11-18 year olds who wish to use their voice in creative ways in order to bring about social change. This is both exciting and informative, as well as being open to everyone. Getting involved in these sorts of schemes is necessary if they wish to engage further with politics and get a deeper understanding of its complexities. What stops a well guided youth organisation from taking this as a cause and approaching the National Assembly to get their buy in and make such possible?
Despite the emasculation wrought by poor education, limited job opportunities, the average Nigerian youth is brimming with energy and optimism. This energy and optimism is bubbling over into enterprise, the creative sector and can be channeled for good into fighting for political change and good governance.
It requires young men and women of unimpeachable character and vision to rise above current challenges and show that they can cause change like they did using the social media during the last elections.
“Politics,” says American political scientist Harold Lasswell “is who gets what, when and how.” His is perhaps the best definition of politics. Let me try and explain how this works. In a hypothetical state of nature where I am all alone, my choice to climb a tree to pick apples is not a political decision. But if you are also present, and the options that exist are to work together to pick the apples, then figure out how to divide them, or to try to pick the apples surreptitiously, or to try to exert sole despotic dominion over the apples and keep the other away–then we have politics.
This politics is complex when it involves over 180 million people and 250 tribes.
AUnited States (U.S)-based group, Women Empowered to Achieve The impossible (WETATi) in partnership with the University of Lagos (UNILAG), will host youths, men and women as well as professionals from both the public and private sectors to its maiden youth empowerment conference and awards banquet.
The event theme is Empowering the Youth in Building a Nation Through Positive Mindset, Service, Volunteerism, Mentorship, Leadership with Integrity and Entrepreneurship– WETATi Style! It will hold between November 12 and 14 at the UNILAG Staff School Hall, Tafawa Balewa Way, Akoka, Yaba, Lagos.
According to the organisers, the conference seeks to bring together individuals from different walks of life, gender and ethnicity to discuss issues ranging from gaining empowerment through a positive mindset to development issues and challenges in the country.
The confab will provide a forum for Nigerian youth from different demographic populations and other African communities to meet and share information on how to move the country forward through empowering the youth and the society at large; the importance of political and social entrepreneurship and the third world countries, thereby saving the next through political and social entrepreneurship.
“We are very excited about this conference because we are bringing together dynamic and diverse individuals from different parts of the country to hold the private and public sectors socially accountable in the communities in which they do business,” the organisers explained in a statement.
It added that the conference would be a window for operators in the oil and gas companies, banking, media and private business sectors to share their personal, business and professional experiences; exchange ideas, encourage partnership relations and empower those in attendance, particularly the youth towards gaining knowledge, skills and relationship to make a difference in their communities through service, volunteerism and entrepreneurship.
The group maintained that it was through positive mindset change, active engagement in civic responsibility and commitment by the youths to their communities that the better Nigeria envisioned by President Muhammadu Buhari’s government emerge.
“It is focused on the issues of youths, men and women in leadership across various sectors including business, politics, education, healthcare, religion and public service and designed to train, equip and empower individuals to successfully lead, pursue entrepreneurship, build wealth and increase their access to executive leadership positions as well as help build their country with honesty and integrity.
“The conference will equally feature an impressive roster of distinguished presenters and speakers; attendees, general session and panel discussions, networking events sessions geared toward young entrepreneurs, business aspirants and WETATi-Anne Reese Scholarship and Awards Banquet that would recognize trailblazers, emerging leaders,” the organisers added.
Unilever and Multichoice Nigeria have launched a joint campaign tagged in an effort to provide a platform whereby youth can express themselve and show to the world what they can offer.
During the launch at University of Lagos, the Brand Manager, Rexima, Unilever, Mrs. Shadiat Shoyombo said the programme, tagged We Care was unveiled with the aim of fuelling the passion of the student towards achievable goals.
She said: “Our partnership with Multichoice on activation of this campaign is to help promote lives of the youth. We realise many youth are talented and they needed assistance to be able to achieve their aim, goal and aspirations. Our aim is to give the youth platform where they can utilize their potential, where they can be useful in times of their interest, career wise, entertainment, comedy. We are going to all tertiary institutions such as universities, polytechnics and colleges in other to tell them that we care. “
She said the campaign has touched 16 schools so far. “University of Lagos is the 17th of the schools. Also, the most important return investment for us is the future of the student and we believe we are investing in their future. We will be happy to see that in the next few years, those students will be part of Unilever and Multichoice, to see them as star, and our brand,” she added.
The Sale Supervisor, MultiChoice, Nigeria, Mr. Oluwaseun King also said the campaign is meant to bring out the passion of the youth and empower them through the initiative. “It is also meant to prepare them for the labour market. Most of the students want to graduate and wait for the government to provide jobs for them. We notice that and introduced canvasser scheme where they can learn, make gains for themselves through our product given to them to sell on the social media. The aim is to make you financially stable and bring out the creativity in you,” he said.
President of Chocolate City Group, Audu Maikori, has an axe to grind with the President Muhammmadu Buhari-led adiminstration. The former boss of Chocolate City group recently made his thoughts known on the new ministerial list, especially as regards the age of those who made the cut.
He took to his Twitter handle on Tuesday to vent; “Instead of my juniors and my age mates getting nominated for ministerial roles it’s their fathers that are being nominated … #Relegation.
“You see the reason why they keep us tagged as ‘youth’ is to justify their long stay in power. We cannot be ‘Youth’ forever,” he posted.
Maikori was recently announced as one of the judges for a new social entrepreneur competition tagged The Venture. Confirming the contract, he stated; “if you are a social entrepreneur The Venture competition should interest you. I will be leading a panel of judges at the forthcoming competition brought to you by Chivas Regal.”
According to Maikori, one winner will be selected to represent Nigeria on the global stage which will have 27 other finalists from 27 countries around the world. The grand prize for the competition of one million US dollars ($1 million) will help the winner invest.
Organisers of The Venture say that the competition is created to inspire, discover and reward those who believe that business can be a force for good.
A statement from the organisers reads; “With $1Million in funding and expert support, The Venture will enable a new generation of social entrepreneurs to create positive change. If you have a business that makes the world better and the ambition to match, it’s time to step forward.”
It is that time of the year again when we do a recap of our achievements or otherwise as a nation. A nation that came to be not as a result of necessity and need of the people but because of the egocentric delusion of colonial masters who wanted a wider dominance and control of a vast area of land and people.
As is the norm, government at all levels have rolled out the drums to celebrate their achievements even though many of them are certain that they have failed in their mandate to deliver the dividends of democracy to the people.
It is that time of the year when sycophants take to the media to sing praises of those at the corridors of power; their benefactors. These set of people, rather than allow the masses to heap praises on their bosses, are skeptical of what the people would say, hence their taking to blow their benefactors’ trumpet themselves.
Over the years, however, Nigerians have become accustomed to these empty praises that lack the necessary ingredient of believability. The fanfare, pomp and joy that ought to greet a day like this has waned down into mere rituals that people only look forward to the work free days rather than the celebration of independence itself.
These days, people are quick to point out that there is rarely anything to celebrate. Many a citizen has given up on the Nigerian state. Many now strive for survival and care less about the emancipation of the country from the various challenges besetting it.
Sadly, successive governments have not helped to reshape the thinking of its citizens. People now look for various ways to leave the country, legitimately or illegitimately. The situation is appalling. The Nigerian situation is indeed a startling paradox. In spite of a robust endowment in natural and human resources, the level of poverty of her people stands in sharp contrast to the country’s vast wealth. The rich continue to accumulate more wealth at the expense of the poor whom they exploit and take the little that they have.
The youth, the acclaimed leaders of tomorrow, have become pawns in the hands of the ruling elites. Even as they continue to wait for their tomorrow to come that seems to be more of a mirage than a reality, they need to survive and the political elites use them to feather their nests.
Fifty-five years after independence, there is still no place for the Nigerian youth. The only place for them currently is the streets where they continue to roam in search of definition for their lives. The most daring and less ethical of them find alternatives in acts that are at variance with the Nigeria project and constitute a nuisance and a threat to the peace of the nation.
Perhaps, the economist, Thomas Robert Malthus was referring to Nigeria when he noted that population will continue to increase at a geometric rate without a corresponding increase in economic growth if necessary precautions are not taken to control procreation. True to it, indiscriminate child birth has continued to increase the number of youths without the necessary skills needed to subsist in a society where less attention has been paid to them.
For more than five decades, Nigeria still does not have legislation in place to control child birth. Parents give birth to children indiscriminately and allow the children to fend for themselves as they do not have any meaningful employment to take care of their large family. In most cases, the first child bears the brunt of the neglect of their younger ones. They are left to cater for their own needs as well as that of their younger ones. The child thus becomes a bread winner without a well-paying job while the parents are busy in their task of procreation.
Thus, at 55, it is obvious that Nigeria has yet to find direction. Without an enforceable blueprint, the task of nation building with due consideration for the role of the youths and the relinquishing of power to youths and those young at heart will continue to elude Nigeria. A chronicle of the roles that the youths have played since the attainment of independence and the challenges that have plagued the country since 1960 should have made pundits to believe in the youths.
Quite a number of Nigeria military rulers were youths at the time they assumed power and some of their efforts were commendable at the time. It was Gowon who ensured that the Nigerian state still exist as it is today. The advent of the 4th republic in 1999 brought a lot of hope that reprieve had finally come the way of its citizens. Sixteen years down the line, the much desired reprieve is still elusive.
The level of youth participation in policy making and in both the economic and social issues is perhaps a better standard of comparison for the measurement of the growth of a nation. And if we apply such to Nigeria presently, it is obvious that 55 years since the attainment of independence, we are still very far from our Eldorado. Thus, the older generation is skeptical of the abilities of the present day youth.
Truth is, 55 years after independence, the youths themselves have lost hope in themselves. Quite a number of the youths now see one another as second fiddle, fit only to serve under somebody hence there is the need for value reorientation. What the youths of today can do in the area of value reorientation is to champion the cause of changing the mindset of, first and foremost, themselves and then that of their friends, colleagues, associates, family members. This is expedient because there are quite a large number of youths who have lost hope in the Nigeria project and whose consciousness needs to be reawakened on this critical aspect.
Also, the neglect of youths has led many of them to seek greener pastures outside the shores of the country, countries, some of which, for all intent and purposes, cannot be compared to Nigeria in terms of basic amenities. Yet, our youths abound in these places.
There is the need to come back home and contribute to nation building. At 55 years, it is high time we took what belongs to us legitimately and stop the exportation of our best brains abroad to develop other countries at the expense of our dear fatherland. In essence, the challenge of brain drain that is currently inherent in Nigeria can be tackled and solved by the youths themselves.
Perhaps a key issue for the youths of Nigeria at the country’s ripe age of 55 years is to take to vocations that they are skilled in. White collar jobs are rarely available and those at the corridors of power are always intent on giving the available ones to friends and relatives. Hence, it is time that youths of this dispensation took to entrepreneurship. If successive leaders have chosen to toe the path of neglecting the youths, the brain box of the future, then we must not neglect ourselves or the generation that would come after us.
At 55, it is time for us to think outside the box and proffer bold solutions to our own problems. If the older generations, who are supposed to be the hawks to catch chickens for us, have failed to do so, then we must learn to catch our own chickens. The best time is now. Happy birthday Nigeria!
Philip is a graduate of Delta State University, Abraka
The Institute of Science and Technology, Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, has launched some innovative, practical job creation schemes designed to tackle acute youth unemployment and insecurity in Africa.
The schemes are TeachFirst Solutions (TFS), Public-Private Partnership Job Creation Solutions (PPPJCS), and Youth Engagement and Entrepreneurial Training Solutions (YEETS).
TFS is aimed at African governments experiencing unemployment among their university graduates in maths, science and technology fields, while the PPPJCS is aimed at both governments and private sector organisations and is, particularly, useful for addressing unemployment among educated or literate young people. The latter scheme is also designed to provide high technical skills to young people as well as aid workplace productivity. The third scheme, YEETS, is aimed at governments experiencing high unemployment among their artisans or low skill people. It is particularly useful in dealing with challenges pose by youth violence, kidnapping and insecurity.
In all the three schemes, the Centre for Youth Employment and Job Creation at the Institute of Science and Technology will design and write-up the scheme and train people who are to implement them. Each scheme, which comes with built-in review, monitoring, research and evaluation – all designed to guarantee results and assure quality, guarantees jobs and training places for the unemployed young persons.
On the innovations, James Ogunleye, professor of innovation and enterprise and Deputy Rector at the Institute, said: “A significant reason for the current high rate of youth joblessness in Africa is a virtual absence of interactions between education and the labour markets. Be that as it may, what is missing between the youth and employment is innovation”. According to him: “the Institute of Science and Technology solutions are both strategies to prevent and actions to address youth unemployment, kidnapping, gang violence and general insecurity anywhere in Africa”.
The Institute of Science and Technology is a new interdisciplinary research-led school dedicated to applied research and education in science and technology.
Its main objective is to empower our generation and contribute to nation-building by helping to uplift the progress in business, science and technology and to undertake cutting-edge research that will inform policy and development in Nigeria, Africa and the world at large.
