The Nation Newspaper

Tag: youths

  • ‘How youths can break new grounds’

    ‘How youths can break new grounds’

    A former Managing Director, Guinness PLC, Otunba Seni Adetu has charged the youth on the need to develop unexplored mechanisms of surmounting challenges of economic restiveness in order to attain excellence.

    He said the pursuit of professional or business excellence without using unscrupulous means was possible if the youths could carefully identify the opportunities lying between the uptight economic situations.

    The founder and Chief Executive Officer, Algorithm Media Limited who spoke on Sunday in Lagos on Excelling Against all Odds: the Christian Youth Perspective at the special edition of the Success Gate Christian Foundation Program (SGCF) of the Cherubim and Seraphim Movement Church Youth Chapel, said quality opportunities abound in the field of technology and digitization, which has dominated the operation of business activities.

    The forum was an integral part of the programmes earmarked for the celebration of the 30th anniversary of the Youth wing of the church.

    To break new grounds, he said, was directly proportional to identifying the different supply gaps existing socially and economically and inventing improved solutions that could the drive needed value.

    According to him, young entrepreneurs must be purposeful in the business terrain they choose to explore as inconsistency of efforts, uncalculated risk taking and pursuit of non-profitable passion were could flaw the strive for breakthrough.

    “You need to focus on what you can change and not areas you find difficult to explore. Focus and consistency are very crucial to making a breakthrough. In fact, as part of excelling, there are be times you need to step back and make deep self-reflection on the necessary knowledge you require to improve your enterprise,” he said.

    Lagos State Commissioner for Youths and Social Development, Mrs. Uzamat Akinbile-Yusuf described the discourse as appropriate in view of the ravaging impacts of increased unemployment and economic downturn on youth and the society at large.

    She noted that with reliance on the supreme capabilities of God, youths can excel. Represented by Mr Rotimi Ogbaro, she assured that the present administration in Lagos State under the leadership of Governor AkinwunmiAmbode will continue to support and create enabling environment for organisations whose activities are geared towards developing the potentials of the youths.

    The General Leader of the church who set the tone for the programme, Prophet Sunday Korode  said foundation had continually provided a viable platform for motivating and inspiring youth for attainment of excellence in all facets of life.

    He said: “It seems appallingly glaring that in this part of the world, the odds are stacked against the youth in the achievement of excellence. The availability and access to basic needs of multiplies the hurdles which the average youth must face in the pursuit for the best. Bureaucracy and institutional barriers further worsens an already dreadful situation. This, notwithstanding, we find the youth, who have despite the numerous challenges excelled in their endeavors.”

    The Youth Fellowship Shepherd, Oluseyi Comer said efforts in the direction of realising the total man is the Success Gate, which has assisted greatly in motivating and driving youth to make the best of their talents and enduring fruit.

    He said: “ Our determination to continue to build the church of our dreams, we commenced with the rebranding for the Youth Fellowship in preparation for the 30th year Anniversary, with the emergence of a new set of core values, vision, mission and slogan. The odds which stand in the way of many young people in the quest for excellence seem increasingly challenging and insurmountable but this notwithstanding is our duty and indeed a biblical mandate that we excel in all our undertakings.”

  • 100 Ifako-Ijaye youths to get ICT training

    The lawmaker representing Ifako-Ijaye II constituency at the Lagos State House of Assembly, Makinde Rasheed Lanre, has pledged to bankroll Information and Communications Technology (ICT) training for 100 youths in his constituency.

    Makinde told reporters on Monday that the beneficiaries will learn Computer Appreciation & Microsoft Office; Desktop Publishing; Graphics Design and Website Designing & Development.

    “Plans have been concluded to give about 100 youths of my constituency the benefit of comprehensive ICT courses. Many people have done computer trainings in the past but on a surface level, I want to make mine different, from the courses and model of trainings.

    “Capable hands have been recruited to do all of this. Before June next year we would have gotten close to 500 beneficiaries who can boast of using their certificate to seek for employment. I will assist them to also be entrepreneurs in the ICT world.”

    The training which is scheduled to commence in the second week of September, will draw beneficiaries from youth groups, community, political, traditional, religious institutions among others.

  • Who said Nigerian youths are unemployable?

    Who said Nigerian youths are unemployable?

    Mary Mcleod Bethune once said: “We have powerful potentials in our youths, and we must have the courage to change old ideas and practices so that we may direct their power toward good ends”.

    There is no denial that Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa with one of the largest populations of young people in the world, having about 33,652,424 members with a lot of innate potentials and resources. Unfortunately, they have been described paradoxically as a ‘demographic majority’ and a ‘resource minority’ in the country.

    They’re often regarded as unproductive, lazy and useless to the economy, and this assertion has lingered for so long that the youth are beginning to believe they are unproductive, unreliable and straight up lazy fellows.

    The advent of technological innovations and advancements in the 21st century has been blamed by several researchers, scholars, schools of thoughts, as the primary cause of the unproductivity and unemployability of an average Nigerian youth.

    Lots of scholarly articles and journals have been published on how Nigerian youth are unemployable, unproductive and incapacitated in the country and people hardly criticize or take a stand against these works because they believe the points are valid and the assertion is true, but contrary to popular belief, this is very wrong!

    In furtherance, a popular adage–you can’t put new wines in old bottle. The youth are the new wine of the society and they are always crop-fitted into the old bottles of the Nigerian Educational system and at the end of the day, they still take the blame for their unproductivity and ineptitude.

    According to statistics from the British Council, since 2002, the number of Nigerians being educated in the UK increased by over 75% and that figure was generated in 2010. Thus, it can be expected that the percentage is higher given the continued dilapidation of the country’s education system.

    Most of these young people running away from the country have become successful in their diverse fields abroad. So, who is to blame?

    The most recent Census Bureau study reveals that African immigrants have the most success in the American higher education system Nigerians appear to be especially, successful when it comes to attaining advanced degrees. The data shows that 17% of all Nigerians in the country have a master’s degree, and 4% have a doctorate. To put that in perspective, the same data reveals that only 8%of native-born whites hold master’s degrees, and 1% have earned doctorates.

    Why are our youth abroad doing so well? If Nigerian youth are truly unproductive, unemployable and lazy, how are they able to compete favourably with their counterparts abroad when they get there?

    They’re perceived to be unemployable because the nation is deplorable! Let’s take a look at the number of graduates poured into the labour market every year, Over 500,000! All these people go into the labour market in search of jobs, and quite a good number of them graduated with fairly good grades.

    What then is the problem? They blame it on lack of skills and talents, when they hardly made provisions for skill acquisitions in their educational system.
    They don’t know because they were not taught!

    The youth are agile, easily adapt to situations and are always ready to proffer solutions when need be. They have greater mental strength than their predecessors; they’re seen in most sectors of the economy using their technological, communication and marketing skills to rebuild the broken walls of our economy

    The youths are the brains behind the technological progress in Nigeria. They are the cyber Lords; the political activists and campaign managers, the industrial labourers, the marketing managers, etcetera, of the nation yet they’re called unemployable!

    They’re found in almost every sector; some of them don’t have a good training base and are subjected to learning these skills in a few months – what should have been incorporated in the school’s curriculum.

    Many Nigerian youths are grounded in different skills acquired through apprenticeship, education, observation and teaching which does not take very long and they become professionals at it.

    When harnessed, this population brings into life, goods that satisfy everyday needs although most times, they lack good manufacturing equipment for mass production.

    It can be deduced that the problem of the so-called unemployability of Nigerian youths lies not with the youth, but the leadership of the country. Perhaps they don’t want tomorrow to have leaders.

    Consequently, former President Olusegun Obasanjo has said it all, saying: “the youths constitute Nigeria’s only hope for a real future, if we want a real future, we should never look down on our youth”.

  • Ekiti youths oppose adoption of Fayose’s deputy

    Ekiti youths oppose adoption of Fayose’s deputy

    •Olusola: nothing wrong with my adoption

    Some youths in Ekiti East Local Government Area of Ekiti State have said they will resist the alleged imposition of deputy governor, Prof. Kolapo Olusola, on the electorate.

    Rising from a meeting on Saturday at Omuo-Ekiti, headquarters of the local government area, the youth condemned the adoption of Olusola as the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) “sole candidate”.

    They said the plan was masterminded by Governor Ayo Fayose.

    Acting under the aegis of Ekiti East Youth Forum (EEYF), the group called for the conduct of a free, fair and transparent primary in which all aspirants would participate and eligible delegates allowed to elect a candidate of their choice.

    Ekiti East is the home base of another PDP governorship aspirant and Senate Deputy Minority Whip Biodun Olujimi.

    The senator has fallen out of favours with Fayose over her governorship ambition.

    In a statement after the meeting, EEYF President Joel Rotimi and its Secretary, Oluwatimilehin Stephen, said the decision by a section of the PDP to adopt Olusola among several other aspirants was against the principle of fairness and justice.

    The statement urged the national leadership of the PDP to intervene in the matter.

    It said the crisis thrown up by the “surreptitious adoption” was capable of damaging the chances of the party in the 2018 governorship poll.

    The statement reads: “The purported adoption of Olusola, even before the party releases its guidelines and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) lifts the ban on political campaign, was a pure charade and illegal. It will not stand.

    “The action was masterminded by Governor Fayose to cover up his illegalities. It is a ploy to continue to rule Ekiti because he knows that the deputy governor is weak.

    “It was unfortunate that Governor Fayose, who singlehandedly fought against consensus, is now imposing a candidate.

    “We commend leaders, like Senator (Biodun) Olujimi, representing Ekiti South Senatorial District at the National Assembly, for opposing the move and we urge her to take steps to stop the illegal action.”

    The adopted sole candidate, Prof. Olusola, has said he was not afraid of going into a primary election with other aspirants, expressing confidence of winning the party’s ticket at a shadow poll.

  • Youths chide Nwoye’s critics

    Youths chide Nwoye’s critics

    Anambra North youths have flayed critics of Dr. Tony Nwoye, the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the forthcoming governorship election.

    At a meeting in Aguleri, the youths deliberated on the emergence of the governorship candidates of the major political parties.

    The leader of the youths, Comrade Tony Obiora Okafor, said:

    “We are using this opportunity to tell the people peddling the rumours of who is sponsoring Dr. Nwoye their claim is unfounded and is being peddled by faceless people he defeated in the election, we welcomed Dr Tony Nwoye’s  candidacy as the governorship flag bearer of APC) in the forthcoming Anambra governorship election.

    “We also totally condemn some group of people urging the party, APC to reject Dr. Nwoye, they are faceless, disgruntled boot lickers of unnamed Abuja based cabal in the state, it is also the handiwork of Dr. Nwoye’s enemies who are afraid and envious of his grassroots popularity and acceptance throughout the state.

    “It will be counterproductive for APC to drop Dy Nwoye after he has won the party delegates election that made him the candidate for the election, we will work against anybody that will be presented by the party if the APC leadership listens to these enemies of the party who does not want its growth in Anambra state, they should, therefore, be ignored.”

  • Kwara youths decry dissolution of PDP executives

    Kwara State Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) youths have criticised the dissolution of the State Executive Committee by the Ahmed Makarfi-led National Caretaker Committee.

    The youths are also demanding for the restoration of the Akogun Iyiola Oyedepo –led executive.

    The state executive was disbanded at the recent PDP national convention.

    The aggrieved youths alleged that the dissolution of the executive was suspicious and a collusion between Makarfi and certain politicians to weaken opposition in Kwara.

    Prior to the dissolution of the executive of the party in Kwara, both Akogun Iyiola Oyedepo and Sunday Fagbemi battled for the control of the leadership of the party with their two groups.

    Led by the former factional assistant publicity secretary of the party in the state, Oluwafemi Yusuf, the aggrieved youths insisted that the dissolution was in bad faith and asked the national leadership of the PDP to reverse its decision, warning that there was no justification for such.

    They argued that the state congress, which re-elected Oyedepo in May 10, last year, was successfully conducted in the presence of delegation from the National Secretariat of the party, officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission and security agents in line with electoral law.

    The youths said: “We the concerned Kwara PDP Youths received the news of dissolution of Kwara State PDP Exco led by Akogun Iyiola Oyedepo with great shock and bemusement because there was no justification for such dissolution.

  • Emir advocates agric programmes for youths

    The Emir of Minna, Alhaji Umar Bahago, said yesterday that  engaging youths in agriculture and agricultural entrepreneurship would  minimise agitations across the country.

    Bahago in his Eid-el-Kabir message in Minna, said that when the youths engage in meaningful ventures to earn a good living, there would be less crime and agitations across the country.

    He appealed to the three tiers of government to initiate sustainable agricultural programmes.

    “Our teeming youths should be engaged in meaningful ventures such as the dry and wet season farming to create jobs, wealth and to produce enough food,” he said.

    “It will be an understatement to talk on improvement in the prices of farm produce this year, especially that of yam that has hit the international market.

    “The youths of Minna Emirate and the country at large should seize this golden opportunity in going back to the farm as an alternative to unemployment and restiveness,’’ he said.

    He enjoined the youths to form cooperatives to access the Anchor Borrowers Programme and other agricultural intervention programmes of the Federal Government in order to engage in farming.

    The emir, however, called on the people of Minna Emirate and other Nigerians to live peacefully irrespective of tribe and religion in order to ensure development.

    He said that the multi-ethno religious nature of the country should be used to develop the country and not to as a divisive instrument.

  • ‘There’s need to attract youths to agric’

    There are business opportunities for youths in agriculture and agribusiness, speakers at the Nigeria Agriculture Awards (NAA) project and essay competition, have said.

    At  the event, which held in Lagos, they said agriculture in other parts of the world is boosted by high-tech technology.

    They noted that the elderly have played an important role in making agriculture Nigeria’s highest earner; that it is now the turn of the youth to  comply with modern trends by using the latest  technology.

    Innovative developments, such as programming, use of high-yielding varieties, application of input and weather forecast compliance, they said, will boost agric.

    According to the Chief Executive Officer, AgroNigeria, Richard-Mark Mbaram,  this is the time for the youth to rise and take their place in the sector.

    He said his organisation was encouraging youths to produce mobile and web-based applications and tools that would help to improve agriculture.

    He praised NAA for its support to the youth , adding that they are key to the value chain.

    He said: “When you have the bulk of farmers and players in the agricultural space at around the age of 60, who  are on their way out, then you have got a challenge on your hand. Yet, you have to feed more people and you realise you have to do something very desperate and here we are desensitising them from joining the agricultural space. We, therefore, decided that we need to bring in a component that has to do with youths.

    “We said we would have two categories – tertiary and secondary. For the tertiary category, we told them to bring themselves into maximum of three by identifying a problem area in agriculture space and proffer solutions to it and give us the timeline their intervention will make headway in the sector. We turned to secondary schools and said, ‘we want you to imaging yourself as the Minister of Agriculture; write an essay and tell us what you would do to develop the sector’ and we got wonderful ideas from these youths.”

    Mbaram commended this year’s World Food Prize Winner, Dr. Akinwunmi Adesina, former Agric minister and president of African Development Bank (AfDB), for his support to NAA .

    Chief Risk Officer, Global Operations, Triton Group, Anil Sodani, said youth involvement in agro-industrial development would foster sustainable economic growth and create jobs.

    Sodani, who expressed the belief that agriculture could lead to huge returns for young people, urged stakeholders and the government to adopt a more systematic approach to support more youths to run their own farms and agribusinesses.

    He challenged governments and financial institutions to prioritise this support through policies, funding and programming — an investment he said will accelerate agricultural growth while addressing food security.

    The Senior Project Manager, Postharvest Loss Alliance for Nutrition (PLAN), Nigeria, Dr. Augustine Okoruwa, highlighted the role of youths in reducing post-harvest losses. The losses represent between  40 and 60 per cent of total harvest.

    He listed poor transportation, drying, storage, pest infestation, disease, and poor market access as the causes.

    He said his organisation was making a headway in its bid to  reduce the losses by  promoting proper packing and processing of perishable  produce among  farmers.

    As part of efforts to proffer solutions to the challenges in the sector, the Central Committee of the NAA  planned the competition to attract younger generation.

    The contest had as theme, “Building a crop of young YoungAgropreneurs,” was aimed at involving youths who would contribute to the development of the agricultural sector.

    Awards were presented to young innovators from various institutions.  Cash awards were presented to three groups that emerged winners in the tertiary category as well as to two students from different schools that emerged winners in the secondary school category.

    In the tertiary category, the overall winner won a star prize of N1 million, second winner N500, 000 while the third winner got N250, 000.

    In the secondary school category, the first prize winner went home with N250, 000 while the second best N150, 000.

    Under the NAA Youth Project Competition category, the winner was Team Smart Farms. The team included Mamud Abdulrasaq, BalogunIdris Abayomi and Yusuf YusufFalawiyo. The  first runner-up was Team Digital. It consists  Ogunbiyi Yusuf Gbenga, Salawu Saheed, and Abiodun Ogundijo.The  second runner-up  was Team UNILAG. The team comprises  AdohTobechukwu, Moses Adeyemo Seun and Bamidele Wilson.

    The winner under the NAA Essay Competition category was Ndebilite Amarachi, while the first runner-up was MarvellousAdelaja.

    MarvellousAdelaja, an SSS 1 student of Jextoban Secondary School, said “My mom encouraged me to go for this competition, as she told me that the money from her catfish business was used to pay my JSS 1 school fees. Moreover, after I was notified as the second winner of this competition, I made up my mind to be an agricultural blogger.”The essay and project competition positively attracted a sizeable number of youths from different parts of the country and was sponsored by Triton Group.

  • Drug abuse among our youths

    Sir: It is a growing cause for concern and indeed very worrisome the way juveniles are involved in drug abuse and the lure in which a great percentage of the youthful population gravitates towards it. Though drug abuse is not a new phenomenon in our clime, what is new is the way our secondary school students of both sexes are engaged in it.

    These brash adventurers now play with various narcotic and psychotropic substances like cocaine, heroin, cannabis, codeine cough syrup, tramadol, amphetamine etc with reckless abandon. While the peer groups’ influence may be the driving force behind the surge, the collapse of both the societal and family value system may have laid the foundation. Take for instance the rising cases of broken homes resulting in single parentage and socio-economic imperatives which make both parents to take working careers with little or no sufficient time for their children or wards.

    Also, prevalent poverty in the land, disorientation arising from stark economic realities facing the nation, protracted universities’ strikes which render many minds idle and therefore susceptible to all kinds of manipulations and graduates which are  churned out of universities and are left unemployed with no social support system.

    Recent reports from NDLEA shows that youth involvement in drugs abuse particularly in North-west is quite alarming as quite a large number of young people from 15 to 35 years of both sexes use drugs either as stimulant or depressant purposes where even corrosive substances like super glue, aerosol, gasoline, correcting fluid or even organic solvents such as urine, toilets, dirty smelling gutters could be inhaled to achieve a particular result.

    While the North-west is said to have the highest cases of drug abuse, the South-west tops the list of areas with largest cultivation of illicit weeds and the South-east records the most traffickers of hard drugs. The reports also revealed that Nigeria holds the highest record of people serving various jail terms across the globe for drug-related offences.

    Suffice it to add that the recent upsurge in criminal activities like rape, cultism, armed robbery, militancy, insurgency, banditry and communal clashes now pervasive in the society are direct corollary effects of drug abuse.

    This exposure of youths to hard drugs also has negative sociological and psychological implications. For instance experts have said that drug addicts are often found to have a condition called ill-motivational syndrome which vitiate their productive capacities and renders them as liability to their parents and the society.

    These drugs may also have psychological effects which often time result in mental illness like psychosis or even madness. Findings have also linked some terminal diseases like cancer of the lung, kidney and liver and various life-threatening conditions to drug abuse.

    However NDLEA, the agency charged with fighting this obnoxious practice is plagued with paucity of human and material resources which hinder their effective operations. With staff strength of 4900 to cover the whole country and poor budgetary allocation, they may not adequately deliver on their mandates.

    In view of the adverse effects of drug abuse on the nation, the government and non-governmental organizations should intensify anti-drug awareness campaigns especially in our secondary and tertiary institutions while rehabilitation centers should be established in most towns across the country to handle cases of addictions.

    Governments at the three-tier should rise to the occasion and make funds available to wage an effective and a sustained war against this rampantly ravaging malaise.

     

    • Itaobong Offiong Etim,

    Calabar.

  • Expert seeks increased investment in youths

    Expert seeks increased investment in youths

    A leadership development consultant and founder, The YEDA Centre, Mr. Adewale Olamoyegun has urged governments at all levels to provide enabling environment that will help youths to thrive in legitimate fields of human endeavors.

    He advised the youth to refrain from hate speeches and any other activity capable of disrupting the peaceful co-existence of Nigerians.

    Olamoyegun gave this advice in a chat in Lagos to commemorate this year’s International Youth Day, saying that is the only way that youths can become socio-economically useful to themselves and others.

    He said the government should by  now have developed and deploy fresh strategies that would encourage youths to foresee a bright future for themselves and the country rather than a bleak one.

    He said government could achieve this by not only including them in policy formulation and implementation, but creating of job opportunities and also reserving certain important leadership roles, especially on youth-related matters, exclusively for them in the corridors of power.

    “Youths and not the adults know and understand better their challenges and should therefore be allowed to be heard mostly on matter concerning them,” he said.

    Olamoyegun, who is the author of “Leadership Guide for Youths,” also asked government to review the National Youth Service Corps scheme and other government organisedyouth-related programmes plus the school curricula to reflect the current economic realities as obtainable in developed countries.

    The youths, he said, should be equipped with practical knowledge and skills on economic and political issues, peace-building, emotional intelligence, conflict resolution, mentorship and leadership roles and all these will discourage them from allowing politicians to use them for their selfish gains.