The Nation Newspaper

Tag: youths

  • The squeeze of law and order among youths

    Nowadays, one can hardly read a newspaper without being inundated with various accounts of criminals and devilish activities being perpetrated in our society. The height of this unbecoming higgledy piggledy moral decadence and the squeeze of law and order reached an alarming rate and I feel I should express my opinions as regards the remote and immediate causes and proffer solutions to these ignominious acts.

    Unusual incidence of cult-related stories, rape, murder, robbery, arson and cases of prostitution in particular are prevalent. Yesterday, I read about a case where a family of five was shot to death and put into unruly extinction by a gang of three boys with sophisticated weapons. As if that was not enough, just this morning, we heard of a case where an elderly woman was locked up and raped in a room by four young boys. What can we say about the outrageous, barbaric and uncivilised act by our young ladies who go about having sex with just anything all in the name of money what a shame!

    Besides, the present upsurge in social vices in general is mainly caused by the collapse of traditional values and norms. For instance, over the years, the cherished virtues of chastity and moral purity previously the pride of damsels and their parents have been abandoned just as respect for honest toil has largely given way to the worship of filthy lucre.

    Furthermore, if the economic quagmire in the country is not addressed, then this unbecoming development would be unending battle and moral decadence will assume an alarming proportion. Because mass property lies at the root of the moral decay in the land. Therefore, I want to make bold to say as an antidote that the government should put in place policies that would help elevate the moral standard of the people. In fact, government should pass a bill that provides stiffer penalties for anyone caught in the illicit trade of prostitution and others.

    Finally, efforts must be made by all concerned to open up economic opportunities in the country. Government at all levels should do more than pay lips service for the need to create Jobs for the nations intimidating army of unemployed youths whose idle minds and hands now lend themselves readily to the proverbial use of the devil.

    Omoba O. Purity,

    Etsako East,

    Ogiriga – Okpella,

    Edo Staten.

  • Jonathan’s aide cautions youths

    The Senior Special Assistant to President Goodluck Jonathan on Youths and Student Matters, Jude Imagwe, yesterday cautioned youths against making inflammatory statements about the Federal Government on the social media.

    Imagwe, who received a cross section of Nigerian Youth Group leaders in his office, said youths should make use of the social media for constructive activities rather than things that could derail the transformation agenda of the government.

    He said using abusive words on the President on the social media does not portray youths as responsible.

    “There is no basis for criticising the President. We are bound to protect the integrity of the President as youths. We should desist from selling our conscience,” Imagwe said.

    Addressing youth groups, which included the Southeast Youth Assembly (SEYA), the Youth Success Institute, among others, he said President Jonathan is working hard to make the transformation agenda work.

    SEYA leader Comrade Nwokoro Simon, who lauded the efforts of the Federal Government on the conversion of the Akanu Ibiam Airport to an international one and the award of a contract for the second Niger Bridge, urged the rehabilitation of the Nkalagu Cement Industry.

     

  • Youths to Jonathan: we need jobs

    Youths to Jonathan: we need jobs

    From port-Harcourt, Rivers State capital, a call has gone out to President Goodluck Jonathan to address the issue of joblesssness among youths.

    The call was made by youths themselves, who followed up with a strong case for non-militants among them. They argued that after ex-militants in the Niger Delta were appeased with jobs, non-militant ones equally deserve to be employed.

    The youths made the appeal in a communiqué they issued at the end of their 2013 International youths’ day celebration in the Rivers capital.

    In the nine-point document signed by over 16 different youth groups and associations in the region, the youths said empowering non-violent youths like their militant counterparts would bring about equity, justice and fairness.

    They stated that it would also encourage the non-militant youths to continue to engage in peaceful dialogue with the government in the event of perceived grievances.

    The youths equally appealed to the President not to delegate the appointment of the dissolved principal officers of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), to the governors, saying that it was his statutory responsibility.

    They said in the communique: “Now that the NDDC board has been dissolved, it behoves on Mr. President to appoint principal officers of the commission particularly the MD/CEO, as the provision of the Act 2000 in part iv 12(c), stated that ‘the MD/CEO shall be appointed by the president, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces with the approval of the Senate.”

    The groups also appealed that the incoming MD should be appointed from among the serving staff of the commission, saying that this would help the new boss in quickly taking charge of the commission.

    They said if the new chair were to be appointed from outside, it would take him some time to learn the ropes, as it were, before any meaningful activities could begin.

    They also wanted the headquarters and state offices of the Ministry of Niger Delta to be restructured for effective service delivery, while the office of the Special Adviser (SA) to the President on Niger Delta be expanded and mandated for even distribution of social amenities among states of the region.

    The youths also called for the inclusion of the Nigerian constitution in the primary school curriculum to enable kids get acquainted with the provisions of the constitution.

    Some of the signatories to the document included the National president of Change Initiative Forum, Ambassador Genesis J. Idikibiebuma; Chairman, National Youth Council of Nigeria, Kingsley Adonis Pepple, Niger Delta youths Movement , represented by Tonye Dikibo, and Ijaw Youth Council Kingdom Igin.

     

  • Nasarawa Assembly shut as youths attack lawmakers

    THE Nasarawa State House of Assembly has been shut down indefinitely following yesterday’s attack on the lawmakers by irate youths.

    Speaker Musa Mohammed anoounced the shut-down in Lafia,the state capital.

    He spoke in company of Police Commissioner Shehu Umar.

    The Speaker said the Assembly had alerted security agencies on the impending attack but the youths still found their way into the Assembly complex.

    Mohammed said the Assembly would not sit until the security of the members is guaranteed.

    Umar said the police would bring the attackers to book.

    Hundreds of youths threw stones at the lawmakers after Governor Tanko Al-Makura, appeared before them to honour an invitation.

    The youths reportedly protested the manner of the invitation of the governor to explain the executive’s non-implementation of the lawmakers’ resolutions.

    When the governor tried to pacify them he was rebuffed. Security officials had to fire tear-gas to disperse them.

     

    The governor, who is a memeber of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has a minority in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) – dominated House.

     

  • Youths urged to serve God

    Youths urged to serve God

    It was an awesome worship experience last weekend at the 2013 Youth Concert of the Apostolic Faith Church.

    The concert tagged “the fruitfulness of the righteous” held at the church’s camp city in Igbesa, Ogun State.

    The orchestra choir made up of youths drawn across the country delighted the audience with the violin.

    The District Superintendent of the Apostolic Faith West and Central Africa, Rev Emmanuel Adeniran, urged the church as well as families to manage youths effectively so they don’t derail or fall into trauma.

    He said trauma can be engaged at the family, religious level and governmental level.

    Emphasising the role of the church in curbing the situation, he urged all stakeholders to brace up to the responsibility of providing youths with spiritual, psychological, educational and economic resources to cope with their challenges.

    According to him: “I want to say that all stakeholders should not leave the responsibility to the government alone. The press, teachers, and the parents have a role to play by creating the right environment around so that we eliminate trauma amongst the youth.”

    He urged youths to make use of their God- given talents in singing and playing of instruments.

  • Boko Haram: Fed Govt to rehabilitate 2,000 youths in Yobe, Borno

    The Federal Government said yesterday it will rehabilitate 2,000 youths in Yobe and Borno states to change their mindset from Boko Haram activities.

    The rehabilitation, it said, would later be extended to Adamawa State.

    The Minister of Youth Development Inuwa Abdulkadir said the programme would change the youth from engaging in violent activities, which the Boko Haram sect has been using to wreak havoc on the state for years.

    Abdulkadir spoke yesterday at a ministerial briefing to mark this year’s International Youth Day in Abuja.

    He said there is need to rehabilitate the youth in the North to make them shun acts of violence, which may trigger more crises in the future.

    The minister said Yobe, Borno and Adamawa states were selected as pilot states because of the state of emergency imposed on them by President Goodluck Jonathan.

    Abdulkadir noted that since youths constitute the driving force of the society, there is need to remould them to contribute to the development of the country without engaging in violence.

    On the theme of this year’s celebration: Youth Migration, Moving Development Forward, the minister said most youths migrate from Nigeria to escape persecution or economic hardship, among other reasons.

    “Poverty, crowded and unsanitary living conditions and the challenges of finding decent employment are regular features of youth migration. These are unacceptable,” Abdulkadir said.

    The minister added that the Federal Government would create a conducive environment for youths.

    Abdulkadir attributed the crises rocking the National Youth Council of Nigeria (NYCN) to older persons.

    According to him, such persons have been fomenting trouble to derail the council.

    He warned such persons to desist or face sanctions.

  • TUC chief seeks skills for youths

    TUC chief seeks skills for youths

    ACQUISITION of entrepreneurial skills has been identified as one way of curbing youth vulnerability to HIV/AIDS.

    Towards this end, the Federal Government has been charged to support young men and women to get skills.

    Addressing reporters in Lagos, President, Trade Union Congress (TUC), Comrade Bobboi Bala Kaigama, who advocated the idea, said the government could partner the private sector through funding to train and enhance the business development skills of unemployed youths, many of who are riding commercial motor cycles, driving commercial taxi or roaming the streets in search of jobs to become entrepreneurs.

    He said: ”We believe that if young men and women are economically empowered, it will reduce their vulnerability to HIV/AIDS, make them useful to the economic development of Nigeria.”

    “There is a need to tackle the underlying factors that lead to risk-taking behaviour of the youth in the country, and to incorporate HIV prevention efforts into a wider approach to curbing the high rate of unemployment,” he said.

    According to the TUC’s President , majority of the country’s youths are in the informal sector, where there are few opportunities and are frequently neglected in the national HIV response, partly because they are often hard to reach.

    “We call on the three tiers of government, the federal, states and the local government to launch an initiative targeting young people with an approach that looks beyond traditional way of tackling unemployment, but also creating jobs and making the youths self-employed.

    “The government training programmes targeting young people would help to give young people skills and opportunities to become more self-reliant, and reduce their HIV vulnerability in the country because an idle mind is the devil’s workshop.

    “The government training project would help to realise enormous untapped potentials among the youth in the country, especially with the support of a small loan fund for the youth who have been trained and developed through an acceptable business plan to make them become entrepreneurs,” he said.

  • Youths ground Shell’s facilities in Rivers

    Youths of Oyibo Local Government Area of Rivers State yesterday blocked various oil facilities of the Anglo-Dutch oil company, Shell, at Afam community.

    The youths last year also held peaceful protests to express the failure of the company to fulfil its corporate social responsibility to the local government and its impoverished indigenes.

    Over 300 protesters, as early as 6am, stormed Shell facilities in the areas and blocked them.

    Their leader, Israel Agomuo, alleged that Shell mistreated the youths.

    He blamed their ordeal on the activities of a ‘cabal’ in the company, which does not want their progress and success.

    “We are here carrying out a peaceful protest against the ill-treatment carried out against us by Shell.

    “Shell started oil exploration in Oyibo communities 57 years ago and till date no indigene has been given full employment. We stand to be challenged on these facts.

    “More annoying is the fact that the company has continued to neglect us in the execution of minor jobs, which negates the provision of the local content policy.

    “Oyibo has qualified graduates who can handle any kind of job for the company, even better than some of their workers.”

    “So we maintain our stand that Shell should employ at least 50 indigenes, rehabilitate our dilapidated roads and give us a befitting hospital.”

    He said the protest would continue between 6am and 6pm daily, until the company grants them audience.

  • ‘8.5m youths to enter active labour force by 2015’

    NO fewer than 8.5 million Nigerians are expected to emerge as new entrants into the active labour force by 2015, figures released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) have revealed.

    NBS said the active labour force, which ranges from persons of 15 to 64 years, is the age group of able bodied persons available for paid employment in the country.

    Constitutionally, only persons who have attained 18 years are allowed to seek employment in the country.

    In a statement, the NBS explained that the inclusion of persons, aged 15 was deliberate, especially in view of the need to capture the reality of population growth and to adequately advise the government on the trend.

    According to the projections made in the General Household Survey Report (1999-2011), 92,384,738 out of an estimated Nigerian population of 164,385,56 in 2011 were economically active. This was in contrast to 89,520,095 million who were economically viable in 2010.

    The statistics further showed that while 1,505,997 million Nigerians were newly employed in 2010, the figure doubled in 2011, reaching 2,127,691 in 2011.But the figure of the unemployed indicated that 13,946,515million people were unemployed in 2010, whereas, in 2011, it rose to 16,074,205.

    Those who were employed, the data showed, were 51,224,115 in 2010, but it reduced slightly in the following year (2011) with 51,181,884.

  • Youths apologise to Okorocha for convoy attack

    •N500m trust fund for youths

    Youths from Oguta Local Government Area of Imo State yesterday apologised to Governor Rochas Okorocha for the attack on his convoy.

    The attack was allegedly spearheaded by a Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate in a House of Assembly re-run election.

    Over 1,000 youths stormed the Government House at 10.30am.

    They said their visit was to demonstrate their support for Okorocha and his administration ahead of the June 29 election.

    The leaders of the delegation- Dennis Nwachukwu, Jeff Nwaoha, and Prince Eze Solomon- described the attack as an embarrassment to the people and not Okorocha.

    They described the PDP candidate as a “prodigal son” whose desperation to win the forthcoming election at all cost made him to defy every caution and unleashed attack on the convoy.

    The youths said: “With Oguta benefiting so much from your benevolence, you deserve better treatment than the attack by the PDP candidate and his thugs.”

    They promised to ensure that the candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Walter Uzonwanne, wins the rerun.

    Okorocha praised the youths for their support and reiterated his commitment to sustain the ongoing transformation championed by his administration.

    He appealed to the youths to remain law-abiding even in the face of provocation, adding that the forthcoming election in Oguta should not be seen as a do-or-die affair.

    The governor said any vote cast for the APGA candidate is a vote in support of his administration and for the liberation of Oguta Local Government Area.

    He lamented the level of neglect of the oil producing area by previous PDP administrations.

    Okorocha vowed to ensure that the people are liberated from bondage.

    He said the government planned to launch a N500 million Trust Fund for direct empowerment of youths from Oguta and Ohaji/Egbema, both oil producing areas of the state.