Featured, Politics
For several decades, the Nigerian youth had been marginalized and deliberately excluded from governance. Perhaps, this planned national confab may provide the opportunity for their voices and aspirations to be amplified and their demands for changes and inclusivity heard and implemented.
By Goddy Ikeh
IN his 64th Independent anniversary broadcast, President Bola Tinubu announced that the federal government was working to foster national unity and build social harmony and cohesion since the country’s economy can only thrive when there is peace.
And in line with the government’s Renewed Hope Agenda, he assured that the federal government is working to overcome the challenges of the day, while remaining mindful of the next generation “as we seek to galvanize their creative energy towards a better future.”
“We lead today with the future we wish to bequeath to our children in focus, recognizing that we cannot design a future that belongs to them without making them its architects.
“Considering this, I am pleased to announce the gathering of a National Youth Conference. This conference will be a platform to address the diverse challenges and opportunities confronting our young people, who constitute more than 60% of our population. It will provoke meaningful dialogue and empower our young people to participate actively in nation-building. By ensuring that their voices are heard in shaping the policies that impact their lives, we are creating a pathway for a brighter tomorrow,” he said.
President Tinubu therefore announced the 30-day Confab that will, according to him, unite young people nationwide to collaboratively develop solutions to issues such as education, employment, innovation, security, and social justice.
He, however, assured that the modalities of this Confab and selection of delegates will be designed in close consultation with the young people through their representatives.
“Through this confab, it will be our job as leaders to ensure that their aspirations are at the heart of the conference’s deliberations. The government will thoroughly consider and implement the recommendations and outcomes from this forum as we remain resolute in our mission to build a more inclusive, prosperous, and united Nigeria,” he said.
This announcement by President Tinubu did not come as a surprise to many Nigerians since there is sudden wave of global attention on the youth and how to integrate them into the mainstream of governance.
For instance, a recent publication entitled “A Call to Nigerian Youth: What If We Get It Right?
The Once Upon a Future campaign took a positive and hopeful approach, asking the powerful question: “What if we get it right?” In collaboration with award-winning creative agency Droga5, the campaign sought to engage Nigerian youth by encouraging them to imagine a future where global challenges such as climate change, poverty, and digital inequality are addressed through united, forward-thinking action.
According to the publication, Karimot Odebode, an SDG Young Leader from Nigeria, has been vocal about the need for real change in multilateral systems, emphasizing the crucial role of youth in shaping the future. “The future belongs to us, and we have the power to drive the global conversation. The world must listen to the voices of young people, particularly from regions like Africa, where we are most impacted by the decisions made on the global stage,” said Odebode.
According to the report distributed by the African Media Agency, AMA, on behalf of UN Foundation, beyond the traditional methods, this campaign uses compelling visuals, including eye-catching graphics, animations, and video content designed to resonate with Generation Z and young leaders in Nigeria. The campaign will have amplified the voices and aspirations of young people, ensuring their demands for change are heard during the Summit of the Future.
In addition to inspiring participation in the Summit, the campaign encouraged individuals to take small, meaningful actions in their daily lives through the UN’s ActNow platform. Nigerian youth are invited to make choices that contribute to sustainable development — from promoting eco-friendly practices to advocating for inclusivity in their communities.
Perhaps, the Once Upon a Future campaign aligns with these national priorities, calling on Nigeria’s youth to engage in efforts to combat climate change and build a future that is both sustainable and peaceful.
However, the announcement of the 30-day Youth Conference has attracted reactions from stakeholders, especially the way and manner the federal government had set up similar conferences in the past and never implemented the recommendations of such conferences.
For some of the stakeholders, the 30-day Youth Conference may yet be another display of unnecessary waste and throwing money at perceived challenges by the government.
Meanwhile, apart from the planned youth confab, the federal government has recently showcased some of the programmes it has either planned or executed for the youth. According to some officials of the federal government, several youth-centric programmes had been executed to give young people an advantage in the rapidly changing world. “We are implementing, amongst others, the 3 million Technical Talents programme, 3MTT, of the Ministry of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, aimed at building Nigeria’s technical talent backbone.
“We have also enthusiastically implemented the Nigerian Education Loan Fund, NELFUND, which provides cheap loans to our students to pursue their tertiary educational dreams. In addition, later this month, we shall launch The Renewed Hope Labour Employment and Empowerment Programme, LEEP. It is conceived as a comprehensive suite of interventions at job creation by the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment that is aimed at facilitating the creation of 2.5 million jobs, directly and indirectly, on an annual incremental basis whilst simultaneously ensuring the welfare and safety of workers across the country,” the statement by the officials of the federal government said.
The federal government also distributed 2000 Compressed Natural Gas, CNG-powered tricycles to the youth as part of the programmes lined up for the 64th Independent anniversary. According to the federal government, this gesture is part of the commitment by President Tinubu to alleviate the daily struggles of young persons.
Speaking at the ceremony in Abuja, the Minister of Youth Development, Jamila Ibrahim, said that the tricycles would go a long way in easing the transportation challenges faced by citizens across the country.
“In this crucial time of economic reforms, this intervention will serve as a great relief to our people, demonstrating the administration’s dedication to improving the quality of life for young people.
“As we look forward to empowering young people, I must also highlight how the National Youth Investment Fund (NYIF) is geared to support youth entrepreneurs, especially those interested in sustainable mobility and transport businesses,” she said.
According to her, the NYIF will provide the financial backbone for many young innovators to thrive, boosting not only youth employment but also the nation’s economy at large.
“We look forward to collaborating with the Presidential Compressed Natural Gas Initiative, PCNGi, to deliver on the target of 2 million tricycles and other forms of transportation using the CNG initiative. This will be a remarkable step toward achieving Nigeria’s gas transformation agenda,” she said.
For the Minister of State for Youth Development, Ayodele Olawande, the country has both informal and formal young people, and the creation of Ministry of Youths is the best thing that happened to young people in Nigeria. According to him, the collaboration will go a long way in creating employment for young people.
“This initiative will ensure that tricycle riders, who are mostly youths, spend only 20 per cent of what they currently spend on petrol.
“It will improve their profit and generally reduce the cost of transportation,” he said.
In addition, President Tinubu believes that the Youth will propel Nigeria to prosperity, global acclaim.
Celebrating the Nigerian youth on the International Youth Day in August this year, President Tinubu extolled the Nigerian youth for their creative zeal to drive digital adoption, trends and innovation in Nigeria and beyond.
According to Tinubu, in the nation’s youth lies the excellent spirit and pearl of transformation to digitally innovate Nigeria to prosperity and global acclaim. Acknowledging the strides of the youth in diverse spheres, especially in developing billion dollar technologies and innovations to make the world a more prosperous and evolved place, he saluted Nigerian youth for creating legitimate income and pathways for sustainable agriculture through agro-technology.
He said that it was in furtherance of harnessing the creative talents of the youth that his administration launched the Nigeria Youth Investment Fund (NYIF) under the Federal Ministry of Youth Development. “The facility is a N110 billion fund dedicated to empowering the youth in priority sectors to drive sustainable economic growth and development.”
The empowerment programmes, he stated, included the Digital and Creative Enterprises, IDiCE, programme, the 3 million Technical Talents Scheme, the Skill-Up Artisans Programme, SUPA, and the National Youth Talent Export Programme, NATEP. For him, these programmes would empower the nation’s youth and create millions of IT and technical jobs that would make them globally competitive. President Tinubu, however, assured the youth that his administration would make their dreams come alive in a sustainably expanding, inclusive economy.
Despite the good intentions of the federal government on the youth confab, some stakeholders, including the youth are wondering how the representatives of the youth will be selected, the billions of Naira that will go into the organization of the gathering and why the confab should last for 30 days. Some were quick to point to the report of the National Conference held during the administration of Goodluck Jonathan, which is still gathering dust on shelves and the millions of naira spent for the conference.
Another point raised by the stakeholders is the troubling issue of the huge trust deficit between the youth and even other Nigerians and the leaders in the country. This, in particular, can affect the caliber of the youth who will attend the conference, especially when a good number of the youth are still in detention in various prisons across the country for participating in both the #EndSARS protests and the EndBadgovernance protests.
And on how to make effective use of the planned confab, the stakeholders also suggested that the Presidency has to declare total amnesty for all the youth arrested during any form of protests across the country before the commencement of the confab.
They also suggested that the conference should hold at the six geo-political zones and the Federal Capital Territory of Abuja since the challenges and interests of the youth are certainly diverse and unique to each zone. And for the duration of the conference, they also suggested two days for discussions and a day for collation and issuing of the communique. In addition, they suggested that the federal government can set up a special funding agency to support the youth interested in business, agriculture and the high-tech sector. For instance, a special funding unit can be established in the Bank of Industry to support the graduates of the Apprenticeship Scheme that is popular in the South Eastern States and Farm Settlements and animal husbandry in the zones where the schemes are popular and thriving. The other suggestion is reserving and making the local government administration attractive to the youth and it could serve as preparatory political college for them. This can be done through legislation and pegging the age of the participants below 40 years to favour the youth.
Perhaps, the Youth Confab may assist in amplifying the voices and aspirations of the Nigerian youth, promote inclusivity in governance as well as ensure that their demands for change are heard and implemented where necessary.
A.I
Oct. 15, 2024
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