2012 Youth Week: MDAs Take Stock Of Youth Devt
The yearly August 12 United Nations’ (UN) International Youth Day is dedicated to efforts the world over to enhance global society. It also aims at promoting ways engaging youths at all levels to become more actively involved in making positive contributions to their communities as well as encourage their participation in policy development and implementation.
It is a time when, in the developed world, youth successes, their accomplishments in their community or in the country at large are celebrated.The week is usually filled with several activities such as recreation, drama, sport, dance, civic engagement, art, volunteerism or leadership roles. The Youth Week is a time to honour their involvement in their country’s socio-economic development.
The theme for this year’s International Youth Day, “Building a Better World: Partnering with Youth,” point to a global call to action for young men and women, as well as governments, to develop and engage in partnerships with and for youth towards building a better world.
But in Nigeria, because of the Muslim Ramadan fasting that fell within the same month, activities for the celebration were shifted to August 23 and 24 so as to enable the participation of all Nigerian youths.
The activities earmarked for the celebration by the Youth Ministry gave the participants at the occasion opportunity to deliberate on government policies and programmes for the youth and how well the government could and should partner with the youth for a better Nigeria. Ministers of Finance, Trade and Investment, and Agriculture as well as other agencies such as SMEDAN, NYSC, Bank of Industry and others were invited to give account of their policy implementation strategies as they affect the youth in their offices within the last one year.
Minister of Youth Development, Inuwa Abdul-kadir, in his opening speech at the ceremony said that it was an opportunity for the government to renew its resolve and commitment to creating enabling environment for the youth to realise their dreams and aspirations.
He, therefore, charged the MDAs present to state policies and programmes in their domain that have direct impact on the youth population.
Revealing the plan of his own ministry Abdul-kadir said his administration was using the 2012 youth week to take stock of the progress made during the decade of the youth which began on August 12, 2011 and added that the action plan of each MDA as presented during the policy review section would be compiled as evidence to guide youth related policies of government and would also be used to assess the performance of each annually.
He assured the youth on government’s preparedness and commitment to consolidate on all efforts geared towards capacity building and improving on their living standard to enable them compete favourably with their counterparts elsewhere in the world.
But the question on the mind of most youth at the occasion when reacting to the theme of the celebration was the model of partnership that should exist between the youth and the government.
According to the lead speaker, executive director of Youngsters Development Initiative, Mr. Kingsley Bangwell, for a partnership with youth to work, both partners must share common interest, initiate and sustain communication on shared interest and future goal, recognise the strategic contribution of each partner and define roles, work together in planning, implementation and evaluation, funding and building youth capacity much of which he said was missing in Nigeria.
Bangwell, called on the FG to substantiate its partnership with the youth of Nigeria by vigorously addressing the problem of unemployment and creating enabling environment for the youth to develop their potentials and said that youths should be seen as partners in progress.
He assured the federal government that the youth were ready and eager to work with government to improve the country.
“The onus now lies on the Ministry of Youth development to model an adult /youth partnership,” he counseled.
The Special Assistant to the President on Youth and Student Matters, Comrade Imagwe Gabriel Jude said that it was the responsibility of Nigerian youth to redeem the nation from its present state while also urging them to be united and bring their potentials together in order to chart a new course for the country on security.
Giving account of its agencies, both director Generals of National Directorate of Employment (NDE) and the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) explained how their agencies’ policies have been contributing to youth development and how youth could take advantage of the various opportunities provided by the agencies’ programmes to enhance their lot.
The Minister of Finance and the coordinating minister of the economy, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, who was presented by a director in the ministry, Mr Peter said that the YOUWIN and SURE programmes of the FG was targeted at creating a social safety net for the youth and building their potentials to be able to contribute to the growth of the economy. The Minister of State, Trade and Investment, Mr Samuel Ortom said that the objective and activities of his ministry were all targeted at employment generation for especially the youth even as he encouraged the youth with investment partners to come as they would receive attention.
The Chairman, House Committee on Youth Development and Women Affairs, Hon Mudasiru Kamil Akinlabi, urged Nigerian youth to be united even as he chronicled the potentials of a united Nigeria youth. He also railed on the Youth Council of Nigeria over its inability to resolve its differences and work to project the constituency they represent in good light. He therefore counsels them to resolve their differences and speak with one voice.
Stating the position of the Nigeria youth, the chairman of the National Youth Council of Nigeria transition committee, Comrade Olawale James Ajani, lamented the plight of young people around the country especially the disadvantage ones and called on the government at all levels to forge meaningful partnerships with young people and youth organisations as a collective. He said that concerted effort on the part of all stakeholders was needed to respond to the pressing global challenges faced by young people, as partnering is key to harnessing such efforts.
Partnerships, he emphasised, could increase opportunities for success by leveraging comparative advantages, resources, shared interests and diversity to enhance the impact of each individual partner’s efforts.
The government may be doing its best currently on youth development and empowerment but that seems not to be enough in the light of the huge challenges Nigerian youth are faced with. The government still needs to invest more on the youth while partnering with them to harness their potentials and resourcefulness for national development.
Political leaders and policy makers should integrate the youth in the political processes to ensure a smooth and sustainable power transition while making them part of the solutions to the problems of the nation.
Also policies that would create jobs and empower an average Nigerian should be enacted while exploring other channels of economic growth other than crude oil.
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