Youth Content In SURE Should Be Preserved – Youth Speaker

JOHN OBA

Hon Abdullahi H. MaiBasira is the Speaker of Nigeria Youth Parliament. In this interview with John Oba, he emphasised the need for the creation of the National Youth Fund to enhance youth empowerment. Excerpt:

What does it take to be a member of the parliament?

The federal government established the parliament in fulfillment of the charter under the Commonwealth. The election is done in the States and one must be within the ages 18 and 35 and must have secondary school education.

What transpired at your last two sittings?

The first was our inaugural sitting, so most of what we discussed was issues of that particular moment and the issues of the new parliament. We were also able to discuss issues relating to unemployment of youths nationwide and we passed a resolution encouraging government to do more to open up opportunities that abound not only in the private sector but also in the public sector; to give all the support that will make businesses thrive in Nigeria so that employment creation opportunities will be greatly enhance for the teeming youth of Nigeria. We also passed a resolution on education because we believe that the future of Nigeria lies in the education of its citizens.

One of the greatest challenges facing the youth today is that of competence. You may have a number of graduates but the level may not be at per with what is obtainable outside the country. That actually limits their capacity. Another issue is unemployment, this is serious among the youth, also the prevalence of HIV/AIDS and of course the current issue of the time is security of the nation, the youth are beginning to get frightened and this also threatens the existence of the platform.

How do you think your resolutions will impact on youth development?

According to the frame work establishing the parliament, we send our resolution directly to the president, which means when the president sees resolutions coming from legitimate youth parliament, it is advisory in nature but being a youth loving leader, he will take the resolution seriously as they impact on national issue. 

What is your relationship with the National Youth Council of Nigeria?

Well, the National Youth Council of Nigeria, as you know, is an umbrella body of the Nigerian youth. It is more like the executive arm of the youth in the country. Our relationship is normal as expected and we are looking forward to having greater relationship with them.

What are you doing to ensure that NYCN stands on its feet again?

What we hope should come out of the ongoing constitutional review at the NYCN is that it would strengthen the body to meet the objectives for which it was established. Secondly, it should be all- encompassing and truly representative of all the youths in the country. Thirdly, it should provide a platform for leadership that would be proactive, that will feel the challenges that the youth are faced with presently such that when it adds it voice on critical national issues, it would be taken seriously.  I believe that the NYCN is capable of resolving its challenges.

How would want the National Youth Fund operated?

My idea of a national youth fund is one that attracts contributions from companies operating in Nigeria, that is, private companies paying certain percentage of their profit on annual basis into the fund to be managed by credible Nigerians with the Youth council and youth parliament as members. The fund should be managed in such a way that the youth will have access to it to finance projects that are viable. We see a lot of Nigerian youth with business ideas but with no money to finance it, the idea dies.

The challenge we have with the youth development fund is that all issues relating to development, skill acquisition, youth empowerment, improvement in the business sector all come into play to fast track this idea. And of course the development fund can also partner with some of the banks for loan at minimal rate and they can also engage the private sector especially other international and local financial institutions like the community banks, the SMEs to see how the youth can move out of the burden of unemployment.

What do you make of the president’s promise of using YOUWIN, SURE programmes to help the youth?

On Subsidy Re-investment and Empowerment programme (SURE), the minister has said that it is presently under review, what the minister made me to understand during our visit to him was that there is an ongoing review, because the initial SURE programme was conceptualized with the 100 per cent subsidy removal but the FG was not able to achieve this, so it is going to review all components of the programme in line with what is left of the subsidy removal.

We are hopeful that after the review, the youth component of that programme should be strengthened, because it is actually the youth that are more hit by the present circumstance. The basic component there was 10,000 jobs for youth. I want to recommend that it should be maintained because it would go a long way to moving a lot of youths out of joblessness. Even the FG appointed a youth as member of the committee. So, we hope that being represented in the committee, all our ideas will be entrenched in the programme.

Are you convinced that this will work?

I have always stressed that government should back its policies with action, and we, the youth, have engaged the president on this issue of SURE and as you know, the youth were actively involved in the demonstrations that went on during the subsidy removal protests and we know that the government is conscious of this. But what I would say is that, you as journalists would have to play your own part and keep this issue in focus so that discussions on it will continue because that is the only way we can keep government on its toes.

How is the parliament relating with other Africa nations’ parliaments?

Yes, we have other youth parliaments in Africa, like in Kenya, Uganda and so on . We are establishing what we call linkage programme among ourselves. Like the Commonwealth Youth Parliament coming up in September in Kenya though not all Africa countries actually have youth parliament, some are still being constituted, we maintain our linkages through website and their embassies if there are issues. But we have information that African Forum of Youth Parliament speakers will be coming up and we know that will be an opportunity to further strengthen the linkage programmes that we have.

The national youth centres across the country are being left to rot, what is your take on this?

Well, if the current administration has not said anything about it, I have said something about it. Even in my engagement with the minister, I discussed the issue with him, because I received reports from our members across the country that the centres are either not functional or are simply dead. And I think the government cannot continue this way. You cannot spend a lot of money constructing even as government is a continuous process. If the previous governments had constructed these centres, I think it should be part of this present administration to revive it. Not only revive but ensure that it is sustained. This is why the idea of the national youth development fund is needed. Because we cannot run away from the fact that government is fairly overburdened but again government cannot run away from its responsibilities. If business is thriving in this country, they also have corporate social responsibilities to complement government’s efforts. So I think when we finally have the national youth fund, it can complement the funding of these centres to meet their objectives. And also State governments can use this centres for youth empowerment programmes, skills acquisition and other youth programmes because it is in their State. That will ensure that the centres were not left to rot.

What do you wish to be remembers for as speakers of the youth parliament?

 We want to be remembered as a parliament that agitates for the creation of State youth parliament, parliament that pass resolutions that are objective and void of any negative motives, parliament that conceptualise the establishment of youth fund and put it forward to the president for his endorsement.

How do you get your funding?

Funds are supposed to come from the government with the assistance of other international agencies such as United Nations, British Council, USAID and DFID. But the Federal Government of Nigeria established the parliament to fulfill a charter, so all the support the parliament needs is supposed to be given by the government because this is government work. FG requested the states to bring nominations. So the FG and by extension the Federal Ministry of Youth Development should be able to finance and fund them provided it is in line with the purpose for which it was established. As other sectors in our economy, we have challenges of funding and of course we need to let the government understand that they need to fund not only the parliament but other youth related activities.

What would you say about the security situation in the nation?

The FG would have to strengthen its intelligence gathering and the existing security apparatus that we have vis-a-vis the Nigerian Police, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps and Military.