• Thursday, March 28, 2024
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National youth confab gets Nov.1 new date

Osinbajo says Nigeria works out new strategy to boost economy, create job

The first national youth conference originally scheduled to hold on October 12 now has November 1 new date. The venue remains the Velodrome inside the Moshood Abiola National Stadium, Abuja.

Minister of Youth and Sports Development had in a press statement thanked the participants for registering to participate in the first National Youth Conference being organized to dialogue on how to achieve inclusivity for the youth of this country in several areas critical to national development

According to the statement, “The conference was originally scheduled to hold in Abuja from 12th – 15th October 2021. However, due to urgent national assignments, the previous date had to be changed to a new one that takes cognisance of the importance of this event and in order to have high-level state actors present to join the youth in the conference.”

The new date was picked in recognition of the fact that in 2020, the Federal Government designated 1st November of each year as the National Youth Day. The Honourable Minister and his team have therefore decided to hold the Conference from Monday 1st to Wednesday 3rd November 2021.

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The Ministry of Youth and Sports reiterated its commitment to working towards a more inclusive and sustainable national development programme for the youth of Nigeria and regrets whatever inconvenience the shift in date may have caused.

Meanwhile, Gbenga Olurnpomi, the media head of the National Youth Conference has charged the youths to be determined and organised to enable them to take their place in the governance of Nigeria.

“If the young ones are determined and organised, there is nothing they cannot do,” he said.

Olurupomi made said this in a chat with BusinessDay while responding to the call by the Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo who called on youths to vie for political offices in the forthcoming elections in order to contribute their quarter in the governance of the country.

Osinbajo who spoke at the opening of a two-day retreat for young legislators at the federal and state levels held in Lagos on Monday, October 4 disclosed that the federal government had been preparing and equipping the capacity of youths as future leaders.

“In preparation for 2023 general elections, we must realise that greater participation of our youths should not be mere rhetoric. Power is never handed over on a platter; if you do not bid, you cannot win. We must also register to vote. The whole essence is to ensure that youths get involved in the process of democracy and also in the parliamentary process,” he said.

In the same vein, Adeola Azeez, a proud Nigerian, and a Voter Registration and Engagement Advocate stated that youths have a stake in Nigeria because they have the numbers and can move the dial.

Azeez encouraged the youth to continue to lend their voices to issues that matter, which the national confab affords them.

“Youths should take their seats at the table, register to vote and use their resources to ensure a better Nigeria,” she said.