Nigerian youths await President Buhari’s endorsement of its confab action-points

Many Nigerian youths are anxiously awaiting the endorsement of its action points by President Buhari after its maiden national conference.

Muhammadu Buhari, the president of Nigeria had earlier promised to abide by the resolutions of the national youth conference.

Nkechi Obi, the conference coordinator speaking at a media briefing said the president who had promised to declare the youth confab open was unable to attend owing to the ongoing Climate conference in Glasglow, Scotland.

“President Buhari has promised to be at the youth conference, to declare it open and to abide by the resolutions reached the conference.”

The conference which was held recently at the Velodrome inside the Moshood Abiola National Stadium, Abuja was organised by the minister of sports and youth development to fashion out a more inclusive and sustainable national development programme for the Nigerian youths.

More than 370 youth delegates drawn from the 36 states of the federation meant to reflect gender disparities, physically disadvantaged, diverse educational levels and profession are to physically participate in the deliberation, while a record of 6,000 youth participated online.

At the end of the deliberations, they came up with action points believed will be able to move the country forward in implementation.

The national youth conference action points on politics, nation-building, peace, unity, and security are that youth must have active participation and be involved in politics starting from their ward levels. That all youth should be able to identify with a political party to achieve political relevance and power

Besides, youth should be involved in policy, decision-making processes and project supervision processes. Youth should be involved in all government plans and activities, even in their communities, with special emphasis on skill acquisition programs.

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At the end of the confab, the youths demanded that 40percent of appointment allowance be given to young people, abolishment of years of experience to enable more people to enter the job market easily and the establishment of a national youth information and complaints desk.

Also, they requested the creation of a national youth development commission and unemployment benefits for youth.

According to Gbenga Olorunpomi, head of the media committee of the Nigeria youth conference, the conference recommends that youth departments should be created in all local governments in Nigeria to address youth considerations, concerns, initiatives, and programmes. And there should be a charter bill of rights for youth.

The National Assembly should pass bills that will involve youth in decision making for the youth. There should be a deliberate effort to set aside 40percent of employment, political appointments, and offices for the youth.

Such posts will take into consideration both gender and physically challenged inclusivity. Government should fast track processes of National Disability Allowance, for the physically challenged youth. And there should be a physically challenged contact person amongst them who will represent physically challenged persons.

Government should create and develop an ideas bank, where ideas can be submitted for consideration and implementation. There should be legislation abolishing the clause on “number of years of experience” in the employment of youth. On cybercrime, youth should be engaged to develop apps that can assist in curbing cybercrimes, etc.

On soft power of sports, entertainment and creativity, the conference recommends that; despite the economy being hard. However, the Nigerian Youth and government should create agendas that would yield the soft in every sector of the economy.

There should be the provision of information and properly mining the soft power in the citizens should be made accessible to the average Nigerian. In terms of networking, mentoring, encouraging exchange programmes with other countries in Africa and other continents, and funding.

The government should create opportunities that encourage the youth to explore their skills and provide funding and an environment for their growth. Youths are in the best position to follow their dreams and make a change in the sports industry with the advantage of technology.

The youths can use gaming and application development to solve common issues in society. There should be public education on the importance of encouraging play in sports and gaming in developing children, among others.

On education, innovation, and technology for youth development, the Dutch educational system should be modelled. The system of education should start by sensitising students in secondary schools. And that there should be focal points of interest that cater to the passion of the students.

Others are; a shift in the way knowledge is imparted with a focus on vocational education. Tertiary institutions should engage professionals in various fields as lecturers to amplify practical and development education.