Iroye Samuel Opeyemi, associate professor of Strategic Studies and Conflict Resolution, from National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN), has said that to curb youth restistiness in Nigeria, government has to revisit the promotion of technical education which is now moribund in the country.
Opeyemi stated this in Ilorin while speaking on the topic, ‘Youth Reorientation: Catalist For Curbing Security Threats and Social Vices In The Society’ at the 10th year anniversary of Royal News online publication and the unveiling of a book titled ‘Habibat Salman – Saheed: The Diplomatic Administrator And A Princess Of The Emirate.’
He opined that society of youths with proper orientation and positive lifestyle are a possibility if the youths, parents, and the government alike will be willing to pay the requisite price in that regard.
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Lots of atrocities and criminal activities in the country is says are committed by the youth owing to lack of proper orientation and upbringing.
A well nurtured youth will definitely grow to build a productive society, recommending that,” federal government and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) should embark upon massive youths’ development programmes on creative skills as this may be a viable intervening tool for employment.
“Government should create more industries, factories and firms to employ the youths and young graduates of different professional courses of various higher institutions established.”
According to him, it is not enough to talk about the envisaged result as the government always do, “we must take further and proactive steps for the actualiation of a society free from all vices and insecurity.
“The government should establish standing frameworks for training youths to acquire practical, creative and technical skills. Also, there is need to provoke the spiritual development of youth by both the families and the religious institutions.
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In his submission, Lanre Issa-Onilu, the director general of the National Orientation Agency (NOA), blamed the insecurity challenges facing the country on the collapse of societal values and loss of cultural identi#ties.
Onilu, represented at the programme by Olusegun Adeyemi, Director NOA Kwara State chapter said: “we are a youthful country. By that, I meant the demographics of our country. About 72 per cent of our population is below the age of 35. In other words, not less than 165 million of our estimated 220 million population are within the Gen Z and the millennials. We can see that the most critical challenge we face is orienting our youths to be the best of us.
“More than any time in the life of our nation, the government, our traditional institutions, community leaders, and the clerics must rise to face the future of Nigeria.
“In a constantly evolving world, we must help our youth navigate the complexities of social relationships and interactions. Today’s youth are not tomorrow’s leaders; they already lead in many endeavours. The sad reality is that they are leading without guidance. The leaders of yesterday abandoned the ship even when they did not nurture the youths with the right values. We are now in a society where our youths, ill-equipped due to no faults of theirs, are the change-makers, the innovators, and the torchbearers of our society.
“Like in many other countries, youth in Nigeria are often associated with prevalent social vices. These vices can be attributed to various factors, including poverty, unemployment, lack of education, cultural norms, peer pressure, and societal influence.”
Earlier, AbdulAzeez Arowona the publisher of Royal News online, expressed delight that the medium has been instrumental to have impacted positively on lives of the people.
He informed that the medium was founded, “Out of the divine love, compassion and commitment towards promoting our highly respected traditional rulers irrespective of their classes, ethnicity and religious affiliations with the singular aim of promoting peaceful co-existence in our nation.”
