UN: how to position youths for leadership

By ChiDubem Michael

Youths are leaders of tomorrow. To prepare them for the future, the United Nations (UN) is pushing for economic empowerment for them. This, the UN believes, will enables them devote their strength to building peace and progress in their communities. The UN threw this challenge at an event held at the University of Lagos (UNILAG) to mark the International Youth Day.

At a growth rate of 3.2 per cent, Nigeria's population is projected to exceed 289 million people by 2050, with more than 60 per cent of this population expected to be youths. Without genuine effort to pursue integrated economic policies that will empower young people and initiate a sustained jobs creation plan in preparation for this demographic overshoot, Nigeria faces a dire future.

This is the crux of the address by the United Nations (UN) Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Nigeria, Mr Edward Kallon, to scores of youths that converged on the University of Lagos (UNILAG), last Saturday, to commemorate the International Youth Day.

The event with the theme: "Youth Building Peace" was organised by the UN Information Centre (UNIC) in Lagos in collaboration with Strategy for Mentoring and Leadership Empowerment (SMILE), a non-governmental organisation.

The population bulge, the UN envoy said, provides a unique opportunity for Nigeria to leverage the burgeoning youth demography in achieving accelerated growth and development. But he warned that the country may be in a quagmire if there is no effort targeted at engaging and empowering its youths.

Kallon said: "Nigeria stands at a crossroads with a growth rate of 3.2 per cent. The country’s population is expected to exceed 289 million by 2050. An estimate of 31.7 per cent of Nigeria’s population is between 10 and 24 years of age, while approximately 60 per cent is under the age of 40. This projected population growth can either pose a major challenge for Nigeria or a major opportunity.

To unlock this demographic dividend, Nigeria must empower its youth to play constructive, unifying and innovative roles and fully include them in the country’s development process. The youths must have equal access to economic opportunities and decent livelihood."

The envoy added that the 2015 UN Security Council’s Resolution 2250 was passed with the aim to engage the youth in fostering global peace and security. He noted that the resolution also sought to change the normative stereotype on the youth as victims and perpetrators of violence and conflict, to focus on positive contributions which youth should play in preventing conflict and building peace.

He said: "As we take steps in Nigeria towards realising Agenda 2030, which recognises that the challenges to peace and security are rooted in developmental deficits, we must identify and tackle the obstacles that inhibit the youth from playing active and empowered roles in development and building peace".

"One is the lack of economic opportunity, which is rendering too many Nigerian youths hopeless and denying them access to decent livelihoods. According to government’s statistics, there is an estimate of 17.6 million youths unemployed in Nigeria. This means there are existing hurdles for those who want to enter into the workforce. Political, ethnic and religious rhetoric is dividing communities and has led to entrenched narratives that fuel violence, particularly among youth groups".

"These youths need psychological support and rehabilitative services to help regain their productive capacities and become constructive forces in their communities. In asking the youth to engage and champion development, and help to build peace, these young people must be empowered and their energies harnessed for positive projects".

Despite its developmental challenges, Kallon observed that Nigeria had put forward 'sincere commitment' to engage its youths productively. He said the establishment of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) and creation of independent ministry for youth development purposes were steps in right direction. He also praised the National Assembly for the recently passed Not-Too-Young-To-Run Bill, which he described as the 'most progressive legislation' since the inception of the current dispensation.

The UN envoy said: "Nigeria has continued to demonstrate its sincere commitment to empowering the youth. The recently passed Not-Too-Young-To-Run Bill, which lowers the age for standing in elections, is a good step. That bill is one of the most progressive legislations enacted by senators and all politicians in Nigeria. It would create opportunity for the youth to be participants in governance and politics of this country. It is very progressive and timely, because youths are agents of progress and peace. We expect the legislation to give more opportunity to young people to take up leadership positions and effect the changes they want. The future of Nigeria belongs to the youth".

"They should not be seen from the traditional rhetoric as perpetrators of violence".

"Nigerian youths need social inclusion and economic empowerment, which the government must put in place through regulations that are necessary to bringing out young people’s potential. Government must make efforts to ensure the youth are provided decent jobs and means of livelihood."

To the president of SMILE, Mrs Bimpe Bamgbose-Martins, the occasion presented the government an opportunity to address the causes of conflict and agitation, which, she said, have led to intolerance, poverty and economic inequality. According to her "being productively and profitably engaged will not only ensure a fulfilled and impactful life for the youth, it is also key to building sustainable peace in the country. Beyond the well-crafted speeches being read today, SMILE will follow up the anniversary with a plan to run Business Enterprise Development programmes to equip willing participants with entrepreneurial skills and knowledge to start, grow and run viable businesses."

Co-chairman of Private Sector Advisory Group on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Dr Ndidi Nnoli-Edozien, said it was out of place for the youth to beg for leadership roles, saying their exploits in technology, entrepreneurship and education naturally make them leaders.

Nnoli-Edozien, who is the Group Head of Sustainability and Governance of Dangote Industry Limited, charged the participants to see themselves as leaders in their fields, stressing the need to imbibe good attitude and engage the social media productively.

Bovi, a popular comedian, said youths’ inborn freedom to think for themselves is being daily suppressed by the society through cultural, religious and social norms, noting that the youth are being programmed to think in the way the society wants them to. For him "one of our problems is that, we have been programmed. Right from our homes, we have been programmed. We are programmed by the system, culture and religion. To a large extent, this helps to keep the law and order in the society. While this serves the society better in promoting orderliness, it is morally wrong in most cases because it suppresses the freedom of the youth to think independently."

"There is nothing wrong in breaking the norm, especially if the action does not go against the law. In this part of the world, the youth have been programmed to fight for survival and freedom. Since the advent of the Internet, things have changed, because the youth now have a platform to express their ideas and abilities. Until young people break away from the programme, we would continue to agitate for our inborn freedom."

The event featured interactive panels of discussion, during which contemporary challenges facing the youth were examined.

A panelist, Taiwo Akinlami, said the first step the youth could take to build sustainable peace is to shatter the barrier of ignorance. He said the battle against youth oppression in any country would not be won by agitation and violence, but through the weaponry of the mind. According to him "the major threat to peace is oppression. As young people, we must recognise that oppression is by permission. That first thing that supports oppression is ignorance. When the youth lack knowledge, they will be silent when they are being oppressed. So, the first step to take to fight oppression is to shatter the barrier of ignorance and get education. A properly educated mind will not accept any act of tyranny. Things will not change if we decide to be carrying placards and promote violence."

Other panelists included the National Coordinator of Nigerian Youth for Peace Initiative, Rafiu Lawal, and Victoria Ibiwoye. Participants at the event included students and members of various youth groups.

On December 17, 1999, the UN General Assembly passed Resolution 54/120 to endorse the recommendation made by World Conference of Ministers Responsible for Youth that August 12 be declared International Youth Day.