By Johnson Adebowale
The African continent, with almost 60 percent of its population under the age of 25, stands as the youngest on the planet. And with the projection that the population will double by 2050, this will position them as the biggest asset for growth, innovation, and sustainable development.
However, the absence of security for the African youth population has been identified as one of the factors limiting innovation and economic growth in many areas of the continent. Even as the creative and knowledge industries offer immense opportunities for young Africans, the threats of insecurity and non-inclusion in leadership decisions are still high on the list of challenges facing the youth.
This and more were the highlights of the recent dialogue among stakeholders and experts from diverse industries who gathered to explore how Africa can secure its future by unlocking the power of its youth, culture and creative economy.
The event organised by Africa Soft Power in collaboration with the Ford Foundation, Open Society Foundations, and African Women on Board was themed, ‘Securing the future: Youth power, culture and the creative economy.’ The event featured Njideka Agbo, founder and CEO of Glann Media Consult and former editor, Guardian Life Magazine; Hon Akintunde Oyebode, Commissioner of Finance and Economic Development, Ekiti State; Dr. Seun Fakorede, Commissioner For Youth and Sports, Oyo State; and Adaora Ikenze, Director, Public Policy, Anglophone West Africa at Meta, as panelists.
The founder and creative director of Africa Soft Power, Nkiru Balonwu, said in her opening remark: “As a country and as a continent, it is imperative to include young people and women in every leadership space. From #endsars to #Congoisbleeding and several other social movements that the continent has witnessed in recent years, we have seen what happens when we do not provide the needed inclusion and security for women and young people.
“Even as the creative and knowledge industries offer immense opportunities for young Africans, there are still threats out there, and high on that list is insecurity. Security is an intersectional issue that affects everything from basic human rights to living standards, trade, prosperity, freedom of movement, access to education, gender equality, etc. The absence of security is one of the factors limiting innovation and economic growth in many areas of the continent.”
Reacting to the question of the consequences of insecurity in life on young people around African nations, Agbo maintained that the lack of security and inclusion is responsible for the brain drain in Nigeria and parts of Africa. “At a time, people were excited to come back to Nigeria, but all that has changed. In 2018, we were the 4th largest group of asylum seekers in the European Union because more and more people keep moving out in search of greener pastures, more opportunities and better security.
“The level of patriotism that the youth show to their country is determined by the level of appreciation that they get from the Government, alongside the security and inclusion that the country provides for them,” she said.
Oyebode said apart from insecurity, other challenges faced by youths include kidnapping, privacy and drug problems.
“The problem of security couldn’t be solved where there was an absence of fairness and justice. A big driver of crime is the absence of consequences. This is why, in a society where there’s an absence of consequence, people often gravitate towards crime.
‘The challenge of security in Nigeria is a hydra-headed problem. In some parts of the country there are major kidnappings ongoing, in other parts there is a drug problem, and in another there is piracy, but at the heart of it all is a clear admission that state capacity has been waning for a while and has gotten to a point where it is simply incapable of responding to social issues,” Oyebode submitted.
Fakorede said because of the existing trust deficit between the government and people, an institution that would foster a better relationship between the people and government needed to be created. However, he frowns at the idea that the state governor, who is supposed to be the chief security officer of a state, cannot wholly have control over the security apparatus of his state. A scenario where a governor’s order to a state police commissioner is subject to the approval of the inspector general of police.
‘A governor proclaims that what should happen in his state should happen, but the police are taking instructions from another person somewhere. It is all about decentralizing power, and I started thinking about institutionalizing the state police so that the governor can actually have the power to control the security situation in his state. And at that point, the governor can be held responsible for the security situation in his state.”
On how best the government can engage young people, Oyebode said having more young people in leadership positions and removing the barriers of age limits are the first steps to solving the problem of young people. “The first solution is to get more young people into the civil service right after high school or their first degree. You can’t solve problems for people you don’t understand.”