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From Okwe Obi, Abuja
To stem youth restiveness and to give them a sense of belonging, some experts have tasked the Federal Government to create more opportunities for young people and include them in policy formulation, which would lead to sustainable development.
They spoke at a National Youth Leadership Conference entitled: ‘Amplifying Youth Voice and Forging Opportunities for Collaborative Policy Making’, which was collectively organized by International Alert, Africa Youth Growth Foundation (AYGF) and International Organisation for
Migration (IOM), yesterday in Abuja.
Country Director of IA Nigeria, Paul Nyulaku, said it was unfortunate that despite the plethora of brilliant youths, majority of them mill around without anything sustainable for them to do.
Nyulaku said: “What stands this particular event out is that we have the committee reviewing the National Youth Policy present here. We have been working very closely with them and having some engagements and even afterwards.
“We shall be taking it forward with some guidance or policy notes where we identified a couple of youth leaders that will continue the conversation.
“We want to have like an action plan for how the voices of youth in this conversation can be well mainstreamed into the National Youth Policy, which hopefully in the first quarter of next year will be out.”
He explained that delegates for the conference were carefully chosen to weave ideas on how entrench and motive young people, to live their dreams.
“So this is a sort of two way conversation where we as third party stand in the middle to see how we can bridge the gap and ensure that the policymakers very well let youths know what the entry points are and the youths are able to talk about what policy gaps or policy constraints will not enable them to reach their potential,” he added.
AYGF Executive Director, Dr Arome Salifu, said the event was set up to mark this year’s Youth Day, and tht it was targeted at championing youth in the scheme of things.
Arome said: “Today’s event will bring together young leaders, academics and policy makers for engaging discussions on youth development and public policies.
“These would be done through, paper presentations, panel discussions and robust audience participation and feedback.
“The aim at the end of the day is to draw the attention of key stakeholders, both those in government, those outside government and the young people themselves on the need to prioritise their voice, their interests, their welfare, their safety and their dignity.
“So apparently, this is meant to escalate those voices and indeed project them accordingly, in order for us to ensure that we have guaranteed sustainable development for young people in the country.”
Also, IOM Chief of Mission, Nigeria, Laurent De Boeck, represented by the Mission’s Youth Focal Person, Aisha Dahiru said: “As part of IOMs youth strategy its Mission and Vision lays great emphasis on a comprehensive programs and interventions that address youth unique needs, enhance their skills and capacities.
“It also creates an enabling environment for their holistic development to break the vicious circle of poverty and the dangers to irregular migration.
“I urge every youth today to see that the future of this great nations lays upon their ability to actively participate and involve in all economic, political, and social policies for a better and sustainable Nigeria.”
