The federal government of Nigeria and the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi, have advocated for youth engagement to have a safe society.
Speaking separately in Ile-Ife at a programme in commemorating the 2020 International Youth Day on Wednesday, the monarchs called on the youths to put up initiatives to actively participate in 2023 general elections.
The Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Sunday Dare, in his address at the palace of Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi on Wednesday to mark the 2020 International Youth Day, tagged, “Youth Engagement for Global Action” said the theme seeks to highlight the ways in which the engagement of young people at the local, national and global levels is enriching national and multilateral institutions and processes, as well as draw lessons on how their representation and engagement in formal institutional politics can be significantly enhanced.
He noted that Nigerian youth now and in the future have a major role to play in the quest for sustainable development. With the youth come energy, innovation, and optimism hence we must not stop at anything to make there are supportive environments and opportunities to lay the foundation for positive contributions by youth.
Dare who was represented by Dr Mariam Abdulahi, said, “This theme is arrived at based on the strong belief and consensus that enabling the engagement of youth in formal political mechanisms will reduce democratic deficits thereby increases the fairness of political processes, as well as contributes to better and more sustainable policies. Youth engagement will also restore trust in public institutions, especially among youth.
“When the youth are fully engaged, the vast majority of challenges facing Nigeria as a nation at the moment will be effectively addressed. The Government have been consciously working to raise the level of youth engagement, provide an enabling environment for the Nigerian youth to excel and reach their full potentials; so that the Nigerian society can fully enjoy the immense benefits associated with investment on the youth.
He stressed that FG is engaging youths on Digital literacy and skill acquisition, Entrepreneurship, Employability and Leadership Initiative.
Similarly, Ooni challenged the youths to stop complaining, rather they should come together to work for the success of the nation. Nigeria youths must put a structure and come up with initiatives that will make them actively involved in the electoral process and leadership selection in the next national elections.
In the same development, a statement by the Chief Press Secretary to Osun State governor, Mr Ismail Omipidan, said, Oyetola vowed the government under his watch would do all humanly possible to provide the framework for all stakeholders to engage, empower, and equip the youths of the state to realise their potential and take advantage of the opportunities available to make positive contributions to the wellbeing of their respective communities in the State.
“In order to consolidate on our gains so far, we are putting a Policy Document together, which we shall soon present to the public for inputs and adoption. The State of Osun Youth Policy Document is a fallout of the country’s National Policy on Youth. In our own policy, we will be talking about the 4Es, namely, Youth Education, Youth Engagement, Youth Empowerment and Youth Entrepreneurship.”
