Comrade Oladele Nihi Olaniyi, one of the presidential aspirants in the forthcoming National Youth Council of Nigeria (NYCN) elections in this interview with JOHN OBA, says Nigerian youths need proper mentoring to assume leadership
What prompts you to contest for the youth Council presidency? Over the years, I am bothered by the docility of many Nigerian youths.
I feel that despite our demography, we still remained a disadvantaged category in this country.
I have this innate believe that when the youths who understands our collective predicament and have ideas on how to bring us out of it work together, we will be able to salvage our generation and the next from perpetual bondage.
I am inspired by the number of intelligent young people who are weathering the storm in this country, they can make things happen.
But this can only be achieved when we support each other to attain positions of authority where we can influence government policies that will develop the Nigerian youth. My aspiration to become President of National Youth Council of Nigeria is burn out of the desire to introduce some modifications to the working of NYCN.
The National Youth Council of Nigeria is the umbrella body of youths across the country, it provides a very big platform for engagement through which youth issues can properly be addressed.
With NYCN, we intend to unite the Nigerian youths under one umbrella where we will speak in unison and engage the system for the betterment of all I believe that given this opportunity, I would consolidate on existing structures and build a more effective and all-inclusive NYCN that will be the cynosure of all.
What would you say about the current state of the council? The Council over the years has been the direct conduit between the youths and government, it has stood to represent the interest of the youths in all fora and at every given instance.
As at this moment, the Council is being standardized to meet up with the emerging challenges faced by young people.
However, NYCN being the umbrella body of all youths and youth organizations in the country has a very vast scope and potentialities, some of which are not adequately being utilized at the moment.
The current leadership is doing its best, but we believe that there is still much to be done to meet up the expectations of the teaming Nigerian youths.
So far, i can say that the Council at this moment is a work in progress.
Nigerian youths have not had a visionary leader, what do you think is responsible for this? I wouldn’t say that Nigeria youths haven’t had a visionary leader.
There are young people all over the country who are delivering quality and purposeful leadership at various levels.
Both in the public and private sectors, young men and women are displaying uncommon leadership qualities that are being emulated all over the world.
Nonetheless, what I think we lack as a people is the ability to unite all interests and come together to achieve our common goal.
We have the demography, expertise and the wherewithal to make things better for ourselves.
But until we come together to chart a common course, all our efforts at individual level would only yield limited results.
What difference would your election make in solving these myriad of problems facing Nigerian youths? The situation at hand is one that requires all to come together, define our goals and work in unison towards achieving them.
Given the mandate, we will work to bring everyone on board, charting a new course for the Nigerian youth, one which seeks total liberation from mundane colonial mentality to a more united and robust youth front which will be an irresistible force and a determinant factor in a new Nigeria where young people will be the epi-center of decision making.
How do you think Nigerian youths can be mentored for leadership? Everyone needs a mentor to help climb life’s ladder.
Mentoring is about one person helping another to achieve something.
More specifically, something that is important to them.
Mentoring Nigeria youths for leadership can be achieved by bringing young people together with caring individuals who offer guidance, support and encouragement aimed at developing the competence and character of young people.
Young people must understand that the future of this nation rest in their hands.
By using influence and resources, we can bring new hope to the lives of our youth through the power of mentoring.
Helping young people face daily challenges, improving young people’s attitudes, encouraging them to stay motivated and focused.
Also, offering young people opportunities to consider new career paths and get muchneeded economic skills and knowledge.
They must also be included in governance and policy development that would help shape their orientation on patriotism and service to their fatherland.
This will help prepare youths for leadership roles.
Are there challenges you are facing now? The challenges we are faced with as we move to take the Youth Rebirth Movement to the National level are vast.
However, the major problem that we are confronted with at the moment is the challenge of finance.
Aspiring to become the number one youth in Nigeria requires going round the country to sell your manifesto to the youths, it has to do with engaging the youths across the country and interacting with them to know what they should really be expecting from the Council under my leadership and collectively, inculcate it into the plans that we already have.
This will require a lot of finance.
However, we are not allowing that to limit us, we have adopted other means like partnering with media organizations to like this one to help us take our messages to the places where we may not be able to reach physically.
The media is a very dependable ally in this movement, and with it, we are confident that we will reach every youth out there.
So what should we expect after your election? We should expect a total rebirth in the affairs of the Council and indeed the activities of youths across the country.
Our Youth Rebirth Agenda covers an array of issues concerning the Council in particular and the youths in general.
We intend to Reposition NYCN for effective Advocacy, engage in massive youth orientation and empowerment, as well as strengthening institutional relationships between the Council and other development partners with the aim of bringing all stakeholders on board.
This will ensure efficiency and higher productivity from the Council.
