A lecture delivered by Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu, former Governor of Abia State, in commemoration of the 2014 International Youth Day at Cultural Centre, Calabar, yesterday.
At a time like this, especially in Nigeria and Africa by extension, the pertinence of the subject of our discussion here, that is, appraising the relevance of youths towards achieving the desired change and national transformation, cannot be overemphasised. Or what else can I say about the fate of our youths, in the face of the rampaging violence that has enveloped us, as a nation and now already extending beyond the regional boundary?
The wheel of development of any country lies on the shoulders of a productive, creative and youthful population. These youths are the engine of growth and development. They provide the labour force for production of goods and service to take effect.
We must also understand the fact that societies are not only recreated through the youthful population, but, youths are often referred to as leaders of tomorrow. So, their mindset and roles are of major importance to the development of any society.
Therefore, no nation will experience development when the preponderance of the category that constitutes the largest percentage of its population are idle and ineffective. In essence, youths have a greater role to play in national development because the future of this country cannot be built on oil but on the productivity of her youths.
However, the story of Nigeria’s youths today leaves one to wonder what future awaits the world’s most populous black nation.
In Nigeria, cacophony of bomb blasts, fratricidal killing, kidnapping, rape and violent protests have become daily occurrences and things have degenerated so steeply an average Nigerian no longer long to either read newspapers or listen to news because they claim the papers celebrate too many negative reports. But are the negative reports fabricated? Definitely they are not, but such is what our society has been reduced to.
The questions that then come to mind are: How did we find ourselves here? When did Nigeria and, indeed, Africa become home to violence and why have our youths derailed? Why would any individual decide to take to crime rather than be focused and live a good life? The more embarrassing thing is the fact that many of the culprits are not only able-bodied young men and women but are also educated ones, who claim to be pushed into crimes by certain dangerous societal factors. And unfortunately for us as a nation, these are individuals, who, according to the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics (NBS), constitute about 80 million of the country’s roughly 160 million population figure.
At several fora, stakeholders, including members of labour unions, government officials and non-governmental agencies have identified several reasons behind the crises, facing us as a people and leading the pack is the high rate of unemployment in the land.
Further statistics from the NBS show that Nigeria’s unemployment rate is at 23.9 per cent with youth unemployment rate, standing at over 50 per cent. The statistics implies that about 44 million Nigerian youths are unemployed. And this scourge of unemployment has deprived many Nigerian youths access to contributing their quota to national development.
The result of the rising youth unemployment situation in the country has provided shrinking options to job seekers, as those who find work to do are forced to be less selective about the type of job they settle for, including part-time work and temporary contracts because they are in desperate need for any income.
Similarly, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) recently lamented that while the Nigerian economy grew at the rate of seven per cent for the past five years, unemployment has actually doubled at the same period, noting that the current security upheaval and internal insurrection all over the country were as a result of severe poverty and rising unemployment, stressing that jobs can only be created by establishing industries that rely on little technology but high in productivity similar to the ones adopted by the Asian tigers. As the number of unemployed youths continues to soar, the rate of crime will certainly be on the increase, insecurity will always arise, under-development will abound and migration of our active and indispensable population needed for national development is inevitable.
An evidence of this sorry situation was the stampede, leading to the deaths of more than 15 youths during the last Nigerian Immigration Service (NIS) test conducted across the country where the turnout of applicants for less than 5,000 vacancies was more than a million.
As Nigeria joins the world to mark this year’s edition of the World Youth Day celebration, rather than focusing on the global theme of Youths and Mental Health, what I believe should preoccupy our minds should be how to overcome our challenges. According to the late novelist and celebrated literary icon, Prof. Chinua Achebe, no one folds his arm because the condition of his child is beyond hope. As a result, we must continue to strive towards resolving these contradictions, staring us in the face by providing enduring solutions.
Before we go on, let me re-emphasise a singular fact that migrating from this country or even from the continent, cannot, in anyway, address challenges of our youths. We must realise that plants do not leave their habitats; they remain there and solve their problems.
According to the latest data of the United Nations (UN), more than 21.4 million young people are among the annual total of some 214 million international migrants.
The UN believes many of these young men and women are fleeing prosecution and others are escaping economic hardship in the cause of seeking greener pastures but wherever they find themselves, they still face lots of challenges, such as sexual exploitation, crowded and unsanitary living conditions, poverty, challenges of finding decent employment, bad weather conditions, ill-health, imprisonment and even untimely death.
The current migration of Nigerian active youth population speaks volume of the condition of our youths. This action has continued unabated, with many never getting to their dreamland or destination, while many are wallowing in jails across various countries in North Africa, Europe, Asia and America. Some are in hospitals or homeless in these countries. Bitter stories of Nigerian youths, who suffer one hardship, molestation, death or another, are heard and watched every now and then in the media with the host countries, remaining insensitive to the plight of these unexplored potentials, who are important for national development.
Today, majority of our youths, even those who have reached the highest academic echelon, are hopeless, helpless, jobless and, at times, homeless.
For a change that will prevent total collapse of our value system as a country, youths have a big role to play. Young people should be at the forefront of global change and innovation. Empowered, they can be key agents for development and peace.
All young people have every opportunity to participate fully in the lives of their societies.
Today, there are many Nigerian youths, at home and in the Diaspora, who desperately and genuinely yearn for a better living. These youths have been fighting in their various capacities for a better society and a better tomorrow.
But even in the face of enormous difficulties, besetting the youths, it is sure that we can still collectively mobilise ourselves as agents of change and help build institutions of democracy, devoid of generational corruption that Transparency International and the entire international community have come to associate with the mention of our country. We need to transform our ideas into sustainable reality.
Our problems in Nigeria will not be solved by secession; our problems in Nigeria will not be solved by waving spears and arrows, using youths as political thugs or throwing bombs.
Our problem in Nigeria can only be solved when Nigerians, at all social strata, embrace the humanity of one another; when Nigerians embrace the spirit of “live and let live;” the true spirit of egalitarianism. Our problems could be solved through non-violent and persuasive discussions, objective engagement and sustainable diplomacy.
Youths have enormous responsibility in the making of a new Nigeria.
Today, there seems to be a growing and continual push for a national youth-initiated agenda and a youth-led coalition that would push for the renaissance that we all aspire to see in our country. There is, by all accounts, hundreds of youth-led Non Governmental Organisations (NGOs), dotting the country, determined to bring social and economic change.
I want to bring to the consciousness of all of us, as we sit here peacefully in this gathering, that there is a war being waged, a war where youths of this nation must actively participate: A war of good versus evil; a war of virtues versus vices; a war of material prosperity versus peace of mind; a war of education versus character building; a war of professional management versus social commitment.
The lines for battle have been drawn and this battle will be fought on individual, social and environment fronts.
This will, indeed, be a unique battle where everyone will emerge as a winner. And what are the weapons to be used in this war? Right Conduct, Love, Co-operation, Justice, Equality, Patriotism, Non-Violence, Peace, Excellence and, last but not the least, the all powerful weapon of Truth.
What do we do to make our youths indispensable agents of change and national transformation?
Every stakeholder, government officials and those in the private sector, must ensure meaningful engagements of our youths through what is now known as Technical Vocational Education (TVE). This form of education can assist our youths to adequately get themselves engaged.
Aside from this, what roles do we prepare for our youths politically? When will they step into the shoes of their elders in controlling the affairs of this country? Are we preparing them towards such task? These are political questions that need quick answers, as the 2015 general election is approaching.
To achieve the much-desired national transformation, therefore, we, as leaders, must allow the assemblage of youths in a meaningful and peaceful manner, and ensure that they take on one task or another, to show their innate talents and exhibit their leadership charisma.
We must ensure that what some states are currently doing to alleviate poverty among youths by engaging them in their thousands through skill acquisition programmes and offering them stipends must be emulated by other states, pending the time the situation will generally improve. In conclusion, doing otherwise will lead us to more danger. We have no choice but to get our youths meaningfully engaged so that they can see the good side of life and be inspired to live it, rather than getting themselves bombed by hunger, insecurity, joblessness and idleness.
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