AS NIGERIA grapples with daunting challenges, its youths are crying out for change. With 60% of the population under 30, their voices cannot be ignored. Rather than conference, they demand transparency, accountability and people-centred leadership. They can no longer be easily deceived.
Any conference of youths at this time, can only be viewed with suspicion. I think it’s another ploy to push tax payers money down the drain. From #EndSARS to #EndBadGovernance and #OctoberOfRage, youths have vocalised their concerns, which remain largely unaddressed, with many protesters still languishing in detention or facing harsh bail conditions. Government cannot pretend not to have heard.
They are aware that inflation in Nigeria is at 32.15% and youth unemployment is at 53.40% and that 87 million Nigerians live below the poverty line, limiting access to basic needs.
In the last report of Global Hunger Index, Nigeria was ranked 110 out of 125 countries coming behind countries like Sudan, Zimbabwe, DR Congo and Guinea. Do we need a conference of youths to attend to these issues that beg for urgent attention?
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Bad governance fuels distrust, chaos, crime, and societal decay. Youths are not asking for conferences; they need solutions. The proposed conference looks like a ruse, aimed at diverting attention from pressing issues.
It is not too difficult to achieve a good society, if leaders are patriotic and sincere. When a nation is truly going through difficult times, every citizen has a duty to contribute his or her quota in salvaging the situation. A patriotic leader will first provide sacrificial leadership.
Our President cannot surround himself, family, friends and cronies with world class comfort and tell other citizens to endure the hardship that his economic policies are inflicting on them. A statesman will ensure that steps and methods being deployed in resolving state economic challenges are altruistic.
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The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) announced recently that 18.3 million children are out of school in Nigeria. Our roads are death traps, insecurity is perpetually trending, the education sector is completely in shambles. Limited access to quality education – inadequate infrastructure, underfunding, and brain drain. Our education system has failed to equip youths with market-relevant skills. Insufficient digital literacy and internet access.
The president was reminded by Senator Shehu Sani in the last Democracy Day celebrations on May 29th 2024 that some Nigerian youths arrested during the #EndSARS protest were still in prison and as protest leader himself, the president should mobilise for their release. Beyond the #EndSARS, lots of youths that were arrested at the last #EndBadGovernance protest and #OctoberOfRage are still languishing in detention. The ones set free were released on harsh bail conditions.
The president is already aware of these challenges and more. The youths are asking for good governance and not conference.
I don’t know what the government wants to hear from youths that will take 30 days to say. Is it to advise government to invest in education and skills development, or foster entrepreneurship and job creation and promote good governance and accountability? Does government want to hear from youths that they should encourage youth participation in politics, address health and well-being concerns? Government should know that Nigerian youths are its greatest asset. Empowering them requires collective efforts from government, civil society, and individuals.
Any conference of youths at this time, can only be viewed with suspicion. I think it’s another ploy to push tax payers money down the drain. From #EndSARS to #EndBadGovernance and #OctoberOfRage, youths have vocalised their concerns, which remain largely unaddressed, with many protesters still languishing in detention or facing harsh bail conditions. Government cannot pretend not to have heard.
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Our politicians know how to corner people and adopt them for political advantage. It is already in the rumour mills that the delegates for the so-called youths conference are youths that will drive the APC presidential campaign in various states in 2027 elections. The president, as a known political tactician, never misses any opportunity that can maximise his political interest.
The president was reminded by Senator Shehu Sani in the last Democracy Day celebrations on May 29th 2024 that some Nigerian youths arrested during the #EndSARS protest were still in prison and as protest leader himself, the president should mobilise for their release. Beyond the #EndSARS, lots of youths that were arrested at the last #EndBadGovernance protest and #OctoberOfRage are still languishing in detention. The ones set free were released on harsh bail conditions.
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Nigeria’s youths will not be silenced. They demand genuine change, not conferences. Policymakers must listen and act. The youths, and indeed, all Nigerian are angry because there seems to be no hope in sight. Policies of government seem to be taking all of us down the drain. I don’t even care how the selection process will look like.
In the 4th memorial of Lekki Tollgate massacre on 20th October, 2024, youths that went to Lekki Tollgate to lay wreathes and pray for the souls of martyrs of 4 years ago were molested and arrested. A government that truly wants to engage youths cannot be behaving that way.
If government actually wants to hear from Nigerian youths, it would be best to engage the agitated ones and not the youths that are comfortable with the status quo. Lots of youths are dropping out of school due to high cost of education resulting from the current economic crisis. So many that managed to graduate are roaming the streets searching for non-existent jobs.
SMEs are closing down, idle youths are taking to alcohol, drugs and crime. There are youths whose villages have been sacked and razed by bandits, Boko Haram, and herdsmen, and their surviving family members are in IDP camps. A lot have become vagabonds in their own country. Some are living in perpetual fear, not knowing when bandits, kidnappers, or gunmen will snuff live out of them.
Many Nigerians are running out of the country, using any available route, not minding the dangers that lay ahead. Life has become so cheap in Nigeria. So many citizens are languishing in kidnappers’ dens while the state move on as if all is well. It is a great pity if government claim not to know what Nigerians youths need.
Nigeria’s youths will not be silenced. They demand genuine change, not conferences. Policymakers must listen and act. The youths, and indeed, all Nigerian are angry because there seems to be no hope in sight. Policies of government seem to be taking all of us down the drain. I don’t even care how the selection process will look like.
It is clear to all discerning minds that the-would-be-delegates are political mercenaries. Like all mercenaries, they are soldiers of fortune that can only help the hirer destroy his opposition and that is why we think that these are the set of youths that will drive campaign in 2027 for APC.
Comrade Amechi, Lagos-based trade union activist, will write this column, ‘The Observer’s View, every Tuesday.
