The role of the Nigerian youths in the emergence of a new Nigeria -By Ghazali Ibrahim

The role of youth in a society cannot be overemphasized because they are the hopes of every nation. They are the pillar which uphold the strength of a nation and whenever this is absent in a nation, such nation is bound to collapse one day. For the insurance of continuity of any society, youth has a greater role they played though they might not be in the affairs of government but they play a major role in the continuance of any society.

There seem to be no standard global definition of a youth. Africa and the globe and of course many countries of the world, have long consisted that youth is not a range of ages but defend by a diversity of culturally defined social processes that mark the transition from child to adult. It is against this background that the writer finds it pertinent to look at some notable and popular definitions of a youth and to examine the impacts of the definition of youth in Nigeria.

According to the united nations, “Youth” is best understood as a period of transition from the dependence of childhood to adulthood independence and awareness of our interdependence as members of a community. Youth is a more fluid category than a fixed age group. In Nigeria, prior to the emergency of the NATIONAL YOUTH POLICY 2019, the Nigeria National youth policy (2009) defines youth as between 18-35 years but as against the new policy, a youth in Nigeria is a person between 18-29 years.

In the 60s and up to the 70s,the youth were at the very center of governance of the country. At age 19 or so, late Ambassador M.T. MBU was Nigeria High commissioner to UK and he was minister of Navy at 20. In his early 30s chief Obafemi Awolowo was already make western region great and he became leader of the Government of west before reaching 40 years of age which means he is still in his prime when he was leading his region in the affairs of Government. An instance of our past leaders in the history of Nigeria can be shown that most of them were in their early 30s when they became head of Nigeria. The likes of Yakubu Gowon, Murtala Muhammad, Olusegun Obasanjo.

Though our youths are faced with many difficulties ranging from unemployment because majority of unemployed out there are the youths who had graduated from different institution of learning, poverty also poses another challenges to Nigeria youth because of the mass unemployment, low standard of living which is now causing armed robbery, banditry, kidnapping and the likes. Illiteracy also affect our youth especially in term of computer literacy because many Nigerian finds it difficult in knowing the knowledge of computer but if this can be reduced, it can lead to greater development of the country. Nigeria ruling class has continued to deny the youth participation in governance because it is in this Nigeria that you see a person of 50 years of age leading a youth association becoming their youth leader.
The role of youths in the emergence of a new Nigeria is as follows:

Participating in governance, by so doing, youth should be given chance in the participation of governance. The youth mustn’t just dwell in the sidelines of political commentary and analyses but must seek to participate in government, politics and policy formulation. Youth must be allowed to engage and given chance to contest for public offices including the implementation of ‘Not too young to rule’. We mustn’t shelve aside our responsibilities of joining mainstream politics and forming healthy and progressive alliance among ourselves and participating in all issues of National interest.

In addition, youths should be able to come up with initiatives in helping education. They should be capacity builder. Good education prepares one to impact positively on self and society hence, youths of today should invest in education and capacity building. It is quite pathetic that many youth of today cannot take up initiative that will help better their lives and society. Youths of today should compel themselves to training in skills and crafts, attends seminar, leadership workshop with a view of developing mental and capability so as to contribute to the development of better Nigeria.

Youths should endeavor to be a good ambassador of Nigeria abroad, promote international peace and harmony. Many a youth of Nigeria are acting irresponsibly abroad which is tarnishing image of the country as a nation. Recently, Nigeria is rank as the first on list among those that watch pornography movie which is giving the nation bad stereotype among other nations of the world. Youths should try both within and outside Nigeria be a good ambassador and make the country great as it is among Africa nation. They should engage in activities that promote international peace and inter ethnic progress.

In conclusion, youth are key element of a society and one of the strong pillar of any country. Their role is very crucial in nation building. They are problem solvers, they help in influencing positive impact on other youths and they are ambitious. They can’t move forward without the help of government, therefore, government should help and assist our youths by empowering them by making their dream come true.

It can be shown from above that importance of youth in nation building cannot be overemphasized because countries that make use of their youth effectively are more developed than nations which neglect the role of youth in the administration of government. There is always a sure link between the success and prosperity of a nation and the development of youth systems.