In his Independence Day speech, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu said the federal government would convene a youth conference that will bring the nation's youth together to discuss salient issues.
He said the month-long conference would serve as a platform to address the diverse challenges and opportunities confronting the nation's young people, who constitute more than 60 per cent of the population.
"It will provoke meaningful dialogue and empower our young people to participate actively in nation-building. By ensuring that their voices are heard in shaping the policies that impact their lives, we are creating a pathway for a brighter tomorrow," the president said.
He added that the conference will unite young people nationwide to collaboratively develop solutions to issues such as education, employment, innovation, security and social justice.
"The modalities of this confab and selection of delegates will be designed in close consultation with our young people through their representatives.
"Through this confab, it will be our job as leaders to ensure that their aspirations are at the heart of the conference's deliberations. The government will thoroughly consider and implement the recommendations and outcomes from this forum as we remain resolute in our mission to build a more inclusive, prosperous, and united Nigeria," he said.
While we welcome any initiative that will focus on the myriad of problems facing our youths, we at the Daily Trust believe that convening such a forum will just be a waste of time and resources as it may not achieve the aim of making our young ones productive and patriotic.
In fact, this initiative is best considered to be a jamboree which will only result in a waste of scarce resources which the nation needs to address the high cost of living, joblessness and other social needs for our youths and other citizens.
The issues confronting the youth are well known and documented, and do not need a 30-day jamboree to identify and proffer solutions to. Issues such as unemployment, dearth of opportunities and low-quality education are some of the problems.
Over the years, successive governments have come up with various programmes to address these issues. But the lack of sincerity and commitment on the part of the government have seen most of them fail.
Daily Trust advises that the government should go back and review such programmes and assess why they failed to achieve their objectives, and provide remedies to the failures.
We also have a ministry that is dedicated to enhancing the welfare of the youth at both state and federal levels. Unfortunately, such ministries have been reduced to paying lip service to their mandates. Agencies specifically set up to handle youths' issues from education to employment have also been left to idling.
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We believe if government can strengthen the ministries and other agencies responsible for youth affairs, Nigeria will have a vibrant youth that will be ready to give their best to the nation. We have sufficient evidence across the country that our youth can achieve a lot if given proper guidance and encouragement.
All that is required for our youth to excel is good leadership at both regional and national levels. We are confident that the answers can only be found here not at a jamboree.
