Nigerian youths, endangered species?

Yesterday, 12th August was the International Youth Day. The Day is celebrated annually in recognition of youth's efforts in enhancing global society. It also aims to promote ways to engage them in becoming more actively involved in making positive contributions to their communities.

Young people are a crucial segment of the society and of a nation's development. Their contributions, therefore, cannot be wished away. They are regarded as social actors of change and leaders of tomorrow as well partners of today. It is an indisputable fact that the most vibrant section of every society is the youth.

Given this understanding, the anguish of many Nigerians over the news is that

Nigeria is one of the catchment areas for international terrorist groups including the much dreaded Islamic State of Iraq and Syria- ISIS, is not misplaced and understandable.

Newspaper reports had it that the Nigeria Immigration Service prevented no fewer than 4 916 Nigerians from travelling out of the country between January and March this year.

The Nigerians were suspected to be on their way to join international terrorist organisations, including the ISIS and the Taliban.

This is saddening that this is coming at a time when the country is still battling internal terrorism by the Boko Haram sect.

It is quite unfortunate that the youth full of energy, ambition and zest for life, have not been given the deserved attention. It is an acknowledged fact that the energy possessed by the youth can be used for both constructive and destructive purposes. That is why when there is unrest in any part of the country, the youth form the major participants. Successive governments have not deemed it fit to formulate policies/programmes that can reposition the youth. Lip service has been paid to issues pertaining to well being of youth in the country over time.

Unemployment/ productive engagement is one of the challenges faced by The Nigerian youth. A recent World Bank statistics revealed that 80percent of the nation's youth are unemployed. This problem is undoubtedly a fallout of years of unbridled corruption, mismanagement of fund and sheer wastage which has stunted the country's economic growth.

For decades, Nigeria has been confronted with massive unemployment crisis. But the worst hit is the Nigerian youth.

The implications of youth unemployment are both social economic and political and as such ignoring the roles played by the youth in the society amounts to threatening the very survival of the country.

Certainly, the security challenges in the country caused by incessant attacks by insurgents in the North and kidnapping in the South-east are part of the numerous causes of unemployment in the country because no investor will like to put his money where he will be afraid of moving freely.

With the economic realities in the country, to survive, many youth have been recruited into oil theft syndicates, armed robbery, kidnapping, militancy and insurgency.

But what is of major concern is the issue of terrorism and the youth. Sadly, the terrorists are capitalising on our economic weakness to expand its base. Or how else can one explain the catchment area tag? Like the aphorism an idle hand is the devil's workshop, the terrorists believe the cesspool of unemployed Nigerian group will be useful tools of manipulation for destruction purposes.

When there are opportunities to break out of the vicious cycle of poverty, perceived or real, injustice and despair, there is a greater tolerance for violence. Terrorists groups have therefore used these circumstances to their advantage by identifying and offering youths what they are lacking. This accounts for the visible presence of more youth on this ignoble path. These Terrorists employ strategies to radicalise and recruit young people into committing acts of violence. The growing exploitation of technology such as the Internet has allowed the terrorists a far and wide reach. The natural inclination of young people to gravitate towards the Internet has been exploited by terrorist groups.

With this trend, a nation like Nigeria could as well be sitting on a time bomb.

It is therefore pertinent that government at all levels should pay priority attention to job creation. The private and public sectors must put in place creative measures to stem the tide of youth unemployment.

Skill acquisition must be encouraged among our youth for self reliance. There is also the need for the establishment of skill acquisition trainings centres across the country where youth can be trained on various vocations of their choice after which they would be provided with start- off capital. And as advocated by some educationists, there should be a modification of the higher institutions' curriculum to meet the economic realities by introducing courses embedded with vocational and skill acquisition trainings in a bid to make graduates employers of labour.

Like President Muhammadu Buhari rightly noted, we need to go back to the 'Land' as a way of addressing unemployment crisis in the country. More than ever before there is the urgent need for the diversifying of our economy from oil. And, the agricultural sector remains one of the viable areas where we could successfully address youth unemployment in the country.

In addition, government must create platforms to harness potentials of the youth and for them to engage their abilities in nation building. It is so unfortunate that the potentials and talents of most Nigeria youth are inertia (waiting to be explored though) due to negligence of this sector by government.

The task of nation building is very challenging. The young people should be made to understand that they can contribute their quota to the sustainability of the nation. They should be given a suitable direction so that they can work hard for its fulfilment. This will give them a sense of belonging.

The youths, should also have it at the back of their mind that nation building is a collective effort of all citizens in constructing a desired country. Therefore, the youth have the responsibility of being at the fore-front of any national exercise.

Conclusively, the sustainability of the nation will continue to be in jeopardy, if leaders do not invest and engage in deep rooted self productive ventures for the youth.

#standpoint