The International Youth Day 2020,which themed “Youth Engagement for Global Action”, focuses on ways to engage young people at all levels be it local to national to global level. This is only possible if there is an enabling and conducive environment for the every youth to thrive.
With many issues confronting the youths of today, joblessness is one of the many things they have to contend with. As a result, the room for involvement in dubious activities has opened. As the saying goes, the idle mind is the devil’s workshop. So should we blame a jobless youth caught in malicious acts to make ends meet?
The average youth is groomed to go through school and not allow school go through them. It is pertinent to note that education is not just a means but a means to an end. With the right education backed with the right skill, a youth can be productive in lucrative ventures. But this is possible if the system allows it. The constant strikes from labour unions has become national tragedy that every youth would have to put up with at some point.
The average youth’s mindset is already flawed. How can a youth think of going into politics to embezzle money only? This goes to show the level of thinking because the current and past leaders have failed in terms of delivery. These leaders have become role models for the youths with their corrupt behaviours. Now the average youth thinks in terms of ‘chop I chop‘ mentality. It all boils down to the home-front. The family institution must wake up,take its place and shape the youth.
The youths constitute a large percentage of the society. They are vibrant force and the Nigerian economy is highly dependent on their contribution. To this end, they need more support in terms of funding for their innovative ideas. For funding to come from angel investors, family and friends or even the government, they speak the language of investors, that they have access to the right funding.
Even though social media can be a big distraction, the youth should use that time to learn soft and technical business skills. As much as the youths need to take the initiative, the government still has a major role to play. The government needs to invest in the youths by providing the right infrastructure to cater for their needs. More so, there should access to the markets so that the youths can be involved in trade locally and globally.
Written by Patricia Uyeh