The National Youth Council of Nigeria (NYCN), has called on the youth to support security organizations by providing them with useful information to aid the ongoing fight against insecurity in the country. Speaking at a Press Conference to brief the media on the fallout of a stakeholders meeting of the North Central Zone, the Vice President (North Central), Ambassador Akoshile Mukhtar noted that “the security agencies cannot work effectively without the cooperation of the citizens, of which the youth represent the largest demographic group”.
Speaking on the aftereffects of COVID 19 and the second wave that is ravaging parts of the world, Ambassador Akoshile noted that “the government of President Muhammadu Buhari had taken some proactive steps, including restriction of movement and others, which played a major role in containing the spread of the disease in Nigeria”. He however called on government not to treat the second wave with levity, “especially in the face of the discovery of a new strain of the virus in countries such as the United Kingdom”.
Ambassador Akoshile described the year 2020 as “a major watershed in the history of the Youth Council, as the Honourable Minister of Sports and Youth Development under the direction of President Muhammadu Buhari, midwifed the harmonization of the Council’s legal status and putting to bed the norm of years past when people merely went to the press and announced themselves as leaders of NYCN to serve one or more primordial interests that have nothing to do with advancing the capacity development or welfare of Nigerian youth”.
The leadership of the NYCN also commended President Buhari “for his youth friendly disposition having approved and released funds for the takeoff of the Nigerian Youth Investment Fund (NYIF), of which the NYCN was duly represented in the steering committee, while equally acceding to the genuine demands of the youth on police reforms, as presented by Youth Council President Ambassador Sokubo Saraigbe Sokubo”.
While assuring that the Council will continue to follow up with relevant government agencies, he called on the youth to “imbibe the culture of dialogue to get their grievances addressed to avoid well intentioned moments from being hijacked as was the case with the End SARS protests, as the citizens are the major factors in the success of the police through intelligence sharing”.
He called on government to “sustain and consolidate the investments made in the youth so far”, singling out a few agencies such as the “National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) and the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) as government institutions with a clear cut agenda for youth empowerment and capacity develooment”.
The Youth Council acknowledged the current security and economic challenges confronting the nation, but we called for “constructive engagements around those issues with a view to supporting government to find lasting solutions, as development is a marathon rather than a sprint”, while reiterating the resolve of the North Central zone “to support credible stakeholders to collectively work to birth the Nigeria of our dreams”.
