The Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary 10th Edition, defined youth as the time of life when a person is young, especially before a child becomes an adult. In Nigeria, one is considered youth when one is between the ages of eighteen to thirty-five years according to the Federal Republic of Nigeria’s National Youth Policy (2019-2023).
Research showed that that any country or society bereft of youths have no future as the strength and development of any nation lies in the hands of youths of that nation.
Youths have the capabilities and potential to drive the development of their nation be it in administration, politics, commerce, religion, education, science and technology, sports, entertainment among others.
Nigeria youths should strive to drive the new Nigeria we all clamor for by emulating the likes of late Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, Professor Chike Obi, Tafawa Balewa, Obafemi Awolowo among others who made great and positive impacts on the Nigerian nation in their youthful age.
It is worrisome that many Nigerian youths today deploy their time to all manner of crimes like internet scam, armed robbery, kidnapping, rituals, corruption and examination malpractices. These crimes pose obstacles to a new Nigeria where justice, peace, progress, reward for merit, hard-work, dignity of Labour and national development is guaranteed.
Youths must be in the Vanguard of a new Nigeria by exposing those who indulge in criminal activities that hinder the desired change in the country. Young people must understand that they have innovative ideas that are useful assets to nation building and such, there is need for them to use it for development purposes.
On the other hand, government should create more avenues for Nigerian youths to demonstrate their pro-activeness in various dimensions, such as community service, election processes, youth advocacy, entrepreneurial development and poverty alleviation.
The Nigerian youths must thus seek to contribute to building a peaceful nation by embracing peaceful co-existence across all divides.
In addition, young people must learn to deploy their knowledge in addressing the challenges bedeviling the nation through effective means such as national dialogue, rather than promoting tribalism, ethnicity, hate speech, violence and crime. Dialogue remains a key tool in peace building and as such there is need for the voices of the young people to be heard from local to national levels by giving them the chance to express their grievances.
Moreso, young people across the federation have an extensive network within their communities and the fluency with which they use social media to disseminate their messages are unique assets to the promotion of national unity, love, tolerance, national development across the globe.
Nigerian youths must be the agents of change by discouraging crime and promoting values that strengthen national unity and guarantee unprecedented development of the country.
The time to act is now.
Written by CHUKWUEMEKA MODILIM/
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