The Nigerian government has been urged to give the youths the opportunity of leadership positions for effective socio-economic development.
The call came from participants at a meeting in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital with the theme “Intergenerational Dialogue On youth For Leadership Role In Nigeria.”
It was organised by the Aminu Kano Centre for Democratic Studies (Mambayya House) in Kano and Al Habibiyyah Islamic Society in Abuja under the auspices of the Mac Arthur Foundation.
The Director of Mambayya House, Professor Habu Mohammed said that “the dialogue is a platform where youths can discuss issues of leadership and what they can contribute to the process of governance in the country.”
“The country is in dire need of the participation of youths from all walks of life to ensure that they support the government and achieve greater heights, particularly in improving the economy, peace maintenance, and mutual coexistence among social, religious and ethnic groups. This is a forum on which we will allow youths to engage in capacity building to give their quota to the development of Nigeria,” he said.
A research Professor with Mambayya House, Prof Moses Aluaigba said that the youths should not relent in putting their efforts in the right direction.
Professor Aluaigba said; “If actually, they have the ideas, they have the capacity, but they channel it to the wrong way, even if the system is willing, there will be no way they will be taken seriously. So they should continue doing the right thing, they should continue utilising the little capacity they have to be seen as contributing to the growth of the entire system.”
The Executive Director of the Al-Habibiyyah Islamic Society, Imam Fuad Adeyemi said that “it is the responsibility of the religious leaders to understand the yearnings and the needs of the youths to guide them towards the part of success.”
“A religious leader should be conscious of God, and then to think correctly for people, he should be able to guide them rightly why they need to fear God so that at the end of the day he will have the opportunity to have the mercy of God and the people he is leading will be blessed by God,” he explained.
The Senior Programme Officer of Mac Arthur Foundation, Africa Office, Dr Amina Salihu said that the collaboration was a perfect one that would produce an excellent outcome of the feat that is being sorted for at the Dialogue.
Dr Salihu said; “The youths matter to us in Africa. The kind of investment that we put down now determines whether those young people could be ready to lead our country and continent or whether we will have youths that will just be unproductive.”
She urged the participants to adopt the train-the-trainer method so that more people would benefit from the discussions of the meeting.
Mercy Chukwudiebere
