The Role of the Nigerian Youth In Nation building

We cannot always build the future for our youth, but we can build our youth for the future.” FRANKLIN D ROOSEVELT.

The Nigerian youth have largely been marginalised by all spheres of government the country have had.
There is a Ministry of Youth and Sports Development,but it does not tackle the day to day aspect of the development of the Nigerian youth,nor,have any long-term plans for them compared to their counterparts around the globe.
It is not uncommon to see Nigerian youths roaming the streets,and their education disrupted due to the permanent fixture of striking teachers,and lecturers in the academia world.
They become idle and many become tools “in the hands of the devil.”
They are the vulnerable group preyed upon during election campaigns by political aspirants to act as thugs,hired assassins,miscreants,mobs,etc to derail a free fair campaign and ultimately the national election. Most of the aspirants have their own children receiving very expensive private education abroad. It is the under privileged youths who lose their lives.
Their minds are not stimulated nor stretched in a systemic way towards adequate capacity in the 21st century;There are no funded schemes to develop and encourage their creative/inventive minds,nor updated library/facilities eg advanced technology to enable them access E-gateway knowledge and skills development. Yet access is what separates the Nigerian youth from their foreign counterparts in developed countries.Giving the same opportunity,the Nigerian youth have the tendency to surpass their counterparts.

Nigerian youths have no jobs to go to when they complete their education(if they do complete it), yet the Nigerian youth is industrious, self driven, tenacious, creative, determined and hopeful; this is eminently paraded in the music,fashion,I.T and communications industry. They embrace and take their own destinies into their hands,determined to make the most of life,regardless of what it takes than to be labelled "a failure". They have become hustlers
The Nigerian youth have been forced to learn that it is only by force and violence that their voices can be heard and are quickly labelled when they conduct this induced action. Because you see,it is not the norm to seek the opinion or the counsel of the young on any issue,let alone on nation building.The norm is: they are to be seen and not heard.The attitude is "they are yooung,they know nothing".
These are our future leaders!!!!Able bodied,vibrant,young boys and girls,men and women!!!
The future is now.If things continue in the endemic state Nigeria is in, there will be no Nigeria for us all by 2015,this is no gainsay or wishing us ill luck.
Nigeria is in crisis,the calamities befalling us now is a sign of a nation gone berserk,it doesn't take more than this!These are dire times.

To the older generation,I pose these questions?
Is this the best you can offer?
What legacy are you leaving behind?
What will history say about you in the role you played or didn't play?
Are you a national hero a national villain?
Where you once a child, and did you as a young person have dreams,are you living your dreams?

To the Nigerian youth I say, buckle your shoes,this is not the time to be cowards, this is not the time to remain silent,this is the time to work in unity, to work as a team, to demand a better future and in order to fight your cause well, you 1st need to deliberate around the following issues and establish an identity.

What is the civil right of a Nigerian youth?
What is the civil responsibility of the Nigerian youth?
How can Nigerian youths exert their civil duties in an ungovernable situation?
Is there still hope for the Nigerian youth in Nigeria?
What is the role of the Nigerian youth in governance?
What is the role of the Nigerian youth as an agent of change?
What do the future leaders of Nigeria look like?

The Role of the Nigerian Youth in Nation building Seminar,coming soon.