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Youths Asset, Not Liability, UN, IYC Reply Buhari
The United Nations Secretary-General’s Envoy on Youth, Ms Jayathma Wickramanayake, has stated that young people are an asset rather than a problem.
She stated this while presenting the report on the findings of the independent progress study on “Youth, Peace and Security” to the Security Council.
Recall that President Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria had while delivering a keynote address at the Commonwealth Business Forum in London, last week, disclosed that many Nigerian youth want everything free without doing anything.
Wickramanayake stated that report pointed to two key issues that needed immediate attention.
She said the first was the growing mistrust from young generations towards formal political institutions, while the other issue is the exclusion of young people from political, civic and economic life.
The study also showed that only a small minority of youth ever engaged in violence while many were actively engaging in their own local initiatives to bring peace to their communities.
According to the Envoy, “I believe we can all agree that my generation represents promise – not peril.
“We should be seen as an asset, not a problem,’’ she told council members.
The envoy said the report’s findings and recommendations were an opportunity for the council to redress the mistrust between young people, their government and the multilateral system.
This, she said, could be achieved by opening up new paths for meaningful participation and contribution.
Wickramanayake said tapping the potential and creativity of young people was indispensable to prevent conflict and build peace.
She urged governments to create conditions that allow their meaningful participation in civic and political lives.
The envoy underlined three critical areas – supporting youth’s peace efforts; prioritising their political participation; and partnering with them.
“I will not ask you to let young people lead as they are already leading.
Meanwhile, the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) Worldwide has joined gluts of youth in the country to condemn, in strong terms, statement credited to President Muhammadu Buhari, where he had unreservedly described Nigerian youth as Lazy.
In a statement made available to The Tide and signed by the National Spokesman of IYC, Barrister Henry Iyalla, it states: “The National Executive of the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) Worldwide watched with rude shock as the Nigerian President, Muhammadu Buhari spoke with confidence and utter disregard for the diverse and many contributions of the Nigerian youth; as he told potential investors in the Commonwealth Business Forum in London that ‘more than 60% of the population is below the age of 30: a lot of them have not been to school, and they are claiming that Nigeria has been an oil producing country, therefore, they should sit and do nothing and get housing, healthcare and education free’”.
“Our question is, how has this information helped the cause of Nigeria gaining investors? It is amazing that given an opportunity like this to highlight our inherent economic potentials, rather the President choose to put his bad foot forward; this to us connotes that investors should stay away from investing in the Nigerian economy as the youth are only waiting for milk and honey, free health care, housing and education; an act of total misrepresentation.
“What happened to the over 5,000 youth of the thousands that competed and won in the YouWiN connect programme, who are waiting for the Federal Government to fund their brilliant business plans as promised; the many youth waiting for the commencement of the modular refineries; the thousands who walk the streets daily selling; the millions who engage in small scale businesses all over the world; the many upcoming and reigning young celebrities in the entertainment industry; the millions of youth who study and graduate with brilliant degree results and are still job-hunting?
“How has this unguided statement given a tap of encouragement to them?
“It must be stated unequivocally that Nigerian youth will pull their strength together in 2019 to show who the lazy ones are by voting competent, vibrant and intelligent individuals who will represent our interest, true efforts and giant strides around the world.
“We in council are putting modalities in place to ensure no Ijaw vote goes to any incompetent politician because Ijaw youth are not lazy”, the statement added.
Oba of Benin, Ewuare II, has received 119 stolen artefacts from the Netherlands.
The Oba who disclosed this on Wednesday in Benin, the Edo State capital, said plans by some international cartel to re-loot the artefacts were thwarted after he prayed to God and the ancestors.
He said, “I thank President Bola Tinubu for supporting and committing to the efforts former President Buhari put in place to ensure the artifacts are not re-looted because there were groups in this country believed to be an international cartel that had all sorts of conspiracy to re-loot our artifacts.
“They stole and burnt our Kingdom. They killed my people and tried to kill their spirit and their morale. Today, the boldness, courage, and bravery of the Benin people are still there. Events of 1897 reduced that to a significant level that Sometimes when I see my people, they are afraid of the unknown.
“The return of these objects has reawakened the courage we had in our people. We do not want modern-day politics and partisan politics to diminish the courage of our people.
“The Director General of the National Commission for Museums and Monuments has been doing wonderful work. His predecessor was part of the conspiracy to re-loot our artefacts. We had a running battle in this hall.
“I addressed my Chiefs in Benin language, and I said these artefacts belong to my ancestors, and I will not sit on the ancient throne and watch the artefacts re-looted. They would rather remain where they are than be re-looted. I thank the government of the Netherlands for working with us. This is part of the efforts to reawaken the morale and spirit of my people.
“After 1897, the kingdom was reduced. There was a government in this state that wanted to reduce the kingdom more and scatter it. I am angry when I speak about it. Why would anybody want to scatter the kingdom.
“The youths were courageous like the youths of those days. They were not afraid of anybody. I vowed that it would not happen. Not in my reign. Not while I am sitting on this throne. God heard my prayers. My ancestors heard my prayers. This throne is not partisan, but I should support what is good for my people.
“I urge the youths to be tough and strong in the face of adversity. This is not for anybody else. It is for my ancestors.”
The Benin Monarch further prayed for the return of more artefacts.
The NCMM DG, Olugbile Holloway, said the commission and the Benin Royal Palace were working hard to ensure more artefacts were returned.
Edo State Governor, Monday Okpebholo, who was represented by the Secretary to State Government, Barr. Musa Ikhilor said his administration would continue to build necessary infrastructure to preserve the returned artefacts as well as collaborate with the Federal Government to improve the storage system for the artefacts.
The General Director of the Wereld Museum, Marieke Van Bommel, said, “The artefacts are looted, and we have a policy in the Netherlands to bring them back. We are bringing back 119 artefacts. We don’t have more. These are the collections in the Netherlands. There are more collections in Europe, but that is not up to us. They have been with us for over 100 years.”
The Nigeria Education Loan Fund said its Student Loan Application System has now been fully digitised to streamline and accelerate the student loan processing experience for institutions and applicants.
“With this upgrade, all accredited institutions are now required to request access to SLAS to verify and upload student data related to loan applications. This is a critical step that ensures the timely processing and disbursement of approved student loans,” NELFUND said in a statement by its Director of Corporate Communications, Oseyemi Oluwatuyi.
The Fund also said that institutions that have not yet onboarded the system are kindly requested to send an access request to registration@nelf.gov.ng without delay.
He said once granted access, institutions will be able to view a real-time dashboard of their students’ loan applications, verify submitted data, and track the status of each application.
“We urge all institutions to take immediate action in the interest of their students, as verification and data upload by the institutions are mandatory steps before final approval and disbursement can be completed,” the statement said.
The implementation of the student loan scheme is President Bola Tinubu’s flagship project in the education sector.
Barely a month after his inauguration as president, Tinubu signed the Access to Higher Education Act, which creates a legal framework for granting loans to indigent or low-income Nigerians to facilitate the payment of their fees in Nigerian tertiary institutions.
The law, reenacted, created the Nigerian Education Loan Fund.
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