PRESIDENT GOODLUCK PROMISES MORE OPPORTUNITIES FOR THE YOUTH

The role of the youth is of special and great importance in the new democracies of the world and in the world today there are more new than established democracies. The way in which a new democratic government develops is of special concern to young people, for it promises to rule their lives for forty years or more. Young adults can be seen as having distinctive political interests, more inclined to change than older generations, more idealistic in their goals and less loyal to established traditions.

President Goodluck Jonathan on Sunday, March 1, 2015 pledged to include more young individuals in his administration if re-elected as President. He made the remarks while answering questions from young business personalities in an interactive session tagged #MeetThePresident, put together by the Participate, Vote, Country (PVC) group at the Eko Hotel and Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos.

He recalled that former military Head of State, Yakubu Gowon became the country’s leader at the age of 33 while Diete Spliffn became Governor of Old Rivers State at 28, stating that although the exposure level of the average Nigerian as at that time was minimal, he would make sure more youths are appointed by his administration as he believes that the next generation will take Nigeria to the moon. At a follow up event at the same venue, where President Jonathan met with 5,000 Nigerian youths, he reiterated his stance on involving youths in the business of governance, saying: “The only thing that made me to become the President of Nigeria is because I went to school. That was why we made it a priority to establish 12 new universities in the past five years.

“The Asian Tigers (Malaysia, Indonesia and so on) are great because of small and medium enterprises. It is our mission to create new millionaires among you all through various youth empowerment policies,” the President said. “At the federal level we have relatively high number of young people. My future administration will have even more.” President Jonathan also promised to engage youths more often to be able to acquaint himself with the issues bothering them, even after his re-election.

In order to respond to the needs of young people, and to guarantee that their basic human rights are recognized and enforced, young people’s active and meaningful participation in their societies and in democratic practices and processes is of crucial importance. Meaningful youth participation and leadership require that young people and young people-led organizations have opportunities, capacities, and benefit from an enabling environment and relevant evidence based programs and policies at all levels. Realizing young people’s right to participate and be included in democratic processes and practices is also vital to ensure the achievement of internationally agreed development goals and to refresh the development agenda.

In countries emerging from conflicts, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) recognizes that young people can engage in peace building, leading non-violent revolutions, using new technologies to mobilize societies to bring about change. Young people have demonstrated the potential to build bridges across communities, working together, helping to manage conflict and promote peace. Young people are vital stakeholders in conflict and in peace-building, and can be agents of change and provide a foundation for rebuilding lives and communities, contributing to a more just and peaceful society.