…says won’t stop building capacity of young people
By Ebriku John Friday
As Nigeria joins the world to commemorate International Youth Day, former President of Nigeria, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, yesterday, in a goodwill message marking the day commended the Deputy National President, Project 1000, Dough Onah, for positive youth engagement and development.
According to Obasanjo, Onah who was also one of the mentees of First Presidential Youth Mentorship Retreat 2019 he hosted at Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library, is doing well by adding value to the lives of young people in the country, which shows a step in the right direction.
In his goodwill message the elder statesman also said that there is an urgent need for young people to unite not just in numbers but in purpose to add pressure on decision-makers in politics and the economy, and added that, “We need to strengthen and amplify the voices of youth who are ready to act, and demand for transformational change towards achieving the Youth Program in Africa and Africa’s Agenda 2063.
According to him before there was an International Youth Day, there was an International Youth Year which was created in 1985. Ten years later, it provided some guidelines and rules to help people all over the world work together to improve the lives of young people.
Then on 17 December 1999, International Youth Day was created as a tool to accomplish and further these aims, which was created by United Nation’s Resolution 54/120 is a day for people to keep in mind these aims and do what they can for the youth of the world.
He further stated that it is a call to government agencies, charities and other organizations all over the world, to do what they can to improve the lives of the young people of the world.
He said: “This year’s theme is Youth Engagement for Global Action seeks to highlight the ways in which the engagement of young people at the local, national and global levels is enriching national and multilateral institutions and processes, as well as draw lessons on how their representation and engagement in formal institutional politics can be significantly enhanced.
“I am happy to send out this goodwill message in response to a letter I received from one of my mentees Dough ONAH, from the First Presidential Youth Mentorship Retreat 2019 I hosted at Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library.
“I am happy to hear the report in his engagement in youth development with the Youth Training Hub-Africa and office of the Senior Special Assistant Youth Affairs to the Governor of Cross River State of Nigeria.”
The former President also acknowledged the huge challenge young people face in Nigeria and Africa, which include education, health, employment, drug abuse, poverty, health, active participation in politics, poor information technology, and others.
“Today the Nigerian, as well as the African Youth, faces a huge challenge, this is evident in the State of Education, Employment, Poverty, Health, The Environment, Delinquency, Drug Abuse, HIV and AIDS, Girls Passive Active Participation, Intergenerational mistrust, youth conflict, insufficient deployment of communication technologies and the seeming loss of hope in the system”, he stated.
Meanwhile, he maintained that the reality is the future of any nation depends on its young people, hence the Youth Development Centre at Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library will continue to build capacity of young people.
“The future of youth depends upon the youth, and it is also, for this reason, the Youth Development Centre at the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library exists to help build, equip and provide young people with skills and opportunities for advancement and global action”, he said.
