Yiaga Africa, House of Reps Partner to Drive Youth Development.

Gilbert Ekugbe

Yiaga Africa and the House of Representatives Committee for Youth Development have partnered to drive sustainable youth development in the country.

Indeed, both organisations acknowledged the important roles Nigerian youths play in achieving rapid economic growth and development.

At the inaugural retreat for the House Committee for Youth Development, the Coordinator, Yiaga Africa Centre for Legislative Engagement, Samuel Oguche, expressed Yiaga Africa’s commitment to partnering the House of Reps, saying that the challenges of the youths are enormous and would require collaborative efforts to address the issues bothering around youth development in the nation.

“Yiaga Africa is ready to partner with you because of the vital nature of the youths. The demography of the youths is something that concerns all of us. It has been said times without numbers that the young ones are the leaders of tomorrow, but we want to take it from being leaders of today. The fact that we are seeing young people in the legislature and to an extent, at the executive arm, is a pointer that the tomorrow we are talking about is here.

The challenges of the youth today are enormous and that is why this committee is out to see how youth development can be sustained in Nigeria and if we achieve this, the problem of the country would be half solved,” Oguche said.

In his words, “The responsibility of this committee is very enormous and they cannot achieve this alone without partnership and support. Yiaga Africa is out to give you all the support necessary to achieve your mandate. In this retreat, we are expected to look at the state of play in youth development in Nigeria and to see how far they have come, to identify the challenges and opportunities.”

He noted that policy making for oversight is one of the things that the retreat would unveil as participants would be exposed to legislative instruments that are critical for promoting youth development.
“Yiaga Africa as you know is a non-profit organisation which has been working tirelessly to ensure the survival and advancement of democracy in Nigeria. One of the components is legislative engagement which focuses on quality research and capacity building,” he stated.

Also speaking, the Chairman, House Committee, Youth Development, Martins Esin, said Nigerian youths represent the future of Nigeria, pointing out the need for policy makers to ensure that they are equipped with the resources and opportunities to thrive and contribute meaningfully to nation building.

“The Yiaga Africa Centre for Legislative Engagements through its unwavering dedication to promoting capacity building, responsive governance and youth inclusion has proven itself a steadfast ally in our quest to address the multifaceted challenges facing our youth population. I commend their efforts and express gratitude for their ingenuity in hosting this retreat,” he averred.

He stated, “The retreat will help us strategise how best to harness the potentials of our youth demography through insightful discussions and collaborative problem solving, we aim to identify innovative approaches that will drive our activities as an important committee with enormous responsibilities.”

“At this retreat, we are encouraged to leverage our experiences in the House and elsewhere in defining modalities for our committee operations by allowing certain people to shape our conversations. I am deeply convinced about the commitment of committee members to championing policies that prioritise the interest and aspirations of our youths,” he stressed.