President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has announced a 30-day National Youth Conference to empower young Nigerians and harness their creative energy for a better future.
Tinubu made the announcement in a national broadcast to commemorate the 64th Independence Anniversary on Tuesday.
The conference, aimed at addressing challenges and opportunities facing young people, will bring together representatives from across the country to develop solutions to issues such as education, employment, innovation, security, and social justice, he said.
He reasoned that youths, making up over 60% of the population, will be at the forefront of shaping policies that impact their lives.
He also assured the conference’s outcomes and recommendations will be thoroughly considered and implemented by the government.
In addition to the conference, the President said his administration is implementing several youth-centric programmes, including the 3 Million Technical Talents Programme (3MTT) to build Nigeria’s technical talent backbone and the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) providing affordable loans for tertiary education.
He also said government will launch The Renewed Hope Labour Employment and Empowerment Programme (LEEP) later this month, aimed at creating 2.5 million jobs annually while ensuring worker welfare and safety.
“As we work to overcome the challenges of the day, we remain mindful of the next generation as we seek to galvanize their creative energy towards a better future. We lead today with the future we wish to bequeath to our children in focus, recognizing that we cannot design a future that belongs to them without making them its architects.
“Considering this, I am pleased to announce the gathering of a National Youth Conference. This conference will be a platform to address the diverse challenges and opportunities confronting our young people, who constitute more than 60 per cent of our population.
“It will provoke meaningful dialogue and empower our young people to participate actively in nation-building. By ensuring that their voices are heard in shaping the policies that impact their lives, we are creating a pathway for a brighter tomorrow.
“The 30-day Confab will unite young people nationwide to collaboratively develop solutions to issues such as education, employment, innovation, security, and social justice. The modalities of this Confab and selection of delegates will be designed in close consultation with our young people through their representatives.
“Through this confab, it will be our job as leaders to ensure that their aspirations are at the heart of the conference’s deliberations. The government will thoroughly consider and implement the recommendations and outcomes from this forum as we remain resolute in our mission to build a more inclusive, prosperous, and united Nigeria.
“Our government is implementing several other youth-centric programmes to give our young people an advantage in the rapidly changing world. We are implementing, amongst others, the 3 million Technical Talents programme (3MTT) of the Ministry of Communications, Innovation and Digital Economy, aimed at building Nigeria’s technical talent backbone.
“We have also enthusiastically implemented the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND), which provides cheap loans to our students to pursue their tertiary educational dreams. In addition, later this month, we shall launch The Renewed Hope Labour Employment and Empowerment Programme (LEEP).
“It is conceived as a comprehensive suite of interventions at job creation by the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment that is aimed at facilitating the creation of 2.5 million jobs, directly and indirectly, on an annual incremental basis whilst simultaneously ensuring the welfare and safety of workers across the country,” the President said.
Source: The nation
