Yesterday I had discussion with some friends and we bared our minds on leadership, governance and politics. Then the issue of people who occupied political offices came up. While I was commending Katsina State for producing the youngest Speaker of State House of Assembly at age 32, I was made to understand that 70 percent of Katsina State House of Assembly fall between the age bracket of 30 and 35 years. Wow, what a courtesy for youth leadership by Katsina State. I think it will not be out of place to call Katsina a Model State for Youth Leadership in Nigeria.
It may interest you to know that the Chairperson of Commonwealth Youth Council, Ahmed Adamu is also from Katsina State. That state has exceeded the 30% Affirmative Action for youth that we are glamouring for and we expect Katsina State House of Assembly to be the best in the country owing to the fact that there will be ideas and innovations that will be brought to governance. I hope to embark on a study of Katsina State House of Assembly to unveil the magic wand behind this success story.
Coming back home, we are much aware that the Niger Delta region produced over 80% of revenue used to developed our country yet the area is in total squalor as effort gearing toward addressing development issues are either not producing very minimal result or no result at all. The ravaging effect of oil exploration in the region is something to ponder on. The youth of the area are in abject poverty in the midst of plenty. According to report, about 28 million of Niger Delta youth do not have a means of livelihood. No job to survive the economic hardship. Those that have business ideas do not have access to funding. Those who make use of their talents like music and other creative ideas do not have source of funding to take their ideas beyond the incubation stage.
These issues has exposed the area to high crime rate. From kipnapping of oil workers which was a norm to bunkering and vandalization of oil pipeline. From militancy to armed robbery. From prostitution to trafficking and so on and so forth. All these activities pose a serious threat to the development of the Niger Delta region. It is on this premise that an Uyo based non-governmental organization, Youth Alive Foundation in partnership with USAID decided to draw the attention of state government and State Houses of Assembly in the region on how to tackle these issues by appropriating 10% proceed from oil derivation (not state budgetary allocation) to youth development issues in the area of entrepreneurship, agribusiness, small and medium scale enterprises, etc. This is a very laudable initiative to address the pressing issue of youth development in the Niger Delta region.
Though some are of the opinion that 10% for youth development in the region is too small but for us it is a good start. Asking for 10% is not too much for our leaders to dedicate for youth development. We are not asking for too much. With 10% dedicated to real youth development issues and facilitated with the integrity and transparency that it deserves, there will be a new song to sing in the Niger Delta region and our youth will be more responsible. The crime rate would reduce drastically. I hereby call on the nine States House of Assembly in the Niger Delta Region to buy into #10PERCENT4YOUTH Project and give it all the legislative support that it needed so as to improve the standard of living of Niger Delta youth and bring the much needed peace to the region.
I also urge our youth to reinforce the campaign by spreading the message and take it to their lawmakers. It is one of the easiest way to address youth unemployment. Together we are for #10PERCENT4YOUTH
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