President Bola Ahmed Tinubu Tuesday announced a 30-day conference to unite young people nationwide to collaboratively develop solutions to issues such as education, employment, innovation, security and social justice in the country.
The president made the announcement in a nationwide broadcast to commemorate Nigeria’s 64th Independence Day anniversary.
“While we are working to stabilise the economy and secure the country, we also seek to foster national unity and build social harmony and cohesion. Our economy can only thrive when there is peace.
“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,” he said.
He said the federal government was implementing several other youth-centric programmes to give 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,” he said.