ON Tuesday, November 12, Nigeria joined other African countries to celebrate the Africa Youth Month. The focus was on the African Union theme of “1 million by 2021, Count Me In.”  But there was more in the kitty for the Youth as you will find out in the takeaways from the Ministers speech as he outlined the new tactical approach to youth engagement.
How is Nigeria going to keep its millions and millions of Youth productively engaged?

That was one of the questions on the minds of the attendees of the 2019 Africa Youth Day celebration as they filed up to register and gained entrance into the hall. Unlike most events organised by government bodies, this event had a different feel to it. For example, the banners had cartoons on them. Second, the air was light and the music was contemporary. Even though the event started behind schedule, once it did, it ran like clock work. Everyone participated. Sporting icons were there. Notable CSOs spoke their minds without fear. People got registered to get jobs on the spot. Everyone had a blast.
So, here are the 10 key takeaways from the speech read by the Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Mr Sunday Dare:

Africa is wisely rethinking its strategy on the Youth:  “In the past, many African governments in their quest for sustainable development, have invested substantially in infrastructure and economic reforms while paying little attention to the development of their human capital. Decades of these investments still leaves us in the search for more effective ways to attain our development goals. For me, I believe the way to go is to tilt the scale.”

Ignoring the Youth will be too expensive for the Black Continent: “The cost implication to increase investment in youth is minimal when compared with the enormous resources most countries in Africa expend to mitigate the impact of poor investments in youth on peace, security and economies of our nations. Therefore, many experts propound that the youth bulge if not adequately harnessed, will become a demographic bomb rather than revenue, because a large mass of frustrated youth is likely to become a potential source of social and political instability.”

In Nigeria, the Youth are in charge: “For us in Nigeria, is a double celebration as we also use the occasion to launch the Pocket Size National Youth Policy (NYP) as well as the National Youth Policy APP. The choice to have variations of the National Youth Policy in both formats is informed by our critical audience – youth, to whom the policy belong.”

As far as the President is concerned, Mr. Dare only has one job: “When Mr. President appointed me as Minister, he gave me a clear mandate: ‘Keep Nigerian youth productively busy!’ And by God, this we will do. Together!”

However, the job is for all: “Our strategy is simple: – each person contributing from their little space: government, private sector, civil society and development partners; The most important actors being the youth themselves; not mere standby spectators.”

Cooperation is key: “Going forward, we at the Ministry will work towards sustaining an ecosystem of State and non-state actors in each thematic area of the National Youth Policy, which will evolve into the National Youth Policy Implementation Network.”

Let’s DEEL!: “Mr. President’s has a new DEEL for the youth; and it starts today! Whether your interest is Digital Skills, Entrepreneurship, Employment or you are passionate about leadership, governance and inclusion, there is something for everyone in the new DEEL.”

D – Digital Skill Acquisition

DY.NG to train 200,000 youth on digital skills across the country using Youth Development Centres

E – Entrepreneurship

Empowerment Programme

CBN Enterprise Centres

E – Employability

WEP – Work Experience Placement

L – Leadership Training

National Youth Council of Nigeria

Nigerian Youth Parliament

Citizens and Leadership Training Centre

NOYA is the next big thing: NOYA is the Nigerian Online Youth Assembly, an initiative of the ministry. It is an aggregator website to be launched early December and will connect the youth to Opportunities, Employment, Scholarships, Internships, Networking with peers and Leadership Trainings amongst others.

Being an underdog has its perks: “Developing countries remain a massive part of the untapped market for the digital economy. They have population in hundreds of millions of youth offering a wide pool of talents that can be trained to utilize digital platforms, develop digital resources and drive technological advancement. What is more, they have the opportunity to learn from the experiences of other developed countries.”

Olorunpomi is a digital media strategist and youth leader.