Niger Delta Youth Council (NDYC), a pressure group on youth empowerment and development in the Niger Delta region has called on government to respond to the yearnings of youths and create policies that can enhance youth development in the country.
In a press release made available to journalists in Abuja by the National Coordinator, Engr. Jator Abido, on the occasion of the annual world youth day held every 12th August, the group advised government to use the avenue of the youth day to brainstorm and find lasting solutions to problems bedeviling the Nigerian youth especially in the area of unemployment and perennial insecurity hindering economic activities in many parts of the country.
The international youth day is set aside to celebrate youths all over the world and reflect on the challenges they face and ways to surmount them. The theme of this
year is "Intergenerational solidarity, creating a world for all ages"
The NDYC which felicitated with the federal government and Nigerian youths, said that it is using the annual opportunity to call attention to the alarming rate of unemployment which has risen to 35% in the third quarter of 2022 as well as insecurity which has brought economic activities to a halt in most parts of the country expecting that government will act fast to end insecurity and reverse the ugly trend of unemployment in the country.
It noted that the lingering strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), has far reaching implications on the future of Nigerian youths and will endanger the mental and social capacity of youths predisposing them to social crimes and agents of destabilisation in the forth coming general elections
The statement said that the “The implication of this unwarranted strike is that for the past six months and counting, Nigerian youths have been idling away at home and the federal government has not considered the damage such failures portend. Criminal elements within the ruling class will quickly recruit and turn them to agents of destruction and crime as the 2023 general elections draw near. This must not be allowed to happen. The federal government must act fast to reverse this ticking time bomb from exploding,”
It equally charged the federal government to come out with policies that will encourage the participation of Nigerian youths in the downstream oil sector especially by actively using local artisans in line with local content policy of the federal government insisting that Nigerian youths especially those in the Niger Delta region have what it takes to actively transform the oil sector and end the sad phenomenon of exporting crude and importing refined products which is almost crumbling the economy.
“We are once again calling on the federal government to as a matter of national importance formulate policies which will make the local content law a more practical reality. Our youths are well skilled in oil exploration and even refining. Granting licenses to local artisans and modifying their technology will end the uneconomical policy of importing refined petroleum products at exorbitant rates at the expense of the naira. Such steps will also put an end to youth restiveness in the country and stimulate economic growth”, the statement said
On the need to inaugurate the Niger Delta Development Commission’s (NDDC) Board, it noted that it was long overdue and the federal government must use this occasion of the International Youth Day to respond to the yearnings of youths in the Niger Delta who are the first beneficiaries and sufferers of both good and bad policy choices in the region, arguing that, NDDC can not continue to run without a substantive board.
“Mr. President Sir, we are calling on you to use your good office and cause the inauguration of the NDDC board which was duly constituted but has since not being inaugurated because of the activities of saboteurs. This is not only unconstitutional but a slap on the faces of law abiding Niger Deltans who are looking forward to massive development in the region. Without a Board, corruption is rife in the commission and the people who are supposed to be served are suffering because of the greed of a few politicians"
the statement said adding that if nothing is done to bring an end to this impunity, they may have no choice but to take up arms and fight for their rights.
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