Nigeria’s outgoing President, Muhammadu Buhari has asserted that young people worldwide have proven that they can drive the change process, contributing positively to the socio-economic development of their communities.
Declaring open the Commonwealth Youth and Students Summit in Abuja yesterday, the president pointed out his administration has heavily invested on youth development, creating formidable platforms through which youths can hone their leadership skills.
According to a statement by presidential spokesman, Femi Adesina, President Buhari, who was represented by his chief of staff, Professor Ibrahim Gambari, pledged that Nigeria as a member of the Commonwealth would continuously create an enabling environment for young people to blossom and reach their potential.
‘I am very optimistic that with the breed of young people gathered here, actionable policy-decisions that will further enhance development and productivity of the youth will be reached for the Heads of Government of the Commonwealth to implement to further better the lots of young people of the Commonwealth,’ he said.
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On initiatives to support the empowerment of young people, as the theme of the Summit is ‘Co-creating our common future leadership in the digital age in Africa,’ the President said.
‘The digital revolution is clearly upon us with the young ones leading the way in ICT, Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, E-Commerce and the likes. Investments building a digital economy must proceed along with investment in the ideas, skills and enterprise of Our Youth.
‘In line with the key values of the Commonwealth, Nigeria over the years has invested heavily on youth development, created formidable and reliable platforms such as the Youth Parliament, National Youth Council of Nigeria, National Association of Nigerian Students, Nigeria Youth Congress, amongst others, through which our young people and students can hone their leadership skills and make relevant contribution to the decision-making process especially on issues that border on their development and welfare.
‘Nigeria is committed to the actualisation of the core values of the Commonwealth and firmly believes in the power of the youth as the driving force, in making a difference in the socio-economic development of their societies.
‘It is therefore a welcome development that this Summit has brought together young people from various socio-cultural and political backgrounds to further strengthen youth engagement and their full involvement in decision-making on issues that concern them, particularly in the areas of education, job creation, entrepreneurship, and digital economy.’
In his remarks, Mr. Sunday Dare who is the minister of sports and youth development called on African governments to increase the budget for youth development to about 30 per cent, while sustaining funding of youth-centric policies and programmes.