Equipping the youth for leadership

It is often said that the youths are the leaders of tomorrow. But the youths no longer seem to fancy that because the current reality in the country does not really support their leadership aspiration. Therefore, it has become significant to ask ourselves how well the society has prepared the youth for the great tasks of leadership and nation-building.
Youth unemployment rate in the country, according to World Bank statistics, is 38 percent, and these include secondary school leavers, university and polytechnic graduates. Worse still, aged workers in the country, particularly civil servants, are not always ready to retire and give room for the youths to take charge. It is common for this group of people to ‘doctor’ their birth certificates in order to stay longer at work. Meanwhile, the nation’s universities and polytechnics continue to churn out large numbers of graduates in both Bachelors’ degrees and Higher National Diploma categories annually while job creation has been inadequate to keep pace with the expanding working age population. As a result of high unemployment rate, youths with low tolerance level find succour in crime to make ends meet and relieve their parents of financial burden of feeding and clothing them years after graduation.
Increased enrolment rates in schools due to high population rate have also created challenges in ensuring quality education and satisfactory learning achievement as resources are spread more thinly across a growing number of students. It is not rare to see cases of 100 pupils per teacher or students sitting under trees outside the school building because of lack of classrooms.
Consequently, the number of schools, facilities and teachers available for basic education remains inadequate for the eligible number of children and youths. This is more so in urban areas where there is population pressure. Under these conditions, teaching and learning cannot be effective; hence the outcomes are usually below expectation.
Worthy of note is also concern over the challenge of girls’ education. In the north especially, the gender gap remains particularly wide and the proportion of girls to boys in school ranges from 1:2 to 1:3 in some states. Experience has shown that investments in girls’ education translate directly and quickly into poverty reduction, better health care, better nutrition for the whole family and better overall economic performance.
In the realm of politics, youths are also being short-changed as they increasingly find it difficult to find their bearing in the political landscape. And when some of them are found in the corridors of power or become part of decision making, it’s by the power of their influential parents, not on merit.
Therefore, in order to equip the youths for the arduous task of leadership and nation building, the older generation should invest their time and resources at their disposal to mentor the younger ones. Mentoring is a relationship where a less experienced person learns from a more experienced one over a period of time.
One other way the youths can be mentored is through their membership of voluntary organizations like the Boys’ Scouts. Founded in 1915 by the British colonialists with the motto ‘Be Prepared’, its laws include that a scout is loyal to his country, his scouter, his parents, his employers and to those under him. Also, a scout’s duty is to be useful and to help others. This intervention is being exploited in Lagos State to inculcate the spirit of teamwork, unity and a sense of preparedness in the youths.
Furthermore, in order to train the youths to fight unemployment, skill acquisition must be encouraged for self-employment. Access to loans to start their own businesses must be guaranteed. Meanwhile, they should have been educated earlier on the importance of saving culture, planning and its overall effect on other aspects of life. This was done recently by Pension Alliance Limited (PAL) whose staff travelled across the country to give primary and secondary school students practical financial and economic information with a view to inculcating the tenets of good financial management into the young ones. Social welfare packages for the youths must be put in place to cushion the effects of economic hardships caused by unemployment.
Smooth and better access to quality education without hiccups such as teachers/lecturers’ strikes must be ensured in order to breed better informed youth that can contribute meaningfully to nation building. In addition, a tangible percentage of representation should be given to the youths in politics to ensure their active participation in decision making at all tiers of government. For instance, during the recently concluded national conference, there were protests from some quarters that the representatives of the youth were individuals that are over 50 years of age.
Of much importance is the fixing of the nation’s economic problems which have been largely due to mismanagement and misplaced priorities. Presently, in spite of the country’s huge resources, most Nigerians suffer from extreme poverty. This is a fallout of the nation’s constant issue with poor and visionless leadership. So, for the youths to really find their voices in the country, our leaders need to fix the economy. Fixing the economy would bring about job opportunities and empowerment for the youth.
Now, more than ever, we need to promote social entrepreneurship among the youths. This could be done through the establishment of internship programmes aimed at giving youths the opportunity to learn valuable skills in contemporary fields such as information communication technology, fund development, public relations, programme development, management, and much more. Equally, corporate organisations, NGOs, individuals and government institutions should be committed to mentoring of the youths.
The youths themselves should shun every overture from any quarter that could turn them into anti-social agents. While it is true that things are a bit tough in the country for now, that is not enough justification for the youths to become willing tools in the hands of unscrupulous individuals who do not have their interests at heart. Indeed, the youth could ride over present challenges and take hold of their place in the scheme of things.

BILKIS BAKARE…
is of the Features Unit, Ministry of Information & Strategy, Alausa, Ikeja.