?says conference not for money sharing

The much-anticipated National Youth Conference will kick off its grassroots physical engagements in the first week of June, according to the Minister of Youth Development, Ayodele Olawande.

The conference, which was initiated by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu on March 10, with the inauguration of a national planning committee, is progressing steadily through its preparatory phases.

Speaking on the modalities being adopted, Olawande revealed that the next phase of the engagement?which includes consultations with Nigerian youths in the diaspora and through online platforms?will commence by the end of May.

?By next month, the Diaspora and online engagements will start. When I return to Abuja, we?ll look at the next report and we?ll get to build a big website for that purpose that can engage as many as possible.

?I can tell you that before May 29, the Diaspora and social platform engagements will start, and that one will go on so that they can collate all those ideas together?, the minister stated.

According to Olawande, the grassroots engagements will follow immediately, beginning in early June.

These sessions are to be held across all 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), a deliberate move to decentralize the process and include voices from every part of the country.

?Work is ongoing. I think they are currently at sub-committee levels because since it?s not going to be concentrated in Abuja, we?ll be going to the grassroots, so there?ll be local organising committees in all the 36 states and the FCT, whereby the process will be managed by both government and the private sector?, he said.

The minister clarified that each state?s local committee will include youth commissioners and representatives from the private sector operating within the state.

The process, he emphasized, is not politically driven, although it includes nominal representation from youth wings of political parties.

?It is not a political thing, but there?s no way we won?t still consider politics because like in the committee we have representatives of all national youth leaders of all political parties.

We will also ensure that the representation of the political parties? youth forums, all of them put together, will be just 1%. We?ll allow the process to be driven by the NGOs and all such organisations that will participate?, he explained.

Olawande also addressed concerns regarding funding and logistics, noting that the conference would be modestly funded through donations and support from development partners, rather than from elaborate government funding or fundraising.

?We?re being mindful of our current financial state. We?re not doing any fundraising. It is a confab, but it is not a confab where we?ll be sharing money, no. If you really want to join us to discuss, please come, but don?t expect that we will be sharing money there. Nobody will give you millions in the name of confab?, he said.

He pointed out that during the inauguration of the planning committee, diplomatic missions such as the U.S. and Qatar embassies were present, and their interest forms part of the expected support base.

The minister explained that the decentralised structure of the conference was not only due to financial prudence but also to reflect the diversity of youth needs across Nigeria.

Drawing from his extensive travels to 28 out of the 36 states, many of them rural and underserved areas, Olawande emphasized that the challenges and priorities of young Nigerians vary significantly across regions.

?In my travels, I have discovered that the demands and desires are varying. What youths from one state or district or constituency or local government want are different from others.

For instance, demands and desires of youths from two different senatorial districts within the same state are different; they have their peculiarities?, he said.

He added that centralizing the event in Abuja could risk undue political interference, as selecting youth delegates on a national scale is far more complex than choosing elders for a similar reason.

?To select delegates for an elders? confab is easier because every community or nationality knows its elder statesman. But for youths, just a political party can have over 101,000 youth groups. Youth groups are uncountable. So is it possible to accommodate all youth organisations? No?, Olawande noted.

In response to these complexities, the conference will adopt a senatorial district-level format, balancing inclusivity with logistical and budgetary realities.

?So why not take it to the people that really need this conversation? Why not say okay, if because we can?t do 360 federal constituencies because of financial constraints, why not do 109 senatorial districts??, he asked.

The National Youth Conference, when it fully launches, is expected to provide a structured platform for Nigerian youth to voice their concerns, contribute ideas for national development, and foster inclusive dialogue across political, regional, and socio-economic divides. (The Nation)

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