The Federal Government has said that it will soon launch a registration portal for the proposed national youth summit.

It said that the portal would enable young Nigerians from different parts of the country to participate in the 30-day conference.

The Minister of Youth Development, Ayodele Olawande, who disclosed this on Thursday during Channels Television’s Youth Forum, a live interaction programme, however, did not give a specific date.

Olawande said though young Nigerians were eager to participate in the conference, nothing could be gained without proper planning.

“My generation wants things quick. But I’ve also realised that there is nothing you can gain without proper planning. So for us, in a couple of days, we are going to come out with the first layer of it, which is the launching of a portal because we want transparency.

“A lot of people have said that this confab is all about politics. I am a politician, no doubt, but again, we want to do it differently for the first time and we want to see whether we can get – which we are going to get – a different result,” he said.

“We are going to launch a website. People should register. The President approved 30 days and that is four weeks. In the first week, we want to see how we can engage the young people in all the federal constituencies we have.

“We want to see how we will go from there to the six geopolitical zones we have; we want to see how we can engage them,” he added.

The minister also said that the implementation of the resolutions from the summit would be done in legislative and administrative ways.

“This structure is simple. Even at the committee level, nobody is in the committee as an individual. We want to make sure that at the end of the conference, I should be able to provide the communiqué at FEC and say, ‘This is an executive direction. It should be passed.’”

Confab For Meaningful Dialogue

During Nigeria’s 64th Independence Day Anniversary Broadcast on October 1, 2024, Tinubu announced a 30-day confab for youths in the country to discuss and address challenges confronting them.

He explained that the modalities of this confab and selection of delegates would be designed in close consultation with young people through their representatives.

The President also said that the government would thoroughly consider and implement the recommendations and outcomes from the forum as part of his administration’s efforts to build a more inclusive, prosperous, and united Nigeria.

He said, “As we work to overcome the challenges of the day, we remain mindful of the next generation as we seek to galvanise their creative energy towards a better future.

“Considering this, I am pleased to announce the gathering of a National Youth Conference. This conference will be a platform to address the diverse challenges and opportunities confronting our young people, who constitute more than 60 per cent of our population.

“It will provoke meaningful dialogue and empower our young people to participate actively in nation-building. By ensuring that their voices are heard in shaping the policies that impact their lives, we are creating a pathway for a brighter tomorrow.” (Channels TV)