Youth Council, Foundation Partner On Peace Building, Development

National Youth Council of Nigeria (NYCN) and the Foundation for Peace Professionals (PeacePro) have collaborated to advance the course of peace building, security and national development in Nigeria and across West Africa.

In a joint statement by the executive director of PeacePro, Mr Abdulrazaq Hamzat and the acting national president of NYCN, Mr Akoshile Ademola, the groups said that the people of Nigeria and indeed West Africa are searching for direction in midst of new challenges and global instability.

They expressed the readiness of the two organisations to galvanise the people through the agenda for peace, security and national development.

“The National Youth Council of Nigeria (NYCN) was established in 1964. It is charged with the responsibility of policy formulation and implementation on issues relating to youth development in Nigeria. It is the umbrella body and the mouthpiece of the Nigerian Youths. It was established and given legal recognition in 1990.

“PeacePro on the other hand is a peacebuilding think tank, established in 2016 with the aim of utilizing data and human centred approaches to advance the course of peacebuilding and national development.

“The National Youth Council of Nigeria and PeacePro came together to join ongoing efforts of the government, not only to reform the nation and address youth restiveness, but also to offer alternative ideas on security and national development,” the statement said.

It added that PeacePro and Youth Council will be engaging all necessary stakeholders in Nigeria, including youth stakeholders, organised labour, media, friends of Nigeria and the government to jointly build a bridge of understanding.

The statement noted that the  Nigeria youths  needed a new approach to engage the country’s challenges and needed to construct a national platform capable of harnessing their  frustration and transforming it into a practicable agenda that will gain acceptance across the length and breadth of the country.

“It is not enough to be angry and frustrated about the country’s situation, thereby acting rashly and compounding the problems, it is also important to understand the challenges and plan a practicable way forward” it said, adding that the partnership between PeacePro and Youth Council will attempt to set agenda for actualization and rally the country together on a purposeful mission.

“Additionally, PeacePro and Youth Council shall be engaging the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to understand what is happening within the community and offer alternative ideas of engagement in the interest of the region,” the statement added.