FCT Scout Commissioner Calls For Renewed Government Support

The Federal Capital Territory’s Scout Commissioner, Dr Segun Adedayo Akintobi JP, has urged the federal government to restore funding for youth development, warning that dwindling resources threaten the future of scouting in Nigeria.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with Leadership, after a Thanksgiving service at Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministries to close the annual Founders’ Day celebration on Sunday in Abuja, Akintobi said the Scout Association of Nigeria (TSAN) needed urgent financial backing to sustain its programs.

Akintobi, who joined the Boy Scouts at age 11 in 1964 and now serves as commissioner, described scouting as a “lifelong volunteer call” that now includes both boys and girls, with units ranging from school-based clubs to specialised Air and Sea scouts.

He noted that TSAN’s primary focus is youth development in the education sector, with an assistant commissioner and an educationist overseeing school scouting across the FCT.

“We are planning more vibrant activities in schools over the coming months, but we need sponsors to fund them. Past support from the Ministry of Youth Development has waned since the organisation’s name change from the Boy Scouts to the Scout Association. Akintobi said.

He recalled a time when scouts were a visible presence at public events, maintaining order in stadiums and acting as a frontline civic force. “A single ‘We!’ from a scout could silence a crowd,” he said.

“Our training is civil, not military. We teach self-development, property protection, and community service, but we draw a line at armed confrontation,” he stressed.

He made a direct appeal to authorities, noting that government sponsorship was crucial for his own teenage trip to the Tokyo jamboree, an experience that changed his life and urged the Ministry of Youth Development and other agencies to revive financial and logistical support, especially for capital-intensive events such as national and international jamborees.