The National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS) described the challenge of the youth bulge in the country as an existential threat that must be addressed headlong through collaborative efforts with relevant ministries departments and agencies (MDAs) and the private sector.
NIPSS’ director-general, proof. Ayo Omotayo, made the declaration during a courtesy call on the minister of youth and sports development, Sunday Dare, in Abuja on Tuesday, stressing that the demographics reveal that about 40% of the nation’s population are youth below 40, means solving the youth bulge problem will translate to addressing unemployment, stemming the tide of poverty right from the source, tackling vices like banditry, kidnapping and other forms of criminality.
“We know that the Youth and Sports Development Ministry is in charge of youth matters. We are here to seek collaboration with the Ministry in what we identify as a major challenge of Nigeria.
“That is why we want to have an engagement with a cross-section of Nigerian youth, so that before they ask us, we can devise ways and means to solve their problems before they again take to the streets in frustration and the Youth Ministry has a major role to play,” Omotayo stated.
In his response, the Sports Minister Sunday Dare welcomed the interest of NIPSS in collaborating with the Ministry, reiterating that youth bulge is the urgency of now.
He raised concern that the resources available to the government to provide opportunities, access to credit, and up-skill prospective entrepreneurs can not match what is expected.
“So there is a problem of scale. Imagine you have 5 million youth applying for training, and the funds you have can only cater to 5,000. You can’t really go out there and brag that you’ve trained because what do you do with an army of over 4m that has not benefited? And that is the way it is. We have millions of our youth waiting to get on the path of entrepreneurship. “
“From our youth fund, the entire N75bn approved for three years by the President can only deliver for 1.5m Youth. So there is a challenge of scale and that is why I often say that the youth business is everybody’s business and I am happy that NIPSS – a think-tank, has decided to place youth development at the top of its agenda and not leave it at the level of intellectual inquisition alone, but coming out to partner with the Ministry to see what we can do together,” Dare stated.
The Minister, whilst lamenting that the relocation of manufacturing industries worsened the unemployment problem, stated that the NIPSS and the Ministry have agreed to work together to reverse the trend.
