Governor of Adamawa State, Umaru Fintiri said his administration had made huge investments in youth development in the state.
He disclosed this yesterday in Abuja at the opening ceremony of Governance and Leadership mentoring clinic for emerging youth leaders organised by the Institute for Governance and Leadership Studies in Africa (IGLSA),with the theme: “Developing a Critical Mass of Emerging African Youth Leaders with 21st Century Leadership and Governance Capabilities.”
The governor, who was represented by the commissioner for information Dr Umar Garba Pela, noted that youth development is one of the major thrusts of the 11-point agenda of his administration.
“Youth development is one of the major thrusts of our 11-point agenda, we have empowered youths by establishing the ministry of entrepreneurship, the first of its kind in the north east. We noticed a gap and created the ministry to manage and harness the potential of the youths.
“This has helped in reducing poverty and crime in the state, as more than 500 youths have been trained through this intervention,” he said.
The chairman of the occasion, Prof Nuhu Yakub, said IGLS is a timely creation because the problem we are faced with in Africa is not just a problem of leadership, but the larger problem is the followership. He urged Nigerians to demand accountability from their leaders.
He added that religion and ethnicity has been one of the major factors hindering the growth of democracy, and called on politicians to desist from using religion and ethnicity to divide the electorates, but rather view politics as a call to service, to rescue the country from poverty and underdevelopment.
In his welcome address, the DG of the institute, Dr Lanre Adebayo, said, “Observers and experts have identified leadership deficit as one of the major factors that have hindered growth in Africa.
“Government office holders take a long time to learn the ropes when they get into office due to lack of preparation for the challenges of the office they vie for, or get appointed to.”
He therefore called on the academia to as a matter of urgency include Leadership studies in curriculum at the secondary and tertiary levels.
On his part, Major General K.A Role (rtd), noted that democracy and development are so interdependent that they become more meaningful when they are woven together. He added that the endless goal of democracy is economic growth and improvement in the standard of living.
