How NGOs give hope to youths in Borno
With the youth reportedly constituting about 70 percent of Nigeria’s estimated 200 million population, youthbased NGOs and organisations have begun creating the awareness among those in the age-group that they own the country.
Consequently, NGOs and other organisations such as Exit Lanes, NEEM Foundation and the Borno State wing of the National Youth Council of Nigeria (NYCN) have begun sensitising those in the agegroup against being used by other age-groups to stoke violent conflicts and crises.
“Youths constitute about 70 percent of the country’s 200 million estimated population, but whatever crises and violent conflicts orchestrated by other age-groups, it is the youths that are used,” Ahmed Umar Bolori, the National Coordinator of Exit Lanes, told Kanem Trust.
“This percentage of their population gives them the ownership of the country,” the youth leader argued, stressing.”
He lamented: “However, youths form the majority of those used, or even the only ones being used to execute whatever violent conflict or crisis. This means they are used as instruments to destroy the property they, more than any other Nigerian, own.”
Ahmed said: “This is why Exit Lanes picked up the gauntlet to mobilise the youths towards first, being peaceful themselves, then engage in peace building and propagation, so that no other age-group can use them as tools to destabilise the country for whatever reasons.
“I acquired knowledge and training on the broad field of peace-building and propagation from many foreign countries and also my personal readings. This is why I am passing them to as many of my fellow youths as I can so that the population of peace ambassadors can multiply.
“Apart from those coming to me for orientation, I also roam out to attract teeming numbers, like graduates of higher institutions, with a view to orienting them to explore avenues of peace-building and propagation.”
He said he also links Nigerian youths with national and international youth-based organisations for avenues for peace-building training.
The Borno State Chairman of the National Youth Council of Nigeria, Yusuf Ibn Tom, also told Kanem Trust that the youths are being used by unscrupulous politicians because the lacked focus.
“Yes! By population, Nigeria is our own but the youth still lack direction, which is why politicians and people in authority apply the method of divide-and-rule on them and use them as tools to execute violence and crises.”
Ibn Tom, however, said: “With the NotTooYoungToRun now in place, things have begun to change for the better in terms of direction and youth participation in the affairs of the country they, more than all other groups of Nigerians, own.
“You can now see that in the 2019 elections, youths won seats in the national and states assemblies. Youths have been appointed commissioners in some states and, in fact, a youth is the Deputy Governor of Zamfara State now,” he pointed out, adding, “if we are well coordinated, we can attain power in this country.”