Mohammed Abubakar, a former governor of Bauchi State, urged Nigerian youngsters to assume responsibility for the future and leadership of their country during his speech at the First Bauchi SDGs Youth Summit 2024. After repeatedly pushing Nigeria to the brink, Abubakar acknowledged that his generation had failed to provide the country the leadership it deserved. He highlighted the significance of youth development, saying that he purposefully appointed young people to his executive council on the basis of talent rather than family history throughout his administration.
But he cautioned that the country runs the risk of having future leaders who are ill-prepared if kids are not adequately trained and invested in now. Salis Gamawa, the commissioner for youth and sport in Bauchi State, echoed Abubakar’s plea, urging young people to pursue self-leadership and creativity instead of unachievable white-collar professions. Gamawa stressed that self-discipline is the foundation of leadership and that young people must learn to lead themselves before they can lead others. Many ladies, young people, and students from different educational institutions attended the conference.
Many young people are ill-prepared to take on leadership roles.
According to recent data from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), over 42% of young people in Nigeria between the ages of 15 and 34 were unemployed or underemployed as of 2023. This indicates that the country has serious problems with youth unemployment. Due to a dearth of employment prospects, many young people are ill-prepared to take on leadership roles or make significant economic contributions, which is highlighted by the high Unemployment rate. Future governance crises could result from a lack of Investment in youth Education and leadership development, according to Abubakar.
Abubakar suggested a change in leadership development through funding for youth education and entrepreneurial endeavours as a solution to these problems. Initiatives that facilitate youth Empowerment include the Tony Elumelu Foundation’s Entrepreneurship Program, which has aided over 15,000 young African business owners since 2015. Mentorship programs can also assist to close the leadership gap by giving young people the tools they need to succeed in a changing market. One such program is the Lagos State Employment Trust Fund (LSETF), which offers training and support to youth-led enterprises.
Sustainable dev. in Nig. must include a focus on youth leadership.
Increasing access to technical and Vocational Training may also provide a route away from white-collar employment. Vocational education is an integral aspect of the Educational System in nations like Singapore and Germany, creating highly qualified people in important industries. These kinds of initiatives, if modified for Nigeria, might close the skills gap in employment preparation and develop a new generation of leaders capable of creative and practical problem-solving. The First Bauchi SDGs Youth Summit was designed to get young people involved in promoting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations, namely Goals 4 (Quality Education), 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth), and 16 (Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions).
The goal of the summit was to provide a forum for young Nigerians to debate solutions to socioeconomic problems and push policies that support inclusive development by concentrating on youth development and leadership. A larger plan for attaining Sustainable Development in Nigeria must include a focus on youth leadership development, as the summit’s talks made clear. A young community leader named Ibrahim Musa offered a different viewpoint. While acknowledging the failure of previous generations, he also felt that young people had some responsibility.
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“While it’s true that the older generation has let us down in many ways, some young people are too quick to place the blame elsewhere without doing anything about it,” he said. Whether it is by creating enterprises, volunteering, or planning community projects, we must get out of our inactive state and begin to act. Musa’s words highlight the importance of proactive involvement and self-leadership, which is a notion that Salis Gamawa, the commissioner for youth and sport in Bauchi State, also underlined. In his speech, Gamawa stressed that self-empowerment rather than government employment is the path to leadership, and he challenged young people to think creatively and differently.