International Youth Day: Preparing a productive youth, Governor Udom’s example
By Trek Africa Newspaper
August 12 of every year is set aside the world over as International Youth Day to highlight the importance of youth in the nation. This year’s theme: Youth Engagement for Global Action is very significant as it advocates for Government of all nations to ensure the inclusiveness of young people in governance.
In Akwa Ibom State, the call for the engagement of youths by the United Nations is in conformity with the assiduousness of Gov. Udom Emmanuel in ensuring that the dominant abilities of youths in the state are harnessed and tapped for generational impacts.
This indeed informs why Akwa Ibom State under Gov. Emmanuel ranks the highest in the country with youths manning different positions- from the state executive council to the legislature and the Government at the Local Government level.
It has remained a focal point of this administration since its inception to engage the youths, not as political compensation per se, but as a way of harnessing their potentials for the good of Society.
Without mincing words, a society that does not prepare the youths for the future does not have a future. Quite interestingly, Gov. Emmanuel is engaging the youths of Akwa Ibom State in the preparation process, a move that has worked for many developed nations of the world.
In Akwa Ibom State, the young minds are not only engaged as glorified houseboys where they hold bags and answer phone calls for their principals, but are placed where they can engage their mental strength and youthful vigor in rendering services to humanity.
Today, we can boast of Akwa Ibom youths as Commissioners, Senior Special Assistants, Special Assistants, Board Members/Directors, Legislators, Chairmen, and so on.
The age long clichè that youths are the leaders of tomorrow has been technically erased in Akwa Ibom to show the world that the future is here, and the time is now.
And so far, the youths have not failed us yet, in the state.
Beyond the engagement of youths in governance, the administration of Gov. Emmanuel has purposefully trained over 300,000 youths in various skills, including ICT, solar power installation and agro-based ventures; sponsorship of youths to undergo foreign training programmes in specialised welding and other engineering fields in the United States of America; and provision of Interest-free loans to youths, to mention but a few.
It is therefore imperative to underscore the fact that Gov. Emmanuel has remained the most youth-friendly Governor of all times.
The youth must equally understand that everybody cannot be given appointment at the same time, hence they should utilize the various windows opened by this administration through the Dakkada policy and be self-reliant for the overall good of society.
As the Local Government Election is drawing closer, the youths should heed to the admonitions of Gov. Emmanuel at various fora to shun violence and restiveness, as development cannot thrive in a hostile environment.
Peace has come to stay in Akwa Ibom State, and it is our collective effort to sustain the peace facilitated through the ingenuous disposition of the state governor towards peaceful coexistence.
This is the task before us all, as we join the rest of the world to celebrate the 2020 International Youth Day, a global call for the engagement of youths for global action. It had started in Akwa Ibom, long before now, courtesy of Gov. Udom Emmanuel. The future is already here in Akwa Ibom State.
Richard Peters writes from Uyo
