President Muhammadu Buhari has expressed his firm belief in the power of the youth as the driving force, in making a difference in the socio-economic development of their societies.
The President who gave the assurance on Tuesday in Abuja when he declared open the 2023 Commonwealth Youth and Students Summit, African Region reiterated Nigeria’s commitment to the actualization of the core values of the Commonwealth.
Director Press and Public Relations Mohammed Manga in a statement quoted the president to have also noted that the youth is a transition phase, though always confronted by different realities, opportunities and challenges that define their resilience and potentials.
The President explained that the Commonwealth as it is known today has come a long way from being just a handful of Committee of Nations representing former British Colonies to a global force on matters of universal peace, democracy, human rights, economic and social development as well as youth and sports development.
According to him, the future of the youth can only be built through collaboration, communication, compromise and wisdom of those who have earned experience overtime and thus called on the youth to avoid confrontation and conflict as these are likely to mar their full potentials.
“The actualization of these potentials means solutions for all of us; youth and adults alike because many of the challenges that face us are cross demographic”, the President said.
Speaking earlier, the Honourable Minister of Sports and Youth Development, Mr. Sunday Dare, said that the conversations at the ongoing Summit will centre around the role of technology in deciding the future of African youth leadership in various sectors.
Dare noted that governments have great roles to play by investing in the youth. “Investment in our youth must take centre stage in the priority order of our countries, that is why the President Muhammadu Buhari-led Administration embarked on establishing a youth investment fund of N75b over three years to provide youth with collateral free loans on preferential terms to catalyze their ideas”.
Earlier in his Opening Remarks, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Alhaji Ismaila Abubakar assured that the Ministry will continue to create an enabling environment for the implementation of the policies, programmes and projects of Government that have direct impact on the youth.
The Summit with the theme, “Co-creating our common future leadership in the Digital age in Africa,” is to witness an assemblage of 11 Ministers and 5000 youth from 21 African countries.
