By Jaye Gaskia
As the world marks
the International Youth Day [IYD], it is important that we pause, and take a
deep reflective look at the condition of youth in Nigeria, in order for us to
be able not only to track the likely trajectories into the future, but also to
be able to set appropriate parameters to chart a new course to the future
through the present for our nation, and its youth and youthful population.
Why is this
important? It is important because the quality of life and scope and scale of
the future greatness of a nation can be determined by the quality of investment
in the condition of its youth today. A nation that trivializes the current
condition of its youth is merely laying the foundation for the decline and
irrelevance of the nation in the global community of the future.
Without highly
educated, highly literate, highly skilled, intellectually brilliant and
self-confident youth, a nation is toying with its future, and undermining its
existential capacity.
So what is the
condition of youth in Nigeria today? The place to begin is to underscore the
significance of the youth population. Youths, 35 years and under, are estimated
to constitute about 70% of the population of the country. This is huge; it
should be an advantage for a nation that is seriously and furiously pursuing
national development, one that is determined not only to build an advanced
human civilization, but that is also ambitious of leading the way in the march
towards further humanizing the human condition globally.
But alas, the level,
scale and scope of the crass incompetence, managerial ineptitude, and
congenital second fiddle mentality, inordinate unscrupulous ambition, and
criminal disposition towards treasury looting, displayed by Nigeria’s ruling
elite has combined to devastate the general condition of youth in our country.
Except for a few
youths, either those scions of the corruptly enriched ruling class, or scions
of the precarious and dwindling middle class, or the minute fraction who
through exceptional courage or brigandage have managed to pull themselves up by
the straps; except for this small category of youths; the condition of the
overwhelming majority of youths is dismal and abysmal.
So what is the
condition of the Nigerian youth, the overwhelming majority, not of the few who
by share courage or because of the circumstance of birth?
Of the about 57
million out of school children globally, 10.5 million of them are Nigerian children,
making Nigeria the country with the second highest concentration of out of
school children globally.
The quality of
education in public schools, where the majority of children attend is
appalling, and keeps declining, and this is right across primary, secondary and
tertiary institutions. The derelict condition of facilities, the inadequate or
sometimes complete absence of necessary basic infrastructures in educational
institutions, as well as the declining quality of teaching and non-teaching staff
have all combined to create the monumental existential crisis and challenge
facing the education sector in the country today, and therefore affecting the
overall development and preparation of our youth for a purposeful and
productive life.
To further compound
the issue, less than 15% of youths seeking admission into tertiary institutions
ever get admitted annually. And yet there are no viable alternative structured
vocational and skills acquisition institutions of a tertiary status to
accommodate these teeming population of youths excluded from all rounded
education.
The situation with
health is similar to the context with education. Health care delivery is
witnessing a deep crisis; a combined crisis of both quantity and quality, as
well as of access and availability. Our infant mortality rate, as well as the
proportion of malnourished children under 5 years of age, though declining is
still one of the highest in the world, so much so that Nigeria has remained one
of the worst countries to be born for a child globally for some years now.
According to the
National Bureau of Statistics in its 2012 national youth survey report; youths
of working age, in the age bracket of 15 to 35 years are nearly 70 million
persons in a population of 166 million Nigerians; of these youths 54% are
unemployed. The CBN on the other hand has more recently put the rate of youth
unemployment at nearly 80%.
Now let us analyse a
few more significant indices; with youths 35 years and under constituting 70%
of the population, with more than 60% of them unemployed, and with a national
poverty rate of 70%, it is only logical to draw the conclusion that the
majority of the poor are also youths.
It is the same
situation with housing; according to the FGN, the country has an 18 million
housing deficit; that is nearly 90 million people, assuming average family size
of 6, either homeless, or living in sub human and inhabitable conditions across
the country.
Again taking the
average family size of 6, with two parents and four children, then we can also
draw the logical conclusion that nearly two-thirds of those impacted by the
housing deficit are youths.
The overall picture
that is emerging is quite grim, not only for our youths in particular, but also
for the country in general. The implication of this dire condition of existence
is that we are bringing up a generation that is alienated, angry, and seeking
vengeance against society and the symbols of the exploitation and repression of
the condition of youth. It is why criminal gangs, and all manner of rabid and
insane insurgency and militancy entrepreneurs have a ready market for
recruitment.
So where do we go
from here if this is the appalling condition of youth 100 years after
amalgamation, and 54 years after flag independence; how can we undertake a
radical break and rupture from this historical trajectory? How can we ensure
that we set different parameters that can set us on a new course that will
ensure a different and qualitatively more humane outcome for the condition of
youth over the next 100 years?
The answer it seems
to me lie in the political arena in the first instance rather than in the
economic arena. Those who control political power not only shape economic
policies, but also own and control the levers of the economy and consequently
also, the wealth of the nation.
The Historical task
facing this generation of Nigerian youths is to become politically active, in
their own interest not in the interest of Godfathers, and other icons of the
degenerate ruling class. The duty and obligation we owe to ourselves is to
immediately set about building a Mass, Popular National Political Youth
Platform.
It will be counterproductive
to establish a Youth Party, it will not be representative of all age groups in
society; but it will be far more potent to seek to put together a National
Political Youth Platform, that will articulate the political and economic
demands of youths, that will articulate the generalized condition of youths,
and that will actively engage with the political processes, including political
parties and electoral processes promoting the interests of youths, and
supporting the aspiration of youths in the political process who subscribe to
the program and manifesto of the movement.
Such a National
Political Youth Platform must be built as a united front of youth organisations
for a political purpose, including for pursuing youth participation in
politics, and in the processes of governance.
It must mobilise and
organise non partisanly across the country; and it must use the strength of its
supporter base, the scale and scope of its organizing and mobilization to
negotiate and engage with all the political parties, ensuring that the concerns
of youths are forced unto these parties; and even making strategic decisions
for example to support particular parties or candidates in particular
elections, if such parties or candidates adopt the platform and program of the
youth movement.
This task is a
daunting task, infinitely more strenuous than simply seeking accommodation
within the existing parties and their structures. This National Political Youth
Platform should seek not only to gain decisive influence within the youth wings
of political parties, and seek to be a beacon of hope and direction to all
politically active youths regardless of their current party affiliation, or
their current nonparty member status.
This will be a far
more effective and powerful transformative weapon than simply acquiescing to
the economic empowerment mantra that seeks to depoliticize and in practical
terms, disempower youth.
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