Increasing terror threats including the Boko Haram Menace and regular
bomb-blast, Rising unemployment, Growing frustration amongst young
people in Nigeria, epileptic power supply, bad roads, bad
infrastructure, near collapse of the civil service, weak and non
functional institutions, semi-functional post secondary institutions,
half-baked graduates. If this is an essay on listing Nigeria’s myriad of
problems, I would write a whole book without having to do much
thinking.
Nigeria’s problems are well known, its
solutions are few and those who are ready and determined to against all
odds push through a new Nigeria are much fewer. I have big dreams about
my role in a better Nigeria. The rosiest one is to follow the
Okonjo-iweala part: build myself into a globally respected and highly
sought after professional and get a please-do-not-turn-down request from
the president of Nigeria to come back home and serve. While I nurse
this dream, I have realized that creating a better Nigeria is an
everyday effort best lived in my personal contribution on a daily basis.
My work in the last 6 years have
centered around engaging governments in shaping policies that affect
young people in Nigeria and internationally. I was deeply involved in
developing the last National Youth Policy and I teamed up with 2 other
colleagues in organizing free consultations and focus group discussions
for Government to gather input into the policy. I also served as a
member of the Youth Special Interest Group for the Vision2020 process
where I worked with other young persons to draft the youth component of
Nigeria’s vision2020 policy. My current attempt at shaping policy is a
project I and my colleagues at Digital Peers International
conceptualized, with funding from the World Bank to lead a process of
collating inputs into the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) reforms
process in Nigeria.
Beyond policy work, I get my hands dirty
with my involvement in programs that build capacities of young people
in different aspects especially around ICTs, life-skills, education and
personal development and providing hope and inspiration for a better
future. One of such programs is DIGITEST, an annual ICT camp for
children and young people in Nigeria, now the largest of such camps in
Africa.
In summary, my role in building a better
Nigeria involves a conscious effort to being a better person,
continuous advocacy for policy reforms especially ones affecting youth,
involvement in on-the-ground project to show examples of what can be
done to improve and empower youth in Nigeria and lastly, living a life
that can be emulated as an example of an ideal Nigerian.
A new Nigeria is possible, we can, we would, we must!
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