Create space for youths in govt, Arewa youths tell Buhari

A group, Arewa Youth Awareness Initiative Forum, AYAIF, out to empower Nigerian youths, has urged President Muhammadu Buhari to create space for youth in his administration.

AYAIF’s founder, Babangida Ruma, explained in a press statement that youth-led civil societies if engaged by the government would help build youth’s capacity for the nation’s benefit.

He said: “We are calling on the new government to consider utilizing more young people in the process of governance and help create an enabling atmosphere for their betterment by providing qualitative and affordable educational system and job opportunities in order to eradicate poverty and crime.”

Ruma, who is also a Peace Ambassador for the Commonwealth Youth Council’s Youth Campaign Against Election Violence, added that the future belonged to the youth; adding that they were also part of the “present,” since they were the most productive group in the society.

“However their productivity and contribution to national development depend on their capacity, in terms of skills, education and financial empowerment,” he stated

Lamenting how neglect of youth in the country had deepened poverty, the youth leader said a quick rehabilitation process should be put in place to correct the challenge at hand.

“The growing number of beggars on the streets is alarming and has become a norm in northern Nigeria,” he said.