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The Chairman, National Youth Council of Nigeria, Enugu State Chapter, Nnaemeka Paschal Ugwu has advised young people in the country to promote peace for rapid Socio-economic development.
Ugwu gave the advice while speaking on this year’s international youth day celebration with the theme: “youth, building peace.”
The youth chairman who described this year’s theme as apt expressed worry over the increasing insecurity and division among young people which he said portends grave danger for the unity of the country.
While urging Nigerian youths to channel their energy to positive and worthwhile ventures, Ugwu called on governments at all levels to give young people opportunity to participate in governance and take decisions on issues that affect them.
Nnaemeka Ugwu spoke with, Odomero Igbodo Editor-in-Chief, CityPostng.com
EXCERPT:
You were recently, elected, Chairman, National Youth Council of Nigeria, Enugu State chapter and I am sure, there were contending issues. How were you able to navigate through some of the things that you came across while trying to lead the youths?
Pascal Ugwu: Well, I must tell you that power belongs to God. Initially we had factions. I was leading one of the factions and I had another person who was leading the other faction. So, to the Glory of God, our Governor, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi called for a truce and he asked us to come together, pull our resources together; let us have an election that would produce a more formidable National Youth Council, Enugu Chapter and to the Glory of God, 13th July, elections were held and I emerged as the Chairman Enugu Youth Council.
How did you emerge winner?
Ugwu: Well, National Youth Council has about 102 youth organisations that are affiliated to the council. Before you emerge you must…there are 3 delegates from each organisation that make up the council and 5 delegates from local government council. So I had to move around approach the organisations, gave them what I have to offer if I emerge and they bought the idea and they voted me in; that was how I emerged.
How did you take the victory?
Ugwu: To the Glory of God, I gave God the glory. The mandate is for Enugu Youth and I believe having given me that mandate I promised I won’t fall Enugu Youth.
United Nations set a special day out to celebrate Youth and highlight their invaluable contributions to national development and peace-building. August 12 is the day. What are some the things that are bordering you as a young person?
As a young person I was born in Nigeria, I grew up in Nigeria and I still live in Nigeria. What borders me as a youth and as a leader of the youths in Enugu, is the rate of insecurity; the rate of division among young people in Nigeria. That is why this year’s International Youth Day set aside by the United Nations is very peculiar, is very important to us, because as young people, we have to come together, have a bigger family and a formidable force. And for us to achieve that there must be peace among us and if the young people are not living in peace, the country at large is in a very grave problem and something else could happen if they are not brought together in peace. So what borders me most is how we can bring the youths together and make sure that we have peace. Because there won’t be any reasonable development if there is no peace in Nigeria. You can bear with me, these agitations that are coming from the North, from the East ….. so we just have to sheath our sword to make sure that Nigeria …… we are lagging behind when it has to do with development. So we must sheath our sword, come together as a people; as constituency and build peace for Nigeria to progress.
Will there be ever a time that without being God-fathered, a Nigerian Youth will occupy a prime position?
It is actually one of the problems that are bordering me as a leader. I must tell you that we have the capacity to change what, to say who gets what. So but the problem is that, Nigeria youths if I use the word gullible, I wouldn’t be mistaken. But, why we are made the leaders of the youths is for us to channel their resources to a more reasonable end, to make sure that, without a godfather ……. Now, my very good friend championed a Not Too Young To Run, in the person of comrade Nebo Collins ,he championed it here in Enugu and I know he did well in that regard. If that is achieved and if the presidency now gives assent to that, and it becomes a law, do we have the capacity as young people or do we still believe in one godfather or the other to achieve our aim as young people. I believe that we constitute more than 65% of the voting population. If that is the case, why can’t we say who gets what, who rules and who leads. So what we are going to do is to use our leadership to sensitize our young people that actually we can make it, actually, we can change the situation that we have found ourselves by the resources that we have. I must tell you that we have good people as young people. Before now, somebody we tell you, someone said that when a child does not grow to a son, the father cannot handover his businesses to him. But I believe we are now sons, they can handover leadership to us and we can make Nigeria proud.
Let us look at some of that social issues, vices so to say that, probably 95% of them are perpetrated by young people, through the instrumentality of the elders, a young person is to go and kidnap someone for rituals purposes for the elders, and it is going to be for someone to make money or get political power and all that. Can’t we do something else rather than thuggery , armed robbery?
It has a lot to do with idle mindedness it has a lot to do with somebody not being able to know what to he has. So the National Youth Council as a body, we have the directorate that will look into that. We have the directorate of gender and social vices, we have the one on sports and social insecurity so with that, we will be ask to at least tell our people, that we have a lot to do apart from thuggery. What happens is that when youths believe in only stomach infrastructure, only what he eats at that particular point in time, the person is of course selling his future. But when you believe that, you can at least start from somewhere grow to a larger extent, then the person will know what he is doing, causing vice, causing problem to the people of Nigeria. Because the issue is that, when there are no platforms for the person to discover himself, the person doesn’t know that, he is a very nice musician; the person wouldn’t know that he is a very nice artiste, the person wouldn’t know he has great something in him. We have another directorate that we call enterprise and business management .This directorate takes charge of discovering, helping the young people to discover themselves. With that, when somebody is busy in one area or the other, the person wouldn’t be encouraged in thuggery and other problems that are bedevilling the county as I speak today. So what we are going to do is that, we have marshalled out Directorates that will move our young people away from some problems that are been caused by them. Of course, the problems are being caused by them and we are still at the receiving end. When you go to kidnap, when they security nabs you, you go in probably in the course of exchanging fire, you die. So the time has come when we will change all those things to make sure our lives for better.
What message do you have for young people?
Ugwu: Peace, Peace!! There is nothing we can achieve without peace. And if there is crisis in the country, of course the youths are the cause. So, if we make peace a choice as young people, of course, Nigeria will be better. So the young people; let us move for peace.
Let us talk about Enugu State. How has the current administration been able to integrate youth participation so to say……
Ugwu: Well, on youth participation, I must tell that Enugu State has done well but I can’t say they have done very well. Because I won’t say I am Oliver twist. We know they have involved us in some areas but we are saying that we need some more. We have capacity in young people in Enugu, we have people that have distinguished themselves in so many areas. So if when engaged they will do more. I am advising, that they being the people with highest voting population, being the people that when galvanised very well, if they move their support to whomever, the person wins, if they are the people that votes, why won’t they give us opportunity to showcase what we have in governance. So I am saying, Enugu as a case study, they have done well. Of course, we have some of the youths, either in ministry and other areas but we are saying been the highest voting population, we need some and that to a large extent will calm the nerves of the young people in Enugu.
