Worried by the increasing spate of insecurity facing nations of the world ranging from banditry, violence, killings, kidnappings, political thuggery and other criminal activities, Coordinator, Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI) Nasarawa State branch, Sir John Benjamin Aren has urged the youths to engage themselves in productive ventures that would better their lives and the nation.
The Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI) is an American based Non-Governmental Organization championing the crusade against extremism, elections violence.
The State Coordinator YALI, Sir John Benjamin Aren disclosed this in Lafia at the inauguration of the new executives of the organization at the weekend.
According to the State Coordinator, the time has come for the Nigerian youth to denounce their involvement in crimes and engage in skillful ventures that will make them more useful to themselves, communities, the nation and Africa at large.
He said the Young African Leaders Initiative was in the Nigeri to bring in leadership role that would take the youths out of being used as instrument of distraction, distabiization in the hands of some selfish politicians who never meant well for them and the country.
“YALI has come to ask the youth to key into the Young African Leaders Initiative’s effort to invest in the next generation of African leaders, spur growth, prosperity, strengthen Democratic governance, and enhance peace and security across Africa”.
He stressed that youth must redirect their mindset towards productive ventures, bring out God’s given innovations in them through the various
hubs, sequel to the United States Department of State has provided for experiential learning, knowledge sharing, professional development, networking, mentorships and making impact including partnership, consistency, transparency for growth; youth empowerment and sustainable development in the society.
Sir Aren disclosed that the Former President of the United States of America, Barrack Obama launched YALI in 2010 to support young African leaders, said the forum was ready to provide the necessary empowerment for youths with the skills, knowledge and attitudes relevant for communication and advocacy of democratic ideals.
“We are ready to develop actionable tools that will assist young people in evaluating leadership tools such as transparency and accountability of their elected leaders adding that YALI is all about Impacts, aspiring, volunteering and leading with focuses on identifying challenges of one’s immediate community and providing solutions to those challenges”.
Also speaking, the immediate past coordinator of the organization, Barrister Emmanuel Kuza said YALI network in Nigeria has organised summit designed to catalyse the abilities of young leaders from across the 36 states of the federation and the FCT.
According to Barr. Emmanuel Kuza, YALI hubs are instituted to take up initiatives that will reinforce the role of government in creatively providing the needs of people and ensuring accountability at all levels.
“The summit did not only unpack the key issues facing youths in the 21st century in developing countries like Nigeria, but also strategies on areas that can be adopted to address these issues. It targets the younger population and challenges them to carry out advocacies on pending governance concerns which should be aimed at providing solutions for problems faced by youths”.