A civil society organization, Conscience for Human Rights and Conflict Resolution (CHRCR), has called on youths to build their self-knowledge and motivation on the process for leadership.
Speaking at a one-day townhall meeting at community level on inspiring youth for leadership in Kogi East senatorial district on Friday, the Executive Director of CHRCR, Comrade Idris Miliki Abdul, said the concept of mentorship for young persons in leadership must be taken seriously by both state and non-state actors.
Miliki tasked government and stakeholders to make conscious efforts to encourage youths to attain leadership positions.
He noted that engagement of young persons with political office contestants during elections is mostly limited to tokenism and thuggery.
Participants drawn from youth and women groups, students from Prince Abubakar Audu University Anyigba and media, observed that there was noticeable youth apathy during the last November 2023 governorship elections due to several factors including lack of confidence in the system and non-availability of permanent voters cards (PVC).
They submitted that the concept of leadership and governance are largely not understood by young persons and other stakeholders, but agreed that the act of voting, especially for young persons, is a crucial role in participation in leadership at community level.
Participants also decried low level of mentorship for young persons at state level in Kogi state and opined that economic empowerment of young persons is key for leadership.
It was observed that youths are contributing to insecurity through their engagement in violent extremism leading to terrorism. They agreed that there is need to positively engage young persons in the counter terrorism efforts of government, both national and sub national levels.
The townhall meeting commended the Conscience for Human Rights and Conflict Resolution (CHRCR) for its untiring efforts at improving youth involvement in leadership at state level in Kogi State.
They also appreciated the collaboration of The Nigeria Women Trust Fund and the continuous support of MacArthur Foundation.
