Worsening Leadership Crisis Pushing Nigerian Youths Into Fraud, Crimes – Experts Warn

Nigeria Joking With Youth Restiveness – Specialist

By Matthew Ogune, Abuja

Facilitators at the 80th United States International Visitors Leadership Programme have disclosed that Nigeria youths are now open to unfavourable actions like Advance Fee Fraud and crimes due to a worsening leadership crisis in the country.

According to them, if the energies of Nigeria youths are properly controlled, there will be vast progress and improvement, but regretted that when such energies are not equally harnessed, engaged or utilised, the youths may be forced to become restive.

Speaking, founder, Inspire Nigeria Initiative, Olarewaju Osho who warned that the country was joking with youth restiveness, identified shrinking opportunities, lack of sincere concern for youth related issues and a deficit of parenting as other causes of youth restiveness in the country.

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Osho, who noted that Nigeria’s unemployment statistics are usually a far cry from reality, said absence of right statistics makes the people to continue to live in ignorance about the magnitude of the problem.

According to him, if Nigeria must address youth restiveness, it must tackle issues around the educational system which promotes youths restiveness and unemployment.

Noting that the Nigeria’s educational curriculum promotes certificate champions instead of skilled graduates, Osho lamented that the incessant strikes in tertiary institutions was also frustrating youths often.

The founder urged the government to acknowledge the enormity of the problem, adopt effective data mining strategy and develop policies that will genuinely address the problem instead of the begging the question approach.

Osho advised the government to devote greater attention, energy and resources to youth related issues as well as that of expanding opportunities for youths participation and the pursuit for aggressive job creation drive nationwide.

He said if the leadership can be improved drastically, youths restiveness and unemployment in Nigeria can be addressed quickly and energies of youths can be harnessed for national development.

Also speaking, the new President of
International Visitors Leadership Programme in Nigeria, Raheemat Momodu who decried a huge gap in Leadership of the country, disclosed that the IVLP is hoping to unleash its community of good leaders to change Nigeria for the better.

Advocating for more people participation in governance, Momodu said: “I believe that one of the gaps in mainstream Leadership is that a lot of people thinks that all they can do is vote for people every four years and go to sleep, one of our greatest problem also is the followership, we need to be more active in terms of participation in governance by monitoring,” she said.