AN ADDRESS PRESENTED BY HIS EXCELLENCY HON. BETHEL AMADI; PRESIDENT, PAN-AFRICAN PARLIAMENT AND MEMBER REPRESENTING MBAITOLI/IKEDURU FEDERAL CONSTITUENCY AT THE IMO YOUTH CONFERENCE HELD ON THE 24TH APRIL, 2014 IN OWERRI IMO STATE

AN ADDRESS PRESENTED BY HIS EXCELLENCY HON. BETHEL AMADI; PRESIDENT, PAN-AFRICAN PARLIAMENT
AND MEMBER REPRESENTING MBAITOLI/IKEDURU FEDERAL CONSTITUENCY AT THE IMO YOUTH CONFERENCE HELD ON THE 24^TH APRIL, 2014 IN OWERRI IMO STATE

I am pleased at the opportunity to be with all of you this morning and to present this remark on the occasion of the Imo Youth Delegate Conference under the theme “Reclaiming Our Destiny”.

I wish to commend the organizers of this event for creating such a unique platform to put youth issues on the front burner of our political discourse and for highlighting the indispensable role of our youths in the implementation of sustainable development initiatives in Imo State.

With the increasingly disturbing rise in the level of youth marginalization in Imo, I am delighted that the youths with delegates from across our 27 LGA’s have embarked on this conference to inspire the articulation of a coherent and integrated action plan for political participation, youth empowerment and employment. This is highly commendable because the current leadership of this great State has played too many games with our youths and it is high time that the youths who are the super structures on which our State stands, rise to the challenge and begin to chart a pathway for their own destiny.

My young Brothers and Sisters, to better appreciate the magnitude of the task ahead, it is important that we reflect on some of the global dimensions of the factors that underlie the concern for the youths in Imo. Based on recent statistics, there are about one billion people in Africa of which 70% are youth. Recent demographic figures show that by 2025, 25% of the global population of persons under the age of 25 years will be living in Africa. Compared to some emerging major economies burdened by aging population, Africa’s working age population will exceed China or India twenty years from now. Nigeria with a population of about 160 Million is the most populous country in Africa and statistics show that youths make up 70% of that population. There have also been projections that by 2020, 4 of 5 Imo indigenes will be below the age of 35 making our State one of the most youthful states in the federation and more particularly because of the many Universities and higher institutions.

My brothers and sisters this youthful population could either be a demographic dividend or a disaster in waiting. The potential that is embodied in this youthful population is huge and it will require the right application of visionary ideas by visionary leaders to harness this huge resource and potential. It is in recognition of the enormous economic power of our youths to Africa’s economic growth that as President of the Pan African Parliament, I set up the first ever Pan African Parliament Caucus on youths to provide a platform to consolidate youth ideas and position on the overarching strategic framework and vision for Africa. Under my leadership, we created the Pan African Youth Council to provide a platform on the continent to reposition African Youths and give them a voice in decision making. I am therefore delighted that this conference coming on the heels of the 10^th Anniversary of the PAP will provide an even greater platform for youths in Imo to take ownership of their issues and effectively engage in the governance process.

The Imo Youths can be a formidable partner to our development and could be a dynamic force if the right enabling environment is established to unleash their entrepreneurial spirit and stimulate their productive potential and creative imaginations.

Unfortunately in Imo and as a direct consequence of poor leadership, our youths are more unemployed, out of step with the demands of the global labour market, increasingly disconnected from the governance process and devoid of economic prospects. Even though young people represent more than half the population in Imo, their participation in the political process have been characterized by a one-off adhoc engagement for electioneering purposes and sometimes manipulated and instrumentalized as agents of violence and conflicts.

This has not only diminished the intrinsic worth and value of the younger generation but significantly resulted in the neglect and failure of Imo leaders to engage Imo youth in the governance process. This conference, I believe is a game changer, and couldn’t have come at a better time.

The current economic situation of our youths in Imo where a large number of Imo graduates remain unemployed creates a sense of urgency in devising ways to boost the creation of jobs and to improve access to those jobs by young people. Unemployment among our youths in Imo is unacceptably high and morally wrong. This high level of unemployment compounded by the absence of productive skills has created a disturbing trend and destabilizing propensity for youth restiveness and radicalization. Undeniably, opportunities for self employment and investment have been fundamentally limited by failures in the current leadership that has impeded access to capital and investment opportunities. High rates of youth unemployment represent both a personal misfortune for the affected youth and his families and a lost opportunity for economic transformation and critical growth potential for our state. There must be a concerted effort to address this challenge.

One important strategy for expanding the number of available jobs is to expand the number of job creators. Promotion of entrepreneurship is an indispensable component of the economic development of our state. Promotion of youth entrepreneurship in particular can directly impact potential young business starters while spreading positive employment impacts among their peers and communities. If I earn the privilege of being your Governor, I will establish an Imo Youth Entrepreneurship Fund to provide interest free loans for start up business capital for our youths. This along with other programmes on enhancing capacity for business development will unleash Imo youths productive and investment potential.

I will further establish an enabling environment through investment platform that will attract small scale manufacturing facilities significantly tied to the provision of government goods and services such as production of school equipment, chairs and uniforms. Rather than importing school uniform from China, our youths can be put to work here at home in their own industries as business men and women.

What Imo needs is the right set of leaders that recognizes the imperative of promoting the development and the strengthening of platform for youth participation in governance, establish a mechanism to give priority to policies and programmes to curb youth marginalization, provide strategic support to build the institutional capacity for youth organizations in Imo to effectively engage in issue and policy development and develop macroeconomic policies that emphasize job creation and skills acquisition for youths.

I will ensure that the Local Governments are administered by democratically elected Chairmen and Councilors and ensure that elections into those offices are held as prescribed in the Constitution of this country. The current practice by this administration is not only unconstitutional but antithetical to growth and development. There can never be a better grooming platform for the youths and leaders of tomorrow than through the local government administration. The local government is a potent political tool for training and grooming our youths to become more involved in the decision making process of our state. If properly administered in accordance with the provisions of our constitution, the Local Governments can be a fertile ground for economic growth and development at the local level.  This is a missed opportunity for youth sustainability and I will ensure that it is restored and the independence of the local government is protected.

My brothers and sisters, achieving youth empowerment in Imo is a multi-dimensional endeavour that cannot be separated from other important socio-economic developmental factors such as security, health, education and agricultural development.

Peace and security are indisputable precursors to growth and development and no meaningful development can occur where fear looms large. The youths are indispensable partners to creating a conducive and secure environment for economic development. They are the foundational structure and cornerstone of any society and if I earn the privilege of your support, I will involve youths in the management and maintenance of the security of our state.

Education is a fundamental prerequisite which if effectively administered will empower our youth to reach and apply their full potential. The education must be of high quality and standard capable of enhancing our youths’ competitive advantage in this ever growing interdependent world. Education sector if properly funded can also be a major catalyst to employment creation both at the primary and secondary school level. I will revamp the educational system to re-establish quality and standards so as not only to produce more appropriate human capital but also supply more job creators. In contrast with the lip service to education by the current administration, access to quality and free education must be central to our viability and sustainability. The latest 2014 report on WASCE results showed that Imo moved from number one to number 9 and overtaken by other States with more stringent quality education system. This is a clear indictment on our State leaders and a manifestation of the need to improve the education system in our State and adopt robust capacity building programmes in our school system. Equally critical is improving the quality and capacity of our institutions to deliver impactful knowledge that not only supports institutional growth but also the marketability and employability of the individual graduates. Our Government in Imo should enforce school curriculums to be relevant to the specific future needs of the private and public sectors.  

HIV/AIDS remains a major cause of death among the African youth, and is one of the biggest youth public health issue facing the continent, especially for girls and young women, who are more vulnerable to contracting HIV. AIDS is responsible for many deaths among young girls who are particularly vulnerable due to early marriage, violence against women and sexual abuse. This Conference should consider making far reaching recommendations on the need for serious governmental intervention on issues of HIV and AIDS, TB and malaria and the urgent need to engage with health, and relevant non-health sectors for a multi-sectoral approach to improving the health of women and children through improved policy and investment in the health sector.

Investment and development of agriculture value chain underpinned by young agropreneurs will provide impressive economic opportunities for our youths and will be the focus of my administration. To this end, I will establish innovative programmes for the development of the agricultural sector by institutionalizing a statewide skills programme to impart skills and support a robust business climate that is conducive for the agricultural product development, market, production and distribution. This will provide massive employment opportunities for our youths and lead to new and innovative entrepreneurial development.

My brothers and sisters, as you deliberate on the solutions to sustainable youth development, we must keep in mind that the solution we develop should be sustainable on their own terms and must add to the permanent accumulation of strategies, policies and tools that can accommodate both temporary and long term structural challenges. There must be a radical reform of existing institutional framework for promoting youth employment with a systematic reduction in the cost of governance so as to free up more capital to support youth employment programmes. We should formulate strategies and build institutions that enhance opportunities for meaningful youth engagement in enterprises. The government of Imo must reduce the administrative, regulatory and technical barriers to entry of the youth as entrepreneurs and improve access to finance and capital for sustainable youth employment strategy.

The Federal Government under the able leadership of H.E. Goodluck Jonathan has established viable and sustainable federal programmes for youth empowerment that has shown remarkable results in many parts of the federation. However, as a direct consequence of a lack of capacity by our leaders in Imo to effectively embrace and practically implement these highly successful federal initiatives, programmes such as YOUWIN, NAPEP, SMEDAN and SURE-P, have not produced the desired result. We must therefore seek to reconnect with the center to better attract federal benefits to our state and assemble competent personnel within our state government to harness the fullest potential of these projects.

My sisters and brothers, I must add that whatever the policy and programme that is advocated by our leaders, we must ensure first and foremost that the implementation is youth driven. That is essentially what is missing in our state.

It is my hope that this summit will establish a formidable framework for a sustained youth engagement and participation in the governance process as opposed to the one-off-event practice that characterizes the past engagement of the youths by politicians.

I pledge to partner with our youths as we seek to strengthen and consolidate efforts to empower young people in Imo State through meaningful youth participation and equal partnership in driving development agenda in Imo State.

With all of us working together, we can develop the means to facilitate the strengthening of platform for youth participation in governance, establish a mechanism to give priority to policies and programmes to curb youth marginalization, provide strategic support to build the institutional capacity for youth organizations in Imo to effectively engage in issue and policy development and develop macroeconomic policies that emphasizes on job creation and skills acquisition for Imo youths.

If by the Grace of God and with your support, I am elected Governor of Imo, I will adopt the outcome of this conference as a working document for youth emancipation.

I wish you all a fruitful and productive summit.