youth in transformation agenda by boni haruna, hon. minister of youth development

OVERVIEW OF THE YOUTH IN THE TRANSFORMATION AGENDA

INTRODUCTION

In making an ‘Overview of the Youth in the Transformation Agenda,’ it is

important for us to make a conceptual clarification of the term “youth”. Who

is a youth?

While the term “Youth” does not seem to have a universal definition, the

National Youth Policy defines Youth as all young persons between the ages of

eighteen (18) and thirty-five (35) years who are citizens of the Federal

Republic of Nigeria.

The Nigerian Youth

Whereas youth are often referred to as leaders of tomorrow, I will choose to

refer to the Nigerian Youth as Leaders of today. My simple reason is that

statistically, Nigeria’s population is largely youth based. It is settled that the

youth population accounts for over 65% of the country’s total population and

therefore, a major demographic force in determining the present and future

of this Country. Youth are agents of change and development. The Youth

Demography in Nigeria is undoubtedly an advantage for our national

development.

Transformation Agenda and Youth Development

The President Goodluck Jonathan’s Transformation Agenda was launched in

2010. This is a development Framework to speed up Nigeria’s march towards

Overview of the Youth in the Transformation Agenda

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becoming one of the largest economies in the world. As a roadmap for

securing a better future for the nation, the Transformation Agenda is targeted

at:-

Creating decent jobs in sufficient quantities to address the protracted

problem of unemployment and reduce poverty.

Laying the foundation for a robust and inclusive growth of the Nigerian

economy.

Improving on a sustainable course, the well being of all classes of

Nigerians regardless of their personal circumstances and location.

To achieve the above strategic goals, the government has focused attention

on priority sectoral issues which include Youth development amongst others.

The Policy thrust of the President Goodluck Jonathan Administration on Youth

Development is anchored on the thematic areas in the National Youth Policy,

hence the various intervention programmes that have been put in place to

address youth issues.

Let me use this opportunity to highlight some of the programme areas.


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Intervention Programmes

1. YOUTH AND EDUCATION

The Administration of President Goodluck Jonathan established thirteen (13)

new Federal universities, including the Police University in Kano and gave

approval for the establishment of more privately owned ones. This is to give

our youth more placement opportunities for university education.

Presidential Special Scholarship Scheme For Innovation And Development

(PRESSID): This scholarship scheme was established in 2012 as part of

Federal Government’s efforts to achieve the goals of Vision 20:2020 and the

Transformation Agenda. It is aimed at developing a critical mass of

professionals who would serve as catalysts for change and agents for Scientific

and Technological Advancement, as well as sustainable economic

development.

This scheme is being achieved through the sponsorship of outstanding

students from Nigerian Universities to undertake postgraduate studies in the

top twenty-five (25) universities in the world. A total of 100 youth benefitted

from the maiden edition of the scheme in the 2013/2014 academic session

while 104 benefitted from the second edition for the 2014/2015 academic

session.

2. YOUTH AND AGRICULTURE

The Youth Employment in Agriculture Programme (YEAP) is meant to promote

decent income generation opportunities and livelihood for youth in rural areas.


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The Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development runs this

programme in parallel with its ongoing Agricultural Transformation Agenda

(ATA).

To develop this youth employment strategy, youth and their organizations

were actively involved in every step of the design process. The design of the

Youth Employment and Agriculture Programmes (YEAP) provides a framework

for supporting targeted State-level investments to complement and leverage

on-going programmes for youth employment in agriculture.

The programme will empower two subsets of youth, in a gender equal way:

(1) The first set consists largely of graduate youth who are involved in

the creation of modern agri-business and value chain enterprises.

These are young and innovative medium-scale entrepreneurs active

along priority value chains, acting as intermediaries/pullers and

service providers (knowledge, inputs, mechanization, etc) between

market-oriented producers and large agro-industries and/or

wholesalers.

(2) The second set is the Local Farming Youth. These are young farmers

who are interested in market-oriented agricultural production, small-

scale processing, input supply and marketing.

The target of the Youth Employment and Agriculture Programme is to reach

740,000 market-oriented agricultural producers i.e (20,000 young rural

farmers per State) over a period of over 5 years and 18,500 entrepreneurs


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(500 entrepreneurs per State). The programme is to be implemented over a

five year period. Two states from each of the six geopolitical zones will join

the programme in year 1, 2 and 3 respectively to allow for all to be on board

in year three. Each participating state will be supported by the programme

for a period of three years and prepare follow-up strategy during the third

year of YEAP implementation.

The implementation of Youth Employment in Agriculture Programme (YEAP)

will be guided by criteria to assess the readiness of states and to select value

chains, skills training centres and participants for trainings.

3. YOUTH AND EMPLOYMENT

i. Youth Enterprises with Innovations (YouWin)

This is a programme of the President Goodluck Jonathan Administration that

was launched in 2012 and jointly implemented by the Federal Ministry of

Finance, Youth Development and Communication Technology, with the

support of the World Bank, Department For International Development (DFID)

and the organized private sector. The ‘YouWin’ is implemented as an annual

business plan competition that culminates in the selection of 1,200 winners in

each cycle. Since its inception, ‘YouWin’ has achieved tremendous success in

the aspect of job creation for Nigerian Youth. As at November, 2013, a total

of 27,000 jobs have been created from the activities of 2, 400 young

entrepreneurs.

ii. Subsidy Re-Investment and Empowerment Programme (SURE-P)


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This social safety net programme was launched in February, 2012 by President

Goodluck Jonathan. It has two youth related components;

a) Graduate Internship Scheme (GIS), and

b) Community Service, Women and Youth Empowerment Programme

(CSWE).

Permit me to briefly discuss these programmes.

a. Graduate Internship Scheme (GIS)

The Graduate Internship Scheme (GIS) is aimed at providing Nigerian

Graduates with temporary work experience that will make them stronger

candidates for job openings. Qualified graduates are attached as interns in

reputable public/private firms for a period of one year. The Federal

Government pays the graduates stipends while the employers provide

mentorship.

Objectives

To enhance the employability of up 25,000 unemployed graduates in

the 36 states and FCT through internship programmes in pre-selected

institutions

To reduce the vulnerability of unemployed graduates

To build manpower base towards attaining national development

operations

Employer/Firm Statistics

5,651 firms have been registered on the web platform

1,842 firms have been verified and approved to take graduates

Graduate Statistics

153,420 graduates have registered

7,356 have been matched and are pending hire;


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3,028 interns on April, 2014 payroll payment processed

b. The SURE-P Technical and Vocational Training (TVET) Programme

The SURE-P Technical and Vocational Training (TVET) programme aims at

reducing unemployment and poverty in Nigeria through development of skills,

building of institutional capacity, etc. It is a programme that is expected to

boost the capacity of the youth for gainful employment and enterprise, thus

making them financially independent.

Outcome : SURE-P TVET has trained:

220 Electrical/Mechanical Engineers for Power Industry at the National

Power Training Institute of Nigeria (NAPTIN)

1,000 Auto Technicians at the National Automotive Council (NAC)

1,000 Personnel including Rail Line Inspectors at the Nigerian Railway

Corporation (NRC).

A total of 18,593 trainees have been registered across the federation in

areas of ICTs, Agri-business, Hospitality, Mechanical/Fabrication, etc.

2,000 youth on ICT across the nation in collaboration with Galaxy

backbone.

2,000 youth in collaboration with Nigerian Institute of Building (NIOB).

There is budgetary provision to train 500 physically challenged persons.

c. Community Services, Women and Youth Empowerment Programme

(CSWYE): The Community Services, Women and Youth Empowerment

Programme aims to create immediate short-term employment opportunities

for 370,000 youth (minimum 30% women) in labour intensive community


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development services. So far, about 119,000 jobs were created under this

scheme.

iii. State Employment and Expenditure for Result (SEEFOR) Project

In a continuous effort to creating jobs and enabling environment for Nigerians

specifically the youth, the Federal Government in collaboration with the

European Union and the World Bank launched the State Employment and

Expenditure for Result (SEEFOR) project. This project has a five-year

implementation timeline for its completion and it has already kicked off in four

pilot States. Its overall objectives are to ensure improvement in standard of

living of citizens and also enhance financial management process in the

country.

The project, which was launched a week ago, precisely on 23rd May 2014,

comprises of three major components, namely:

Youth Employment, and Access to Socio Economic Services,

Public Finance Management (PFM),

Reforms and Project Coordination and implementation support at all

levels of Government.

It is expected that in the next two years, the project would have created

several jobs for the youth.

iv. National Entrepreneur Development Programme (NEDEP): As part of this

Administration’s drive to creating jobs, the National Entrepreneurship

Development Programme was launched through the Nigeria Industrial Skills

Development Programmes as a major intervention programme that is


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designed to train youth with skills that will immediately make them

employable. So far, 37,000 youth have benefitted.

It is also designed as grassroots intervention to fit the needs in each locality

of the 36 States of the Federation including the FCT. More than 100,000 youth

are expected to benefit annually from the programme.

v. University Enterprise Development Programme (UNEDEP): This programme

was launched in the Universities with the aim of embedding the virtues of

entrepreneurship within the Nigerian youth in the Universities to “Catch them

Young’’. The Project targets over 1000 youth who will be matched with

successful entrepreneurs to coach and guide their development as they start

their businesses.

This is part of the larger National Enterprise Development Programme which

serves as a platform to train, support and finance Nigerian youth starting new

business. The UNEDEP is to be established in Universities across the 6 geo-

political zones in Nigeria.

vi. MDG Supported Programmes

a. The NYSC/MDGs War Against Poverty (WAP) Programme

The NYSC/MDGs War Against Poverty (WAP) Programme is an economic

empowerment programme that targets the corps members in preparation for

post service period. It seeks to empower participants with agro-enterprise

skills and corresponding interest free loans with a view to generating self-


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employment, creating wealth and boosting agricultural productivity for food

security.

The loan facility ranges from N200, 000 - N300,000 (depending on enterprise)

with zero per cent (0%) interest charge having a repayment period of 30

months with first 6 months of moratorium. The NYSC Certificate usually

serves as collateral for applicants.

Other Achievements

The NYSC/ MDGs Advocacy programme has trained and deployed

104,182 corps members as MDGs Advocates and Corps Development

Knowledge Facilitators (CDKFs). In 2013 NYSC (MDG) trained and

deployed 13,551 corps members.

The War Against Poverty programme has trained three thousand eight

hundred and sixty nine (3,869) and empowered three thousand and

sixty (3060) WAP corps entrepreneurs. In 2013, the programme trained

three hundred and ninety two (392) corps members.

The Advocacy Programme utilized corps MDGs Advocates to carry out

“My World” Survey project under the auspices of United Nations

Millennium Campaign Office (UNMC). It is a United Nations Innovative

global Survey that allows people across the world to tell United Nations,

and in particular, the Secretary General’s High Level Panel, the most

important issues they would like the post 2015 agenda to address.


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NYSC schedule officers and corps advocates of MDGs projects carried

out the survey throughout the 774 Local Government areas in Nigeria in

March, 2013.

In appreciation of NYSC’s contribution to the survey, the NYSC was

conferred with the award of “Most Outstanding Contributor” to the ‘My

World Survey’ by the United Nations during ‘My World Partners’

recognition ceremony in New York on 25th September, 2013.

vii. A Reviewed National Employment Policy

The National Action Plan on Employment was approved by the Federal

Executive Council in 2010. Accordingly, Government will implement a new

National Employment Policy which will ensure equitable distribution of

opportunity for job seekers. This policy will have a stronger coordination

mechanism for employment into all Federal MDAs, including the Para-Military

and armed forces.

Government will put in place an effective and transparent mechanism that is

safe, open, fair and accessible to all Nigerians irrespective of their State, zone,

background, ethnic/cultural affiliation or whatsoever by transforming its mode

of employment.

viii. Other Youth Empowerment Programmes

The Niger Delta Ministry has also engaged youth in various skills acquisition

and empowerment programmes as follows:

341 in oil and gas

270 in maritime


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90 in agriculture

500 youth are currently being trained on the assembling of smart

phones, tablet PCs. 100 of the trainees have successfully graduated.

100 youth left the country on May 22, 2014 for a Train-the Trainer

course on Agriculture in Israel.

4. YOUTH AND INFORMATION & COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY

(Youth & ICT)

a. Student Computer Ownership Scheme

To improve student access to inherit as well as improve market share of

indigenous original equipment manufacturers (IOEMs), Banks and National

University Commission (NUC) developed a joint initiative which is aimed at

enabling students in tertiary institutions to own computers through a low

interest rate loan with repayment monthly plans of between N3,500 and

N5,800 over a period of 18 months. The programme targets one million

Nigerian youth as beneficiaries.

b. Gender and ICT

Under the Transformation Agenda, the Federal Government through the

Ministry of Finance and FMCT developed a gender based programme targeted

at young women under the Girls and Women in Nigeria (G-WIN) initiative in

order to bridge the gender gap in access and empowerment. This programme

includes:

SmartWomen

Nigeria Digital Girls ICT Club


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The FMCT/HUAWEI 1,000 Girls.

May I take this opportunity to briefly explain each of these:-

i. SmartWoman Nigerian

It is aimed at empowering Nigerian women through provision of affordable

means of receiving accurate and timely information relevant to their socio-

economic need. This will provide women with access to affordable, reliable

and relevant content via daily feeds on their mobile services. These topics

include business entrepreneurship career, health, partnership, will and land

ownership etc.

ii. Digital Girls

As part of efforts to increase the number of female professionals, in the ICT

sector, a special catch them young project called Digital Girls was launched.

It is aimed at developing a pool of IT ready and enabled young Nigerians in

order to secure the future of this nation. This is achieved through formulation

of girls clubs to develop their interest in computers and related career. It will

also increase the number of professionals in the ICT sector, dispel stereotypes

of gender, appropriate new access to role models and mentorships.

iii. FMCT/HUAWEI 1,000 Girls

To stem the tide of unfilled IT vacancies and an abundance of unemployable

graduates, the FMCT has introduced initiatives to build technical and job ready

ICT skills among unemployed youth. 1,000 unemployed secondary school

graduates are being trained by Hauwei in network and telecommunication to

improve their employability in the ICT sector. 200 of the most promising girls


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will receive further training and certification as data centre operators, making

them immediately employable in Hauwei or other data centres across the

country.

c. TechLaunch Pad

This is a programme launched in December, 2012 as a public private

partnership focusing on carefully selected tech start-ups that will provide

training and mentorship programme through heads of ICT and Executives of

private sector. The mentors work with the tech start-ups and young

entrepreneurs to provide input to their software development to ensure

solution and have economic relevance within the targeted industry. Partners

in this project include Total-ELF, Accenture, Chevron, ExxonMobil, First Bank

Plc, Access Bank and Digital Jewel.

d. Naija Cloud

This is a project aimed at creating jobs and economic development with the

objective of reducing unemployment, reversing the country’s brain drain and

creating a market for Nigerian Microworks and E-lancing companies. 2,000

Nigerians were trained and immediate results have been recorded as over

50,000 youth are now earning money on this platform. The Federal

Government is making plans to partner with the Rockefeller Foundation on

their Digital Jobs Initiative. It will facilitate the roll out of the Naija Cloud

initiatives in 36 States and the FCT.


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e. UN/UNDP’s Junior Professional Officers (JPO) Programme

The President Goodluck Jonathan Administration facilitated Nigeria to become

the first African nation and the 20th contributor to join the partner countries

supporting UN/UNDP’s Junior Professional Officer’s (JPO) programme. The

JPO programme is administered by the UNDP and its affiliated funds and

programmes.

It provides young professionals the opportunity to gain valuable experience in

the international environment. 34 participants have been short-listed for the

first batch of this programme.

5. YOUTH, SPORTS AND RECREATION

The President Goodluck Jonathan Administration recognizes the pivotal role of

sports in nation building, hence its determination to develop and upscale the

sector to an enviable level. Apart from participating in several sporting events,

Nigeria has organized quite a number of sporting activities to engage the

youth. The National Youth Games which was held in December, 2013 was

designed to serve as a platform for the early identification and discovery of

talents.

The National Youth Games was not only a demonstration of Government’s

commitment to create a solid and sustainable platform for all round youth

development through sports, but also to provide an avenue for young athletes

to explore their potentials and foster unity amongst them. 370 special talents

were discovered in 14 sports during the National Youth Games.


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6. YOUTH AND CONFLICT PREVENTION/PEACE BUILDING

The Amnesty Programmes

In the wake of Youth restiveness in the Niger Delta, the Government came up

with a development programme which provided an opportunity for the youth

to express themselves and have a meaningful life. Although the amnesty

programme is a fallout of a bitter national security challenge, its effect on our

youth has been quite profound. It has seen our youth transforming from

militants to wealth creators, employers of labour and skilled citizens. So far,

30,000 youth have benefitted from the programme.

7. YOUTH PARTICIPATION IN POLITICS AND DECISION MAKING

a. Decision Making and Governance

The President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan Administration has demonstrated

strong commitment and support for initiatives that promote youth

participation and social inclusion. This is evident in his appointment of youth

into key government positions including the Federal Executive Council.

At this juncture, let me take the liberty to recognize some of these appointees:

Dr. Nurudeen Mohammed, the Honourable Minister of State for Foreign

Affairs. He was appointed into the Federal Executive Council when he

was 33 years old. May I request the Honourable Minister, to kindly stand

up for recognition.

Comrade Jude Imagwe, Special Assistant to Mr. President on Youth and

Student Matters. He was also appointed into this position at the age of

33.


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I will further crave your indulgence to mention the following youth who,

through various leadership development programmes of this Administration,

today occupy positions of leadership:

Hon. Luke Onofiok, Pioneer Speaker, Nigerian Youth Parliament,

currently an Honourable member of the Akwa –Ibom State House of

Assembly;

Hon. Abdullahi Maibasira, second Speaker, Nigerian Youth Parliament,

now National Youth Leader of the Peoples’ Democratic Party;

There are 18 Youth currently participating as members in the National

Conference.

Apart from appointment of youth into government positions, President

Goodluck Jonathan Administration has also demonstrated strong commitment

and support for youth participation in our democratic process including youth

led initiatives through civic education. The government has been partnering

with civil societies and United Nations Agencies and other development

partners in youth development sector towards providing the opportunity to

participate actively in democratic process.

Just few days ago, the Government through the Federal Ministry of Youth

Development signed a letter of Agreement with the United Nations

Development Programme (UNDP)/Democratic Governance for Development

(UNDP/DGD) for the implementation of the “Enhancing Youth Participation in

the 2015 General Elections Project”. This partnership is developed in

consideration of the critical role and place of the youth in Nigeria’s capacity to


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conduct free, fair, peaceful and successful General Elections in 2015. Earlier

this year, the Federal Government partnered with the Commonwealth Youth

Council (CYC) on a similar project.

b. Nigerian Youth in Global/International Organizations

The President Goodluck Jonathan Administration encourages and facilitates

the participation of Nigerian Youth in international organizations to sharpen

their leadership skills and provide them with opportunities to compete with

their peers in the global arena.

In Colombo last year 2013, during the Commonwealth Heads of States &

Governments Meeting, a Nigerian Youth, Ahmed Adamu (a PHD Student in

London studying on PTDF Scholarship Programme) was elected as the

inaugural chairperson of the Commonwealth Youth Council (CYC). You may

wish to know that the Commonwealth Youth Council is the largest youth-led

organization in the world and the recognized voice for more than 1.2 billion

young people of the Commonwealth.

Another Nigerian Youth, Jude Imagwe, the Senior Special Assistant to the

President on Youth and Students Affairs, was elected Deputy Secretary-

General, (West Africa) of the Pan-African Youth Union (PYU) at its 3rd Congress

in Khartoum, Sudan from December, 2011. The Pan African Union (PYU) is

the youth body of the African Union.

Mr. Marvin Yobana, another Nigerian youth is the African Representative in

the Executive Committee of the World Assembly of Youth (WAY)


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Francis Anyaegbu is another Nigerian Youth currently representing West

African Youth on the United Nations Habitat Governing Council in Nairobi,

Kenya. He was elected in 2012 at the Annual General Council Meeting of the

UN Habitat in Nairobi Kenya.

Only recently, the Nigerian Government added its voice to the call for the

establishment of a Youth Agency in the United Nations system at the World

Conference on Youth (WCY) in Colombo Sri Lanka and suggested Nigeria to

serve as the host of such Agency if and when it is eventually established.

It may interest this assembly to know that because of the prominent role this

country has played especially in mainstreaming youth issues in the post 2015

Development Agenda, Nigeria under the leadership of President Goodluck

Jonathan has been given the hosting right of the next World Conference on

Youth.

CONCLUSION

Having briefly highlighted the modest investments in youth development

under President Goodluck Jonathan’s Transformation Agenda, it is worth

mentioning that the Transformation Agenda provides the framework for the

accelerated development of the country.

Its particular emphasis on job creation and recognition of the need for social

inclusion of youth in governance perfectly situates the Transformation Agenda


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within the current global debate on mainstreaming youth issues in the post

2015 Development Agenda.

This too, is proof that President Goodluck Jonathan’s Administration is

committed to giving Youth Development the much needed attention and is

willing to increase investments in the youth sector.

To underscore this commitment, you may wish to note that Youth

Development components are adequately captured in all MDAs which are

running robust programmes that provide skills, employment and

empowerment for youth.

Finally, it is our view that if every state in the country were to take a cue from

the Transformation Agenda of President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan by

mainstreaming youth issues in their development agenda, through sustainable

programmes, the nation would have attained a reasonable milestone

promoting youth empowerment and overall excellence.

I thank you all.

youth in transformation agenda by boni haruna, hon. minister of youth development

Leadership & Management