This is a question i really want answers to.....

What Was The Aim Of Youth Lunch with GEJ?

I remember the last time that I was invited to a dinner by a friend; it meant so much to me because I had lost contact with him for many years and here he was with the memories of the old.

We discussed our childhood, the times in the secondary and life afterwards, we talked about everything that virtually came to mind. Through out that night, the discussion had no objective; we just talked until we were completely exhausted.

This was the case when I and other Nigerian youths were invited to a lunch with the President on the 24th day of May 2011 at Eko Hotel, Lagos.

We discussed the unfortunate post election violence that claimed members of the National Youth Service Corps, we argued if it should be scrapped or reformed and Mr. President declared that it will be reformed, what and what will be done, he did not say. We quickly changed the topic to unemployment which has become the biggest test for the youths, after much deliberation, another promise to create job opportunities, the percentage he intended to tackle was not stated and the strategy that will be used to achieve that was only in his thought. How then can we keep track of these promises?

An issue of a youth being appointed as a youth minister was raised, in that regard, nothing was said. No commitment, no counsel from a great leader, only a promise to give the youths a place in his administration which only reminds me of the idiom in police force that informs culprits that they have every right to remain silent because whatever they say will be used against them in the court of law.

The only commitment that was made that day was in regard to the accessibility of the fund established for the entertainment industry.

However, What the aim of the lunch that took so much of our resources is the only question that I've not being able to answer after many days. Perhaps the early days of your new administration will provide me the answers.
Mr. President, the expectations of young people from your administration are high. In considering appointments into your new cabinet especially the Ministry of Youth Development, we urge that you be guided by the provisions of our National Youth Policy, Nigerian Youth Manifesto (2011-2015) and the African Youth Charter which defines the youth in unequivocal terms as someone between the ages of 18 – 35.

We deserve nothing less than good governance. Be assured that, We will work for it, We will demand for it, We will fight for it and We will surely defend it.

Long Live the Nigerian Youth

Samson Itodo
Youth Action Initiative Africa
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samlaw04@yahoo.com
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