NATIONAL YOUTH CONFUSION OF NIGERIA or NATIONAL YOUTH COUNCIL OF NIGERIA (NYCN)?

When purpose is not defined, abuse becomes refined On May, 1994, President Nelson Mandela echoed these words: "The youth of our country are a valued possession of our nation. Without them, there can be no reconstruction and development programme. Without them, there can be no future." I re-echo same today because without the Nigerian Youth there can be no transformation agenda. But before I proceed, firstly, let me start with a quick survey on the National Youth Council of Nigeria (NYCN). Firstly, have you heard of any Nigerian Youth Council of Nigeria? Secondly, what can you say they have done or they do? These were the same questions asked a couple of young Nigerians at an event recently. Guess what? They simply could not answer in the affirmative; especially the second question. By law, the National Youth Council is supposed to be the umbrella body of youth groups throughout Nigeria (not subservient to any Department or Agency of Government or the Ministry of Youths). The National Youth Council is supposed to be the collective voice of the Nigerian Youth? So, why has its relevance and popularity dwindled in the Nigerian case despite its potency in the 1960s? In answering the above question of relevance, I ask the priority question. What National Youth Council of Nigeria do we have that goes about endorsing President Goodluck Jonathan for 2015 as stated in the National dailies of August 29, 2013? Especially doing nothing and saying nothing on the Nigerian Universities strike. Are the students not mostly youths? As one who loves my land (not just my Fathers land), the sycophantic statement of the so-called National Youth Council through its new President, angered me enough to research on the NYCN. Surprisingly, I discovered how powerful the law regards it (since 1963) but also how redundant it has turned. I also discovered that our NYCN has no website. UK Youth Councils website is http://www.byc.org.uk, South Africas Cape Town Youth Councils website is http://www.saycwc.org, Kenya manages both a blog and a website. Where is NYCNs website? How can we have a Youth Council in Nigeria that is largely vague in operation and inaccessible to its constituents (the Youths)? How can our so-called youth umbrella NYCN represent us in the International Community of Youths or the International Youth Council (http://internationalyouthcouncil.com) when it neglects the ideals of transparency (operational), feedback and communication in the 21st Century of Information and Communication Technology? Shockingly, the last time, the NYCN ever pasted anything on their only medium of E-dialogue (facebook) was on the 22nd September 2011. What future leaders can this redundancy, lack of initiative and absence of foresight produce? The last time I sued the Federal Government in 2012; http://www.ynaija.com/who-winspresident-jonathan-sued-by-young-lawyer-over-fgs-youwin-program(as a concerned Youth and Lawyer), I joined the National Youth Council of Nigeria (NYCN) and the Court bailiff went to Abuja to serve NYCN in its acclaimed office but surprisingly found none. What future leaders run an institution that cannot be located whether offline or online? Still boils down to the issue of

transparency and accessibility. Many questions need be asked, for example, about how the Elections or Selections are done, who are our NYCN executives? I would rather ask questions than trade blames. I am aware that many blame the present state of the NYCN on the years of military interregnum. But, whether we blame it on President Goodluck Jonathan or on the sacked Minister of Youth; Inuwa Abdulkadir, the truth is, this is the time to fix the problem, not the blame. This is the time our future NYCN should learn from the first genuine nationalist organization, founded in 1933; the Nigerian Youth Movement (NYM) because history will judge.

Timi Olagunju Legal Practitioner, Sync Legal linkedIn: Timi Olagunju e: timithelaw@gmail.com t: @timithelaw #TACTS