The national coordinator, Coalition of Progressive Youth, Jolomi Ejeye, has said Nigerian youths are being given greater opportunities to participate in governance under President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration, urging young Nigerians to take advantage of government policies and initiatives aimed at improving their future.
He said this while speaking in an interview with ARISE NEWS on Wednesday, as International Youth Day was marked.
“I’m happy, because for the first time in history, we have youth being included and carried along in governance. For the first time, we have a Youth Minister within the constitutional age bracket of the African Youth Charter who was appointed when he was within the age. The Special Assistant to the President on Youth Initiatives is also a youth. Then Sunday Asefon, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Student Engagement, is also a youth. So, we have a lot of youth being carried along in this government,” he highlighted.
Continuing, Ejeye said: “What I advise Nigerian youth to do now is to take advantage of government policies. For example, the Student Loan Bill by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has given an opportunity to every single youth and student in this country to attend university or school, even if they don’t have the financial capacity to pay for it, because the funds are made available. So, people who may not go to school because of money, I advise them to take advantage of the policy.
“There’s also the Nigerian Youth Academy set up by the Minister of Youth Development, Ayodele Olawande. It trains youth with skills—different skills for them to be able to use in society—and they also mobilize them with funds and empower them to create businesses on their own. Yes, I know some youth in the country will not be happy, but what I’m saying is they should take advantage of these government policies,” he urged.
Ejeye attributed the limited uptake of the opportunities to misinformation and a lack of awareness among young Nigerians, noting that some who are aware may still be reluctant to trust or access the programmes. He said the Student Loan Scheme and Nigerian Youth Academy have already positively impacted the lives of many youths.
“The problem is that they are misinformed. They probably don’t have access, they probably have not heard of it. And if they’ve heard of it, they’ve not tried it; maybe they believe they don’t trust it. But there are over at least 1,000 people that have confessed that the Student Loan Bill and the Nigerian Youth Academy have impacted their lives. Because I’m an apostle in the temple of the youth constituency,” he said.
He also urged Nigerian youths to believe in themselves, pursue their dreams and use their abilities to positively impact others, while warning against social vices such as cultism and drug abuse.
“I am preaching to youths to believe in themselves, chase their dreams, impact others, not engage in any social vices like cultism or drug abuse, be responsible, and believe in God, and He will answer them,” he urged.
Rejecting the suggestion that Nigerian youths are lazy, Ejeye described them as some of the most hardworking young people in the world. He urged them to attend educational programmes, symposiums and colloquiums, as well as read widely to gain knowledge that can help them develop practical solutions to their challenges.
“Nigerian youth are not lazy. They are the most hardworking youth in the world. What they need to do is to attend educational programs, symposiums, and colloquiums. They should get informed, and they should read books and all that, so that they can gain knowledge. When they gain that knowledge, they’ll be able to use what they gain from the knowledge to apply it and solve their problems in real life,” he advised.
On the use of social media, Ejeye said it was not inherently harmful, urging young Nigerians to use the platforms positively to spread good energy and create opportunities for themselves.
He further encouraged Nigerian youths to leverage their talents and abilities rather than wait for opportunities to be handed to them. Ejeye pointed to social media personalities such as Sabinus and Peller as examples of young Nigerians who have turned their platforms into sources of income.
“I don’t think it’s a bad thing for them to use social media, but they should use it for positivity to spread good energy.
“I believe every Nigerian youth in this country has a talent. Like I said, they are the most hardworking youth in the world. Anywhere they go, they excel. So, I’m just going to advise them to make positive use of social media to spread positive energy.
“That same social media, there are a lot of people that are making money from it… Sabinus, Peller, and so many of them,” he added.
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