The Centre for Economic, Social and Population Research (CESPOR), Bayero University, Kano has conducted a national conference with the theme: The Future is Youth. The Conference was organized to x-ray the myriad challenges bedeviling the Nigerian youth with a view to proffering far-reaching recommendations that should be adopted by government and all other relevant stakeholders to address those challenges.

The Chairman of Economics and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Abdulrashid Bawa, warned the Nigerian youth to desist from committing financial crimes and other related vices that will jeopardize their future. He said  more than 50% of the world’s population constitutes the youth and that the figure in Nigeria has reflected this percentage.

The Chairman, who was represented by the Head of Research in the commission, Abiodun Adebanji, emphasized that it has been projected that by 2050 the world population would be dominated by the youth and because of this increasing population, the United Nations came up with many programmes targeting the youth in order to address the challenges facing them.

The EFCC Boss, who presented a keynote speech, expressed worry that the National Bureau of Statistics has released its statistics in the last quarter of 2021 which indicates that 38.5% of the Nigerian youth are unemployed. This he said has generated a lot of concern giving that majority of the yahoo boys and inmates at correctional facilities are the youth.

He clarified to the gathering that the recovered loot by the EFCC is being kept at the Recovery Account domiciled at the Central bank, pointing out that the commission does not keep a single kobo after the discovery.

He advocated the need for government to take pro-active measures through reorienting the youth at all levels and that entrepreneurship programmes should be strengthened in schools from primary to tertiary institutions so that they will be occupied with entrepreneurship mindset. He said when they become employed; the crimes will be drastically reduced.

The Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Mr Sunday Dare, who was represented by the Chief of Staff in the Ministry, Alhaji Abba Yola, said the conference was apt in view of what the Ministry is doing, saying that it is the belief of the President that investing in the youth and positioning them to be patriotic, productive and selfless citizens is worth the effort.

He said sports development is another area where the Nigerian youth are making the country proud.

In his remarks, the Vice Chancellor, Professor Sagir Adamu Abbas cautioned the students against being used by money bag politicians especially that the elections come up in next year. He charged them to desist from jeopardizing their future and concentrate on their studies.

The Vice Chancellor explained that the future of any nation depends on the youth, stressing that no policy or programme will succeed without involving the youth. He commended the Ministry for successfully hosting the National Youth Conference which will go down in the annals of history. He called on the Ministry of Youth and Sports Development to collaborate with CESPOR in order to critically analyze the proceedings of the conference with a view to formulating blue print that will address the challenges of the youth.

Chairman of the occasion, Professor Ismaila Zango admonished the participants to take the advantage of the conference proceedings and use the advantage extensively.

Earlier in his remarks, the Director CESPOR, Dr. Nu’uman Habib said the workshop is expected to interrogate the challenges facing the Nigerian youth with a view to proffering workable solutions for the better future of the youth.