Nigerian Youth SDGs Network (NGYouthSDGs) in collaboration with Oxfam, Nigeria, has called for a change in the country’s green skills and mindset policies as well as improved financial services for young people to enable them participate in governance.

The Programme Manager, Hadassah Okandeji, yesterday, emphasized the need to give young people education relevant to their needs, their environment and existence.

She said: “On this International Youth Day, we will use our Talk Lounge to discuss issues that affect youths under the theme, ‘Green Skills for Youths: Towards A Sustainable World”. The theme focused on building employable youths for the knowledge economy”, she stated.

She added that youths should be taught to contribute to economic growth and decision-making in government, adding that “Nigerian Youth SDG is taking the initiative to support youths who are showcasing and furthering the SDG’s here.

“There are lots of challenges that are very peculiar in the Nigerian environment. We are using this opportunity to recognize and support youths that are pursuing the SDG agenda.”

She further suggested that youths be represented in decision-making process. According to her, “it is not just enough to set up programmes, it is more important to get feedbacks. We want more sustainable programs, draft policies that would accommodate sustainability in terms of various initiatives for youths in Nigeria.”

Also speaking, the Project Coordinator, Oxfam in Nigeria, Princewill Ogbodo, said that the commemoration was an attempt to draw attention to issues that affect youth development and opportunities to prosper.

He urged the youth and older generation to enhance societal development, stating that young people have the advantage of fresh and creative ideas, energy and ability to work for success, and it was important that adults acknowledge that. “In the very same way, the young people need to recognize the resources that older people bring to the table.”

Adding: “Youth unemployment rate is at an alarming level; the new administration ought to make sure something is done about that so that more youths can be taken off the streets while some are provided with skills that would be beneficial to them and the society at large.

“We need to create the right infrastructure as well as an enabling environment for them to grow, we need to encourage them into becoming entrepreneurs; they also can be employers of labor. The government therefore has to make sure that accessing finance is not difficult; the government needs to involve young people in the process of decision-making.

“Creating a platform for young people to explore ways to work with policy makers, the private sector and multilateral organizations for the engagement of youth in policies and programs to advance the SDGs in Nigeria, is of great importance”, he said.