NYU urges Tinubu to implement 2014 confab report

The Nigerian Youth Union (NYU) has asked President Bola Tinubu to implement the recommendations of the 2014 national conference.

President of the Union, Chinonso Obasi, stated this at a press conference in Abuja on Tuesday.

Obasi who was a delegate at the 2014 national conference, put in place by former President Goodluck Jonathan, noted that some of the challenges confronting the country when the confab was convened a decade ago were still with the country today, and he believed they would be addressed if the recommendations were implemented.

The NYU President pointed out that the student loan programme of the Tinubu administration was a brainchild of the confab.

His words: “The outcome of the 2014 national confab, the content of that recommendation is so rich that any government that sign to fix Nigeria can just dust that document and implement some of the decisions. But you find out that some of the recommendations are being picked without giving credit to the source.

He kicked against the proposed National Youth Confab, stressing that the Nigerian government should focus its energy on implementing far-reaching recommendations of the 2014 National Conference.

On the ongoing amendment of the 1999 Constitution by the 10th National Assembly, Obasi threw his weight behind the regional government, emphasising that it would bring the government closer to the people.

“For the constitution, we are in support of regional governance. But the statement made by the Senate Majority Leader opposing it has become a threat,” he said.

While lamenting that the present administration has no clear plans to address economic woes, with palliatives only benefiting a select few, he decried the absence of youth empowerment initiatives, with stipends being used as mere palliatives.

Obasi called for the creation of an enabling environment for youths to thrive, revival of moribund companies to generate employment, and appointment of youth to positions of power based on merit, and not political connections, even as he urged the Federal Government to address insecurity by tackling its root causes, including economic sabotage and porous borders.