‘Proliferation of narrow youth groups eroding Scout’s heritage in Nigeria’

The Chief Scout of Nigeria, Ahmadu Rufai Mohammed, has decried the proliferation of youth groups with political leanings across the federation, saying that the development was responsible for the erosion of the over 100-year-old heritage of the movement in Nigeria.

This came as the World Scout Bureau-Africa Support Centre at the weekend appealed to the federal and state governments to create a conducive environment for the movement to thrive as well as see the body as development partners.

Addressing reporters at a four-day seminar organised in Abuja by the World Organisation of Scout Movement (WOSM) in collaboration with the African Support Centre and the Scout Association of Nigeria, Mohammed said majority of the youth groups in the country had assumed a pseudo-political colouration in nature, making themselves available for use by politicians as spring boards to achieve their political ambitions.

He said unlike the scout movement which is voluntary and inculcates in young people the spirit of trust, self-reliance, promotion of peace, law and order as well as entrepreneurship, some youth groups in the country were established to promote self-serving interests and objectives.

According to him, if half of the resources expended by the three tiers of government on these youth organisations were ploughed into the movement in Nigeria, the body would have achieved much more in terms of impacting positively on the society.

“The Scout Movement is doing a lot worldwide and in Nigeria, but this is not visible to people. Scouts are agents of peace and operate in partnership with the government, especially in the fight against societal ills such as the war on terror.

“We partner with the government under our Messenger of Peace Initiative to assist the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in the North East and other parts of the nation,” Mohammed added.

In his remarks, the African Regional Director of the World Scout Bureau-Africa Support Centre with headquarters in Kenya, Dr. Tutu Kama Kama, described the movement as an educational body with the sole objective of making young people responsible citizens who can contribute positively to society.