Naira Depreciation: Speculators vs DD/SS

By Dr. Ahmed Adamu

The current Naira depreciation is as dangerous as Ebola crisis, but many undermine its potential repercussions. An elementary economics tells us that floating exchange rates are influenced by the invisible hands of Demand (DD) and Supply (SS), this effect may take certain period to manifest. However, other factors like speculation play vital role in stimulating swift depreciation of the Naira. I become suspicious of the recent Naira devaluation, and I want to believe the speculators are responsible for that.

DD and SS are the natural determinants of a currency’s exchange rate. In a lay man terms: When Nigerians went to international markets, they go with their products and their Naira and they meet Americans who also come with their product and Dollars, if at the end of the day, Nigerians bought more of Dollars (to acquire American products) than what Americans bought of Naira (to acquire Nigeria products), then Naira supply exceeds its demand. When the supply of Naira exceeds its demand, the value of Naira comes down.

The only commodity that has been protecting the Naira was the crude oil, and with low demand of the Nigerian crude oil, Naira demand has fallen down and its supply increases, which leads to down fall in Naira value.

It is obvious that Nigeria is catching up with “Dutch Disease”. A Dutch disease is a situation where a country rely solely on a natural resource sector as a source of its external earning, thereby making the manufacturing and agricultural sectors vulnerable and even more expensive than other countries’ manufacturing outputs (due to high cost of production as all raw materials are imported), and thereby low patronage. This will make the natural resource sector (oil and gas sector in Nigerian case) the only reliable economic sector. With the fall of demand for Nigerian crude oil (resulting from discoveries of alternative energy resources) and subsequent fall in crude oil price, the Naira and Nigerian economy is now in jeopardy, as there will no longer be demand for its crude oil and its currency. The manufacturing and agricultural sector are no where to absorb the shock. Therefore, Nigeria is now stranded, workers in oil and gas sectors loose their jobs, and production of crude oil decreases, more unemployment, low GDP, inflation and by extension, every single Nigerian becomes poorer by day. Students abroad pay more, people pay more to fly abroad, factors of production become more expensive.

Had it been the manufacturing and agricultural sectors contribute significantly to the Nigerian exports, outputs from these sectors would have been more competitive now at the international market, as it will be cheaper due to the low Naira value. If the demand for the manufacturing and agricultural outputs continue to increase, implying increase in Naira demand, then the Naira might redeem its lost value. But now the manufacturing and agricultural sector are not there, who will rescue Nigeria? Unfortunately, all I can foresee is continues down fall.

Nigeria could innocently be suffering as I believe speculators are responsible for the rapid and unprecedented fall in Naira value. Speculators in many circumstances, determine the relative valuations of currencies based on perceptions of key macroeconomic factors. Countries with excessive debt will often experience currency devaluation as speculators perceive greater risk. Speculators are punishing Nigeria as they foresee no future for the country’s economy given the above scenarios, hence their activities became responsible for the swift and continues Naira devaluation. People in ForEx business are responsible as they suspect depreciation of Naira in future due to the obvious reasons, and they continue to sell off Naira in their possessions to acquire other currencies, and this boost the pace of the Naira devaluation above what the natural DD and SS forces would have push it.

Now there is overflow of the Naira, and Nigerian government has to clear the market by supplying more foreign currencies from its foreign reserves, and pay more to service its debts. This leads to shrinkage of the countries foreign reserve, and by implication reducing the economic power of the country compare to many other countries.

Way forward:

1. Immediate revival of manufacturing and agricultural sector. If Nigerians can produce all they require within their country, they would never care about what value is ascribed to their currency at international market, as they will not need other currencies to satisfy their demands. This will also increase aggregate demand, GDP, and increase exports, and eventually restore the value of Naira.
2. Increase Interest rate and bank reserves: Cost of money shall be increased to reduce the Naira liquidity, and to control the resulting inflation from the Naira depreciation. Banks shall keep higher reserves to control money in circulation.
3. Reduction in expenditure: Government must cut unnecessary expenditures, and stop borrowing.
4. Reduce individual demand for foreign currency unless necessary, this can be enforced by introducing additional penalty for every foreign currency purchased within the country.
5. Pray-As they said, everything that happen to Nigeria, they will say “just keep praying” Maybe a miracle can happened. Lol We hope a miracle can happen soon.

Pls discuss….

On Education in Nigeria

By Dr. Ahmed Adamu

I recently met with a seasoned Mathematician and educationist who turned politician, he is now the Nigerian Minister of Education, he was a former Governor of one of the largest state in Nigeria (Kano), his name is Mallam Ibrahim Shekarua. I listened to the lecture he delivered to us during the NMF UK annual meeting here in London last Saturday, and I think I should share with you some of his submissions in the lecture and some follow up questions as follows:

1. Mallam Shekarau stated that Constructing Roads, Buildings and Some Fancy physical features may not always be an evidence of Good Governance. He said everybody can do such things, because it is about signing contract. However, morality and good conduct of people is the major and difficult achievement of every purposeful government. The context of his presentation was about Mass education as a vehicle (medium) for fighting poverty and promoting development. He claims that morality of society is more significant than physical development, and that is why he instituted the Hisbah when he was a governor in Kano state... What about you? what do you think about this?

2. The minister further stated that, there is no "Western Education". Education is Education, whatsoever. However, the manner and content of an education is what differs. "The only thing we have is western system of Education, and we can have Arabian System of Education, American system of Education, Hausa System of Education, Igbo System of Education, Yoruba System of Education... etc" The content of Education must be tailored to address circumstances, issues, and opportunities prevailing in society, and it has to be updated frequently. Pls Discuss!

3. "Child's ability to speak in English is not a sign of Quality Education, and parents who send their kids to private schools should not be deceived by their children's ability to speak in English. English is a language NOT Education" He also stated that.." Primary and Secondary Schools Education should be taught in native languages, so that a child can deeply understand the concept of the education. English language should be learned as a language, but not as a tool for acquiring Education." He claimed that Child morality, ethics and understanding of societal norms should be a priority. A professor who spoke in prelude to the minister's lecture mentioned that, what happened in Educational institutions is a reflection of the society, so, society dictates what and how education should be. Mr Shekarau barely started his main presentation before he exhausted his allocated time, he wished he would have been a discussant.

The above three points provoked incessant thinking on my mind, and I decided to share with you this, to hear you opinion about the above, and in general how we can make our educational system better. I as an Educationist, Economist, and advocate for quality education, always want to discuss on the topic: Education.

I was not given the chance to ask Mr Shekarau the following questions:

1. As a minister of Education, did you realise how Nigeria keep transporting Student to Education(abroad), instead of transporting Education to Student(at home). Noting the huge expenses associated with the option of transporting student to Education abroad, which includes payment of tuition fees, flight tickets, visa fees, living expenses abroad, etc Relying on foreign education as the only option for accessing quality education has led to the low esteem and competitiveness of the local universities, and this contributed to the continues devaluation of the Nigerian currency, due to the high demand of the international currencies and hence over supply of the Nigerian currency. Why can't we build Harvard University, Cambridge University or Oxford University in Nigeria? so that people from Africa, Asia, and Arab will have to come to Nigeria to acquire quality education, so that more Nigerians will have access to quality education. We can pay the current staffs and afford a running cost of a Cambridge standard university in Nigeria, why cant we do it? Recalling the huge costs incurred by both federal government, PTDF, TETFUNDS, State governments, private individuals, companies and parastatals in sponsoring student abroad. Putting these figures for just one year, it is enough to upgrade one university in Nigeria to that standard, and if we can do that continuously for six years, we can have six Cambridge universities in Nigeria.. What do you think?

2. My second question is: I attended public schools both at primary and secondary levels, and I can remember how very little or rather nothing I knew. I was accidently inspired to become serious only at the tail end of my secondary school, and I was lucky I accidentally pass my JAMB to go to University directly. I knew how lucky I am to wore green and white uniforms and still reach this stage, and I know we could not have many lucky people like me. The quality of education at foundation level is very poor and how do you expect students to cope with the more advanced University curriculum if the foundation is weak? People need not to be lucky to acquire education, it is a right. Would you consider upgrading the quality and standard of primary and secondary schools education by increasing the salaries of teachers at those levels so as to attract best brains at the foundation levels? It makes more sense to spend more at a foundation than at the upper part of a building. Discuss pls

If I am to become governor of Katsina State in 2015

By Dr. Ahmed Adamu

I have followed the political terrain in Nigeria, and wondered what sort of politics we practice. Politics shall be based on policies and ideology, and I have failed to identify candidates campaigning base on articulated programmes and policies especially at states and local levels. Alas, the bargain is between Votes for Money. It should have been Votes for Policies/Programmes.

I kept wondering what would have been the policies/programmes that these politicians should have been trading in their campaigns? What would have been their campaign promises that voters can hold them accountable? I decided to put myself in their shoes, and said, “What if I am one of the contestants for a state governor, what would have been my policies and programmes if elected?”, and I have chosen my state, Katsina State, and came up with the followings as my programmes and policies to implement If I am to be the governor of Katsina State in 2015 (they are presented in no particular order):

1. Reduce Embezzlement: I will reduce my salary and allowances to my current entitlement as a university lecturer. I will abolish the office of the first lady. I will reduce the number cars in my convoy. I will reduce the number of political appointees. All political appointees will be paid according their entitlements in their last jobs.

2. Education: Review of the school’s curriculums, elimination of less relevant modules, and introduction of new curriculums to address current challenges and opportunities. Increase the salaries of primary and secondary school teachers to the level of Polytechnic lecturers, this is to attract best brains at the foundation levels. Provision of education loan to students that cannot afford to pay tuition fees/school fees (at all levels), with agreement to pay 10% of their monthly salaries when they get job until they pay off the loan (if anyone dies before he/she could pay off the loan is forgiven). Strict supervisions and assessments of teacher’s qualities and qualifications. Reshufflement of primary and secondary school teachers. Annual mandatory training of school teachers. Provision of modern teaching aids and facilities at all levels. Constant power supply in educational institutions through independent power sources. Invest more on the state university to make it Pan African University. All families of public servants and political appointees to compulsorily attend public schools.

3. Town Modernization and Sanitation: ancient and remote localities will be refurbished, wide roads to be constructed, all water ways (sewage) to be sealed, pavements on all pedestrian paths will be provided. Provision of waste bins at every 250 meters (depending on the concentration of people in an area), introduction of plastic bag charges (extra levy on importers of plastic bags) and fine for improper waste disposal. Construction of modern smart tollgates for revenue generation and security purpose. Street naming, house numbering, and postcodes will be introduced. Town decorations, removal of animals off streets, and total ban of child streets begging (Almajiri camp to be established, all their teachers to reside in the camp, the children will study and sleep in the camp, clothing/uniforms to be provided, religious and modern education also provided).

4. Agriculture: Provision of Mechanised farming facilities for all. Large-scale government farms where variety of crops are harvested, processed and packaged for commercial purposes. Government to rear animals, process and package the meat for commercial purposes. Revival the leather industry (hides and skins) for exports. The Agricultural sector shall be able to employ 60% of the unemployed youths in the state and farming will be all year round.

5. Energy: construction of wind turbines and solar panels for residential and commercial sectors, ban of 100 and 60 watts electric bulbs, free distribution and installation of prepaid electric meters, provision of more transformers, development of local dams to generate electricity, electric wires in new extensions to be sealed in the ground.

6. Social Welfare package: Social welfare package to orphans, widows, unemployed youths and elderly people will be introduced. Social work to be assigned to the unemployed youths whose social package will be for maximum of one year.

7. Transportations and Safety: Introduction of double decker public buses (affordable), youths to be trained and employed to drive these buses on shift bases, the buses will follow many different lines that cover every possible destination. Private investors will be subsidised to provide and run these types of buses. Introduction of maximum allowable local speed limits of 60klm/hr for single carriageway and 70klm/hr on dual carriageways. Introduction of traffic sign posts and speed detector bumps. The Road safety agency to be equipped with high speed vehicles and gadgets to monitor and ensure compliance of the policy. Introduction and strict enforcement of MoT which is a test of vehicle safety, roadworthiness aspects and exhaust emissions (including cars, motorcycles and tricycles). All local mechanics to be assessed, licensed and supported to establish modern mechanic workshops. Consider the possibility of constructing railways and provide within and inter-state train transportation, this will be in partnership with neighbouring states.

8. Security: Introduction of CCTV cameras, special anti-bribery allowances to police, police patrols in every two hours in every locality. Provision of Police patrol vehicles. Capital punishments for criminal and corrupt offences. Prompt trials and rulings in courts.

9. Housing: Friendly and affordable housing policy, construction of more houses annually, and hugely subsidised for low and middle income earners. Encourage private developers to build more houses, and government will subsidise them for low and middle income earners. New extensions (for private developers) to be well planned and designed, and strict adherence enforced.

10. Health: review of health insurance policy to accommodate non-public workers, introduction of a policy/insurance to provide health services free/affordable for all. Free medical services from pregnancy to delivery. Introduction of government Pharmacies, improve accessibility to General Practitioners (GP), provision of direct line for booking appointments with GP, booking times from 8-10am. Emergency services provided 24/7. Provision of modern and well-equipped medical ambulances, direct lines for ambulances to be provided for all. Hospitals refurbishment, and provision of befitting and conducive facilities. Provision of constant power supply in hospitals at all time. Elimination of queues in hospitals, more doctors and health workers recruited. Provision of scholarship to medical students with a bond to work for Katsina state for ten years.

11. Youth Development and Sports: creation of youth development funds to develop their capacities and entrepreneurial skills. Grants to young entrepreneurs. Development and implementation of state youth policy, and annual youth summit. Youth recreational centres (conducive for leisure, entertainment, hospitality, Wi-Fi availability, sport viewing rooms, conference hall, meeting rooms etc). Annual sport competitions at different levels/stages (soccer, badminton, basket ball, handball, tennis etc). Upgrade of Katsina sports club to a standard world class sports centre, with indoor facilities. Partnership with foreign teams to sign local sports talents. Strong support to youth-led initiatives and youth councils. Establishment of youth parliament to train youths on leadership skills and governance. Annual youth award to appreciate hard working and exceptional youths as encouragements and inspiration to others. Young professional programmes to be established in all government and private organizations to train youth on different skills. Annual Youth Townhall meetings.

12. Potable water: provision of semi urban water supply scheme in every locality with distributing water pipes connecting every household.

13. Corporate governance and professionalism: All civil servants must be punctual, neat, dress corporately, be efficient, and to serve without fear or favour. Introduction of reward and punishment for avoidance and perpetuation of corruption respectively.

14. Hospitality: construction of world class 5 star hotel (and/or upgrade of Katsina Motel) to accommodate international investors, tourists and guests.

15. Online governance: active and interactive government website where people can visit to know about the activities of every government department and ministry. People will be able to contact public authorities to share ideas, make comments, and lodge complains. The website will be a data hub, where Research findings and data will be published and accessed.

16. Ultra-modern conference centre: world class conference centre will be constructed, this will enable hosting of many international and national events. It will serve as a source of revenue to the government.

17. Accessibility: I will make my mobile number known to everyone, and allocate times for direct calls and messages. Direct email address will also be provided where people can send letters and make contributions or comments. Quarterly visits to localities to meet people one on one to hear from them directly.

My Philosophy

The philosophies of my administration as a governor of Katsina State are as follows:
1. Honesty, transparency, and accountability
2. Empowering every citizen to realise his/her potential
3. Making Katsina state a global and national dream destination
4. Making Katsina State a model for modern cities in Africa
5. Constitutional democracy and social inclusion
6. Reduction of poverty
7. Socio-economic independence of Katsina State.

Every government activity or project must be in line with achieving one or more of the above philosophies.

I would like to ask my audience to compare my campaign policies and programmes with other contestants in all states and in all parties (where applicable). I unveiled my policies so that candidates will use it as a clue to develop more on their existing programmes.

I am your dreamed Governor in 2015.

Dr. Ahmed Adamu

Speech on Monitoring and Evaluation on Youth Policies in Baku

Talking Notes for presentation by Ahmed Adamu, Chairperson, Commonwealth Youth Council, at the Global Forum on YouthPolicies, Baku, Azerbaijan.

-National Youth Policies are incumbent ingredients for youth empowerments. It allows for effective mainstreaming of youth across all the socio economic issues.
-National Youth Policies should not be an option to any progressive government. young people should engage in advocacy to ensure full implementation of the domains of these policies.
-More than 90% of Commonwealth Countries have National Youth Policies, but only 30% of these countries effectively implement them.
-absence or poor Monitoring and evaluation (M&E) mechanisms is one of the causes of poor implementation of the youth policies. Youth policies are like cars, and M&E is is the fuel to drive those car.
-There are two approaches to M&E: one is cooperational and the other is confrontational.
-co-operational approach involves advising and lobbying. This can be through formal/informal meetings, policy discussions and debates.
-Confrontational involves advocacy and activism, which is through pressurising the government, protest, media campaigns, international involvements etc
- The choice of approach depends on circumstances in a country. However, on a general perspective, the cooperational approach should be the first option before considering the confrontational option.
- M&E can only be effective with sufficient indicators, which include indices, statistics or data, which help to track progress or otherwise in terms of youth development
- these data has to be disaggregated and country specific.
-For us to influence policy, we have to have evidence, and these evidence comes from statistics/data.
-who is responsible for M&E? National Youth Council should be supported to do the M&E. Other stakeholders, civil society organisations, youth led organisations have to come to a single platform to do the M&E.
-Commonwealth Youth Council is about to conduct capacity building programmes for National Youth Councils on M&E of youth policies.
-Government have to be accountable to youth policies. There should be an annual youth development evaluations and reports? Where government reports to youths on what it has done in line with implementations of the policy denominators.
-There has to be reward and consequences for implementing and not implementing National Youth policies respectively both locally and internationally.
-Commonwealth Youth Council strongly advocates for stand alone goal for young people in the post 2015 development goals, and this goal will strongly help to ensure proper implementation of youth policies at all levels and to ensure proper inclusion and participation of young people in development and governance.
-National Youth Policies domains has to be reviewed and updated frequently.
- Finally, for all youth policies to work, it has to have 5Cs as mentioned by Prof Howard. Youth Policies have to have clear coverage, capacities, co-ordination, cost as well as clear M&E and implementation plans.
- For National Youth Policies to work, It has to be legislated or pass as a law.
Thank you.

International Toilet Day

By Dr. Ahmed Adamu

Out of 7 billion people in the world, 3.6 billion of them (51%) either defecate in the open or do not have access to sanitary toilets. There are 30 countries in the world where two third of their population do not have access to sanitary toilets, 20 of these are from Africa. In Eretria and Chad, only 9% of their people have access to sanitary toilets, in Ethiopia the accessibility is 13%.

Access to water and sanitation is one of the human rights that everyone should have, it ...is not a privilege. Today (19/11/14) is the World Toilet day, and it is the day to raise awareness and take action to improve access to sanitary toilets. Many young women in the Commonwealth and beyond fall into the risk of rape and violence due to absence of toilets that offer privacy. Many of them go out of school due to lack of sanitation.

This challenge, affect the health environment of billions. One gram of “shit”(poop) carries 50 communicable diseases, 1000 parasites cysts, 1 million bacteria, 100 worm eggs and 10 million virus. Without proper sanitation especially from children, diseases can spread widely causing Diarrhea. Diarrhea kills 4,000 children every day, it kills more people than HIV/AIDS, and Tuberculosis put together, it kills more people than any ongoing wars around the world, and it is all as a result of poor sanitation or poor toilet system.

The discovery of flush toilets is the best medical advances, better than the discovery of pills, anaesthesia and surgery (British medical journal). Many countries spend more money on military and defence than on providing sanitary toilets, and yet more people die from poor sanitation.

Have you ever seen a government budget that says these funds will be spent to build or upgrade toilets either in public places, schools or homes? If you do, how much?, and how effective? . The level of poverty in some countries, may not allow some people to provide the required sanitation system, it is therefore the responsibility of government and all of us to contribute and set up a fund in every community to build sanitary toilets in schools, markets and public places, and in households.

If “shit” is to be stored safely, it can be of a benefit, it can cook your lunch. If you lock a poop at a certain temperature, and then open it later, you can generate high level of nutrients, which can be used as a gas, and this can help stop deforestation, and the source of the supply of this nutrient will be infinite.

Let us all speak today, remonstrate and raise awareness to ensure the toilet per capita is improved. An average sanitary toilet shall not be used by more than 5 people.

Happy International Toilet Day.

Prioritization of Government investment: Katsina State

By Dr. Ahmed Adamu

According to reports, the recently built government house and stadium in Katsina cost around 7 billion Naira, equivalent to 438 million US dollars. This money would have been enough to generate averagely around 7,300,000MWh using onshore wind plant, or 1,564,286MWh using Solar PV, or 3,650,000MWh using Hydro, or 6,257,143MWh using combined gas turbine and coal plant.(source:USDOE). According to World Bank development indicator, the whole Nigeria consumed 24,453,000MWh in 2011, dividing this by 37 states (including Abuja), you will get 660,891MWh per state. I know you will say the share of electricity consumption of these states are not proportionate, but let us go with the highest possible share for Katsina state. This means that the money spent in building the new government house and stadium can generate around 26% of what Nigeria consumed in 2011, and can generate 947% of what Katsina itself consumed in the same year (using gas turbine as a benchmark). Therefore, if these funds were invested to generate electricity, it would have given Katsina state more than nine times of what it consumed of electricity in 2011, with even an extra to help the industrious city of Kano.

Now, what if every state would contribute the said 7 billion Naira to power sector, what level of power generation can Nigeria have? You can do the maths yourself by now. The above calculations is based on US information(and there could be practical issues), but that would not be far different from what could be obtained elsewhere.

Becoming top 20 economies in the world cannot be possible without stable electricity. The impact of power supply can never be exaggerated. Yet, some governments spend billions of money for unnecessary projects. According to myself in a paper I presented at World Conference on Youth earlier this year, “Good Governance is when people’s interest and opinion direct the decision and commitment of a government, when government’s priority is to serve, protect and fulfil the desires of its people.”

Message from the Chairperson of the Commonwealth Youth Council on the INTERNATIONAL YOUTH DAY, 12th AUGUST, 2014

As the world commemorates International Youth Day, the Commonwealth Youth Council (CYC) joins others in commemorating this important day. This is a day, when the world will connect and engage in solidarity for young people---to celebrate our achievements and work to address our challenges.

The theme for this year’s international youth day, is on ‘’Mental Health Matters’’, which is very important to us, as it enables us to highlights issues of mental health and call for concrete action in youth development. Given the centrality of securing better health for young people, this day is an opportunity to take action in helping young people deal with issues affecting our mental health. The Commonwealth Youth Development Index (YDI) recommends a standardised data sets for young people with mental health problems. Access to information, creating the enabling environment and availability of improved health and living conditions are vital in tackling mental health problems. It is important for governments to provide preventive interventions and services to support the mental health of young people.

This Day comes at a moment, when the world looks forward to a new development agenda for the next 15 years to replace the Millennium Development Goals. This is a day to echo our call for youth inclusion and development in the post-2015 development agenda. We call on all governments to ensure young people are well represented in the post-2015 development agenda by creating a specific goal on youth inclusion and development, with targets and indicators in all goals. No nation can progress if its young people are trapped in endless circle of poverty, when young people do not have the health care we need, when we cannot read or take a job to be able to survive.

To commemorate this day, we are opening the CYC Secretariat in Sri Lanka, and presenting the CYC Strategic Plan for the next two years. We are very grateful to the young people, Commonwealth member states, Commonwealth Secretariat, and the government of Sri Lanka for hosting the secretariat. The CYC Secretariat will be a centre for empowering and engaging young people in sustainable development work.

We encourage all national youth councils and youth-led organisations, to work together and take action for a better world for young people. On this Day, young people can lead the change we want to see in the world, we can be champions in our communities to promote our issues. This Day is a chance for all of us to shout loudly and together in support of greater empowerment of young people.
Youth and mental health matters: Let us take action, advocate and engage the media in our communities, lobby our governments, organise public meetings and engage our schools and communities to promote the theme of international youth day, and help provide the solution to our problem.

We call on governments and people around the world to support young people. Young people are not just beneficiaries, but important contributors to the world we want---a safe, peaceful and prosperous world for everyone.

We in the CYC will do everything in our means to support the empowerment of young people, and support the participation and inclusion of young people at all levels.

We wish all the young people around the world, a Happy 2014 international Youth Day Commemoration.

Together, let us work for youth empowerment, and promote sustainable development.
Thank you. Ahmed Adamu

Team Commonwealth is the theme for 2014 Commonwealth Day

The 2014 Commonwealth theme, "Team Commonwealth" will be launched in the presence of HM The Queen at Commonwealth Observance on Commonwealth Day - 10th March. We want to get the message out about the theme, and amplify the conversation about what the theme means to the people of the Commonwealth. What does the theme means to you? And how are you going to celebrate the Commonwealth Week? Commonwealth Day is the annual celebration of the Commonwealth of Nations held on the second Monday in March, and marked by a multi-faith service in Westminster Abbey, normally attended by HM Queen Elizabeth II, Head of the Commonwealth, with the Commonwealth Secretary-General and Commonwealth High Commissioners in London. The Queen delivers an address to the Commonwealth, broadcast throughout the world. Commonwealth Day is an opportunity to promote understanding on global issues, international co-operation and the work of the Commonwealth’s organisations, which aim to improve the lives of its citizens. The aim of Commonwealth Day is to celebrate the unity, diversity and linkages of the modern Commonwealth and foster greater understanding of the Commonwealth’s achievements and role. The theme for 2014 will be Team Commonwealth. The theme is intended to stress the importance of teamwork and collaboration both within and between Commonwealth countries. It also sets the tone for the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow later in the year. This theme will be reflected in the Observance and throughout Commonwealth Week.

Speech by CYC Chair at the ceremony commemorating the 2014 international women's day at the Commonwealth Secretariat, London

Inspiring Change, Youth Strategies to end Violence against women: Speech by the Chairperson of the Commonwealth Youth Council (Ahmed Adamu) during the 2014 commemoration of the International Women Day, at the Commonwealth Secretariat. Friday, 7th March, 2014. It gives me great pleasure to speak on this great day, the day we celebrate and appreciate women for their service to humanity, sacrifice for prosperity, perseverance in democracy and dedication to family. On this day, we, the young people commit to pay respect to the mothers of all humankind, and declare a campaign against any sort of violence against women Women are the greatest and essential part of the world today, there are over 3.5 billion women in the world, and unfortunately 1.6 billion of these women are either abused physically or sexually during their lives. One third of women in the world are beaten, and in every 9 seconds, woman abuse occurs. More than 55% of women think beating is part of their marriage lives, and many times women try to commit suicide due to oppression. Women suffer sexual harassments in schools and work places, large number of girls are been trafficked into prostitution, force labour and slavery each year. Young mothers are been maltreated for giving birth to girl child, women are forced to feel how they wish they were men, and domestic violence has been on the increase. These are few of the stories that women across the world carry. Abuse and discrimination against women have cost the world peace in society, discipline in family and honesty in governance. Fighting violence against women is not only a struggle for women, it is equally a struggle for men, and it is strategic to engage young people in this campaign, so that the menace will not be passed to the next generation. The young people in the Commonwealth are determined to ensure zero violence against women in our generation. The gender consideration in all the Commonwealth institutions and programmes have exemplified the best practice to ensure respect and recognition for women. The Commonwealth Heads Governments, the Commonwealth Women Affairs ministers and the Commonwealth Youth have all condemned all sorts of discrimination against women. According to the 2013 youth declaration during the 9th Commonwealth Youth Forum in Sri Lanka, the young people reiterate their concerns on violence against women. They called on all Commonwealth member states to adopt quotas across all tiers of legislation with the aim to increase women’s representation to between 30% to 50% in political and other decision-making institutions. They also called on all member states to implement education programmes for young men and women that emphasize on gender fairness and the vital role of young women as key agents of national development. The young people also called on the Commonwealth Youth Council to advocate for comprehensive gender sensitization programmes which particularly address the harmful consequences of violence against women, men and children. That is why the Commonwealth Youth Council is exploring the establishment of a thematic Commonwealth Youth Group that will lead the campaign against any sort of violence or discrimination against women in all Commonwealth Nations. This campaign will target the causes of women abuse and what motivate men/women to engage in the abuse. One of the challenges that hinders the effectiveness of campaign against women abuse is the concentration of discussions on what women do to expose themselves to the abuse without considering what men do to cause the violence/abuse. In this campaign there is no victim side or perpetrators side, all men and women, young and adults have to come together to end the menace of women abuse. As Martin Luther King Junior said “what hurts more is not the words of an enemy but the silence of a friend. What hurts more is not the words of the perpetrators of women abuse/discrimination, but the silent of men. Mahatma Ghandi also said “we have to be the change you wish to see in this world.” Inter-generational discourse on how to end violence against women is timely and important; Women and girls make up 70% of the world’s poor, and are often the pillars of stability in communities, families and other social settings. One of the core values of the Commonwealth is to support the poor and the vulnerable groups, and this programme speaks volumes of this value that the Commonwealth uphold. I want to thank the Organizers of this meeting especially the Commonwealth Secretariat, and the Commonwealth Youth Council will continue to partner and support any sort of initiatives to put an end to violence against women. (5 photos)

ASSESSMENT OF YOUTH INCLUSION IN POLITICS AND GOVERNANCE IN SOME SELECTED COMMONWEALTH COUNTRIES:

By Dr. Ahmed Adamu

1. Australia:
MINIMAL AGE FOR ELECTED POSITIONS: 18
The youngest ever member of the House of Representatives was 20 year old Wyatt Roy elected in the 2010 federal election after the Electoral Act 1918 was amended to reduce the age of candidacy for that office from 21 to 18.
SCORE: Good

2. Canada:
MINIMAL AGE FOR ELECTED POSITIONS: 18
In Canada, any person 18 years of age or older may stand for election to public office. However, to be appointed to the Senate, one must be at least 30 years of age, must possess land worth at least $4,000 in the province for which he or she is appointed, and must own real and personal property worth at least $4,000, above his or her debts and liabilities. These restrictions were most recently enforced in 1997.
SCORE: Good

3. Cyprus:
MINIMAL AGE FOR ELECTED POSITIONS: 25
In Cyprus the minimum age to be elected president is 35 years.
SCORE: Fair

4. Nigeria
MINIMAL AGE FOR ELECTED POSITIONS:30
In Nigeria, a person must be at least 40 years of age to be elected President or Vice President, 35 to be a Senator or State Governor, and 30 to be a Representative in parliament.
SCORE: Poor

4. South Africa
MINIMAL AGE FOR ELECTED POSITIONS:18
Section 47, Clause 1 of the 1996 Constitution of South Africa states that "Every citizen who is qualified to vote for the National Assembly is eligible to be a member of the Assembly", defaulting to Section 46 which "provides for a minimum voting age of 18 years" in National Assembly elections; Sections 106 and 105 provide the same for provincial legislatures.
SCORE: Good

5. United Kingdom
MINIMAL AGE FOR ELECTED POSITIONS: 18
In the UK (other than in Northern Ireland) a person must be aged 18 or over to stand in elections to all parliaments, assemblies, and councils at the European, UK, devolved, or local level. This age requirement also applies in elections to any individual elective public office; the main example is that of an elected mayor, whether of London or a local authority. There are no higher age requirements for particular positions in public office. Candidates are required to be aged 18 on both the day of nomination and the day of the poll. This was reduced from 21 by the Electoral Administration Act 2006. SCORE: GOOD

Commonwealth Youth Council calls for common minimum age (18 years) for standing elections in all Commonwealth Nations. If at 18, a person can vote, why cant she/he be voted for?

Ahmed Adamu Inaugural speech as the Pioneer Chairman of Commonwealth You...

Ahmed Adamu new voice for commonwealth youth

Commonwealth Youth Council Chairperson, Ahmed Adamu Arrives Nigeria Yo...

Meeting between the FMYD Perm Sec, Dr Henry Akpan and the CYC Chairpers...

Hon. Ahmed Adamu, Chairperson CYC, at the official launching of the YCAEV

Link to Pictures from Nigerian Visit

https://www.facebook.com/ahmed.adamu.188/media_set?set=a.10201919325199851.1073741835.1085842609&type=1

Commonwealth Youth Council Launches Campaign to end election violence

The Commonwealth Youth Council launched an international campaign to reduce incidents of violence perpetrated by young people at elections.

The Youth Campaign Against Election Violence began with an inaugural conference in Abuja, Nigeria between 30 and 31 January. The campaign involves encouraging youth volunteers across the country to develop awareness-raising activities, including street rallies, social and cultural events, workshops and media appearances, to persuade young people to shun violence at election time.

The launch came as preparations gear up for the next Nigerian general elections in 2015. During the last general elections in 2011, more than 800 people died as a result of violence sparked by political, ethnic and religious divisions.

Ahmed Adamu, Chairperson of the Commonwealth Youth Council (CYC), hosting the event, said: “Too many young lives have been lost before, during and after general elections in Nigeria – yet this is not a problem unique to this country. This CYC youth-led campaign aims to sensitise young people on the need to be tolerant and embrace peace during elections.”

Youth representatives attending the Abuja conference will serve as election peace marshals and organise local campaigns and workshops in their home states. Following the pilot in Nigeria, the initiative is expected to be rolled out by the Commonwealth Youth Council to other Commonwealth member countries.

The conference drew attendance by youth leaders from Nigeria’s 36 states, with speakers representing Nigeria’s Minister of Youth Development and the Independent National Electoral Commission, as well as civil society and youth development organisations and political parties.

There was also representation from the Commonwealth Youth Programme, which was instrumental in setting up the Commonwealth Youth Council, and which continues to provide support it.

James Odit, Africa Regional Director for the Commonwealth Youth Programme, said: “At election time, everyone deserves to have their voice heard and to exercise their democratic right to vote. But without peace, this is virtually impossible. Engaging young people as agents for peace is a very powerful approach to addressing the scourge of election violence.”

The Youth Campaign Against Election Violence is the first project to be organised by the Commonwealth Youth Council, an autonomous body representing the 1.2 billion young people from across the 53-nation Commonwealth community. The Council’s inaugural executive committee was elected in November 2013.

The Commonwealth Youth Council is a vehicle for young people to share their views and take action on global development issues. It advocates for governments around the Commonwealth to engage meaningfully with this generation.

More information can be found about the Commonwealth Youth Council on its website:
www.commonwealthyouthcouncil.org

http://commonwealthyouthcouncil.org/commonwealth-youth-council-launches-campaign-to-end-election-violence/

Newspaper Interview with Ahmed Adamu

Ahmed Adamu was recently elected as the pioneer Chairperson of the newly established Commonwealth Youth Council (CYC); the recognised voice of the 1.2 billion young people of the 53 member states Commonwealth of Nations and the largest and most diverse youth body in the world. 

Ahmed who hails from Katsina State holds a B.A.(Ed) Economics (2006) and M.Sc. Oil and Gas Economics (2011) from Bayero University Kano and the University of Dundee in the United Kingdom, respectively. He is presently a PhD candidate studying Natural Gas Economics at Newcastle University also in the UK.

In a chat with ADAM ALQALI (of Blue Print Nigerian Newspaper), he speaks on his journey to the leadership of the CYC; agenda for the youths in the Commonwealth nations and plans for the youths of the Commonwealth countries including Nigeria.

How was your growing up like?

I was born in Kaduna city in the old Kaduna State and had my primary and secondary education in Katsina after which I proceeded to Bayero University, Kano where I graduated with B.A(Ed) Economics in 2006 and did my youth service at the National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA) in Lokoja, Kogi State. In 2011, I got my Msc in Oil and Gas Economics from the University of Dundee in the United Kingdom; I am presently a PhD candidate studying Natural Gas Economics at Newcastle University also in the UK.

After my youth service, I worked as a class room teacher in Katsina and after my M.Sc, I was employed as a lecturer at the Umaru Musa Yar’Adua University, Katsina.

You have been passionate about youth activism right from your days at BUK. How did that passion come about?

Well! I grew up with this passion for engaging in public leadership and so began to hold leadership positions right from my primary school days. In secondary school, I served as Chief Imam/ President of the Muslim Students Society (MSS) as well as the Provost Marshal of the school’s quiz club.

Moreover, I began to have interest in student unionism right from my first year in the university and so was actively involved in campus politics. And while in my second year, I ran for the position of Assistant Secretary General of the Students Union Government (SUG) but lost, a month to the election I fell ill during the electioneering campaign.

I tried not to be antagonistic to those who didn’t vote for me; instead, I was kind to them while preparing to contest for a bigger position in the subsequent elections. I later decided to vie for the position of Financial Secretary of the SUG – which I won with a landslide. I successfully influenced most of the decisions of our Senate and so was very much instrumental to our success.

I was then made the interim national president of the National Association of Katsina State Students (NAKASS) National Body and later stood for election as Financial Secretary “Zone A” of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) but had to forfeit the position because NANS’s constitution didn’t allow someone with an SUG position to hold a NANS position.

After my graduation, I went back to Katsina and founded the League for Democratic Youths (LDY) – a youth organisation that educates young people on their civic rights to make them active and responsible citizens as well as organise intellectual discussions. We were also into the campaign for transparency and accountability in governance through budget tracking, among others. LDY was one of the earliest youth organisations in Katsina.

After my youth service, I formed the Katsina Debate Club to teach citizens public presentation, enhance their research skills and educate them on current national issues; on whose platform we were inviting public officers and other relevant stakeholders to debate on national issues. I also established the Oil & Gas Scholars’ Club on which platform, young people deliberate on oil and gas issues like the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) through presentations of research papers.

I later vied for the speakership position of the Nigerian Youth Parliament but later stepped down for someone and I won twice the position of deputy speaker of the Parliament, but without having 2/3rd of the total votes; I was later elected the pioneer Chief Whip of the youth parliament. I was among the few members of the Parliament that the Ministry of Youths Development felt needed to be empowered more and so was successfully nominated to represent Nigeria at the 2011 Commonwealth Youth Forum held in Australia – which was my first engagement with the Commonwealth. At the end of the Forum, I was among the 3 youth delegates selected to meet with the Queen of England. I met and shook hands with the Queen and presented to her the communiqué of the Forum which really inspired me to continue to follow up the activities of the Forum.

It was at the Forum that the idea of the Commonwealth Youth Council first came up because we felt that the regional caucuses’ members were not effective in amplifying the voices of young people towards achieving optimal youth participation in discussions on governance and Commonwealth issues. So, we agreed on the formation of the CYC and I never thought I was going to be its pioneer Chairperson and so wasn’t very much involved in the structuring process.

August last year, I saw (on my Facebook page) the announcement for the nomination of the executive officers of the CYC and so I began to think whether or not I should vie for any position. I called a friend of mine, Ahmed Bachaka, to seek for his advice on whether I should contest for the position of the Chairperson of the Council. My fear was that, as a PhD student, I felt being the chairperson would rob me of the time I should give to my studies, yet, I felt that even holding a lower position might also be demanding as well, so I decided to go for the Chairperson.

Finally, I decided to go for the position of the chairperson and so filled in the form and was later successfully screened alongside 3 other candidates from the UK, Cameroun and Botswana. Because I wasn’t very conversant with Twitter, my campaign was basically on Facebook; which I am very conversant with. So, I came up with a 7- point agenda – which include education, entrepreneurship, agriculture, ICT, youth leadership, youth emloyment as well as the promotion of CYC and the larger Commonwealth values – modelled after that of late Nigerian president, Umaru Yar’Adua.

What I did was that every day I would take one agenda, dissect it very well and engage youth on discussions about it. For example, in education, I would discuss what are the necessary advocacies and projects for improving it? And the youth were engaging back including fellow contestants.

When I arrived for the Commonwealth Youth Asembly in Hambantota, Sri Lanka I went ahead with the physical aspect of the campaign process and so I distributed my campaign fliers containing my profile and details of my 7-point agenda. Then there was a debate (between the contestants) and though I know I did well, I believe the major reason why I won was my performance at the Q and A session during which I believe I was able to convince the youth delegates of my ability to lead them well.
The following day, the elections were held online as such even if you were not in Sri Lanka and where ever you were in the world, you could just go online and cast your vote; at the end of the day the results were announced and I emerged winner with more than 55% of the total vote cast – it was a landslide victory.

So, I singlehandedly sponsored my campaign and also sponsored myself to Sri Lanka where the elections were held and praise be to God, I was elected as the pioneer Chairperson of the Commonwealth Youth Council – the recognised voice of the 1.2 billion young people of the 54-member states of the Commonwealth and which provides the framework for youth-led development initiatives.

Now, how do you feel being the leader of the Commonwealth Youth Council (CYC); the largest and most diverse youth body in the world?

Well! It feels great being the leader of the largest and most diverse youth organisation in the world and people see you as effectively the world’s youth leader but my concern is about the responsibilities and expectations. So, it is really a huge responsibility presiding over this diverse organisation of youths not only from my country and not only from my continent but from Africa, Asia, Europe, the Pacific, Americas as well as the Caribbean.

The challenge is how I can lead these youths from diverse backgrounds which are entirely different from mine; how can I know their concerns and needs. Secondly, as a pioneer Chairperson I don’t have anybody to learn from on how to be successful and I have to start everything from the scratch. These are the challenges I must address though I have only two years and no one would excuse me for being the first chairperson as such I must act as fast as possible to ensure I lay a good foundation for the development of the Council.

Now that you have effectively taken over the CYC, what are your plans for the 1.2 billion youths of the Commonwealth of Nations; in line with your 7-point agenda?

Well! The 7-point agenda were more or less my idea of trying to convince people that I had a vision but now that I have executive members who also have their various agendas for the youths of the Commonwealth of Nations, I will have to consider the ideas of my executive members and most importantly, the ideas and views of the youths in the Commonwealth based on which we would come up with a workable strategic plan in addition to my agendas.

We need to set up a proper foundation for the Council which will include a secretariat as well as establishing relationships and partnerships with relevant organisations. We are now in the process of having consultations with youths in the different member nations and we are almost done with that. In fact, we have a draft of our 2-year strategic plans which would be ready by the end of January and we will go into the implementation phase. And because of the diverse nature of the Commonwealth, we have to consider and reflect the peculiar challenges facing youths in the various countries that make up the Commonwealth of Nations.

You are planning to launch the Youths Campaign Against Electoral Violence (Y-CAEV), very soon. What do you hope to achieve with that project?

As I said, we are coming up with several programs which are country-specific some of which are targeted at youths involvement in politics and governance; others towards youths empowerment and development. So, the Youths Campaign Against Electoral Violence (Y-CAEV) is one of such programs the CYC is piloting towards addressing election violence in Commonwealth countries, and Nigeria being about to go through another election process, we felt that the earlier we begin to sensitise and educate the youths on the need to embrace peace (before and after election) the better for us. By doing so, we will be able to sensitize them on what are the constitutional provisions and civic responsibilities that they should follow if the outcome of an election is not favourable to them. We also wish to use the project to educate them on the diverse nature of our nation while emphasising the need for peaceful coexistence between us. The launching is coming up on January 30, at Merit House in Abuja after which we hope to do the geopolitical zones induction where we would train the Y-CAEV Marshalls who would go back to their states and train local marshals who will also train the local election peace marshals who will use the media, stage dramas, musical performances, bill boards as well as mass rallies to educate the youths on the need to embrace peace.

I wish to say it is not just the responsibility of the CYC; instead, all youth organisations, the government as well as the private sector need to come and help us educate and empower the youths of this country towards peace and sustainable development. There are many other projects the CYC is bringing to Nigeria including a youth resource centre, youth skills acquisition centre to train youths in ICT and renewable energy, amongst others.

Newspaper Interview with Ahmed Adamu

Ahmed Adamu was recently elected as the pioneer Chairperson of the newly established Commonwealth Youth Council (CYC); the recognised voice of the 1.2 billion young people of the 53 member states Commonwealth of Nations and the largest and most diverse youth body in the world.
Ahmed who hails from Katsina State holds a B.A.(Ed) Economics (2006) and M.Sc. Oil and Gas Economics (2011) from Bayero University Kano and the University of Dundee in the United Kingdom, respectively. He is presently a PhD candidate studying Natural Gas Economics at Newcastle University also in the UK.

In a chat with ADAM ALQALI (of Blue Print Nigerian Newspaper), he speaks on his journey to the leadership of the CYC; agenda for the youths in the Commonwealth nations and plans for the youths of the Commonwealth countries including Nigeria.

How was your growing up like?

I was born in Kaduna city in the old Kaduna State and had my primary and secondary education in Katsina after which I proceeded to Bayero University, Kano where I graduated with B.A(Ed) Economics in 2006 and did my youth service at the National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA) in Lokoja, Kogi State. In 2011, I got my Msc in Oil and Gas Economics from the University of Dundee in the United Kingdom; I am presently a PhD candidate studying Natural Gas Economics at Newcastle University also in the UK.

After my youth service, I worked as a class room teacher in Katsina and after my M.Sc, I was employed as a lecturer at the Umaru Musa Yar’Adua University, Katsina.

You have been passionate about youth activism right from your days at BUK. How did that passion come about?

Well! I grew up with this passion for engaging in public leadership and so began to hold leadership positions right from my primary school days. In secondary school, I served as Chief Imam/ President of the Muslim Students Society (MSS) as well as the Provost Marshal of the school’s quiz club.

Moreover, I began to have interest in student unionism right from my first year in the university and so was actively involved in campus politics. And while in my second year, I ran for the position of Assistant Secretary General of the Students Union Government (SUG) but lost, a month to the election I fell ill during the electioneering campaign.

I tried not to be antagonistic to those who didn’t vote for me; instead, I was kind to them while preparing to contest for a bigger position in the subsequent elections. I later decided to vie for the position of Financial Secretary of the SUG – which I won with a landslide. I successfully influenced most of the decisions of our Senate and so was very much instrumental to our success.

I was then made the interim national president of the National Association of Katsina State Students (NAKASS) National Body and later stood for election as Financial Secretary “Zone A” of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) but had to forfeit the position because NANS’s constitution didn’t allow someone with an SUG position to hold a NANS position.

After my graduation, I went back to Katsina and founded the League for Democratic Youths (LDY) – a youth organisation that educates young people on their civic rights to make them active and responsible citizens as well as organise intellectual discussions. We were also into the campaign for transparency and accountability in governance through budget tracking, among others. LDY was one of the earliest youth organisations in Katsina.

After my youth service, I formed the Katsina Debate Club to teach citizens public presentation, enhance their research skills and educate them on current national issues; on whose platform we were inviting public officers and other relevant stakeholders to debate on national issues. I also established the Oil & Gas Scholars’ Club on which platform, young people deliberate on oil and gas issues like the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) through presentations of research papers.

I later vied for the speakership position of the Nigerian Youth Parliament but later stepped down for someone and I won twice the position of deputy speaker of the Parliament, but without having 2/3rd of the total votes; I was later elected the pioneer Chief Whip of the youth parliament. I was among the few members of the Parliament that the Ministry of Youths Development felt needed to be empowered more and so was successfully nominated to represent Nigeria at the 2011 Commonwealth Youth Forum held in Australia – which was my first engagement with the Commonwealth. At the end of the Forum, I was among the 3 youth delegates selected to meet with the Queen of England. I met and shook hands with the Queen and presented to her the communiqué of the Forum which really inspired me to continue to follow up the activities of the Forum.

It was at the Forum that the idea of the Commonwealth Youth Council first came up because we felt that the regional caucuses’ members were not effective in amplifying the voices of young people towards achieving optimal youth participation in discussions on governance and Commonwealth issues. So, we agreed on the formation of the CYC and I never thought I was going to be its pioneer Chairperson and so wasn’t very much involved in the structuring process.

August last year, I saw (on my Facebook page) the announcement for the nomination of the executive officers of the CYC and so I began to think whether or not I should vie for any position. I called a friend of mine, Ahmed Bachaka, to seek for his advice on whether I should contest for the position of the Chairperson of the Council. My fear was that, as a PhD student, I felt being the chairperson would rob me of the time I should give to my studies, yet, I felt that even holding a lower position might also be demanding as well, so I decided to go for the Chairperson.

Finally, I decided to go for the position of the chairperson and so filled in the form and was later successfully screened alongside 3 other candidates from the UK, Cameroun and Botswana. Because I wasn’t very conversant with Twitter, my campaign was basically on Facebook; which I am very conversant with. So, I came up with a 7- point agenda – which include education, entrepreneurship, agriculture, ICT, youth leadership, youth emloyment as well as the promotion of CYC and the larger Commonwealth values – modelled after that of late Nigerian president, Umaru Yar’Adua.

What I did was that every day I would take one agenda, dissect it very well and engage youth on discussions about it. For example, in education, I would discuss what are the necessary advocacies and projects for improving it? And the youth were engaging back including fellow contestants.
When I arrived for the Commonwealth Youth Asembly in Hambantota, Sri Lanka I went ahead with the physical aspect of the campaign process and so I distributed my campaign fliers containing my profile and details of my 7-point agenda. Then there was a debate (between the contestants) and though I know I did well, I believe the major reason why I won was my performance at the Q and A session during which I believe I was able to convince the youth delegates of my ability to lead them well.

The following day, the elections were held online as such even if you were not in Sri Lanka and where ever you were in the world, you could just go online and cast your vote; at the end of the day the results were announced and I emerged winner with more than 55% of the total vote cast – it was a landslide victory.
So, I singlehandedly sponsored my campaign and also sponsored myself to Sri Lanka where the elections were held and praise be to God, I was elected as the pioneer Chairperson of the Commonwealth Youth Council – the recognised voice of the 1.2 billion young people of the 54-member states of the Commonwealth and which provides the framework for youth-led development initiatives.

Now, how do you feel being the leader of the Commonwealth Youth Council (CYC); the largest and most diverse youth body in the world?

Well! It feels great being the leader of the largest and most diverse youth organisation in the world and people see you as effectively the world’s youth leader but my concern is about the responsibilities and expectations. So, it is really a huge responsibility presiding over this diverse organisation of youths not only from my country and not only from my continent but from Africa, Asia, Europe, the Pacific, Americas as well as the Caribbean.

The challenge is how I can lead these youths from diverse backgrounds which are entirely different from mine; how can I know their concerns and needs. Secondly, as a pioneer Chairperson I don’t have anybody to learn from on how to be successful and I have to start everything from the scratch. These are the challenges I must address though I have only two years and no one would excuse me for being the first chairperson as such I must act as fast as possible to ensure I lay a good foundation for the development of the Council.

Now that you have effectively taken over the CYC, what are your plans for the 1.2 billion youths of the Commonwealth of Nations; in line with your 7-point agenda?

Well! The 7-point agenda were more or less my idea of trying to convince people that I had a vision but now that I have executive members who also have their various agendas for the youths of the Commonwealth of Nations, I will have to consider the ideas of my executive members and most importantly, the ideas and views of the youths in the Commonwealth based on which we would come up with a workable strategic plan in addition to my agendas.

We need to set up a proper foundation for the Council which will include a secretariat as well as establishing relationships and partnerships with relevant organisations. We are now in the process of having consultations with youths in the different member nations and we are almost done with that. In fact, we have a draft of our 2-year strategic plans which would be ready by the end of January and we will go into the implementation phase. And because of the diverse nature of the Commonwealth, we have to consider and reflect the peculiar challenges facing youths in the various countries that make up the Commonwealth of Nations.

You are planning to launch the Youths Campaign Against Electoral Violence (Y-CAEV), very soon. What do you hope to achieve with that project?

As I said, we are coming up with several programs which are country-specific some of which are targeted at youths involvement in politics and governance; others towards youths empowerment and development. So, the Youths Campaign Against Electoral Violence (Y-CAEV) is one of such programs the CYC is piloting towards addressing election violence in Commonwealth countries, and Nigeria being about to go through another election process, we felt that the earlier we begin to sensitise and educate the youths on the need to embrace peace (before and after election) the better for us. By doing so, we will be able to sensitize them on what are the constitutional provisions and civic responsibilities that they should follow if the outcome of an election is not favourable to them. We also wish to use the project to educate them on the diverse nature of our nation while emphasising the need for peaceful coexistence between us. The launching is coming up on January 30, at Merit House in Abuja after which we hope to do the geopolitical zones induction where we would train the Y-CAEV Marshalls who would go back to their states and train local marshals who will also train the local election peace marshals who will use the media, stage dramas, musical performances, bill boards as well as mass rallies to educate the youths on the need to embrace peace.
I wish to say it is not just the responsibility of the CYC; instead, all youth organisations, the government as well as the private sector need to come and help us educate and empower the youths of this country towards peace and sustainable development. There are many other projects the CYC is bringing to Nigeria including a youth resource centre, youth skills acquisition centre to train youths in ICT and renewable energy, amongst others.

Commonwealth Youth Council and Commonwealth Foundation unlock Partnership potentials

The Commonwealth Youth Council, in its efforts to broaden the scope for partnerships, opportunities, and advancement of youth development agenda, had a productive meeting with senior officials of the Commonwealth Foundation.

The meeting which was facilitated by the Commonwealth Youth Programme, provided the opportunity for both organizations to share their activities and programmes, with a view to exploring potentials for joint-collaboration, in support of young people in the Commonwealth.

The meeting was attended by the Director of the Commonwealth Foundation, Vijay Krishnarayan, Chairperson of the Commonwealth Youth Council, Ahmed Adamu, Deputy Director of the Commonwealth Foundation, Myn Garcia, Director of Youth Affairs Division of the Commonwealth Secretariat, Katherine Ellis, Programme Manager of the Commonwealth Foundation, Diana Atungire-Ocaya (the order is presented as in the picture below). Messeh Leone from the CYC Secretariat was also present.

The meeting focused on Commonwealth Youth Council’s potentials in helping to enhance youth-led projects, awareness and capacities of youth organisations to access funding from the Commonwealth Foundation’s grant programme; the promotion of national and regional youth participation in policy and decision makings; and the effective participation of youth in tracking the post-2015 consultations and recommendations from Commonwealth member states and institutions.

The Commonwealth Foundation welcomed CYC’s Youth Campaign Again Election Violence (Y-CAEV) project to be launched across Commonwealth countries and applauded it as good model for youth engagement in participatory governance, being a key focus of the Commonwealth Foundation. Y-CAEV is been identified as one of the areas for collaboration. The Commonwealth Foundation looks forward to receiving CYC’s strategic plan to identify areas for partnership.

THE POWER OF YOUTH

Youth are the most active organ of every society, they make and shape every societal change, and they are the hopes for the future. It is obvious that youth have unyielding potentials, and everyone talks about it, but we rarely see how these potentials are tapped or transformed to a realistic level that will make young people independent and active citizens in their communities. It is time for young people to realize their power, and how they can change the world they live. In most nations, especially the Commonwealth nations, Youth constitute the largest population segment, which means they can determine who sit on the seat of power, what economic policy to adopt, and choose their rightful position in political and economic aspect of their countries.

Governance is critical in fulfilling and optimizing youth potentials, the people at the helm of governance play significant role in choosing the fate and status of young people, unfortunately very few of them recognize the potentials of young people. For young people to demonstrate their power, and retrieve their rightful positions, we have to come together and participate actively in democratic and leadership processes. However, this can only be guaranteed by having some among us at the helm of leadership and governance. Let there be global leaders at youthful ages that connect, engage and prioritize on the youth development issues. We can make this difference by putting our colleagues on leadership positions, and yes we can do it. Let me take Nigeria as a case study where general elections are imminent. Nigerian Youth have the power to determine who becomes the next country’s president.

According to the country’s population census, Nigerian Youth between the age of 15 and 39 constitute 41% of the country’s population, and 70% of the country’s potential and eligible electorate. This means that minority 30% of eligible voters are the adults between the age of 40 and 85 who also constitute 17% of the country’s population. The remaining 42% are the children between the age of 0 and 14. From this statistics, youth who are the majority voters in the country have the power to decide who wins elections at every level. If the Nigerian youth will support an intelligent young person at the age of 40, and overwhelmingly support that candidate, definitely, that person must win. Similarly, the predominantly feared electoral malpractice would not have been possible because no youth will be at disposal to be used for such crime. This will put the young people at the centre stage of every decision making, and give them the voice and willpower to demand any level of political representation and participation. It will also help in curbing political and economic corruptions. The level of societal crimes and youth unemployment will reduce drastically as the government priorities will be for youth empowerment.

Finally, I urge young people across the Commonwealth Nations to be united and seek their rightful political positions. This is one of the easiest ways we can guarantee a safer and better future, and a way of ensuring proper youth representation and empowerment.