In his Independence Day broadcast on October 1, President Bola Tinubu announced that he would inaugurate a 30-day national youth conference to discuss diverse challenges confronting young persons in the country.According to Tinubu, “it will be our job as leaders to ensure that their aspirations are at the heart of the conference’s deliberations,” while also assuring that the federal government “will thoroughly consider and implement the recommendations and outcomes from this forum as we remain resolute in our mission to build a more inclusive, prosperous, and united Nigeria.” Considering Nigeria’s demographics with young people accounting for about 60 per cent of the population it is understandable that the federal government may be seeking their inputs in shaping policies which impact their lives. Unfortunately, many are skeptical of both the timing and motive.

That there has been no further announcement on the structure and format of this conference as well as the modalities for selecting/electing the delegates is an indication that the whole idea might be an afterthought. Besides, the current administration has developed a penchant for announcing policies without thinking them through as we have seen with the removal of subsidy and floating of the Naira that have combined to devastating effects on the economy. Meanwhile, the idea of engaging young people in a dialogue is not bad, especially since the objective is said to revolve around tackling critical issues like unemployment, education, and developing policies aimed at enhancing youth development and empowerment.

Today, a combination of sustained negative economic growth, bad governance, and an uncontrolled demographic bulge has put the country in a difficult and potentially explosive situation. The statistics paint a dire situation of millions of Nigerian youths roaming the streets looking for work but finding none. Indeed, more than 50 per cent of the army of idle citizens is peopled by those between the ages of 15 and 35. The situation is compounded by the recent economic policies which have further impoverished the people. The greatest fear arising from all this is social unrest among young people because of anger, frustration, unemployment and lack of opportunities.

However, there are also fears that the proposed conference will be another tactical distraction, a means to buy time. Similar initiatives in the past, done at huge cost to the nation, failed to produce tangible results. Indeed, we have been having conferences, but their recommendations are hardly implemented. The 2014 national conference done with so much fanfare is a stark reminder of the waste. The demands of the EndSARS protest on police brutality are largely unmet despite promises made by the federal government. Some policy decisions voluntarily taken by the government of the day to trim waste and curb corruption are willingly being put down by the same government.

Pertinent questions therefore arise. Does the federal government need a conference of young people to find solutions to the problem of insecurity ravaging the country? How would such a conference stem the inefficiency in the power sector that has become a perpetual disincentive to investment? And indeed, how will a conference of 30 days impact on the more than 20 million out-of-school children, many of whom have become a serious security threat to the entire nation? Do we need a conference to address the growing poverty among a large segment of the population? How will delegates be selected without creating its own problem in a nation with mutual ethno-religious suspicions? Besides, what assurances are there that the things agreed upon at the youth conference, assuming one was held, will be carried through by the federal government?

Although the Tinubu administration is working on some youth-centric programmes, their impacts are yet to be felt. Therefore, if the federal government insists on going ahead with providing a platform for young Nigerians to voice their concerns through a youth conference, it must consider all the contending issues and address them. Efforts must also be made to ensure that it is not another exercise designed to waste scarce public resources. (THISDAY Editorial)