Some youths in Bwari Area Council, FCT, have advocated for mentorship initiatives in sports and arts, to ensure sustainable development and employment.
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The youths spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday in Abuja.
They urged government agencies, Non- Governmental Organisations (NGOs) and Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) to engage and support more youths in rural communities to discover and promote their talents.
Miss Esther Yakubu, an entrepreneur, said that there was a need for relevant government agencies and organisations to do more to empower youths with the needed skills to develop the grassroots.
According to her, the stakeholders play a vital role in supporting rural communities to address local needs, empower individuals and promote youths’ activities locally and internationally.
“There is a need to improve on education and training at the local level, especially for teenagers and the young adults.
“They can provide scholarships or support for the youths to access secondary and tertiary education, and even mentorship programmes, by connecting them with role models, career guides and counselors.
“They can also use cultural and recreational activities for youth development and community cohesion through sporting activities and art exhibitions, a lot of us are really gifted here.
“This will help to give hope to the younger generation, while discouraging them from engaging in social vices and anything detrimental to their families and the society at large, , she said.
Mr Amos Sheyilo, another youth, said that promoting youth activities in rural communities required a “multifaceted and sustainable approach that would address social, economic, and infrastructural gaps.
Sheyilo said that there was a need to establish community youth centres in some areas, and also equip existing ones to provide safe spaces for learning, recreation, and entrepreneurship.
“We need partners like the National Directorate of Employment (NDE), Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria, NGOs and other private sectors to step up in empowering youths at the grassroots to enhance development.
“We need more sporting activities, vocational trainings, ICT classes, library services and career counseling. We need to do more in promoting vocational and technical training.
“If this is put in place and is sustained, we will have successfully equipped youths with skills for employment and entrepreneurship to practice anywhere in the world,’’ he said.
He said that it was worrisome that most of the young ones at the rural communities had no interest in agriculture.
Sheyilo also urged youths in the area to remain encouraged and not fall to the temptations of ill-gotten wealth, while also praying that the economy gets better.
Mr John Awoyi, President, Bwari Youths Forum, told NAN that the group was working relentlessly to improve on the welfare and livelihood of both the young and vulnerable in the community.
Awoyi said that the forum had since 2024 partnered with a few organisations to organise programmes to discourage members against social vices by engaging them in skills acquisition workshops.
He said that the forum had been working in collaboration with relevant groups to create more youth engagement activities that would promote a crime free community.
“We use the avenue to teach them how to empower themselves, while teaching them various skills, and this plan has been effective, even though we are still doing it in small numbers,’’ he said.
Awoyi said that some of the organisations involved in the plan had impacted over 500 youths through trainings and skill empowering programmes in 2024.
He, however, said that funding and other economic challenges had continued to stall the progress.
He said that a campaign against criminalities like yahoo -yahoo, cultism and kidnapping activities had since been launched in various communities to re-orient members of the harmful impacts.
(NAN)
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