THE ROLES OF YOUTHS IN NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT.

THE ROLES OF YOUTHS IN NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT.-By Richard

According to Cambridge Dictionary, youth is defined as a period of life, when one is young,or state of being young. Also concise Dictionary of current English described youth as the period between childhood and adulthood.

In Nigeria, one is considered a youth when he/she is between the ages of 18-35 years, according to the Federal Republic of Nigeria National Youth Policy ( 2019-2023).

This group of people are always refer to as the leaders of tomorrow. They are also regarded as the backbones of a nation because they have the greatest propensity to change the dynamics of development of any nation, be it in administration, politics, commerce, religion, security, education, technology and particularly in sports.

The development of a nation is greatly dependent on the abilities and will power of the youths.

Therefore, the power of youths must be positively harnessed in all areas: health, education, technology, business, trade etc. and integrated with moral education to engender peace and harmony throughout the country.

Youths in the modern socio- political, economic dispensation must work to discover their hidden talents and navigate ideas in every facet of life and channelled their thoughts towards the development of the nation.

In maximizing the the potentials of our youths towards national development, the role of education can not be overemphasized, we need to equip them with relevant modern information which can only be accessed through proper educational policies and exposure, this will help to guide them to stay away from crimes and other unwholesome engagements.

As we celebrate this year 2021, International Youth Day, it is the duty of both  the Federal and State government as well as the government at the local level to create an enabling environment for the youths to show case their potentials and capabilities in the development of our nation and serve as agents of positive change in different areas of our national life without using religion or ethnic consideration to disturb the peace of our land.

A nation can only dream of meaningful development, if and only when there is peace in the polity and this can only be achieved when our youths are positively engaged.