1.0 Young people in all countries are both a major human resource for development and key agent for social change, economic development and technological innovation but these ability of youths cannot be discovered if they are not streamlined onto decision making processes of government at all levels.

In Nigeria, youths account for about 48 percent of the population and because they comprise the most virile and articulate members of the populace the Federal government promulgated the 1983 National youth policy with a revised edition in 1989 with the aim of developing and empowering the Nigerian youth. Four years after the General Assembly adopted a World Programme of Action for Youth to the year 2000 and beyond in 1995 and exactly 10 years after it revised the National youth policy in 1983, Nigerian Government through its Ministry of Inter-Governmental Affairs, Youth and Special Duties launched its National policy on youth Development in the year 1999 which was developed in participatory for a with youth across the country.

2.0 Based on the Proposals for action under paragraphs 104-107 of the World program of Action for youth to the year 2000 and beyond, the Nigerian government, Civil Societies, youth NGOs etc have over the last 10 years contributed to seeing that youth voices are streamlined into decision making processes. While there was little done in the early part of the decade due to political instability, the advent of Democracy in the last 5 years has brought about tremendous changes in the system.

This report will try to identify the various contributions of various Government agencies, Civil Society and Youth Focused NGOs while finally will measure progress against the proposals for Action to ascertain , what has be done and what still needs to be improved upon.

Focus Review of various Government agencies, Civil Society and Youth Focused NGOs initiative in the areas of Youth and participation in the Decision making processes.This focus review includes a description of the programmes of these Government agencies, Civil Societies and Youth Focused NGOs. Although different in their approach, all have shown a significant interest on this theme.

Focus 1: Nassarawa State in Nigeria is a sprawling state situated in the North Central part of the country. Like all other infant states when compared to other states in Nigeria, Nassarawa government attention has always being towards the development of an economically strong and sound state.

The effort of the government to enable youths to contribute immensely to its development is reflected highly in the education sector where atleast 28 percent of its total budget over the years has been committed to the sector. This is in addition to the three skills acquisition center available in the state in partnership with a German organization.

Quoting the words of the State Governor, he said “The centers will train young school leavers to acquire basic skills to support our economic development efforts”.

In 2003, the state further included young people into its rank and files of decision making bodies by employing a total of One thousand seven hundred and Forty Youths (based on 60 youths from each of the 29 local Governments).
The Governor in his words added that “we believe the best way we can equip our youth for National Development and self fulfillment is through the provision of adequate opportunities for sound education”.

Focus 2: In the South – South part of Nigeria is situated Akwa Ibom state. It is of the States in Nigeria blessed with Natural resources in abundance. Since inception of Democratic governance in the state, youth inclusion in decision making structures of the state have been reinforced where new opportunities are also being created.

In 2003, the state government upgraded the existing Bureau of youth and culture to a full fledged Ministry of Youth and Sports.
Consequent upon this, the state government facilitated the establishment of a vibrant Youth Council in the state which has a consultative status with the State Government on issues relating to youth development.

The government also holds an interactive forum with representatives of youth groups in Uyo (the state capital) to further fashion out issues relating to youth development in the state. The Ministry of Youths and Sports realizing the enthusiasm of youths about sporting activities is encouraging sporting activities in the state and its contingent to major events excel at such outings.

The government understands that youths abilities have been under-utilized, under developed and marginalized in a way but Akwa Ibom State is taking the issue of youth empowerment seriously having realized the need to integrate youth in the affairs of the state and make him relevant in its development.


Reviewing the activities of the Federal Government.

Target Ministry: Ministry of Inter-Governmental Affairs, Youth and Special Duties and other Line Ministries.

The Federal government in its bid to streamline youth voices into decision making processes saw the emergence of youthful Frank Nweke Jnr. has the Minister in the Ministry of Inter-Governmental Affairs, Youth and Special Duties.

In his capacity as Minister, the Federal government launched the National policy on Youth development, a document developed in consultation with youths in the country through different fora. The government went further to strengthen the National Youth Council of Nigeria while also offering support to the increasing Youth Focused and Youth led Non-Governmental Organisations.

Corpers under the National Youth Service Corps scheme are currently going through series of training on issues relating to entrepreneurial abilities, Wealth creation and Self Reliance. The training is also built on the premise to further increase the faith of youths in the country and contributing to its development as major stakeholders.

The government further encourages youth employment through its National Poverty Eradication Programme (NAPEP) which has seen to the employment of over 5,000 youths into the different sectors of the economy and private organizations. Furthermore the government is planning to launch its Youth Development Fund which is under the youth empowerment programme. This fund is to provide financing for the young people who have bright entrepreneurial ideas and initiative so that their involvement in both the public and private sector will further boost the economic development of the country.

The Ministry of Inter-Governmental Affairs, Youth and Special Duties is furthermore becoming more youth friendly and responsive to the needs of young people. The support of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo is also ensuring that youths are consulted in issues that affect them. This could further be seen when he held an interactive session with leaders of the Niger Delta Youth on how to further bring peace to the incessant restiveness in the area. It is worthy of month to say here that the interactive session was a major impetus for the peaceful atmosphere existing in the Niger Delta presently. The President furthermore encourages other line ministries to involve youths in planning and implementation of their programmes that affect them. Manifestation of this call can be seen in the Ministry of Communications which would be hosting the Africa Regional Conference of the World Telecoms Development Conference in 2005.Youths were consulted to come up with the proposals for the youth forum of the conference. In addition to this the Government has also shown support to funding a number of youths to the conference in full in other to translate their words into actions. The ministry also maintains a discussion rapport with youths on an online forum with officials of the ministry also as members.


Progress Measurement.

Paragraphs 107 of the World program of Action for youth to the year 2000 and beyond states clearly the following Proposals for Action in respective member states,

(a) Improving access to information in order to enable young people to
make better use of their opportunities to participate in decision-making;
(b) Developing and/or strengthening opportunities for young people to
learn their rights and responsibilities, promoting their social, political,
developmental and environmental participation, removing obstacles that affect their full contribution to society and respecting, inter alia, freedom of
association;
(c) Encouraging and promoting youth associations through financial Educational and technical support and promotion of their activities;
(d) Taking into account the contribution of youth in designing,
implementing and evaluating national policies and plans affecting their
concerns;
(e) Encouraging increased national, regional and international
cooperation and exchange between youth organizations;
(f) Inviting Governments to strengthen the involvement of young people
in international forums, inter alia, by considering the inclusion of youth
representatives in their national delegations to the General Assembly.

The Nigerian Government can be said to have achieved 25 percent of these proposals while another 15 percent is being worked on.


Achievement

1.0 The Nigerian Government has been able to achieve a greater success in the areas of: Taking into account the contribution of youth in designing, implementing and evaluating national policies and plans affecting their concerns; and it is hoped that this will be improved upon to further include out-of-school youths. The existing structures are not perfect, but it can still be improved upon. Youth Community Associations should also be integrated into the system to further increase access and better understanding of rural youth.
2.0 The proposed Youth Development Fund is a welcome idea by youths as it will further encourage and promote youth organizations fitting into SS(C) of the Proposals for Action : Encouraging and promoting youth associations through financial, Educational and technical support and promotion of their activities.




Improvement
3.0 The Government should also try to reinforce the existing National Youth Congress to further accommodate youths in under privileged areas to be able to achieve a greater measure of: Developing and/or strengthening opportunities for young people to learn their rights and responsibilities, promoting their social, political, developmental and environmental participation, removing obstacles that affect their full contribution to society and respecting, inter alia, freedom of association.
4.0 The government needs to fashion out in consultation with youths how information can be more disseminated to get youths all across the country informed on initiatives, projects and opportunities. While the effort of the government is commended, the present structure has to be improved upon.
This will fall inline with: Improving access to information in order to enable young people to make better use of their opportunities to participate in decision-making.
Defect Areas
5.0 The government needs to evolve a plan of action to encourage Nigerian youth interaction with other youths from all other world as this will help to bring about more interaction and appreciation of culture thereby achieving SS (E) of the proposal for Action. Encouraging increased national, regional and international cooperation and exchange between youth organizations. This we believe if rightly pursued will even bring about Tourism patronage for the country and also boost the Nigeria: Heart of Africa project.
6.0 The Nigerian Government finally needs to involve youths in its delegation to UN meetings as this we identify as a major reason why most youths don’t have access to information firsthand like their counterpart in the rest of the World. Youths who intend to participate on their own most time are always cut short due to financial and Visa constraint they go through most times.If this is done we are sure will have achieved SS (F) of the Proposals for Action: Inviting Governments to strengthen the involvement of young people in international forums, inter alia, by considering the inclusion of youth representatives in their national delegations to the General Assembly.


Conclusion
Finally the Nigerian Government has tried and has to be commended but needs to do better to further secure the future after the present crop of Leaders.

Letter of Invitation British Council/Young Stars Foundation Youth Works Step Down Project Lagos May 5th to 7th 2008


Youth Works project is a unique youth focused and youth owned project specifically designed to equip young people with basic skills to be able to implement change projects in their local communities and to also celebrate and showcase the 12 most impacting community youth led activities / projects in Nigeria; Supported by the British Council Nigeria and Youngstars Foundation


Expectations
Afterwards, each participant is expected to develop a project based on an idea you have in order to address a community or social problem you feel strongly about. It could be a project on HIV/AIDS, conflict, drug abuse, school dropout, poverty reduction, democracy, leadership, maternal health, ICT, recreation, music, sports, or even construction of a space shuttle! Just ensure that your project would meet a pressing need in your community or State.

Participants would develop their personal leadership development
· Build your self worth in your community and state
· Earn a reputation for contributing positively to your community and nation building
· Become member of a wide network of young change makers within and outside Nigeria
· Test your capacity as an emerging leader ready to impact the world of the next generation!

This project is a Step Down after the Youth Works and hopes to attract 60 Selected Youths all over the Lagos State that meet this Criteria’s


* Young Person with the Passion for Community Development
* Young Creative person that can use his/her Creativity to make a Change.
* Young person that have Dynamic Leadership Spirit
* Young person that can Use Idea to make things happen
* Young person that is a truly a Niaja for Sure
* Young person with High distinct Profile of community development.


Sessions at this Event.

· Act of Leadership
· The Power of Creative Ideas
· Spirit of Volunteerism among Youths
· Peace and Conflict Management
· Peace Work
· MDGs
· Youth and Social Media, Blogging, Online Freelance Journalism

· Group Works
· Trainings
· Break Out session
· Media Roundtable

Featuring Live Projection View of THE SECRET

This Sessions would be handled by Young Facilitators with Great Records in Developmental.

Where? Universal Centre for Children and Youth Development: 3 Montgomery Road Yaba Lagos State Nigeria

Time? 9 am -3pm Daily

Date? May 5th to 7th 2008

Note: pls note that we have a limited Seat for participants, pls call or Mail or either Text to confirm your participation
Mr.Dolapo -07025356112 or 08026614028
Or Mail: consultdolapo@ yahoo.com

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British Council
Young Stars Foundation Jos

Posted by Umair Haque on March 12, 2008 11:14 AM

Last week, I promised to discuss another source of advantage in decay. We're going to zoom out instead, in response to a flurry of announcements from Apple, Google, and would-be competitors – to have a richer discussion in the weeks going forward.

It's funny how flatfooted - how almost inept - everyone else in media, marketing, consumer electronics, mobile, a long and dangerously growing list of industries, seems compared to Apple and Google.

What gives? Why is that everyone that Google and Apple decide to take to the cleaners, well, gets taken to the cleaners?

After all, Apple and Google are radically different companies. Who, it appears, have already divided the next-gen media pie very neatly between them. Google, software. Apple, hardware. Google, search. Apple, conduit. Google, algorithm. Apple, human. Google, geeky, self-effacing ad-quants. Apple, a reality distortion field wearing jeans and a turtleneck.

That's a product market level view - the view from the core. When we invert our traditional vision, and look at them from the edge, Google and Apple are strikingly similar: less like a power couple for whom opposites attract, and more like long-lost siblings.

Much of their DNA is - at least superficially - different. Jobs runs a totalitarian state with equal amounts of fear and love. Sergey and Larry tune - not manage - an organization poised forever on the edge of chaos and anarchy, while Eric Schmidt (who does sit on Apple's board) keeps the gears of the business grinding away.

But many of the most vital components of their DNA are strikingly similar, and that's where the lines between them begin to blur.

The ends they're working towards are similar: Goople aspires to - with laserlike intensity - change the world for the better. And where most of their competitors will sell out everything they believe in for a few bucks and a latte, Goople is deeply, radically purposive: they won't compromise much, if anything, to achieve the goal of changing the world for the better. (One can argue that Google's policy of following local content-filtering policies in China is a notable exception.) You'll never see an ad on Google's homepage, or a Mac that's not a joy to use, even if Bill Gates, Gordon Gekko, and Lucifer held a fire sale, and mortgaged the world to Goople.

And that DNA opens new paths to strategy and advantage. Goople finds value chains and industries in deep strategy decay - where innovation and choice are stale, and consumers are besieged by lameness - like marketing, consumer electronics, TV, and perhaps the most troubled of all, mobile and music. Then Goople utterly eviscerates them: it reconstructs radical new ones - where friction has been vaporized, where complexity and variety explode - and so everyone really is better off. When Steve Jobs makes the iPhone carrier-neutral, kiss the traditional mobile value chain goodbye.

On the flipside, where would-be competitors release a handful of predictable, often crippled products and services a few times a year - hi Nokia, bye Yahoo - Goople floods market space with radical new value propositions, overloading the very circuitry of the industry - still driven by fear of cannibalization - and so short-circuiting the traditional dynamics of competition.

Think the Macbook Air's a crippled, compromised pile of junk? If the early numbers are anything to go by, Apple listened hard enough to understand exactly those features road warriors really need and use, ditched the rest - letting it craft a radical new value proposition, just like that. Funny - that's exactly the story of Google Search, AdWords, and increasingly, Google ads across media; a story competitors just can't seem to get right.

Media isn't just "content" and "pipes". Media is the stuff that stitches together the fabric of production and consumption: it's how producers and consumers interact. So it's likely, that as newspapers, radio stations, and TV networks did yesterday, whoever holds sway over media tomorrow will enjoy supernormal profits for decades, and be able to shape and influence the course of the rest of the economy.

What will that influence look like?

The key components of DNA Google and Apple share let them overthrow yesterday's stale approaches to strategy and advantage, and pursue entirely new ones with a vengeance. Goople does exactly the opposite of what orthodox strategy counsels: it makes peace where there was war, conquers through love instead of hate, listens to instead of shouts at consumers, perhaps most critically, takes huge risks to make the world better instead of avoiding risk to make it worse.

Goople is rewriting the rules of a very stale game: industrial-era strategy itself, which is really the prime mover behind the gathering economic storm on the horizon – but that’s another post.

That was a dense post – so let's kick-start some discussion.

Do you see some of the differences between core and edge more clearly? Can you see some of the similarities between Apple and Google’s DNA? The way the global economy is going, which do you think makes more sense -- core strategy, or edge strategy? How do you think the rest of the media industry can respond to Goople?