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A COMMUNIQUE ISSUED AT THE END OF A ONE-DAY ADVOCACY ROUND TABLE MEETING ON THE OPERATIONALIZATION OF THE KOGI YOUTH DEVELOPMENT COMMISSION LAW HELD AT KOGI STATE SDG HALL, LOKOJA ON 23RD APRIL 2021.
Preamble:
The Kogi State Youth Development Commission today is the brain- child of the desires of Kogi youths. The Commission, which was previously a bill, sponsored by the then deputy majority leader of Kogi state house of assembly now Deputy Speaker Rt Hon Ahmed Mohammed was signed into law on 24th April 2019.
The law that now birthed Kogi Youth Development Commission was massively supported by Kogi State Youth under the umbrella of Kogi Youth Advocacy Cluster made up of all the youth-focused organizations with support from ActionAid Nigeria. It is worthy of note that Kogi state is the first in Nigeria to have signed such bill into law thereby setting the pace for other state, as other states have taken after Kogi State to introduce similar bill and signing same into law.
Observations:
After thorough deliberation by participants at a round table meeting consisting of Civil Society Organizations, the media/journalist, National Youth Council of Nigeria (NYCN), Community- Youth based organizations, representative of NBA, Representative of National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), National Association of Kogi State Students (NAKOSS) and Faith Based organization. The following observations were made and resolution reached.
1. That Kogi state has been proactive enough to have emerged the first state in Nigeria to have signed the Youth Development Commission into law.
2. That after signing of the law, operationalization of the commission is yet to commence.
3. That donor partners and well-wishers have been active in waiting for the operationalization of the commission so as to address the issues which it was premeditated for.
4. That Youth restiveness, unemployment, idleness, under-utilization of human resources, shrinking social and economic space are on the high side as a result of non-operationalization of the Kogi State Youth Development Commission.
5. That other states which have borrowed leaf from Kogi State have made significant progress in their process towards operationalization of the youth development commission.
6. That the operationalization of the youth commission would go a long way towards enhancing the GDP base of the state.
7. That the operationalization of the Kogi Youth Development Commission would complement the efforts of the governor in youth empowerment initiative.
8. That the operationalization of the Commission would not add additional burden on the government in the form of recruitment of new staff as it is possible for government to second staff from existing MDAs to the commission.
9. That the commission would serve as an agency of fund raising for the government.
Resolutions:
1. It was resolved by participants at the round table meeting that Kogi state government should as a matter of urgency take deliberate steps towards setting up youth commission office to enable the commission have platforms for interface with development partners who are actively waiting to partner and support the Government Youth Development Initiative.
2. Kogi state should sustain the lead as the leading youth development state in Nigeria through the operationalization of the youth commission.
3. Kogi state should take decisive steps towards enhancing the GDP base of the state through the operationalization of the youth development commission.
4. Kogi state should sustain her efforts at fighting insecurity by creating platform for youth to be meaningfully and economically engaged through the operationalization of the Kogi State Youth Development Commission.
Signed:
S/N Organization Signature
1. Civil Society Organization Representative
2. National Youth Council of Nigeria (NYCN)
3. National Association of Kogi State Students (NAKOSS)
4. National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW)
5. Nigeria Union OF Journalist (NUJ)
6. Youth Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN)
7. Jamatul Nassir Islam (JNI)
8. Youth Advocacy Cluster
9. Market Women Association
10 FOMWAN
