DPI Weblog

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I have been travelling during the last week and will be travelling until February 14. First, I was in Portugal for a meeting to review progress made with implementing the outcomes of the AU-EU Youth Summit. Right now, I am in another country on official mission. Its a long mission, so I have been looking-up websites and reflecting on Africa’s development and its future.

This is more so because part of my work is supporting the revitalised Pan African Youth Union to sort out all its administrative and technical issues. The other reason is the very worrying trend of events that have been taking place in Africa during the last year- the return of coup d’etats. First it was Mauritania, next it was Guinea, then another attempted coup in Guinea Bissau, the most recent is the political situation in Madagascar. In the past, the PYU which I am currently assisting was involved in supporting liberation efforts when it was PYM. In its current form, PYU’s objectives includes a provision for promoting and supporting democracy. But the question is whether today’s youth have the capacity to engage the political space.  A colleague told me today that when the repression is from within, its more difficult to negotiate an exit.

I know I have started great efforts in the past. I am thinking that this is the time to mobilise around a strong political youth movement in Africa! How best this can be done remains the biggest dilema. There are many issues to be resolved, and many questions to be answered. Zimbabwe, Kenya and the recent bombing, Madagascar, Guinea, Mauritania, the challenge of post conflict countries. Many issues begging for attention! I am still thinking through this idea, and hope I can come-up with something positive, please contact me at dabesaki@gmail.com if you would like to share any ideas.

The youth MUST reclaim the political space in order to protect the future they seek to inherit.

Next Tuesday, I will be speaking at the opening of the 7th Super Leaders Conference meeting in Port Harcourt. I first had contact with Super Leaders on the day it was began nearly three years ago. The founder and current Executive Director, Rev. Elisha Agaba, an old friend of mine dating back to my days at school had asked me to serve as a Consultant to the organisation and later as a member of the board. I quickly obliged, given my passion for youth leadership in sustainable development efforts.

 SLI organises biannual leadership training seminars bringing together a variety of leaders to receive keynote speeches, lectures and presentations on a variety of issues around leadership. I am glad to have been around long enough to see the growth of Super Leaders. The last Super Leaders meeting received a strong media attention across the state, something I have not seen in a long time! Even though I have been asked to speak on Youth Development as a growth strategy, I will try to focus my presentation on some of my recent engagements to ensure that youth issues are on the map of development planning. My first contact with development work was to address sexual reproductive health issues including HIV/AIDS among young people in the Kalabari areas of Rivers state. I was at some point involved in efforts to Save the Port Harcourt Zoo and later to raise awareness on the potentials of ICT in education and health service delivery, however, my passion is in preventing HIV/AIDS/STIs among young people, particularly as it concerns impact mitigation. Many experts know that poverty is a major driver of HIV/AIDS and young people remain vulnerable if the relevant strategies are not put in place to address youth poverty. I have been working with various institutions to promote youth empowerment programmes as a means to address poverty, unemployment and ultimately HIV/AIDS. Having been involved in national, regional and international HIV/AIDS initiatives, I have recently decided to continue the grassroots work that I had began in Buguma in 2001. I have been speaking with state government officials about the possible development and implementation of a Youth Empowerment Strategy.

 I have also recently spoken to a friend of mine about the need to establish an Advisory Centre in one of the Kalabari Communities where youth can receive information, education and services on issues affecting them. These proposals have been very well received. I am very optimistic that I will be able to use some of the experiences gathered over the years to support and ensure the empowerment of young people in Nigeria and beyond, and the 7th Super Leaders Workshop gives the space to do just that! 

Ps: to participate at the Super Leaders Workshop Meeting, please contact The Rev. Pastor Elisha Agaba Eddie 080 3277 2035, superleadersint@yahoo.com

 I wrote this blog post from the CYF6 in Uganda.

These past six days, I have been in Entebe Uganda for the Commonwealth Youth Forum, which preceds the Commonwealth Heads of government meeting. I am here with Ms. Ewajesu Asala as co-participants from the Nigerian government. This year’s theme is: Breaking the Barriers: Unleashing Young people’s potential for Development and its being attended by youth representatives from 48 out of the 53 Commonwealth member states.  Its my first time at a pan-Commonwealth meeting since after being selected Regional Youth Caucus representative for Nigeria, so its a unique opportunity too see how the Commonwealth functions.

 Since I came to this meeting, I have been asking colleagues if we really need new commitments from governments. Commonwealth governments are part of the big  United Nations that made the  groundbreaking Millennium Development goals. How much progress has been made with the implementation of the MDGs in Commonwealth countries? Poverty, health problems, poor education services, poverty and many more challenges are still being faced by these countries.

 The Commonwealth Youth Programme recently launched the Plan of Action for Youth Empowerment (PAYE 2007-2015), could this be the needed opportunity to act towards investing in youth development and empowerment efforts with a firm commitment by Commonwealth heads of government? Is it possible to use the space to push for young people’s increased leadership in development processes at national level in various countries? Is it possible to increase the visibility of Regional Youth Caucus members and work with them as the voice of youth throughout the Commonwealth? I am really looking forward to the final communique from this meeting. Intense lobbying is also going on.

 At the end of the Youth Forum, 6 selected young leaders will have a dialiogue with some heads of government in Kampala. This will probably be the space to ensure that youth issues are put more firmly on the agenda. President Museveni put it clearly at the opening, young people should stop asking for space to participate, they should start taking advantage of the spaces available to advance their leadership skills and development processes in their respective countries. Maybe this Commonwealth Youth Forum will be the ground breaking event that will set that agenda. I will write more from this forum as often as I possibly can.

Makurdi May 10, 2007: Youth attending the National Planning Commission’s zonal consultation for the northeast geopolitical zone held in Bauchi has called on the Commission to support the establishment of a Youth Expert Panel on NEEDS 2. The young people said that the establishment of the panel became imperative because the draft NEEDS 2 has a Monitoring and Evaluation Framework which requires the participation of young people to ensure that youth issues are taken into consideration while measuring progress with the implementation of the document.

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During the last 7 days, I have been travelling accross Nigeria as part of the process to ensure that young people’s issues are integrated into the Second National Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy (NEEDS 2). NEEDS 2 will focus on poverty reduction, wealth creation, employment generation and value reorientation. The strategy will build on the achievements of NEEDS and will assist the new government’s work towards sustainable development.

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