General
Nigeria’s Youth Still Face Growing Challenges—Zopmal
By Kester Kenn Klomegah
Nigeria is the most populous country in Africa. It has approximately 210 million population. Nigeria has the third-largest youth population in the world, after China and India, with more than 90 million of its population under the age of 18.
While this is considered as a huge human resource, the youth also face unprecedented challenges including growing unemployment and insecurity resulting from ethnic conflicts.
As Nigeria is persistently engulfed with so many challenges and problems, it requires a systematic well-defined approach in order to overcome them and make way for a peaceful and promising future for the youth.
Retaining well-trained professionals has been identified as one of the goals of the government. The current situation still makes the future bleak for the majority of them. Some say there is hope on the horizon, only if economic policies generate needed employment, youth policies backed by adequate funds by the Federal Government of Nigeria.
In this interview, Kester Kenn Klomegah met with the former candidate of the Social Democratic Party (2019) for House of Representatives and now the President of the Middle Belt Youth Council, Mr Emmanuel Zopmal, where he talks about the current situation, the challenges and the way forward.
Here are the interview excerpts:
Why the youth are showing increasing signs of frustration these few years especially those in the middle belt region of Nigeria?
That is very interesting. I would say that frustration, in any way, is part of human life. It could come at any time. There are conditions that make someone to be under frustration. In this instance, a harsh situation or condition one faces in life without a sign of overcoming it. This makes a person frustrated. It usually comes with worry over a certain particular situation.
In the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the Middle Belt is a region that has been under immense pressure from politics and economy. Then the socio-cultural condition has also influenced our lives. The worse now is the high insecurity existing in the country. These factors are, indeed, contributing to the frustration perception we’re talking about here. You can imagine a society of people facing these forms of structural violence for these several years and there is no sign of overcoming these situations.
In your objective assessment, what has contributed to the growing unemployment in the country, considered as the Giant of Africa?
Unemployment is an economic index. It can be relative in nature. People are employed in the formal or informal economy. The extent to which people need to live an average life with an appreciable level of income that can provide for basic needs should be the major concern of the unemployment index. Unemployment perception varies as well. For example, there are two categories, those in the public sector and those in private.
Growing unemployment index can be attributed to mismanagement of the economy. The economy of every country determines how the country is structured, administered and managed for the benefit of the broad majority of the population. Without this, a country will definitely face a high unemployment rate.
Secondly, the system of education plays a role here, the most important aspects that contribute to unemployment perception index. Innovative education produces a high quality of graduates who can create jobs. The standard of education should not be conservative. Research and public policy on education help to get out of this problem often referred to as unemployment.
Frankly speaking, it is difficult to understand why Nigeria claims the Giant of Africa. Perhaps, this claim is only by its huge population. Besides that, Nigeria is not a Giant of Africa.
What are your views about the policies of the federal administration in addressing problems of the youth, especially young graduates?
If the government focuses on research and policy, it will help in addressing the problems of youth. Anyway, one cannot actually measure what are the real problems of the youth, especially young graduates. As earlier mentioned, programs such as innovative education will help graduates to overcome employment challenges. Of course, innovation comes through talent or through research. This development can bring changes in the status quo. People will have access to new ways of doing things that help their lives.
Does the current constitution adequately guarantee the youth’s welfare? What are the pitfalls in the implementation of aspects of the Constitution that connect or relate with youth?
Unfortunately, I look at welfare as benevolence. It makes the younger generation too dependent and unproductive since the government provides their welfare. Youth empowerment should simply be a question of policy, not constitution. Nigeria’s 1999 Constitution only provided policy, the issue of youth is not mentioned. It talks only about the welfare of the “citizens” in the country. In my candid view, the capacity of education and skillset of the youth should be the welfare package of our government.
As a former candidate of the Social Democratic Party (2019) for House of Representatives, do you still press for youth issues?
In the African context, I am still among the youth. Youth is my major constituency. As a former presidential candidate of the National Youth Council of Nigeria (2015), I had my youth policy programs as the key manifesto. I will continue to press for youth’s political participation, contemporary educational standard, skillset, and empowerment.
And now as the President of the Middle Belt Youth Council, what do you consider as the main challenges and the way forward for the youth in Nigeria?
At the moment, the future of our youth must be secured by curbing the ravaging insecurity in the country. With the current rampant insecurity, we cannot move forward. Secondly, the attitude of growing nepotism by government officials in public offices, this culture is bad for our youth. It has to be checked in order not to transfer it to the youth. Government has to take the youth as its national priority. Deliberate policy programs in technological advancement will open up the new horizon for the youth. The youth have to be fully engaged in meaningful activities.
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
President Bola Tinubu will on Saturday, May 2, 2026, leave Nigeria for a three-nation trip, a statement issued by his Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Mr Bayo Onanuga, said.
In the notice issued on Friday night, it was disclosed that Mr Tinubu would visit France, after which he would depart for Nairobi, Kenya, to attend the Africa-France Summit scheduled to begin next week.
Co-chaired by President Emmanuel Macron of France and President William Ruto of Kenya, the summit focuses on energy transition, green industrialisation, digital transformation, restructuring of global financing architecture, and climate action.
President Tinubu’s participation at the summit from May 11 to May 12. will underscore Nigeria’s unwavering commitment to strengthening strategic partnerships with African nations and the French Republic.
The summit, with the theme Africa Forward: Africa-France Partnerships for Innovation and Growth, will provide a high-level platform for African leaders and their French counterparts to deliberate on critical issues affecting the continent, including economic transformation, climate resilience, infrastructure development, youth empowerment, technological advancement, and peace-building initiatives.
At the end of the Kenyan summit, President Tinubu will depart for Kigali, Rwanda, to attend the annual Africa CEO Forum, taking place between May 14 and 15.
With the theme Scale or Fail, this year’s Africa CEO Forum will be the largest gathering of African private sector leaders, investors, and policymakers, focusing on accelerating economic transformation through shared scale, regional integration, and increased cross-border investment.
Held in partnership with the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the summit brings together over 2,000 top executives and national leaders to debate strategies for building resilient, competitive industries.
At the two summits, the Nigerian leader will deliver statements highlighting his administration’s ongoing reforms to reposition the nation as a prime destination for investment and growth. He will also hold high-level meetings with top-tier global and African business leaders.
President Tinubu will be accompanied on the trip by some of his ministers and senior aides. He will return to Nigeria at the end of the Rwanda summit.
By Adedapo Adesanya
The National Economic Council (NEC) has approved the adoption of 112 as the national emergency number at all levels and across relevant agencies.
It is part of measures to strengthen Nigeria’s emergency lifeline and build a unified and coordinated national response to emergencies.
The council also approved the establishment of a multi-agency implementation committee and programme coordination led by the Office of the Vice President and the National Communications Commission (NCC).
The approval was part of decisions taken at the 157th meeting of the NEC held virtually and chaired by Vice President Kashim Shettima.
Mr Shettima said the 112 emergency lifeline had become necessary to prevent delay caused by bureaucratic bottlenecks, noting that what the citizens seek urgently when confronted by a natural disaster or insecurity is an urgent response and not bureaucracy.
“This is not only a technical reform. It is a test of the state’s humanity. In moments of fire, accident, robbery, medical emergency, flood, violence, or panic, citizens do not need bureaucracy.
“They need a response. They need to know one number to call, one system to trust, and one coordinated chain of action that moves quickly enough to save lives,” he stated.
He explained that while Nigeria is not beginning from zero, as the emergency number had been in existence, what is required at the moment “is coordination, adoption, standard operating procedures, public awareness, institutional ownership, and trust”.
The vice president described NEC as the nation’s economic engine room, where the federal government and the states must convert the Renewed Hope Agenda of President Bola Tinubu into practical outcomes.
“We cannot build our way to a one-trillion-dollar economy by federal effort alone. We cannot create millions of jobs by speeches alone.
“We cannot expand exports, attract investment, secure communities, or unlock productivity unless every tier of government understands its role and performs it with urgency,” the VP noted.
Mr Shettima noted that the council will continue to focus on decisions that would have a positive impact on the lives of Nigerians.
“History will not ask how many meetings we held. It will ask what changed because we met.
“It will ask whether our decisions reached the farmer, the manufacturer, the artist, the investor, the accident victim, the unemployed graduate, and the child waiting to inherit the country we are rebuilding.”
NEC also received a presentation on the rehabilitation of police training institutions across the country from its ad hoc committee led by Governor Peter Mbah of Enugu State, and commended the ad hoc committee for the work done so far.
It also called on the Ministry of Finance to expedite the release of the balance of approved funds for the take-off of the project and urged the committee to ensure national spread by capturing training institutions in each geopolitical zone in the first phase of the intervention.
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
The Supreme Court has recognised Mr David Mark as the National Chairman of the African Democratic Congress (ADC).
In a judgment on Friday, the apex court restored the leadership of the former Senate President, after an appellate court had ordered a status quo ante bellum.
The Supreme Court held that the decision of the Appeal Court on status quo ante bellum was improper and unwarranted.
It also refused to uphold the preliminary objections by counsel to Mr Nafiu Bala, who is challenging the leadership of Mr Mark, directing that the suit should head back to the trial court for determination. Mr Bala went to court to seek an ex parte to stop Mr Mark and his team from parading themselves as leaders of the opposition party.
The ADC, which was asked to put on notice to explain why the injunction should not be given, appealed the matter, but the parties were asked to maintain the status quo ante bellum. This was interpreted to mean the ADC was without a leader.
The matter went to the apex court, which decided it today, affirming Mr Mark as the party’s chairman, which seeks to eject President Bola Tinubu from Aso Rock via the 2027 presidential election.
Mr Bala, a former vice chairman of the party, was said to have resigned his position to pave the way for Mr Mark and others, who joined the party from the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and the Labour Party (LP).
However, he claimed he did not resign and that his signature was forged, seeking the court’s help to install him as the party’s chairman, based on ADC’s constitution, according to him.
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