The Speaker of the House of Representatives Rt. Hon. Abbas Tajudeen, has given the assurance that the House would do everything humanly possible to continue to invest in the Nigerian youth, especially in the area of education.
The Speaker noted that the Nigerian youth have a lot of potential, which is why they must be empowered to take charge as leaders of tomorrow.
Speaker Abbas disclosed this when he hosted the fellows of the Mandela Washington Fellowship Alumni Association of Nigeria during a courtesy visit at his office on Thursday.
The Nigerian alumni association was in company of other fellows from some African countries, including Botswana, Gambia, Kenya, Namibia, Senegal, Lesotho, Burkina Faso, Democratic Republic of Congo, Zimbabwe, Benin Republic, Angola, Egypt, Ghana and a host of others.
The fellows from other African countries are in Nigeria for the Africa Youth Month programme, which commenced on Thursday.
Speaker Abbas said: “From the brief I got, this is the 10th year of this programme, and a lot of young people from Africa have participated, Nigeria being the biggest beneficiary, probably because of our population.
“We feel very proud of you, knowing that all the skills you’ve acquired over the years will be put to active use.”
The Speaker said the House has in “its own little way initiated series of programmes tailored towards catching the best among the youth.”
He noted: “We have the Legislative Mentorship Initiative (LMI), which is a good programme for the young people drawn from the 36 states and FCT, where we give them training for some weeks and integrate them into the society.
“That initiative has, in no small way, helped in shaping the culture of our youth. We intend to expand it in years to come so that more youth will be captured.
“The House, and the National Assembly, by extension, will continue to do everything humanly possible to continue to invest in training our youth, particularly in the area of education.”
He told the visiting fellows that the House had resolved to engage about 10 of the LMI cohorts as legislative aides to be attached to different committees to learn the legislative process and leadership.
Speaker Abbas informed the fellows, especially those from other African countries, that the House has two youth-related committees, namely: the Committee on Youth Development and the Committee on Youth in Parliament.
“We have about 40 young people in the 10th House, and they’re doing credibly well.”
He noted that, “in a country like ours, where we have about 70 percent of the population as youth, we have no choice than to dedicate much of our resources towards ensuring that they receive the best of training, the best of education.”
He said President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is also doing his best towards ensuring that the younger ones are given the best attention in this dispensation.
“I’m sure you’re aware that a scheme similar to what obtains in developed economies has just come on board in Nigeria, where students who cannot afford tuition fees can obtain loan to pay their school fees and repay the government after graduation. Thousands of students have accessed the facility so far.
“Mr. President has accepted that in the 2025 budget, the provision for the scheme will likely be doubled so that we can take a minimum of 200,000 students.
“The House is fully in support of the Executive to ensure that the programmes aimed at developing the youth are achieved,” he said.
Earlier, the President of the Nigerian Alumni Association, Farida Yahaya, informed the Speaker that in the last 10 years, a total of 7,200 young people from Africa attended the program, which is a flagship program for the Department of States.
She said the Nigerian contingent has the largest number, 678, from all the 36 states and the FCT.
“We have alumni from both the public and private sectors. We have come to you so that you will know what we are doing in the area of sustainable development.
“These young people have come from different African countries to learn from your leadership and wisdom and be able to share with you what they are doing.
“We also have the Nigeria Youth Future’s Fund. They had a session this morning, where undergraduate students debated the kind of Nigeria we want, and winners have emerged.”
The winners were from the University of Lagos, Federal University of Technology, Akure and the Benue State University. They were presented with cash rewards.
Speaker Abbas, as part of efforts to encourage the winners, announced a donation of one million naira each to the winners.