Glowing Minds Initiative Holds Dialogue & Co-create Session for Niger Youths.
By Bala Yahaya, Minna.
A non-governmental organization, Glowing Minds Initiative,in partnership with Altruistic Humanitarian Aid Foundation has hold one day policy dialogue and co-creation session for youth in Niger State,with focus on New Niger State Youth Policy Domestication and Strategic Alignment.
The participants were drawn across the Twenty Five local councils of the state,held at IBB Pen House Minna, over the weekend.
In his opening remarks, the Executive Director,Glowing Minds Initiative,Shamsudeen Albdulrazak stated that the one day dialogue was aimed to collaboratively review,adopt,and
co-create actionable subnational policy priorities for the upcoming Niger State Youth Policy framework.
Albdulrazak explained that the session brings together youth leaders,state administrators, development practitionals,and civil society stakeholders to anchor national provisions into localized implementation pillars.
He further stressed that the session is also to validate the views of youths, adding that Glowing Minds Lab had earlier held similar session for youths on policy development,and also trained youths to co-create solutions on how the future of youths in Niger State is going to look like.
According to him,We choose youths for the session because Seventy percent of Nigerians are youth, and by the year 2050, Nigeria will be the largest population in the world,and if we don’t invest on young people effectively,we are going to be in trouble, that’s why we have to invest on youths now,and best way to do that,first before any body can come in,government at all levels most show seriousness by making sure that there is enable policy development environment and once that’s been done,we would now have a level playing ground for every other person’s”.He said.
In Abdulrazak’s words”.We urged the Niger State government to as a matter of urgency sign this document into law,once that’s done,we will now start pushing for the implementation”.He appealed.
Speaking to journalists shortly,the Director General Youth Affairs Niger State,Aminu Isah Dan Asabe represented by the Senior Special Assistant on youths affairs, Mohammad Mohammad Alhaji,
reaffairmed commitment of the Niger State government for the implementation of youth policy framework before the end of first tenure of governor Umaru Bago which he said was part of the new Niger Agenda.
“We are happy seeing the interlectuals coming together thinking on how to get things right for youth,we are happy to be associated with Glowing Minds Policy Lab”DG noted.
Earlier, the Head of Operations and Strategy for Altruistic Humanitarian Aid Foundation, Mohammad Bashir,disclosed that foundation along side Glowing Minds Initiative were trying to bring in the state government to ensure the implementation of youth policy and other SDG’S in the state.
“For us as NGO, what we are doing now is to consolidate on what government are already doing and bring in those new ideas and new policies to drive Niger State forward which is the Niger State youth policy implementation advocacy that we have been doing so far”. Bashir disclosed.
