Regarding President Bola Tinubu’s proposed national youth summit, some young people in Nigeria have voiced differing opinions. While some young people applauded the proposal, others disapproved and questioned the president’s sincerity.

In his Independence Day speech, Tinubu declared the start of a 30-day national youth summit aimed at addressing issues that young people in the nation face, such as education, political engagement, and unemployment.

The conference hopes to spark important conversations and provide our youth the tools they need to actively contribute to the development of our country. We are paving the road for a better future by making sure their opinions are heard when creating the laws that affect their lives, the president declared.

It’s possible that the planned conference is related to the nationwide youth unrest that has sparked public demonstrations against police brutality and harassment in 2020 under the hashtag #EndSARS, in August 2024 under the hashtag #EndBadGovernance, and

The conference’s proponents contended that it would provide young Nigerians a much-needed forum to express their worries and shape national policy, while its detractors claimed the government could solve their problems without a conference.

Yerima Shettima, the president of the Arewa Youths Consultative Forum, voiced worries that the gathering could turn into another conference similar to the one in 2014.

In an interview with Sunday PUNCH, Shettima expressed scepticism over the initiative, questioning whether it would result in any policy changes or if it was merely another government PR stunt.

He contended that earlier attempts of a similar nature had fallen short of expectations and produced no real benefits.

“We have been holding conferences across the nation, but their recommendations have never been implemented,” he stated. Since the recommendations made at other conferences have never been put into practice, we don’t have high expectations for this one.

In order to get answers, the government must actually interact with young people and have conversations with them. If so, I believe the conference will be quite helpful in addressing some of our problems. But regrettably, previous conferences we held produced no outcomes.

We sincerely hope that this conference will not be one of those occasions when some attendees simply sit around wasting tax payer money, and at the end of the day, they leave empty-handed. They ought to put off organising the conference if it is the type of event they have in mind.

The African Action Congress’s previous presidential candidate, Omoyele Sowore, called the gathering “a ruse to confuse those who might fall for the gimmick.”

Sowore, a primary organiser of the #EndBadGovernance demonstration, declared that the conference would be just another glorification of the National Association of Nigerian Students’ convention, which is intended to encourage corruption and theft.

In order to bring about the necessary political reformation of the nation, he proposed holding a sovereign national conference in lieu of the national youth conference.

Eric Oluwole, the president of the Yoruba Youths Council, disagreed with Shettima and Sowore, viewing the meeting as a step in the right direction towards including young people in national decision-making.

Oluwole maintained that the conference will provide young Nigerians a chance to speak with the government directly about issues that concern them and to offer workable solutions.

He was upbeat that the Federal Government would put the conference’s proposals into practice and warned that the youths of Nigeria would become enraged if they didn’t.

Unlike the 2014 national conference, this will advocate for the conference report’s implementation. Oluwole stated, “The youths will stage another protest to ensure that the government implements the conference report if there is no result after the conference.”

Oluwole, who is also the national leader of the Yoruba Afenifere Youth Organisation of Nigeria, pleaded with the Federal Government to work with youth organisations and pertinent stakeholders to find capable delegates who could make significant contributions in order for the conference to have the intended effect.

While applauding Tinubu for the endeavour, the National Association of Nigerian Students also voiced concerns regarding the conference’s suggestions being implemented.

The most agitated group in the nation is the youth. We hope that whichever the decision is, it will be carried out.

“We are certain that this will be carried out; we know the President should take the lead on this. There, we’ll talk about youth unemployment and other important topics affecting young people. We will still hold a roundtable discussion even if we protest, but for now, we should start with a talk,” he said.

Peluola Adewale, the secretary of the Democratic Socialist Movement, called the conference a diversion and predicted that nothing significant would come out of it.

“It is an utter waste of tax dollars. It’s a ruse to divert young people in Nigeria from the fight for a better Nigeria and the fight against corruption there. It is useless, Adewale remarked.

He continued, casting doubt on the results of earlier conferences held in the nation, saying Tinubu doesn’t require a conference to address the issues facing the youth.

According to Adewale, “Such charity should not be of interest to any legitimate youth organisation.” Reversing the elimination of fuel and energy subsidies as well as the naira’s depreciation is the only realistic conversation. Every bad policy that has endangered Nigerians needs to be changed.

“What evidence can we present on the prior conferences we conducted? Not a thing! A conference to address the issues facing youngsters is actually not necessary for a serious government. Everybody is aware of it.

Only a small portion of Nigerian youths would be gathered by the President to provide them with food and financial support. It serves only as a diversion.

The Forum of National Youth Leaders of All Political Parties in Nigeria, on the other hand, issued a warning against distorting the purpose of the conference by using politics in the participant selection process.

In an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria, the forum’s chairman, Eze Chukwu, argued that in order for the conference’s suggestions to be accepted by the majority of Nigerians, youngsters from all parts of the nation must be fairly represented.

If the needs of Nigerian youngsters, who comprise up to 70% of the country’s population, are satisfied, the majority of Nigeria’s issues will be resolved.

Chukwu stated, “We are optimistic that the much-needed opportunity to be heard by our own government will come through with this strategic move by the Federal Government to host the first ever national youth confab.”

FG to establish a task force for implementation

In the meantime, the federal government has announced that it will form a task group to carry out the forthcoming youth conference’s suggestions.