Tina Amanda
Rivers State government is set to approve the youth development policy plan with the aim of revalidating all youth bodies in the state.
Commissioner for Youth Development, Prince Obi Ohia, who made this known in Port Harcourt while inaugurating the central Committee for this year’s International Youth Day, maintained that the ministry needs a well-structured framework to kick start the youth development process.
Ohia noted that it has become necessary to articulate a road map through which youths of Rivers State would be developed, stressing that youth development should be a process and not a programme as the ministry is prepared to right the wrongs of the past.
The commissioner said the project should be a process whereby the ministry would monitor and evaluate its progress as to give accurate development index for effective planning.
According to him, the ministry is at the final stage of creating a youth development policy document aimed at streamlining youth development activities, while assuring the engagement of critical stakeholders to make inputs before a presentation would eventually be made to the State Executive Council for approval.
“If this development policy document is created, the state would then have what it takes to approach the multi National organisations, IOCs and other individuals as well as corporate bodies doing business in the state for maximum support.
“It is important for those coming to do business in the state to assist in developing our youths, train them in different areas of expertise for the good of the communities and by extension, the state”
Ohia explained that there are plans underway to propose a bill which hopefully would be passed into law with the help of the State House of Assembly Committee on Youth Development concerning youth in the state.
“it is only when the youth policy is backed by law that a trust fund for youth development can be initiated because it will become mandatory for anybody doing business in the state to contribute to the trust fund”
Ohia further said the ministry has designed guidelines to mitigate crisis associated with youth elections in various communities.
“For anybody to conduct or contest youth elections, such persons must go through security profiling to ensure that cultists and criminal elements will not hold executive positions in the various youth bodies, in order to discourage cultism and criminality in the state.
Earlier, the Chairman, House Committee on Youth Development, Honourable Aforji Igwe, who is also the Chairman of the Central Committee for 2020 International Youth Day celebrations, assured the Assembly’s support for the ministry and admonished that the forthcoming International Youth Day celebrations must be done according to law, bearing in mind the state government’s guidelines and directives.
