By AbdulRahman Agboola
It is obvious that several posers query the relevance of the National Youth Council of Nigeria (NYCN), considering the deepened economic maladies and relative insensitivities of government to their general plight. Oftentimes, government agents or agencies claim recognition of palpable problems confronting Nigerian youths and echo government’s initiatives at putting the problems at bay, but the realities are the unabated social malaise, high poverty rate and employment.
The creed of the youth is an assurance of brighter future, where their basic needs will be derived not only with ease, but through lesser efforts that guarantee the achievements of these noble expectations. It is compelling for strong synergy to exist between government and representatives of Nigerian youths for productive engagements leading to pragmatic youth developments. Since 1964, Nigerian youths are majorly represented by the leadership of NYCN as fronts for genuine aspirations.
The most successful government policy aimed towards reuniting the country after disintegration from the civil war in 1967 was an initiative of the then leadership of the NYCN. It is not common knowledge, but substantive evidence and records exist that proved that the establishment of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) occurred via wisdom of leaders of NYCN that recommended the scheme to the Federal Government. Suffice to say the synergy between the leadership of the council and government aided several youth oriented policy formulation and implementation, the impact of those initiatives on partakers and communities are sufficient enough to weigh the usefulness of a vibrant NYCN to youth developments in Nigeria.
To be qualified to contest an elective position in NYCN, an aspirant must be sponsored by an affiliate organization and must have passed through series of leadership training, invariably; such person must have held a leadership position in his organization. These criteria created credible platform that enhanced vibrancy of the council where unity of purpose was second to none among the forebears. But on the contrary, the shift from that trend to a retrogressive point is responsible for the unwarranted leadership tussle among gladiators in the council.
Leadership impasse in the council can be traced to the NYCN National Congress in 2007. Certain issues that arose from the election guidelines and conduct became subject of litigations where court judgments eventually crashed the mandate of the Olawale James Ajani led National Executive Council, among other factors that hindered the successful completion of their term of office. A consent judgment among gladiators gave birth to a National Transition Committee headed by the same Ajani in 2010 with the mandate to unite all warring factions and facilitate the conduct of a credible election to reposition NYCN for greatness.
In the build up to the 2015 National Congress, one political mercenary that was on top of his game to hijack the council for political gains was one Imo Ugochinyere Ikenga with no link whatsoever with NYCN. He rallied support of most of his kinsmen with just few exemptions that confronted his dubious attempt to denigrate the image of the Council with his desperation under the conspiratorial guise that his kinsmen have never emerged as National President of NYCN.
To avoid vacuum in the leadership of NYCN, the board of trustees convened a non-elective Congress on 7th to 9th April at Benin City in Edo State, the Congress was presided by the Chairman of the Board of Trustees. The congress appraised motions for the composition of a Caretaker Committee to undertake responsibilities of the National Executive Council for a period of three months and organize an elective congress to put up legitimate leadership in consonance with the letters, spirits and dictates of NYCN Constitution.
The membership of the Caretaker Committee comprises veteran youth leaders under the Chairmanship of Ibukunoluwa Oluwole, former Chairman of Ekiti State Chapter of NYCN, and Balarabe Rufai, former Chairman of Kano State Chapter of NYCN as Secretary. The immediate task by the Caretaker Committee that rattled the usurper, Ikenga, was the representation of NYCN by the Chairman, Caretaker Committee at both the House of Representatives and Senate Committees on Interior on a Bill for an Act to establish Nigeria Peace Corps.
To put the record straight, the reality of NYCN is the fact of her legal registration and existence of a board of trustees comprising former national presidents as members. The council is under the supervision of the Federal Ministry of Youths and the national congress is supreme. The legitimacy of any leadership of NYCN is legally verifiable with the Board of Trustees and it was under the supervision of the board of trustees that conveyed the non-elective congress that the national caretaker committee was constituted, a resolution that is supreme over and above any other claim or self declarations.
The role of NYCN in modeling the characters of youths as good citizens of Nigeria can never be underestimated; the resolutions of challenges hindering the effective discharge of required services to the youths by NYCN through reputable affiliate organizations must be topmost on the agenda for the rebranding of NYCN for optimum productivity while the restoration of subventions by government to these organizations as done in the past must be sacrosanct.
Comrade Agboola is National Publicity Secretary, Sheriff Guards of Nigeria, an affiliate of NYCN since 1970. E-mail: nycnpro@gmail.com 08032813279