Conscience for Human Rights and Conflict Resolution (CHRCR), a civil society organization has called on youths to build their self-knowledge and motivation on the process for leadership.
Speaking at a one-day townhall meeting at community level on inspiring youth for leadership in Kogi East senatorial district Saturday, the Executive Director of CHRCR, Comrade Idris Miliki Abdul, said the concept of mentorship for young persons in leadership must be taken seriously by both state and non-state actors.
Miliki who tasked government and stakeholders to make conscious efforts to encourage youths to attain leadership positions, also lamented that engagement of young persons with political office contestants during elections is mostly limited to tokenism and thuggery.
Participants drawn from youth and women groups, students from Prince Abubakar Audu University Anyigba and media, observed that there was noticeable youth apathy during the last November 2023 governorship elections in Kogi State due to several factors including lack of confidence in the system and non-availability of Permanent Voters Cards (PVC).
They submitted that the concept of leadership and governance are largely not understood by young persons and other stakeholders, but agreed that the act of voting, especially for young persons, is a crucial role in participation in leadership at community level.
Participants also decried low level of mentorship for young persons at state level in Kogi state and opined that economic empowerment of young persons is key for leadership.
They commended the Conscience for Human Rights and Conflict Resolution (CHRCR) for its untiring efforts at improving youth involvement in leadership at state level in Kogi State.
The townhall meeting was organized by CHRCR in collaboration with the Nigeria Women Trust Fund and supported by MacArthur Foundation.
