Presidential aide, CSO advocate technological empowerment for youths

By Diana Omueza

Mrs Titilope Gbadamosi, Special Assistant to President Bola Tinubu on Youth Initiatives, and PROMAD Foundation have harped on the need for technological empowerment of youths to boost their participation in governance.

They made the call on Thursday in Abuja at the 2024 close-out ceremony of the Accelerating Youth Participation in Governance (AYPG2024) Fellowship.

The fellowship’s theme is “Rethinking Youth Participation in Governance in the Era of Artificial Intelligence.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the event was organised by PROMAD Foundation and supported by LEAP-Africa and the Nigerian Youth Future Fund( NYFF).

Gbadamosi said that Nigerian youths in the country and those in diaspora had common objective of improving the state of the country and needed to leverage technology to achieve the feat.

“The driving force behind the youths abroad is same for the youths in the country; regardless of locations we have a common tie that bonds us by heart.

“Those who are abroad and those who are in Nigeria, we all want a better Nigeria and we are all working towards that.

“Especially the young people who are very active in governance, just as those who are here are passionate about Nigeria.

“Those who are abroad are equally passionate about Nigeria, because there is no place like home,” she said.

Gbadamosi, while congratulating the successful fellows, urged them to downscale the knowledge gained and to take up the front seats on matters of leadership, political participation and governance.

She added that President Tinubu was working to ensure more inclusion and representation of youths in his government.

According to her, President Tinubu strongly believes Nigeria can only be built by the fire and steam of young people’s participation.

This, she said, was why the administration had prioritised the youths more than any other government and the President was fulfilling his campaign manifesto.

Mr Daisi Omokungbe, the Executive Director of PROMAD, said that the AYPG2024 was to enhance youth’s understanding on the use of Artificial Intelligence and its impacts in leadership, political participation and governance.

“AI is very important from the aspect of the youth who are agents and enablers of new technology and that is why we took this fellowship from this aspect.

“What we have done today is that we have brought 18 young leaders from the six area councils of the Federal Capital Territory and we have trained them on participation in governance.

“The training and the insight of the keynote speaker and the panelist today has also shown how we can harness technology in terms of data, analysing fake news and for better informed decisions making,” he said.

Mrs Maimuna Sani, the Representative of the Nigeria Youth Future Fund (NYFF), congratulated the foundation for the initiative to train and coach youths on the importance of their participation in governance.

According to her, the AYPG2024 fellowship underscored our commitment to strengthen youth participation in governance, to activate, amplify and mainstream youths’ voices into policies conversations.

“I urge you all to apply the knowledge gained from this fellowship, to hold and engage your elected policy makers and representatives to ensure that you are included in government plans, policies and programmes,” she said.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that other speakers at the event were Mr Hamzat Lawal, Executive Director of CODE, and Mr Kole Shettima, Country Director of MacArthur Foundation.

Others are Mr Samson Itodo, Executive Director of Yiaga Africa, and Dr J. K. Naiyeju, former Accountant General of the Federation. (NAN)(www.nannews.ng)

Edited by Abiemwense Moru