ABIKE IMPLORES WIVES OF GOVERNORS TO INTERACT WITH YOUTHS 

 Oru Leonard

The Chairman/CEO, Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM),, Rt. Hon Abike Dabiri-Erewa has advised wives of governors in Nigeria to engage and interact with youths at home and in Diaspora by building better relations with renowned Diaspora Youth Organizations.

The NiDCOM boss said this at Abuja during a seminar for wives of Executive Governors in Nigeria with the theme “The First Lady as Leader and Mobiliser of Women and Youth in the Post Covid-19 Era”.

Dabiri-Erewa while speaking on the role of the First Ladies in engaging with the youth, especially in relation to the recent #NotTooYoungToRun movement and the #EndSARS protests, implored them to engage with Nigerian Youths in Diaspora anytime they find themselves on trips abroad.

“As first ladies, I implore you to engage with Nigerian Youths in Diaspora anytime you find yourself on trips abroad. 33 States now have State Diaspora focal persons and NiDCOM will be willing to facilitate and work to make this happen”, she stated.

She further noted that the vision of these organisations to see to the empowerment of Nigeria youth through Mentoring, Career Opportunities, Apprenticeships, Work Experience, Sports Engagement, Rising Awareness of Nigeria Culture, Reduction of Gang Membership, Violence and Radicalization, are areas where any First Lady’s support would be invaluable.

“The #NotTooYoungToRun movement and the #EndSARS protests have proven that this is not an apolitical generation as previously thought; they can be mobilized to terrifying effectiveness if honed properly.

“Reaching out to the youths of today to any meaningful degree entails reaching out to them in their world; the world of social media. This is the first generation raised by online campaigns and hashtags; therefore, this is the direction that humanity is headed.

“First Ladies, as the foremost mothers of society concerned for their children’s well-being, could be the one doing the mobilization in the first place. The kprimary requirement for this is an increased social media presence across all platforms, one that directly engages the numerous issues that youths bring to light locally and internationally on the internet every day”, she said.

She urged First Ladies to use their role and status to challenge and encourage youth to participate in the running of the government as well as help convince youth in the Diaspora to invest more in the country by positively engaging in dialogue with them any time they travel out of the country.

“You can therefore use your platform to engage the youth and through the various medium, provide a constant reminder to them that you understand their plight and you’re constantly with them, understanding that this significant force of youthful exuberance can be a powerful tool in your hands if they see you as an ally who understands them”, she urged.

She also charges them to relate with renowned Diaspora youth organizations who were very influential in galvanizing support for the #EndSARS movement and were partly responsible for the viral status of the protests.

The seminar was organised by the African First Ladies Peace Mission (AFLPM) in collaboration with the Office of the First Lady of Nigeria and CTP International (UK-Nigeria).