Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI) network, a United States Government initiative for African youth, has advised youths to prioritize economic emancipation as they prepare for future political leadership.
YALI African Regional Ambassador, Prof. Abah Ikwue, said this while addressing newsmen in Owerri on Tuesday, against the backdrop of the year 2023 Mandela Washington Fellowship which held from July 31 to August 3.
Ikwue, a lecturer in the Department of English and Literature of the Alvan Ikoku Federal College of Education, Owerri, identified youths as being at the heart of global economy.
According to him, statistics from the United Nations indicates that youths will take over global economy in a few decades, hence the need to prepare Nigeria’s youths to implement the lessons garnered from the fellowship.
He advised YALI members to look inward with the aim of capturing economic leadership before shifting focus to political leadership.
“ Youths must rise above poverty and hunger and command respect before dabbling into politics because it will be very difficult for youths to take over political leadership without economic stability “, he said.
He thanked the Federal Government for creating the enabling environment for economic emancipation of youths and urged the youths to domesticate the knowledge from the fellowship for economic stability as they prepare to become future leaders of the country.
“ Overtime, the Federal Government has doled out startups to Nigerians through the Nigeria Incentive-bases Risk Sharing System for Agricultural Lending (NIRSAL) and the Bank of Industry.
“ Nigerian youths have utilized these opportunities and further ventured into areas of interest such as music and business management and they have been largely successful “, he said.
He therefore urged participants in the fellowship to grow their economic base by domesticating knowledge from the fellowship so as to be better prepared for political leadership.
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