Investment in Youths, Critical Ingredient for Nigeria’s Development – Obi

By Jude Atupulazi

The Vice Presidential Candidate of the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, in the 2019 elections, Mr Peter Obi, has explained that investments in the lives of Nigerian youths is a critical ingredient that will ensure Nigeria’s development.

Obi, immediate past governor of Anambra State, in a message to commemorate the International Youth Day, 2021, argued that human capital remained one of biggest assets of any nation. He explained that a nation that prioritized human capital development would reap the fruits of national development; just as he maintained that the best investment for the youths was investment in education.

Obi asserted that youths who were in their productive age, were the resource for national development and decried what he described as the constant decline witnessed in the education sector, as well as the spate of insecurity which had resulted in the closure of schools in some parts of the country; developments, he said, that had negative impacts on the future of the nation.

‘Developed nations around the world who are doing well have all invested in education and their youths. If we must experience tangible development in Nigeria, we must learn to invest in our youths through aggressive investments in education,’ Obi submitted.

He further made a case for the small business sector whose main owners, he said, were the youths, and asked the government to support their productive ventures. Obi explained that a vibrant private sector driven economy would not only reduce youth unemployment but also catalyze economic growth and development.

Advising the youths to eschew all forms of crime and social vices, Obi asked them to engage more on productive ventures that would improve their lives.

‘Nigeria belongs to you and you belong to Nigeria. This is your nation, to build and to protect. Avoid engaging in actions capable of endangering the future of this nation for your sake and the sake of generations to come,’ Obi advised the youths, while wishing them a fruitful Youth Day Celebration.