The National Council of Muslim Youth Organisations (NACOMYO) Lagos State Chapter has called on the Lagos State Government to increase the budgetary allocation to education to 25% and reduce the tuition fees paid by students in all the state schools so as to mitigate the effects of the petroleum subsidy removal on parents.
The call was made by the umbrella body for Muslims youth organisations in Lagos State during a press conference organised by the council to celebrate the National Youth Day on the 1st day of November, 2023.
Muslim News gathered that the current budget the State government allocated for the education sector stands between 10% and 12% but the group, during the press conference held at Lagos Secretariat Mosque Hall, Ikeja, said it falls short of the United Nations’ (UN) recommendation of 25% budgetary allocation for education.
READ FULL PRESS STATEMENT
TEXT OF THE ADDRESS DELIVERED BY THE STATE COORDINATOR, ALHAJI ISIAKA SALAMI, AT THE PRESS CONFERENCE ORGANISED BY THE NATIONAL COUNCIL OF MUSLIM YOUTH ORGANISATIONS (NACOMYO) LAGOS STATE CHAPTER IN CELEBRATION OF THE NATIONAL YOUTH DAY ON WEDNESDAY 1ST NOVEMBER, 2023 (YAOM L-ARBA’, 17TH RABIU-L-THANNI 1445AH) AT THE MULTI-PURPOSE HALL OF THE LAGOS STATE SECRETARIAT COMMUNITY CENTRAL MOSQUE, ALAUSA-IKEJA, LAGOS STATE
• NACOMYO National officer;
• NACOMYO State officers;
• NACOMYO Zonal Coordinators and Zonal officers present;
• Gentlemen of the Press;
• Brothers and Sisters in Islam;
As-Salam alaykun wa rahmatu llahi wa baraka tuhu!
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Gentlemen of the Press, on behalf of the Muslim youth in Lagos State, it gives me great pleasure to once again address you at this press conference organised by the National Council of Muslim Youth Organisations (NACOMYO) Lagos State Chapter in commemoration of the day declared by the Federal Government to celebrate the youth of our Dear Country and State, The National Youth Day.
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It is apposite to state from the onset that NACOMYO is the umbrella body for all Muslim youth organisations in Nigeria and the Council strives to project, and defend the interest of Muslim youth _(in particular)_ and the Ummah _(in general)._
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Purpose of Today’s Press Conference
Gentlemen of the Press, it would be recalled that in September last year, President Muhammadu Buhari _(the then President of the Country)_ made the announcement that National Youth Day would be celebrated in Nigeria on the 1st day of November. The day is meant to celebrate Nigerian youth and all the contributions they made as well as highlight issues affecting young people in Nigeria with the aim of tackling those issues to support them.
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The occasion of the National Youth Day therefore, provides a veritable opportunity to raise awareness about the challenges faced by young people around the world, in Nigeria, and in Lagos State _(in particular),_ and to promote their potentials. Today’s occasion also gives us the opportunity to highlight the struggles faced by youth and recognise their roles in advancing society, spurring economic progress, and encouraging sustainable development.
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Theme of this Year’s Youth Day Celebration
It is noteworthy that the theme for this year’s International Youth Day Celebration _(as adopted by the United Nations)_ is “Green Skills for Youth: Towards a Sustainable World.” The theme of “Green Skills” highlights the importance of equipping young people with the skills they need to contribute to a sustainable future. This theme, to state the least, is apt at this critical period of our nation’s history and development.
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Youth’s Education
However, it is important to point out that equipping young people with the necessary skills to contribute to nation building and sustainable future may be difficult without the right education for them. In other words, education of the youth is central to nation’s development. It could be safely inferred that a community, a state, or a nation that contrive to lose out on the proper education of its youth has surreptitiously thrown away the key to nation building and development.
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Recently the Lagos State Government increased the number of the State owned universities from I to 3 with the passing of laws converting the Lagos State Polytechnic to Lagos State University of Science and Technology (LASUSTECH), and the conversion of the 2 State Colleges of Education _(viz: Adeniran Ogunsanya College of Education and Michael Otedola College of Primary Education)_ to the Lagos State University of Education (LASUED).The 2 conversions with the existing Lagos State University (LASU) make the number of Lagos State owned universities to be 3.
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In the light of this development, it is apposite to reiterate our call for an improved funding through increased budgetary allocation to the Education Sector in Lagos State. Over the years, the State’s Education budgetary allocation had hovered around 10 and 12% of the total budget. This, we maintain, falls short of the United Nations’ _(UN)_ recommendation of 25% budgetary allocation for education.
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In realisation of the UN recommendation, recently the Minister of Education; Prof. Tahir Mamman, said that the Federal Government is ready to commit 25% of the 2024 Federal Budget to Education. That all the President needs are policies that will justify that budget and that is what the Ministry is working on. See https://punchng.com/fg-ready-to-commit-25-of-annual-budget-to-education-minister/.
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This cheering and heart-warming news, if eventually implemented, will signal a turnaround in the bid to address the problem of education in Nigeria. We use this occasion to call on the Lagos State Government to also increase the budgetary allocation to education in its 2024 Budget to the UN recommended 25%. The Council believes that this will go a long way in the proper education of the youth in other to acquire the “Green Skills” needed for a sustainable future.
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Added to this, we equally call on the Lagos State Government to reduce the tuition fees paid by students in all the State’s Schools so as to mitigate the effects of petroleum subsidy removal on parents who are ultimately responsible for payment of the fees.
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Youth’s Employment
Another challenge militating against the youth’s contribution to sustainable future and worthy of addressing at this occasion is the rate of youth unemployment. In August 2022 the then Minister of State, Budget and National Planning estimated the population of Nigeria to have reached 217,079,601 with the youth’s population accounting for 70 percent of the over 217 Million which stands at a huge 151 Million youth. See https://nationalplanning.gov.ng/fg-inaugurates-committee-to-tackle-increasing-youth-unemployment-in-nigeria/.
Sadly, 53.40% of the youth in Nigeria are unemployed according to the Youth Unemployment Rates released by the National Bureau of Statistics also in 2022.
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The population of youth in Lagos State is put at approximately 10 million, which is considered the largest in the country. Though Lagos State is arguably considered as having the lowest unemployment rate of 7.6 percent with youth having the largest chunk of the unemployed population.
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Without doubt, the youth’s population in Lagos State, if properly harnessed, presents a potential asset for further rapid economic transformation of the State and the Country. However, it is important for the State Government to guide and harness their energy, enterprise, and innovativeness. This can be done by making them to be more productive through the provision of employment opportunities. Government will enhance their employment by organising programmes that will focus on ways to equip them with necessary skills they need to contribute to a sustainable future.
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Youth’s Rights
Gentlemen of the press, neglect of youth’s rights is another issue that deserved to be addressed at this important occasion. For clarity, it is important to point out that youth rights are the specific things every young person has including opportunities, freedoms, rights and responsibilities. This set of rights are distinct from the general human rights _(though youth’s rights also include all human rights)_ because of the special nature of the people addressed.
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It is apposite to state that youth’s rights generally fall into 3 categories viz: Provision, Protection, and Participation. Provision entails provision of youth’s access to basic necessities of life like food, clothes, shelter, education e.t.c. Protection entails that government authority make sure that young people are safe from abuses, including physical, mental, and psychological abuse. While Participation expects that young people be given the opportunity to contribute to, direct, evaluate and critique decisions that affect them in the society.
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In the light of this, we state categorically that following rights are inalienable to the them:
i. Abuse-Free living – All young people have the right to live free from all types of abuse including emotional, physical and psychological abuse. Youth should live free from economic, social, cultural, religious and personal exploitation.
ii. Employment – As earlier stated in this address, all youth should be free to choose legitimate work that fulfils their objectives as young people.
iii. Food Access– Their rights extend to the right to healthy sustainable and essential food in order to ensure their health and well-being for productive and sustainable future.
iv. Healthcare – The right to healthcare is essential for all youth just as it is the right of other citizens. Their right includes mental, physical and spiritual heath.
v. Shelter – Shelter is also one of the rights of youth. They have the right to safe, secure and sustained shelter.
vi. Movement – We reiterate that just as the Nigerian Constitution guarantees freedom of movement to all Nigerians so also the youth have the right to freedom of movement. Their right to freedom of movement should not be restricted.
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The Council uses this occasion to call the attention of governments at all levels to ensure that youth rights are protected in order to enable them make meaningful contributions to a sustainable future.
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Finally, it is our hope that the opportunity afforded by the declaration of National Youth Day will be used to critically look into myriad of challenges facing the youth. The problems of youth insecurity, cultism, depreciating social values, and drug/substance abuse among the youth should be addressed frontally and decisively.
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Recently the Federal Government lamented smoking among children and vowed to tackle the menace. See https://www.starnews.com.ng/fg-laments-smoking-among-children-vows-to-tackle-menace/ We call on government not only to lament but address the issues affecting youth for a sustainable future.
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A Thought for Palestinians
Gentlemen of the press, before I conclude this address, permit me to spare a thought on the fate of Palestinians in Gaza who are being murdered daily by the Israelis since the beginning of October 2023. In line with NACOMYO National Executive Council _(NEC),_ we condemn in the strongest terms the genocide being perpetrated by Israel on Palestinians in Gaza _(which include youth and children)._ The genocidal war by Israel is being carried on Palestinians in the name of fighting terrorists. The question is “For how long will the world superpowers continue to watch the destruction of Palestinians by Israel?”
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It is important to stress the need for the United Nations (UN) and world leaders (of good conscience) to urgently prevail on Israel to stop the genocide in Gaza. It is obvious that over the years the UN had turned a blind eye to the injustice perpetrated on Palestinians since the creation of the State of Israel in 1948 on the purported “No man’s land.”
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Conclusion: On behalf of the Muslim youth in Lagos State, I thank you for all for honouring the Council’s invitation to this Press Conference in celebration of the youth of this Country and our Dear State – The Centre of Excellence. We look forward to your cooperation and attendance in the future.
Long live the Nigerian Youth.
Long live the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Long live Lagos State – Our Dear Centre of Excellence.
Long live the National Council of Muslim Youth Organisations (NACOMYO).
Thank you all for the patience and understanding.
Alhaji Isiaka Salami
Coordinator, NACOMYO Lagos State Chapter.
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