Kofi Ampeah Woode
African leaders have been urged to give their youth, opportunity to experience at first-hand how important decisions are taken at the highest levels of the society, to better appreciate their significance by assigning responsibilities to them within the process of nation building, to help them learn from early stages, to respect the structures that sustain the community.
The Commandant, Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre (KAIPTC) – Major General (Maj Gen) Richard Addo Gyane, made the call as Guest Speaker at the 15th African Youth and Governance Convergence (AYGC) Homecoming Youth Summit, Ghana 2023, held at the Manna Height Hotel, Mankessim, Central Region, Ghana, from 12 – 19 August 2023.
“Poised to take over eventually from current leaders, it behooves the continent’s leadership to craft a course for the collective development of the youth that can adequately prepare them for the onerous tasks of national development that lies ahead of them”, General Gyane said.
Speaking on the caption ‘Governance, Peace and Security’, under the theme: “Advancing Youth Inclusive Governance, Peace and Security in Africa: The Digital Innovation Factor”, he said, it is the judicious and prudent use of political authority that breeds peace and security and, within such an environment, all, including the youth, can be expected to thrive in their chosen professions.
He continued that, the post-independence political experience of a number of nations have been one of exclusion of the youth, who have largely been seen as just as a means to an end, hence, the number of young people who have been part of governance processes in Africa, have been negligible.
“The youth should actively participate in charting the course of the continent’s future development, especially because most of them possess the right mindset and experience. The least we can do, therefore, is tap and channel their potentials for the benefit of society”, the KAIPTC Commandant asserted.
He said, if society demands peace and security for its communities, then it should ensure that the components of that community value and respect their individual roles that must culminate in peace and security, and that nothing can form the basis for the realization of the collective desires of the people than the kind of governance that embraces all the different components of the society and sets a common course for their economic and social emancipation.
He continued that adults have a role, if the youth should transition into responsible adults capable of contributing to national discourse, by crafting the right policies for their self-enhancement. Leadership needs to engage this critical segment of the society to find out exactly what their expectations and aspirations are.
He said the least leadership can do, is to encourage the youth to add their voices in drawing out policies and programs, facilitate youth education and awareness, empower them by exposing them to matters pertaining to governance, peace and security matters, and avail them the opportunity to engage in discussions, workshops and seminars, to enhance their awareness and build their capacity as partners in community advancement.
He called on adults who have carved a name for themselves, to mentor the youth and assist with development of their leadership skills, and then expose their achievements for others to emulate, to set them on a path to responsibly take over from them after the mentors have played their parts and left the scene.
Maj Gen RA Gyane, the KAIPTC Commandant, called on the Ghana Education Service to consider reinstating moral and civic education that forebears in their wisdom catered for on the school calendar, for, “we are enjoined to teach the child the way they should go, so that in future they might not deviate from the way”.
Talking about “the Innovative Factor”, he said leadership needs to take advantage of current technology and the budding social media, for youth participation in dialogue and advocacy campaigns against social misconduct including drugs, child abuse and internet scam.
He encouraged networking between the various youth groups and the academia, to broaden their horizon and open themselves up to research and further education, to form new alliances that could give them better insight into matters of governance, social cohesion and the positives of non-violent communication.
He added that, inclusion in networking and exchange programs, for example, could expose them to different cultures and systems for better understanding of their own environment, adding that, in the highly digitalized world, there are numerous opportunities for governments to show leadership and take advantage of new innovations to better the lives of their people.
He continued that, a lot of competing forces are always at work inside the proverbial ‘youth bulge’ which, if not handled with care, could burst with such devastating impact on the lives of entire communities. Digital technologies could, however, change this narrative and make the youth more productive in the way they carry themselves and do business, he said.
Quoting UNICEF reports in its “State of the World’s Children 2017: Children in a Digital World” report that: “one in three internet users is younger than 18 years and 71% of 15 – 24 year olds are online”, he said this clearly marks them out as the most connected age group around the globe.
Turning to the youth, General Gyane said, in our part of the world, wisdom is usually associated with age and the youth is conveniently denoted as irresponsible and bereft of political and moral values. It is therefore, in the interest of the youth, if they are to be taken more seriously, not to lapse into the behavior patterns that supports this perception about them.
Youth opinion leaders, celebrities, stars, must set out to become, and present a personality that accords them the right to contribute to social discourse, for how one carries one’s self determines their value in the eyes of the elderly, and also bear in mind that the path one charts today shall be waiting for them tomorrow. The biggest man was once a baby, he said.
He challenged the youth to consider a new kind of generational change that is sustainable, and based on well-intended principles that engender discipline, respect for authority and for your elders, loyalty to the state, the love of what is right and aspiration to greater heights.
It is in this vein that he urged them to be careful to put the internet and digitalization to the best of use, rather than using it to achieve devious ends, which would be inimical to the peace and security (such as child sexual abuse and exploitation, cyberbullying, online gaming and, worst of all, recruitment into insurgent organizations) that the digitalization drive would be seeking to achieve.
Maj Gen RA Gyane further quoted the latest International Labour Organization (ILO) Global Employment Trends for Youth Report: “Young migrants make up more than 10% of the overall 232 million international migrants”, and said the same ILO Report has it that the youth unemployment rate around the globe, is about twice that of the general unemployment rate.
He proffered that this trend can only be reversed by critically thinking the prospects of the nation through, making wise decisions and choices that allow the youth to be part of their personal development, and by empowering them to change their own destinies for the better.
He concluded by quoting the late United Nations Secretary General – Busumuro Kofi Annan, who said: “To live is to choose. But to choose well, you must know who you are and what you stand for, where you want to go and why you want to get there.”
“A lot of opportunities abound if only the youth would be patient and see themselves not just as part of the problem, but its solution. Inclusive governance, even with the best of intentions, can only work if the youth apply their capabilities and capacities to proffer solutions to emerging problems and be partners in life-changing enterprises”, the Commandant said.
The 8-day AYGC conference is hosted by the youth-focused Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) Youth Bridge Foundation, which commits to youth development across the African continent and the Diaspora, with offices in Zambia and the United States of America.
The conference also has a Presidential Youth Dialogue, which will have former President of Nigeria – His Excellency Olusegun Obasanjo deliver a keynote address, as a host and an Eminent Fellow.
The conference is supported by the African Union, KAIPTC, ECOSOCC, HYDRA, ESTI, Dalhousie University, DIBA, and JSE.
