Niger State Governor, Alhaji Abubakar Sani-Bello has called for increased parental, traditional as well as religious guidance in curbing the menace of youth restiveness in Nigeria.
The Governor made the call when he received participants of National Defence College, NDC Course 27 on Geo-Strategic Study Tour to Niger State from the National Defence College,Abuja.
Worried by the increase in the level of youth restiveness in the state and the country as a whole Governor stated that “for the society to be free from this menace, parents, religious as well as traditional leaders in the state have to be on guard to monitor and correct unhealthy behaviours and practices among youths.
“Youth Restiveness is a challenge to the society, and with the rate at which young people are engaging in violence in the society today parents need to be held responsible over their negligence towards the responsibility of their children.”
” It is also a fact that drug abuse contributes to this behaviors of the youths. It is therefore necessary for all youth development stakeholders to focus on eradicating the menace of drug abuse as it is the major contributing factor to all criminal acts.”he said .
Governor Sani-Bello further stated that prayers, prompt action to information as well as crisis management among others are the measures Niger State Government is employing to reduce youth restiveness in the state. Adding that with the establishment of grazing reserves in the state,the government has been able to bring about relative calm on the farmers and herdsmen clash in Niger State.
“We need to challenge our youths to be productive by taking advantage of our large population to achieve success. Niger State has a focus on eradicating youthful exoberance , with the adoption of the anti-thuggery law in the state, we hope to bring an end to political thuggery in Niger.”
He then assured the participants of the implementation of the result and outcome of the study tour in tackling youthful exoberance in the State.
Earlier, the leader of the team, Course 27 on Geo-Strategic Study Tour to Niger State, Commodore Solomon Agada, disclosed that their visit to Niger State was part of the course tradition of visiting states within and outside the country for first hand information on contemporary issues.
Commodore Agada who disclosed that the topic for the course was “Youth Development and National Security” said they were in the state to observe and study how the government is able to manage its youths and security. Adding that Niger State was chosen due to its relative peace compared to other states in the country.
He added that his entourage have had meaningful interactions with the state government officials, security agencies, the youths and other stakeholders and that the report gathered from the tour would be presented by the participants on the 16th of October at the College in Abuja.
