National conference full of old men – Youth delegates Of the 18 youth delegates at the ongoing national conference which opened in Abuja on Monday, three of them are active on Twitter. The three delegates are Hassan Rilwan, a 31- year-old graduate of Ahmadu Bello University; Ms. Mandara Yadomah who hails from Borno State; and Miss Mosunmola Umoru, an agro- entrepreneur. Checks on Twitter by iPUNCH on Wednesday show that the three youth delegates have taken to the social network to bare their minds on their experiences at the conference. But of particular concern to them is the low participation of youths at the confab. They say they are uncomfortable with the huge number of “old men” participating in the three-month event. According to them, it’s their future that will be deliberated upon at the confab, not that of the old men and women who populate the delegates’ list. While decrying the low youth participation, Yadomah, an executive member of the National Youth Forum, describes the majority of delegates at the conference as “those walking with aid stick.” She notes that the “old men” should have played the role of advisers and not major players in the national conference since the discourse will involve issues that affect the future of the youth. Wondering how effective the old men and women will be when the conference begins proper, she adds, “But sincerely, some of these really old men should be assigned to the prayer committee or something deserving. It’s astonishing to realise we have only 18 youths out of 492 members. I didn’t see boys; they are mostly papas. “We need to bring our heads together as youths and work things out for this nation; else, these hoar heads don’t give a damn.” In a post on her blog, yadomah.blogspot, she writes that for the two days she has so far spent on the floor of the National Judicial Institute, venue of the conference, she has been feeling out of place. “I felt out of place, like I do not belong here. I felt like it’s a gathering for the elderly and not for the young. Youths are very angry because there is less representation of youths at the conference; the majority are elderly,” she declares. Lamenting that youths were sidelined in the scheme of things, Rilwan describes the composition of the delegates’ list as one reflecting “minimal youth representation.” He says “several other intelligent and articulate young Nigerians” could have been brought on board to chart a new course for the future of the country. He counsels youths not to be “dampened by acquiescence” over the poor representation. He promises to leverage on the use of Twitter to garner the opinions and contributions of the mass of Nigerian youths who make use of the various social media platforms. “We can fully leverage on the minimal youth representation at the national conference. If, as young people, we sing a discordant tune, it becomes only inevitable for us to be patronised. “We have been called the children of anger. Give your anger the right spark today. Make your voice heard. Make your voice heard by sending suggestions to engagehassan@gmail and be certain that it will be delivered,” he adds. Rilwan also berates calls by some elderly delegates demanding that their personal aides be paid allowances by the government. “It’s a shame that a man being fed with public fund was publicly canvassing for allowances for his personal assistant,” he says. Also, Umoru has begun receiving recommendations from young Nigerians, including youth groups, via her Twitter handle and a designated electronic mail address, with a view to bridging the gap of youth under- representation at the conference. However, the trio appear to have shunned calls by some youths that they emulate the Serving Overseer of the Latter Rain Assembly, Pastor Tunde Bakare, by rejecting the N12m allowance meant for each delegate. While Yadomah writes on her blog that she is still expecting to be paid the allowance, Umoru has simply refused to respond to the suggestion. However, Rilwan, who lauds Bakare for his decision, hints that he will not follow in Bakare’s footsteps. “To all the well meaning young Nigerians that had suggested my total forfeiture of the National Conference allowance, I appreciate you. Great narrative! I celebrate Tunde Bakare who did same,” he tweets. Meanwhile, the President of the National Association of Nigerian Students, Yinka Gbadebo, who is leading the delegation of student groups at the conference, has yet to deploy his Twitter handle for the purpose of the conference. A visit to his Twitter page reveals that the last time the social network fell into his good books was on February 19.
Posted on: Thu, 20 Mar 2014 08:56:25 +0000
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