THE INCREASED PARTICIPATION OF IMO YOUTHS IN GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT OF PRODUCTIVE ENTERPRISES: A TRUE PROMOTION OF NEW FACE OF IMO

STATE.

The word Youth in modern day reality connotes a vibrancy of sorts, activism, struggle, restiveness, intemperance, and zero tolerance for mis-governance, among others. Youth, according to the Chambers English dictionary, is the state of being young; early life, the period immediately succeeding childhood; a young person, especially a man. We will define Imo Youths as all youth indigenes of the State whether resident within or in diaspora. In recent times, there has been increased recognition of youths in the leadership of Imo State. This is noticeable in all tiers and facets of leadership be it religious, political and even traditional. Thus, our youths are no longer the embittered spectators; they are part and parcel of the making of the State. In the dim post colonial past and as recent as the Second Republic, youths were mainly agents of opposition politics. They were used and discarded as wears. Their zero tolerance for non-directional leadership was exploited by unscrupulous political juggernauts, who felt, according to Major Taylor, that the more they discourage youngsters, the longer they would reign. The new face of Imo slogan gained unique emphasis in the dawn of the present Ohakim-led government. The Governor, in his own words, met a state, although labeled Land of Hope but at crossroads, and where it would have fallen into the grips of political vampires. He repackaged it as a land of possibilities and re-branded it the New Face of Imo. There are also other slogans associated with the new leadership like Imo is in the hands of God, Clean and Green initiative, among others. The New Face of Imo, can be seen, therefore, as a kind of re-branding of Imo State in which re-orientation is focal, where so many hitherto impossibilities can be made possible and where the people are closer to God as cleanliness is next to godliness. In the new era, the involvement of youths has increased markedly in accordance with the Philosopher, Henry David Thoreaus observation: How could youths better learn to live than by at once trying the experiment of living? Thus, in Imo, the youths were no longer cheerleaders. They have found themselves into positions of trust hitherto preserved for or in the firm grasps of some never-say-die politicians. We have youths as Community and Religious leaders, Local Government Chairmen, Assistants in the Cabinet office. We have youths even in the State House of Assembly, the Federal House of Representatives and the Senate. In the Imo State Government day-to-day programmes, we also have so many youth-managed initiatives

like ENTRACO and so many NGO youth organizations. The result is youths at every turn of State leadership. Then the poser: Has this experimentation with youths in leadership been able to yield great positive dividends? Can it be passed off as a true promotion of the New face of Imo? It has been, for the fact that the youths are mindful of blighting future careers in the event of mismanagement; they understand the demands of fellow youths who form the active population. Youths are impatient with non-performance and hence less likely to tolerate it among themselves. (U can give a few instances and conclude the essay. It has been a gradual build up) The Holy Bible says that it is neither wise to put a new wine into an old wineskin, nor sew a new piece onto an old fabric. The old wineskin will burst and the patch will fail. The youths privileged to be in any strata of leadership in this New face of Imo must distance themselves from the old brigades of corrupt politicians and demonstrate that they possess the unadulterated philosophy christened in the New face of Imo. Permit me to underscore the fact that the majority of Imo youth are either unemployed or underemployed in various establishments. Young men and women of Imo extract are not gainfully employed and the disadvantage suffered by young women is greater. Most jobs available to the youths are low paid, insecure, and with few benefits or prospects for advancement. The statement by the former UN Secretary-General, Mr. Kofi Annan, could better paint the consequences of these trends: A generation without the hope of stable employment is a burden for all of society. Poor employment in the early stages of a young person's career can harm job prospects for life. Underemployed or unemployed youth will have less to spend as consumers or to save and invest, which will hurt employers and economies. The economic investment of governments in education and training will be wasted if young people do not move into productive jobs that enable them to pay taxes and support public services. Young women and men who find themselves alienated from society frustrated by lack of opportunity and without means are sometimes are more vulnerable to involvement with illegal and criminal activities and are at risk of recruitment by armed groups. As a panacea to the plights of the youth I strongly subscribe to the UN 4Es: Employment creation through private sector initiatives in the form of micro and small enterprises and cooperatives should, therefore, to be the main focus in the development and management of youth programmes. Governments and organizations should create or promote grant schemes to provide seed money to encourage and support enterprise and employment programmes for young people. Businesses and enterprises could be encouraged to provide counterpart financial and technical support for such schemes.

Cooperative schemes involving young people in production and marketing of goods and services could be considered. The formation of youth development banks could be considered. Governments, in cooperation with regional and international organizations, should formulate model training programmes for youth in individual and cooperative enterprises. They are encouraged to establish self-contained enterprise centres where young people may plan and test their enterprise venture concepts.

Short speech presented by Darlington Nwokoma during Youth forum tagged Youth in Nigerian emerging Democracy.