Youth in Nigeria
Youth in Nigeria includes citizens of the Federal Republic of Nigeria aged 18–29 years according to the new-youth policy. However, the African youths charter recognises youths as people between the age of 15 and 35.
History
Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, President of Nigeria from 1999 until 2007, called for addressing issues confronting Nigerian youth to improve overall national development. He stated that, "Youths constitute Nigeria's only hope for a greater future". The Nigerian government characterises youth as ambitious, enthusiastic, energetic and promising. They are considered vulnerable in society because of the rapid pace of change they experience at this time in their lives. Nigeria's Youth's right from time are notable to be change-agents and drivers of societal transformation. In contrast, in a developing country like Nigeria, youth interests and roles have been undermined, resulting to poverty, alienation, destabilization and conflict among the youths.A National Youth Development Policy was created and designed in 2009 to advocate for youth. The goal is to promote the "enjoyment of fundamental human rights and protect the health, social, economic and political well-being of all young men and women in order to enhance their participation in the overall development process and improve their quality of life." The policy focuses on 18 priority areas, including education, health, agriculture, women & girls, peace-building, HIV/AIDS, migration & human trafficking, poverty and participation.
Parental concerns
1. Drug Abuse – 40%2. Early pregnancy
3. Internet fraud or cybercrime
4. Alcohol Abuse
5. Sexting
6. Get rich quick syndrome.
National Youth Policy
The 2009 National Youth Policy recognizes 5 priority areas. These include the impact of globalisation, access and use of communication technology, the impact of STDs and HIV/AIDS, intergenerational issues in an ageing society, and youth perpetrators and victims of armed conflict. This is guided by several national and international policy initiatives, including National Policies for education, gender, health, population for sustainable development and the National Economic Empowerment Development Strategy. The Millennium Development Goals, the African Youth Charter, and other international agreements further guide the policy goals found in the document.National Youth Policy prioritises the difficulties faced by women which include less occupational opportunity, physical violence, abuse and labour exploitation. The policy seeks to protect their rights and promote female youths' interests and goals. By empowering females, restoring their dignity, establishing programs to end gender-based discrimination and promoting their rights. National Youth Policy places emphasis on the needs of young women.
The National Youth Policy has adopted a program for disabled youth based on the premise that persons with disabilities have rights that should be protected by the government. The program promotes awareness of struggles that the disabled face, removing negative attitudes, while empowering the young men and women with disabilities.
National Youth Council of Nigeria (NYCN)
The National Youth Council of Nigeria was founded in 1964 to be the voice and the umbrella Organisation for youth organisations in the country. It is responsible for issues affecting Nigeria's youth because it is the voice of nigerian youth. The Youth Council is non‐governmental, non‐partisan, and not‐for‐profit organisation. The council comprises the National Executive Committee of 23‐ members. The NEC members are democratically elected from their respective state chapters and its affiliated voluntary youth organisations.The National Youth Council of Nigeria is a major stakeholder in the implementation of the National Youth Policy, as an umbrella organisation for youth NGOs, and youth organisations across the country the NYCN pursues democratic norms at all times, embrace the principles of accountability and transparency in all its conduct, initiate and execute activities that are in consonance with the goals of the National Youth Policy.Aims and Objectives
Below are the main aims and objectives of the National Youth Council of Nigeria :
- To deep-root the culture of nation building and leadership building in our youths.
- To increase the participation of the young people in the society, as well as in the decision-making process.
- Positively influence policy issues affecting youth, by being a recognized partner internationally.
- Promote cross breed of ideas and experiences, mutual understanding as well as equal rights and opportunities among youths in Nigeria.
- Mobilize, organize and groom young people to be patriotic citizens and help put them back on track with focus on what they can give back to the society.
- To ensure youths are trained as future leaders.
Family formation
Some Nigerians live in extended large families with separate living quarters. A Nigerian child may be breastfed until the age of 2. Mothers believe there is a bond created between mother and child by breastfeeding. Educating children is regarded as a community responsibility in some ethnic groups. Parenting styles differ among cultures in Nigeria. Nigerian children adapt to one of three roles: authoritarian, authoritative, or permissive, depending on their culture.Both boys and girls learn to be responsible and hard-working at age 5. Boys contribute to routine tasks outside the home such as helping with the livestock, and helping in the fields. Girls contribute inside the home by cooking and cleaning in the home. Elders tend to value boys higher than girls for their physical abilities and their ancestry. First, fifth, tenth, and fifteenth birthdays are marked by large celebrations providing food and drink in certain parts as a traditional celebration.
Nigerian urban youth develop romantic relationships that are kept a secret. Urban Nigerians are increasingly accepting meeting publicly; romantic relationships often lead to marriage. Cohabitation in urban areas is increasingly accepted prior to marriage while a romantic couple saves money to marry.
Marriage is a coming of age practice among some ethnic groups. The legal minimum age to marry is 18 in most regions. Coming of age practices vary among different cultures. The Tiv people perform a ritual by marking a girl's abdomen with four incisions to make sure they are capable of conceiving a child. The Okrika Tribe hold ceremonies to mark the stage when girls are ready for marriage; they will ask the lady to dance with half-naked, with their breasts opened. These girls are painted and judged by characteristics such as beauty, grace and chastity. The girls then run a race with young men chasing them. Muslim people arrange marriages for their daughters, placing the male's family finances as an influential factor when choosing her husband. Girls are expected to marry soon after finishing school.
Education
. Youth in Nigeria school system consists of six years of primary education, three years of junior secondary, three years of senior secondary, and four or five years of tertiary education. Primary school completion rates are 93% for males, and 91% for females.It is a requirement for every child in Nigeria to receive a minimum of nine years of free education. The government's dominant role with funding provides funds from the and . Some of the problems Nigerian youth face in education are unbiased access to junior secondary, and senior secondary education for the poor, and the need to adjust the school curriculum to focus on the transition from school to labour economics.
The National Youth Policy has implemented a variety of focuses in hopes to improve overall quality of education. These focal points include: development of critical fields of knowledge in applied science and technology, technical skills, vocational skills in agriculture, and promotion of the use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT).
The policy developed leadership roles and life training skills which seek to keep youth focused on education, politics and overall youth agency. The youth are encouraged to partake in a variety of programs including: gang-related violence prevention programs, Extra-curricular competitive and recreational game activities through organisations, and a student union was launched encouraging leadership roles for youth and democratic culture.
Labor and employment
Individuals in Nigeria can legally work when they are 18 years old. Data on youth employment in Nigeria are scarce due to under-resourced agencies responsible for their collection. In 2012, 11.1million youths in Nigeria were believed to be unemployed. In a recent report by Bloomberg, it was revealed that as at March 2021, Nigeria Unemployment rate has increased to 33.3% making it the second highest on the global list of unemployed countries monitored by Bloomberg. The report also revealed that Nigeria employment rate has increased drastically over the last five years because the country has been through two different recessions and this has cast a shadow of gloom on the economic policies implemented by the President Muhammadu Buhari administration. Due to some main identified problems such as; rural-urban migration, rapid population growth, low standard of education, the rapid expansion of the educational system, lack of steady and sustainable power supply and corruption. Nigeria youths constitute 64 percentage of unemployed Nigerians. There is high rate of unemployment which in turns caused insecurity, rising poverty rate and persistent underdevelopment.In Q2 2024, Nigeria's youth unemployment rate declined to 6.5%, down from 8.4% in Q1 2024, reflecting some improvement in job market engagement among young people.
Health risks
Nigerian youth have experienced increasing rates of sexually transmitted diseases and HIV/AIDS. Prevalence of female youths STD contraction is 17.2%. HIV/AIDS prevalence among all youths is 5.2%, compared to the national prevalence at 4.4%.The Federal Government of Nigeria's National Youth Policy attempts to mitigate prevalence by providing care, treatment and, support for infected young people. In doing so, government promotes prevention activities through risk reduction, abstinence, and condom use.STD and HIV/AIDS contraction can cause serious, permanent health issues, infertility, death and, social consequences such as social exclusion. Many social factors contribute to the rates of contraction. Advancements in information communication technology expose youths to a variety of values and ways of thinking which differ from their elder generations. Cultural norms serve as barriers to protect themselves in many cultures. Condom use is not a common practice.
Infection rates among youths vary according to gender, region, education, marital status, and other factors. Gender norms constrain young women from controlling their reproductive and sexual lives. The highest rates of infection happened in the north-central part of the country, lowest in the Northeast. Urban areas have higher rates than rural places of residency. Youths with little or no education compromised 1.3% of infected youths, in contrast to higher levels of education whose rates were 4.7%. Prevalence of contraction was higher among youths who had never been married at 2.6%, in contrast to those who were married, 1.8%. Premarital sex is common, even though it is considered taboo in many ethnic groups. It is common in urban areas for inter-ethnic dating to occur, though, inter-religious dating does occur it is hardly present in society. Youth who had previous education and testing for HIV/AIDS had higher rates of STD contraction in contrast to those who had no awareness of HIV/AIDS.