YIPF launches initiatives to advance youth participation in governance

The Youth in Parliament Forum, YIPF, a Federal Government agency under the National Assembly, has initiated programmes to promote greater youth inclusion in governance in the country.

As part of the initiatives, the agency on Thursday announced a partnership with TAJ Bank, which is also aimed at promoting the enactment of business friendly laws by supporting youths to get into the federal, state and local council assemblies.

The initiative was announced by Director General of YIPF, Tony Nwulu, on Thursday in Abuja during a meeting with a delegation of TAJ Bank led by the Managing Director, Mr. Hamid Joda.

Nwulu stated that the YIPF is a non-partisan agency with the primary objective of supporting young Nigerians to achieve their political ambitions, irrespective of their political parties or affiliation.

According to Nwulu, the Take Action Campaign, TAC, is one of the major initiatives of the YIPF, aimed at putting competent and vibrant youths in strategic legislative positions in order to build a government that better reflects the demographics and the needs of its citizens, including the private sector.

“The point is that we need to go the extra mile and the quality of legislation that happens also affects corporate organizations, because if quality legislations are not being introduced, it affects your businesses. So that’s what we essentially do.

“We also have been procuring deals with corporations. We have some deals currently on the table, one of which is a partnership with a Chinese car company to train 1,000 young people on Electric Vehicles (EV) repairs. These trainings will be offered to youth free of charge,” Nwulu said.

Managing Director of TAJ Bank Plc, Joda said the bank is ready to partner with YIPF to achieve its goals, especially the promotion of youth participation and inclusion in governance.

Joda promised to support the initiative in creating the right environment for businesses to thrive and enrich the capacity of the younger generations in leadership roles and nation building.

He stressed the need to inculcate attitudinal change, value reorientation and national consciousness among the youth for a better society.

Joda, in the same vein, stressed the need for youth participation in the legislative process towards the enactment of business and investor friendly laws in the country.

“I mean the mission of vision is as clear as night and day. And entirely as I see it, a non-partisan kind of initiative. It’s out to change a lot of things that we see in Nigeria today. Because what are the things that drive the economy? The major things that drive the economy are the policies, the laws that you have in an economy.

“How good are your laws? How good are your policies? And that is what creates the right kind of environment for businesses to thrive. And it’s very important for those who make the laws to upskill.

“And of course, that is what you are bringing to the table. Now, we’ve never had this kind of initiative in all the years that we’ve had democracy, since democracy returned. I want to assure you that we will partner with you and we will support this initiative and we want to be at the forefront because for us, we believe, at least for myself and the co-founder, we believe there is something special about being a Nigerian and I’m being very honest about it.

“I think that we really need to drive national consciousness and really appreciate the fact that we are Nigerians. If you know what you are doing and if you have vision, you have focus and you are determined that you are resilient, being a Nigerian is like winning the Ovarian Lottery.”

In line with its mandate, the Youth in Parliament Forum brings together both serving and past young legislators from the National Assembly, State Assemblies, and Local Government Councils to amplify youth voices, promote youth participation in governance, and influence policies affecting young people across the 36 states and FCT.

YIPF also empowers young legislators through capacity building, policy advocacy and collaborative governance to drive meaningful legislative reforms aimed at promoting youth participation in national development.

YIPF launches initiatives to advance youth participation in governance