In all societies of the world, a virile youth is the bedrock on which national integration and development are predicated. The youth are the backbone and the building blocks of any nation. It is a fact that the stronger the youth, the more developed a nation is. The role of the youth in the nation-building process cannot be over-emphasized as countries that develop and utilize their youth in the right directions seem to be more developed. The energy and brightness of the minds of youth act as torch-bearers for a nation. There is a confirmed connection between the prosperity of a nation and its youth development system. The late British politician and writer, Benjamin Disraeli, had rightly described youth of a nation as the trustees of posterity.
It is in the reality of the above that many nations have made concerted efforts in galvanizing integrated approach in putting in place youth development structures that have a very high propensity to be a catalyst for their national growth. On the contrary, countries which fail to realize the importance of the youth lag behind in every department of life.
Unfortunately, in this clime, this tested principle of utilization of the youth as agents of national development is grossly taken for granted. The Nigerian youth is rather neglected and abused. Despite constituting more than 50 percent of the country’s population of over 150 million people, almost all levels of governments have fallen short of systematizing policies, programmes and projects that can bring about an appreciative level of development in our youth.
The end result of this neglect is a demoralized and frustrated youth that easily takes to crimes, prostitution and drug abuse! Some of them have been turned into thugs by the political class. Many social commentators have attributed the insurgency crisis in the north to the unacceptable level of unemployment among the youth. An idle mind, it is said, is the devil’s workshop! What do we have with the extreme impoverishment of the youth due to unavailable employment opportunities? Disenchanted youth, who are angry with the system, will not hesitate in taking to anything illegal and illegitimate just to survive. Today, teenagers are among the major perpetrators of advanced fee fraud, popularly called ‘419’.
Developed countries are totally aware of the worth of their youth, hence they are regarded as an asset. Most importantly, these countries cater to the needs of their youth and provide them education, employment, and recreational activities such as a healthy and competitive environment to prepare the youth to lead the country through thick and thin. If the youth are not in the right direction and are unconcerned about the future of the nation, they will become a burden for the nation and will not play any productive role.
However, all hope is not lost. We can still, as a nation, make a U-turn by putting in place policies and programmes that can put our youth on the right path. Amongst many approaches that can be utilised in developing our youth is sport. We can harness the potential of sport as a veritable tool for youth development. Actors in sport, academia, private sector, non-profit and non-governmental organizations, government agencies, UN agencies and international organizations, the media, the general public as well as young people are increasingly interested in the potential of sport as a tool to reach personal, community, national and international development objectives. They are also interested in how sport can be used as a tool for addressing some of the challenges that arise from humanitarian crises and in conflict and post-conflict settings.
Absolutely, sport is an indisputable tool that can be used to develop and take the youth out of the streets. Sport is supposed to be a means of attaining physical fitness while providing entertainment and pleasure but in our world today, sport is anything but that. Sports have become a very big and serious business all around the world. Unbelievably huge investments are now made into sports business that it has become a lucrative venture with enormous turnover. It has become an international entertainment industry with global revenues of more than $38 billion in television rights and ticketing alone. Millions of people around the world earn their living from sport-related interests.
Now is the time that we must also key into the approach of using sports for development. All levels of government must start with aggressive renewal and building of more sports facilities all around the country. The Federal Government can lead the way in this regard by rehabilitating the neglected National Stadium in Lagos and all others across the country. The National Stadium in Lagos used to be a hub for sporting activities in the country and the home ground for our national teams. The lost glory of this stadium must be restored now! All other derelict and abandoned sporting facilities all over Nigeria must be resuscitated and put into good use.
The newly commissioned 30,000-capacity Akwa Ibom stadium in Uyo is a pointer that all is not lost in the renewal of efforts at sports development in Nigeria. Other state governments can also emulate Lagos State in collaborating with the private sector to ensure investment in sport and youth development. Lagos has become a destination for sports fair and fun. The Office of Sports in the state has continued to encourage private sector partnership and has over the years driven to make Lagos State the hub for international tournaments in Africa. The state recently hosted a beach soccer fiesta tagged ‘Copa Lagos’ that attracted participant teams from all around the world including Brazil.
It is evident that the destructive course our youth are charting can still be reversed. If appropriately managed, sports provide opportunities for youth to learn some of life’s important lessons and can potentially provide them the avenue to be engaged and prosper positively. As a country and a people we have the resilience to turn our despair into hope. We have the potential to turn adversity into an advantage and the only way to attain this is not to look back but rather to proactively plan into the future for our youth to soar again. The time for the rebirth of sports for youth development in Nigeria is now.
Michael Oputeh
