OWERRI — Young African Leaders Initiative (YALI) network, a United States Government initiative for African youth, has urged Nigerian youths to resist being used as tool to perpetrate crime.
YALI Regional Ambassador for Africa, Mr. Abah Ikwue, said this to newsmen in Owerri on Friday while baring his mind on the current spate of insecurity in parts of the country.
Ikwue, a lecturer in the Department of English and Literature of the Alvan Ikoku Federal College of Education, Owerri urged youths to focus more on securing a future for themselves rather than engaging in ethnic or political unrest.
He said that adults who sponsor crimes in the country employ the services of younger persons thereby making it appear that the latter were the masterminds of crime.
He also noted that most sponsors of crime were adults who had given up on life while youths whom he said fall between the ages of 18 and 35 still had chances in life and dreams to pursue.
“Banditry and other crimes are not the brainchild of youths and our youths must not allow themselves to be painted as masterminds of crime.
“Stakeholders on security should look inwards rather than blame youths for crimes perpetrated in society because the youths are busy with trying to secure a future for themselves.
“YALI network strongly disagrees with any agenda to destabilise the polity and we are ready to partner the Federal Government to tackle crime in the country,” Ikwue said.
Speaking on the role of the girl-child in mitigation of crime, Ikwue advised young Nigerian women to choose career pursuit over early marriage like their male counterpart so as to steer clear of crime and have a voice in society.
According to him, the female child should be encouraged to pursue a career as a way of distracting her from criminality and achieving gender balance.
“Some of our young women have the wrong orientation and should be helped to shift focus to career pursuit so as to find a pride of place in the society.
“This will give them a sense of accomplishment, thus making them unavailable for crime and criminality”, he said.
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