The
problems facing young people in this country are numerous. But generally
unemployment,
like in
many other African countries, is number one. It's even more problematic that
one cannot even find an exact figure to quantify the number of unemployed
youths. One can say it's our culture for one person to feed up to twenty
people. However, it is likewise unfair for one person to feed twenty people
when they are all able and healthy. This dependency syndrome should be
discouraged while a culture of independent and self-reliance is imparted to our
young people. I am not saying people should not support each other but rather
this support must be based on real grounds.The issue at hand is serious and is in no small measure making many of
our future generation inactive. Can you imagine youths sitting from morning
till night chatting and drinking attaya? This is unacceptable! I was very
pleased a few days ago when I heard the president emphasising on TV the need
for everyone to feed him or her self. This is the fact. The breadwinners and
supporters of these youths should encourage and show them the ways and means to
earn a living on their own, rather than being dependent on others. We all know
that if someone is very young he or she needs the support and care of his or
her parents and relatives.But this
should not be continued for the rest of ones life. Even as Africans we believe
in caring and sharing but this should not be taken for granted. As more
students are graduating from university and other learning institutions, as
well as those not fortunate to go to school, there is a need to pay more
attention to skills acquisition. The solution to this redundancy in youths, I
firmly believed is the acquisition of skills to provide them with the
groundwork for economic emancipation. As a country we need our own masons, welders,
carpenters, plumbers, electricians etc who will participate in nation building.
When we achieved these we will not need foreigners for our country's skilled
labour. It's undisputed that the country depends on the foreigners for skilled
labour also a good number of workshops belong to them. Yet still the
competition from their Gambian counterparts is not much. As others prefer
depending on others, for some youths migrating to
It is important for youths to make the best use of the opportunities provided to them by the government to develop their own potential. One such institution that is transforming the lives of Gambian youths through skills acquisition is the National Youths Service Scheme.
