Youths
are cream of any nation. It is an indisputable fact that when young people are
not employed they resort to anything to make a living.
News
is circulating on social media and other portal news networks in which one
Cherno Sulayman Jallow had his hand cut off with a machete during a street
fight with one Azziz Ndow in London Corner. The news is not only terrifying but
worrisome.
Authorities
should consider the plight of youth and create avenues to positively engage
them to be productive citizens and not liabilities. Ignoring them or leaving
them to loiter around unproductively without harnessing their potentials in
national development would surely have dire consequences. To better understand
how to move the youths forward towards national development, there must be a
careful examination of rationale for expanding the youths frontier for active
participation in national development.
Travelling
through the streets of Serre Kunda and most urban centres and seeing how some
of our youths loiter around hopelessly, leaves much to be desired.
It
is true that problems associated with unemployment are many, which includes
increase in the crime rate, hard drug abuse, frustration, dependency, migration
and the list goes.
But
how do we empower our youth and take them from their street ghettoes? We should
have in mind that the development of nations is fully dependent on the
abilities of youths. The power of youths must be positively utilised in all
areas like health, education, technology, business, trade, etc. and integrated
with moral value education to spread peace and welfare throughout the country.
Certainly,
the above mentioned problems would be a thing of the past when the young of the
population are provided with gainful employment. It may be true that no nation
can provide employment for all its citizens.
But
let’s create or initiate avenues that would have a direct bearing on empowering
their welfare. This, we believe calls for multi-faceted approach. This makes
the work of public – private partnership crucial. When youths are empowered or
recruited into skills training ventures, the country will certainly get rid of
violent crime rate and illicit drug abuse.
“The
devil they say finds work for idle hands.”
“Juvenile
crime is not naturally born in the boy, but is largely due either to the spirit
of adventure that is in him, to his own stupidity, or to his lack of
discipline, according to the nature of the individual.”
Robert
Baden-Powell
