Dr Raymond Edoh is a Nigerian youth ambassador to the United States and secretary-general of Nigerian Youth Congress. In this interview with DANIEL TYOKUA, he speaks on why the Nigerian youths should be proud of their country.
Tell Nigerians why the affairs of the youth are uppermost in your heart
Yes, I believe so much in the youth, is because I am a youth, and secondly the youth occupies a high percentage of the total population in the nation. The working-age group of the nation is also dominated by youths, making a prove to this fact, in the electoral process, a large number of what will make anyone the winner. You will agree with me that 70-80% are youth, so the youth are the workforce of Nigeria and I happen to be one so I believe in them so much and that’s why my activities are within the scope of the youth.
Some of the challenges bedeviling the country, such as kidnappings, banditry and terrorism are believed to be perpetuated by the youths. Why do you think the youths are doing this?
Most of these crimes committed by the youths are done under the influence of drugs. Also, I believe that the government should be able to create an enabling environment for the traders.
So you will realize that at the end of the day the traders are paying for what hey did not make in your shops or businesses. That’s why I believe that if the government will give the youths an enabling environment, the whole banditry, kidnappings and other security challenges today will stop.
Some people argued that Nigeria youths are not mature for Nigeria politics, because of the political derail we have in the country and that’s why youth inclusiveness is low.
First and foremost I would like to say that the youths are the backbone of the nation. The youths are also the most educated. So, if anyone is saying that the youths are not ready to occupy positions of authority in this country, then he’s wrong. I think the only part am gonna agree with is the financial challenge in contesting for political offices.
For instance, N15 billion, as against N1 billion in the past is too much for most youths. So, how can a youth who is competent raise N15 billion to run for the presidency? So these are measures people out there are holding as deliberate actions by the government to climb down the ability of the youth to demand good governance.
We don’t have the money to spend on campaigns for different elective offices, but my happiness is that under the present administration of President Muhammadu Buhari, for the first time in the history of this country, a lot of people who don’t have money, a lot of youths, and a lot of poor people who are nobody, who have no name at all, were able to get into various political positions, unlike previous administrations, where we had to spend a whole lot of money.
I have every opportunity to work in any part of the world. I still choose to be here and my reasons for being here are nothing but to tell you that for me Nigeria is one of the best nations in the world. I have been to many parts of the world, including the US, UK and so on, but there is something about this nation, Nigerian, because that is the only country I can call my country.
And I want to also use this medium to charge Nigerian youths and the 240 million Nigerians that this is the only country we call our own. Sometimes, my heart bleeds when I see people all around, most especially youths, saying Nigeria is so fucked up, Nigeria is this or that. They say a whole lot of bad things about Nigeria and the Nigerian politics. They will tell you their excuses why Nigeria is bad.
Nigerians must know that the migration department will not take 240 million Nigerians, and that is why am saying and charging them to learn to be positive about this nation. We have over 120million youths in Nigeria and the migration department will not take 120 million youths, not even up to 0.1% out of this number. So, the best we can do is to encourage ourselves and join hands together to build this nation.
At the moment there are several agitations by the Nigerian youths in the country. For instance, Nnamdi Kanu is leading the agitation for Biafra. We have Sunday Adeyemo known as Sunday Igboho leading the agitation for Oduduwa Republic. Also, there are other youth forums out there saying different things. What is Nigeria Youth Congress doing to intervene in this situation?
Like I said earlier, Nigerian youths are my heroes and heroine and they will remain so because that is my passion. Then I want to use this medium to say to Nigerians, most especially the youth, to be proud of Nigeria. Don’t condemn or lose hope in Nigeria.
When there is agitation, when there is condemnation by individuals, yes something is leading to that, they could be self-interest, it could be frustrations from the government, from individuals, but remember that is just a view and a view is not a decision. So I call all of the agitators, either Yoruba, Igbo or from other parts of the country to be proud of Nigeria never to lose hope in Nigeria.
You would agree with me that we have a high number of Nigerians who are highly educated, highly exposed. We have high numbers of Nigerians who are into various businesses all around the world and we are not on the boredom rather we are always among the best. So, if we are in this category, then we should be able to compete with other parts of the world.
However, I am not against anybody agitating. Agitating is part of the rights of every human being. So anybody could agitate, but it’s their view and it will only become a decision when everybody in Nigeria comes and says yes this is what we want.
As an economist, I will tell you that where I came from everybody is a farmer and if you observe very well like in Benue States, the food basket of the nation, you have up to 90% of family members who are farmers. Even myself here with you, I am a farmer. So, I will thank the President for his quest to encourage the agricultural sector in Nigeria which a lot of people have benefited.
Certainly all can’t benefit at the same time, but in the process of time, everyone will. Anybody who says to you, yes you can view America from this part of the world that oh you know what everybody is good in America, all the farmers are doing great, all the farmers are on average. The truth is to those of us who are there who know little about them, we research and put a lot of things together to be able to talk to people with authority using facts, figures, and our experiences. They are not excellent the way we think they are.
A Nigerian child is one of the most hardworking youth in the world, I can tell you this. I go to some parts of the world sometimes when I see how Nigerians are working hard I say God thank you so much for this because the truth is that our economy is not so strong.
