The Nigerian Young Professionals Forum (NYPF) says Nigeria and other African countries need support to develop human capital which it says is a “critical condition for sustainable development and stem the tide of illegal migration”.
The group made this call when its executive team had a breakfast meeting at Financial Times headquarters in London.
The NYPF team, which was led by Moses Siloko Siasia, its president, deliberated with the media organisation on how to solve some of the most critical problems in Africa involving young people such as illegal migration, cyber-crime and terrorism.
Speaking further, Siasia had noted that in the effort to develop Africa “if we neglect or ignore Nigeria, it is as well that you are ignoring or neglecting the rest of Africa, the reason being that Nigeria, as a first-mover stands in the middle of Africa’s development, needs to give Nigeria’s contribution to Africa’s young population”.
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The group noted that young Africans are leaving the continent for greener pastures in Europe, Canada, Asia, and America due to incompetent leadership in the continent of which African leaders think only about the next elections and not the next generation.
The NYPF also discussed the growing spate of cybercrime in Africa noting that this has had a negative impact on global businesses.
To solve the problem of cyber-crime, the NYPF insisted that the various governments must put in place very viable legislative instruments and laws that would help to checkmate activities of criminals who engage in cyber fraud.
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On terrorism, the NYPF says Nigeria and rest of Africa may remain a good recruitment ground for global and continental terrorism due largely to the fact that young people in Africa are economically disadvantaged and would be easily attracted by any form of rewards that helps to alleviate their poverty.
The NYPF urged multinational companies operating in Nigeria and the rest of Africa to ensure that they tailor their operations towards promoting human rights and seek ways to create suitable and sustainable jobs for young Africans who are in terrible need of jobs.
On its part, the Financial Times represented by Mark Carwardine, the director for Africa and Middle East, and Larry Kenney, its sales manager Africa and Middle East, expressed its desire to continuously promote inclusive governance across African through its medium, saying that the media organization would always support initiatives that are geared towards the development and economic prosperity of Africa, especially as it concerns youths of Africa.
The visit was part of the events leading to the Nigerian Young Professionals Forum’s summit in the United Kingdom at the Olympia Hilton Hotel Knightsbridge London on September 14, 2019, under the theme “Competent Leadership: Key to Unleashing Nigeria’s Potentials”.
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