Osinbajo: We must invest in youths to tackle high risk of social instability

Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo says there is a need to channel more investments into the youth population for sustainable development.

He said this on Thursday during the launch of the human capital development (HCD) strategy document, at an event held in Abuja.

The HCD programme was launched by the national economic council (NEC), in 2018.

The goal of the programme is to achieve success in three key strategic areas: health and nutrition, education and labour force

The strategy aims to make youths become self-reliant, achieve sustainable economic growth and reduce poverty by 2030.

Osinbajo said a greater percentage of the Nigerian population are youths, so, there is a need for investments in relevant skills.

“Our most important targets and objectives, nationally and regionally, must be on the improvement of the quality of lives, living standards and livelihoods of our people — the happiness, security and general welfare of our population. Clearly, nothing else is as important,” he said.

“Now, we have our strategy documents. But we are in a race against time, locked in a mortal battle with difficult local and global macroeconomic and fiscal circumstances, even as states face deadly civil conflicts and terrorism.

“By 2050, West Africa will have 650 million people. Almost 400 million will be young people, and we must provide quality basic education and healthcare for them — nutrition.

“This is because inadequate nourishment results in sub-optimal learning outcomes and a lifetime of disadvantage, especially in what is becoming a fiercely competitive knowledge economy.

“Also, because idle, youthful populations portend an increased risk of social instability, we must invest in relevant skills as we provide good paying jobs and opportunities.”