By John Ikani
The Commonwealth Youth Ministerial Task Force has announced that Nigeria will host the Commonwealth Youth Secretariat.
The announcement was made by Ugandan politician Hon. Sarah Nyirabashiti Mateke on Thursday at the meeting of the task force, one of the series of events to mark the Commonwealth Head of Government Meetings (CHOGM) 2022 in Kigali.
Mateke, who is also Minister of State for Youth and Children Affairs, Uganda, said terms of reference would be stated soon to guide the Secretariat.
Nigeria’s Minister of Youth and Sports development, Sunday Dare had earlier indicated the West African nation’s interest to host the Secretariat in response to a request by a member on the need to have an administrative infrastructure for young people.
Making the request, Commonwealth Youth Council (CYC) Vice-Chairman Partnerships and Resources, Everton Rattray, harped that the need for one of the member-nations to host the council Secretariat had become necessary, stressing that it would aid in executing the CYC’s projects.
“The mandate of the organisation is carried out through its administration.
“The execution of our projects will only be possible if we have the infrastructure in place and it will be the starting point for people to help us re-establish it.
“So literally, if we don’t have a secretariat, it’s almost as though we are making plans, with no intention of execution,” Rattary said.
On his part, Dare said the CYC would connect easily with the youth programmes in the country, in the event of the establishment of its secretariat in Nigeria.
“With about 1.5 billion youths from the Commonwealth, it is important that they have an administrative office where they can coordinate.
“Looking at the size of the youth population in Nigeria, which is about 150 million and also at the youth programs, like the N-Power, the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) etc, I feel Nigeria will be a good place to host the CYC.
“The Council can connect to the programmes we have in Nigeria, other countries can learn from that and also bring some models from other countries.
“Nigeria has always been a hub when it comes to youth development, given the size of our youths, our innovative minds and more, it would be great to have the CYC secretariat in Nigeria,” Dare added.
