Body urges youths to rise against terrorism

Nigerian youths have all been urged to take part in the fight against terrorism and violent extremism, or else, run the risk of disappointing their generation. The call was made recently during a youth forum organised by the International Youth Council at the University of Lagos.

During this forum which grouped together activists and students to discuss on the theme: “Youths: building peace,” the National Coordinator of the Nigeria Youth Peace Initiative, Mr. Lawal Rafiu Adeniran informed that the African Union and the United Nations have pledged their support for all youths peace-keeping initiatives through the African Youth Charter and United Nations Security Council Resolution 2250. As such, youths have been sufficiently empowered for the fight and have no excuse to fail, he said.

Stating that the prevalence of violent extremism is a major bane to sustainable peace and development in the country, Adeniran notified that the gathering aims to raise awareness on how youth participation, protection, partnership and engagements can prevent violent extremism and foster sustainable peace and development, to engage and strengthen local and national networks of young people focused on addressing violent extremism in their own communities, provide an opportunity to share experiences, challenges, and best practices to prevent/counter violent extremism across Nigeria and also seek for collaboration and partnership from all stakeholders for effective engagement.

Information kits further informed that Nigeria Youth 4 Peace Initiative (NY4PI) is a youth led Non-Governmental Organisation, created in 2016 to provide a platform for youths to contribute to peace building. It was equally born to enforce United Nations Security Council Resolution 2250 which enjoins all youths to be involved in peace keeping.

NY4PI’s vision, it was gathered, is to see a society where there is peace, justice and respect for human rights. Strategies put in place to achieve this goal include advocacy, peace education, capacity building, training, radio programming, research, mobilising resources, partnership and dialogue.

Franca Sulem-Yong