Foundation tasks government on favourable policies for youths

President of the Prince Davidson Save Life Child Foundation, Ebelechukwu Njoku, has appealed to government at all levels to create policies that would meaningfully engage the youths and enhance their chances in life.

Njoku told The Guardian that youths were volatile and so should be well guided through programmes that would enrich and equip them positively.

He said it was in realisation of this fact that the foundation was set up to nurture the youths and help them achieve their goals in life through its programmes.

“We started in 2000 after I conducted a research in 1999. It was the outcome of that research that gave birth to this project. That year, I needed an agency to work with. I approached the National Agency for Food, Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC) and the programme was approved under the administration of Prof. Dora Akunyili in 2003.

“After the approval, we launched our first programme and since then we have been hitting the ground running.

“There is an urgent need for the government and corporate bodies to create programmes that will rightly equip the youths and shape their thoughts. Nobody is born a criminal, but we realised that as these children start growing up, they grow with what they see and absorb all manner of behaviours.

“In Nigeria today, economic hardship has made most parents to abandon their homes. Some of these children grow up under the influence of peer group,” he explained.

Njoku charged government and corporate organisations to help NGO’s with viable youth programmes to achieve their objectives, adding: “We organise workshops and seminars to enlighten the youths. We partner schools in reaching out to the youths.

“We are committed to raising youth awareness on the dangers of drug abuse and other vices so that they can live a healthy life style. If companies and corporate bodies can support projects like this it will go a long way in helping to reduce crime in the country.”