FADAYIN: Millions Of Youths Are Either Unemployed, Impoverished By Odd Jobs

Rev. Paul Fadayini, district overseer of Foursquare Gospel Church, Ifako-Ijaiye, Lagos, is the chairman, International Conference for Ministers and Leaders (ICML 2013) of the Foursquare Gospel Church in Nigeria. The teacher and preacher of the gospel is a firm believer in the ability of youths to lead the charge for reformation of Africa. He spoke with BISI ALABI WILLIAMS on the growing rate of crime among young ones.

Young people are now massively involved in violent crimes, what do you think is responsible for this?
CULTISM, kidnapping or various forms of human trafficking, violent crimes, deadly religious sect rampages are products of pernicious societal ills, which include, entrenched social injustice and economic disparities that have polarised the society into a sea of have-nots and few drops of haves. The people that are direct victims of these social ills are young men and women, who see most of the happenings in the economic, social and political arenas, as activities painting them as social misfits. They feel that they do not belong; they are cheated in so many ways and they have been wronged by some privileged sections of the society. At their best thinking level, they hold that they must avenge, worse still, destroy whatever is within their reach, as at the time their vengeful spirits erupt.
Today, almost every street now has its own cult group. Why is this so, why do you think cultism has blossomed in the country?

Cultism is blossoming today, at the same rate as higher institutions are springing up. Unfortunately, it is a matter of, the more the number of higher institutions, the more the number of students clustering inside mushroom hostels, majority of them hungry and deprived of basic necessities. When they bother to look at the world outside their stuffed hostels, they are confronted with equally pathetic pictures of millions of graduates that are either unemployed or impoverished by odd jobs. Inside and outside the four walls of the campuses, young people see hopelessness and gloom. So, when some cult members approach a curious and ignorant fellow student with one strange doctrine of a better life inside a grove, where brotherhood and fraternity reside to give justice, love and care, how would his deprived soul not opt for that deceptive paradise?

It is true that unemployment is a factor; yet, more empowerment opportunities are opening up. Does it mean that young people are not motivated or they are not being properly groomed and counselled for self-development?
Our young people are aware of the entrepreneurship opportunities in various sectors, but they are equally aware that those opportunities are not just there for every Tom, Dick and Harry to grab. For now, in our country, entrepreneurship financing is still over 70 per cent government matter, and a matter so shrouded in obvious corruption, tribalism and sectionalism. The less than 30 per cent windows of financing provided by the private sector are hard to access by poor young school leavers who cannot afford the needed collateral security.

Again, those who have ventured into small scale-scale businesses, especially, in the ICT sector, may have been frustrated by the poor returns that could not guarantee them economic sustainability. Of course, they are also aware that a scanty number of their old school mates who work with government or gain political posts, are eating up our national treasuries through high-class corruption. These, coupled with the harmful effect of the get-rich syndrome, as well as poor power supply, which militates against expansion of SMEs, are factors to consider.
Religious bodies used to play vital role in youth development. Are religious groups not doing enough?

Religious bodies form only one arm out of, say, a dozen arms that should be on deck toward the straightening of the life of young people. The expression ‘gradually being overwhelmed’ may not be out of place. Fine enough, religious bodies have not relented in preaching, teaching and exemplifying moral uprightness. As we have more places of worship, we also have more far-left religious sects. We may not pin the issue to any particular religion because the crime wave we experience across the globe transcends religious boundary. There is a mixture of agitations that breed crimes and, as we know, the youth are easily influenced.
Are parents and school authorities also missing the point in youth upbringing?

Parents and school authorities are doing their best. No parent will desire his or her child to go wayward. If there is a parent that appears to do so, then we need to cross-examine such. He or she must be a frustrated victim of an imbalanced society in which we live, ditto the school authorities at various levels. If the authorities were not checkmating the youth, this nation would have become very difficult for us to live in.

That is why students submit attestation letters before admission, and there are prohibitive laws that can lead to rustication and other punitive measures. The fact remains that young people do not have good moral examples to emulate from the adults in the society. The globalisation phenomenon is, therefore, due for a review because the more the world is shrinking into a small village, the larger immoral latitude expands.

Can improvement in education help to win back our youths?
The answer is here for us: good governance, justice across the sectors, equity, and good welfare for the youth. I wish to propose that the welfare package given to citizens in many of the advanced countries should be given to the citizens of Nigeria. For instance, we can start by legislating that the Federal Government should continue to give each youth corps member the allowance given during the service year until he or she gets employment.

The private sector could partner with the Federal Government to make the ‘graduate stipend’ policy work. With such prospect ahead, the young ones in schools will be highly motivated to lead upright life and pursue meaningful careers. Parents and other stakeholders should endeavour to encourage the young ones to take to self-employment.