Panellists at the summit. Photo: Twitter@Minister of youths.
President Muhammadu Buhari says young people around the world have proven that they have the capability to drive the change process, contributing positively to the socio-economic development of their communities.
Declaring open the Commonwealth Youth and Students Summit in Abuja, the President said his administration had heavily invested on youth development, creating formidable platforms, through which youths could hone their leadership skills.
President Buhari, who was represented by his Chief of Staff, Professor Ibrahim Gambari, pledged that as a member of the Commonwealth, Nigeria would continuously create an enabling environment for young people to blossom and reach their potential.
Earlier, the Minister of Sports and Youth Development, Mr. Sunday Dare, urged African governments to increase the budget for youth development to about 30 percent, while sustaining funding of youth-centric policies and programmes.
He highlighted the exploits of the African youth in various spheres of endeavour, ranging from technology, science, Artificial Interligence, robotics, E-commerce, digital marketing, creative arts to entertainment, saying: that African youth are making great impacts and standing up to be counted.
Photo: Twitter@Minister of youths
Nigeria is currently the headquarters of the Commonwealth Youth Council, and 21 countries of the Commonwealth in the African region are attending the four-day summit in Abuja.
Reporting by Abdullah Bello; Editing by Chinasa Ossai