By Abiola Olawale
The Federal Government has announced that the highly anticipated national youth conference is scheduled to take place in February 2025.
This event, according to the federal government, is aimed at gathering young people from across the country to discuss pressing issues, share innovative ideas, and collaborate on solutions that will shape their future.
The New Diplomat reports that in his Independence Day address, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu made a significant announcement regarding the formation of a national youth conference set to take place over 30 days.
The President’s statement came as part of his response to the youth-led protests, including #EndBadGovernance in August 2024 and the #FearlessOctober in October 2024.
Tinubu had said: “The conference aims to provoke meaningful dialogue and empower our young people to participate actively in nation-building. By ensuring that their voices are heard in shaping the policies that impact their lives, we are creating a pathway for a brighter tomorrow.”
However, since then, the Federal Government has been quiet on the formation of the Confab.
Giving updates, the Minister of Youth Development, Mr Ayodele Olawande, said the youth conference will begin in February 2025.
According to him, delegates would only converge in the FCT, Abuja, for one week after spending three weeks engaging youths at the grassroots.
“We will do the confab by the first week of February. It is not going to be the usual confab. That is why about three weeks of this confab will be spent with the grassroots.
“We have changed the idea. The President has given us the go-ahead to come up with something more action-oriented, and after clarifying it with the Chief of Staff and getting his input, we will announce the modalities before the year (2024) ends.
“We will announce the committees. We’ll hit the ground running by mid-January or the last week of January. We will nominate representatives from each ministry and agency to collaborate with the delegates.
“We will announce those people; the President will approve and inaugurate them, and we will do the confab properly by the first week of February. I can assure you that we are going to the grassroots.”
