The Nigerian Youth Coalition (NYC) — an apex umbrella coalition of the various Nigerian youth organizations has presented three bills to the National Assembly to address key issues that have dominated public discourse in the aftermath of the #EndSARS protests.
The three cardinal bills are National Youth Development Commission Bill, National Youth Right Bill and Education Right Bill.
The bills were handed over to the leadership of both the Nigerian Senate and the House of Representatives on Thursday in Abuja, with copies transmitted to President Muhammadu Buhari through the Minister for Youth and Sports Development, Mr Sunday Dare.
The President of NYC, Barrister Oladotun Hassan in a statement made available to The New Diplomat said the National Youth Development Commission Bill was aimed at regulating and creating an enabling environment through the instrumentality of the law “to create youth standardization and regulatory institution committed to the provision of laws for protection of all rights and privileges for all youths between ages 12 to 45 years of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, irrespective of sex, ethnicity, religion, ideology or political affiliations, expected to be simultaneously domesticated in all the 36 states and FCT respectively.”
According to the Coalition, the bill if passed would ensure the establishment of a National Youth Trust Fund, “which shall remain accessible to all Nigerian youths through an established National Youth Microfinance bank institutions in all the 774 local governments nationwide, wherein specifically monthly 10% (Subject to increase and acceptability of all Nigerian Youths) Youth Derivatives before joint sharing by the federal, states and local governments from the federation account through the Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) Revenue Accounts.”
Hassan, who is also the President of the Yoruba Council of Youths Worldwide (YCYW) further said through the proposed legislation, “5% Telecommunications Funds via deductible tariffs charges by telecommunication companies in Nigeria, and 5% Oil and Gas Revenue Fund deductible on every revenue of sales from the NNPC, NLNG and other oil and gas private companies nationwide, and any other national youth investment funds, schemes and national youth policy plans supports shall be deposited solely into the National Youth Trust Fund, directly funded by the Central Bank of Nigeria.”
“While the National Education Right Bill is aimed at regulating and creating an enabling education rights and privileges law, wherein not less than 25% budgetary allocation shall be alloted and released to the education sector, with other positively driven ideas and unprecedented advantages that will reshape the Nigeria’s education sector, wherein Education Trust Fund, TETFUND and other education related schemes and funds shall be regulated by the National Education Development Council.
“This bill shall equally provide for free and qualitative education from primary, secondary, adult literacy and vocational training, while special education grant and scholarships to students in university and other tertiary institutions shall be given to the indigent and other less privileged citizens.
“Thus, this bill reiterate the need for compulsory teaching of the following subjects: history, anti corruption studies, citizens rights and national security studies, moral instruction and code of conduct studies and indigenous languages in our education curriculums Nationwide.”
The NYC added that the National Youth Right bill would provide for the protection of youth rights in accordance with the African Charter of Human Rights and Universal Rights.
“All leading youth organizations like NYCN, NANS, NAPS, NYO, NYP, NYC, CFNN, CSG, CNG shall be duly recognized by the new bill, if passed this will go a long way to aggressively salvage the ailing problems in Nigeria.”
President of NYC, Hassan, disclosed that the bills were presented to the National Assembly alongside Coalition of Southern Groups (CSG) led by Yoruba Council of Youths Worldwide (YCYW), Ohaneze Ndigbo Youth Council, Ijaw Youth Council, Association of Southern Nigerian Students (ASONIS), and Coalition of Northern Groups (CNG) led by Arewa Consultative Forum among others.
