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Prince Frank Ukonga with Mr Purpose Osamwonyi Leader
of the Organization of African Youth in front of the Youth Council in Benin |
FRANK UKONGA LECTURE
14: AFRICAN YOUTH DAY: THE IMPERATIVES OF YOUTH DEVELOPMENT TO THE ADVANCEMENT
OF DEMOCRACIES: A GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE- BY PRINCE FRANK UKONGA- PRESIDENTIAL ASPIRANT OF THE NIGERIAN
FEDERATION 2015 POLLS. LECTURE, DELIVERED TO THE AFRICAN YOUTH CONGRESS, TO
MARK WORLD YOUTH DAY IN NIGERIA, BENIN CITY ON THE 1st november 2012
TOPIC: - THE
IMPERATIVES OF YOUTH DEVELOPMENT TO THE ADVANCEMENT OF DEMOCRACIES: A GLOBAL
PERSPECTIVE-
Fellow compatriots,
I acknowledge the presence of the Chairman of this occasion, important
dignitaries and the large presence of youth from across Nigeria in attendance
and all protocols observed.
I thank the organizers of this event for inviting me in the capacity of
Special Guest of Honor, a position usually reserved for Governors, Presidents
and highly achieving personalities of the world and this translates to your
endorsement of my Presidential ambition of the Nigerian Federation in the 2015
polls as your gesture have yoked me among the sages. I also express my sincere
gratitude for your endorsement and votes in the just concluded Edo Governorship
election when I contested along side with H.E. Comrade Adams Oshiomhole,
General Charles Airhiavbere of PDP, Chief Solomon Edebiri of ANPP and other
gladiators. I am highly elated and would continue to cherish this great respect
and opportunities till the end of time.
I must quickly commend the organizers of this youth retreat and more so
that it is coming from the Edo state of the Mid West Region that has a large
population of hard working youth cadre that is unfortunately marginalized in
the schemes of things of the Nigerian federalism as in States and Local Government creation. This Edo Youth
retreat, also adds strength to the just concluded Youth and sports development
Retreat of President Goodluck Jonathan as well as the South African Youth
Retreat organized two weeks ago by the former President of South Africa H.E. Tambo
Mbeki. These great leaders of Africa, including my honorable self share similar
streams of consciousness about the imperatives of youth development to the
advancements of African economies and democracies.
I congratulate the entire youth of Nigeria and Africa at the occasion
of the African youth Day as I acknowledge your immense contributions to the liberation
of the African continent from the tripartite anti bellum phenomenology of
slavery, colonization and imperialism and though a lot has been done in this regards
to free Africa from various debaucheries, but it is time for another emergence
of youth vanguard to further strengthen the struggles against emerging threats
to all and sundry of the African Race and inadvertently the global village.
These new emerging threats that threatens all of us in contemporary
times is many and camouflage in various garbs and if not checked could be the
remote causality of the failure and fatigues of genuine democratic culture of
the African continent and perhaps threaten the growth of democracies on a
global perspective.
Prominent among these new
problems and perhaps most important is the question of restive youth in Nigeria
and across the entire globe caused by youth frustrations as in the aspects of
redundancies of joblessness, terrorism, kidnappings, high crimes, prostitution,
Aids / HIV pandemic, racism/ tribalism, hunger, homelessness, environmental
degradation and climatic catastrophes to mention but a few.
The imperatives of youth development in strengthening emerging
democracies of the world cannot be over emphasized as the youth constitute the
majority of the voting demography in Africa and perhaps the entire world.
Whence, it is mandatory to focus on positive youth development if Africa and
the world must jockey towards sustainable vibrant democratic dispensations.
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| Prince Frank Ukonga with Mr Purpose Osamwonyi Leader of the Organization of African Youth in front of the Youth Council in Benin |
Positive youth education and empowerment is the panacea to most of
these problems which will translate to meaning that more emphasis has to be placed
on qualitative education and perhaps to focus attention on a new paradigm shift
in our educational systems to practical technical education as advised by the
great Black intelligentsia of the African American genre, Booker .T Washington
who noted that positive technical education to the peoples of the Black Race on
a global basis will tremendously encourage enterprise in the field of self
employment via small and medium scale industries and would generate the spirit
of enterprise germane to the greatness of Africans on a global basis. Perhaps
at this juncture we need to re visit these great dissertations of the great
African American sage. Basorum MKO Abiola, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Malam Aminu
Kano, Dr Namdi Azikiwe, Chief Gabriel Onaivi Ukonga ( Father of Prince Frank
Onaivi Ukonga),Chief Antony Enahoro, Chief Olu Falae – Chairman SDMP all
support free and qualitative education at all levels to the entire citizens of
the world- they are the best Social Democrats Africa ever had.
The leadership of the African continent and all other emerging
democracies of the world has to focus
more attention on prudent management of human and economic resources of
their various Nations addressed towards job creation, support for small and
medium scale industries as well as youth and women empowerment through the
provision of technical training centers of artesian and encouragements of
graduates via provision of seed capital/ start up capital ; this initiative
will ameliorate the current scarcity of jobs on a global basis.
Still on the leadership question, the aspect of corruption and looting
of public and private treasuries of many African countries as well as many
emerging democracies of the world has to be checked. This will translate to
putting in place various security networks, due process, accountability
including international cooperation with other security agencies of the world
to help track looted moneys from these democracies and expose corrupt leaders.
The transparency international and other security agencies of the advanced
world are doing quite well in tracking cases of money laundering by African
leaders and their surrogates but more is required if these frail African democracies
are to survive into the 22 century.
In many African countries funds that are meant to train the youth as
great leaders of tomorrow are looted away by the leaders. More so funds to
create enabling environment for business and enterprise to thrive that will
create jobs and improve the overall economy via accelerated infrastructural
development are all looted away. Whence African democracies groan under poor
electricity generation and distributions, bad roads and highways, poor hospitals
and health programs, unsafe airports and colonial backward rail systems and
poor aviation infrastructures, poor educational facilities as in some parts of
Nigeria for example we have about 10 million Almanjiris youth and children
roaming the streets of Nigeria without education( this was remarked by the
former Head of State of Nigeria H.E. General Abdulsalami Abubakar) while he
also canvassed for a pro active service delivery policy thrust, by the various
states and federal governments to the electorate which in fact is below average
in international standard practice. H.E. Tambo Mbeki former President of South
Africa also chided the leadership of South Africa last week when he was
delivering a lecture to commemorate the birthday of the great African sage
Oliver Tambo about the new trend in the
leadership of African states and in particular South Africa which he claimed is
drifting in to a visionless milieu and this is the case of leadership across
the entire African countries when view from a wider perspective of the Tambo
Mbeki’s streams of consciousness.
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| Prince Frank Ukonga delivering the lecture in Benin on the 1st Nov 2012 |
The President of the United States of America H.E. Barack Obama while unveiling
new Strategic Partnership plans for sub Saharan Africa in June 2012 noticed that
the teaming population of African youth is a great strength to the development
of vibrant economic and democratic institutions in Africa if well harnessed. but
he noticed that Africa is bugged down by some set of leadership cabals that
insists on looting African treasuries, rigging elections, causing confusions ,
redundancies and other problems that endangers Africa’s economic and democratic
prosperities and warned that the United
States will not fold its arms and allow any sort of irredentists to ruin the
potentials of the African continent, that if well harnessed will be the next
economic world power of tomorrow. President Obama is rightly guided and a great
friend of the African youth. I agree completely with his candid observations.
It is pertinent to mention quickly that the new trend of corporate
greed of Multinational companies on a global scale are also partly responsible
for this global recession causing joblessness, redundancies and hardship to all
and sundry.
At this juncture it is important to advise the African youths to take
the bull by its horns by looking away from the various emerging idiosyncrasies
of the African continent and embrace the spirit of hard work and enterprise.
Which will translate to invigorating research and development, research and
innovations in self employment, rather than fold hands and be waiting for jobs that
are not just available. Some university graduates have been writing
applications for the past 10 years after graduation without employment. In one
certain advert to employ only 20 people about 12,000 youth showed up in
Nigeria. If these set of youth has been adequately industrious they would have
noticed this anomaly and stop looking for jobs but invent new ways to get
themselves employed through small and medium scale concepts that will employ
others. The world richest man today is bill Gates he has never written an
application in his life, he had an idea of making computer soft wares and he
pursued the establishment of that concept that is helping the entire human race
today.
Same with the late Steve Jobs, Aliko Dangote never wrote an application
in his life yet he is perhaps the richest African today employing millions of
peoples across the entire world with his ideas and Great Spirit of enterprise,
same with Femi Otedola and many others. I have never written an application in
my life to work for somebody else, though I have been offered jobs from far and
near but I always turned them down aside from consultations and advisory
capacities, as I am cognizance that the best thing you can ever do to get up is
to have a maximum use of your time and use it judiciously in empowering
yourself and that is what is recommended in the books of – The Richest Man in
Babylon and -How to Think and Grow Rich by Norman Vincent Pearce. I hope you
all will embrace my candid observations and continue to promote the spirit of
enterprise via positive technical education and self employment initiatives and
actions.
This my recommendation of self employment initiatives and actions is a
sure way to grow out of the poverty and redundancy trap in Nigeria and Africa,
This will grow you to become more financially stable, experienced and confident
as a self made person and you will become less vulnerable and nobody can hire
you as a thug to do diabolical evils as
in election rigging, suicide bombing, male and female prostitutions, stealing,
kidnapping, armed robbery etc.
I must also caution the African youth about the company you keep. Keep
away from bad friends and people of shady characters and in fact report them to
the police if you can. If you move with a bad friend, he/ she will eventually
drag you into the evil club and their ways. I will also use this opportunity to
advise parent to pay more attention to the upbringing of their children and
youth making sure they bring them up as positive great citizens of Nigeria and
Africa.
I will advise the Nigerian and African youth to cultivate Godly virtues.
To respect and fear God and to relate with one another in the philosophy of St
Augustine who noted the imperatives of mankind on earth as addressed to be at
peace with God and at concord with fellow mankind. These constitute the very
kernel of the golden rules of creation in esoteric knowledge as to do onto
others what you will like others to do unto you. This is very necessary to the
establishment of democratic cultures the world over. The youth should abhor
junk culture order and cultivate sound ethical behavioral standards of the
African superlative aesthetics.
I will also advise the Nigeria youth to be cautious of sex. The AID/
HIV diseases are real and it is killing a large population of Nigeria and
African youth work force. In some African countries up to 35% of the youth are
AID/ HIV positive and this means AIDS/ HIV have the potential to wipe out an
entire generation of youth of Nations who pay lip service to the problems of
casual sex. The best way to avoid AIDS/ HIV is through sexual abstinence or if
you must have sex then use condom as the recommended practice of safe sex.
Youth must be a life and healthy to be able to contribute to the development of
economic and democratic institutions in Africa and the world at large. I am
also advising parents and schools to give positive sex education to the youths.
Though it is imperative to cognitize that positive qualitative
education and provision of jobs for the larger peoples of the society is the
duty of the government through various schemes and policy thrust / budgeting
that generates production and employment and that is what we offer at SDMP- Social Democratic Mega Party which is
the truly youth friendly progressive party in Nigeria and Africa. Our manifesto
offer Nigerians free and qualitative education at all levels, Jobs for all,
industrial and agricultural revolution etc. And I am calling on the entire
youth of Nigeria and Africa in generality to support SDMP in coming to power in
their various states and local governments as well as in the Federal Government
addressed to create job opportunities, strong economies, vibrant democracies in
Nigeria and Africa. Long live Federal Republic of Nigeria, Long live Africa.
Prince Frank Onaivi Ukonga
Governorship Candidate, Edo State, 2012 polls.
