Ini-obong Uko|14 August 2016
"Poverty is the parent of revolution and crime."- Aristotle
It is crystal clear that the economy and value of a nation that was once the "Giant of Africa" not just by nomenclature but by deeds has fallen below expectations. I may not want to point accusing fingers at anyone, even though the downfall of Nigeria to some extent was affected human policies, actions and omissions. I want to, as a way of wishing the Nigerian youths a happy International Youth Day celebration call for a revolutionary war which must be an all inclusive fight for the betterment of our dear country Nigeria.
International Youth Day is an awareness day that was designated by the United Nations in 1999. With the aim of drawing the attention of the governments and non-governmental organizations to a given cultural, economic and legal issues surrounding the youths worldwide. It was first observed on 12 August, 2000.
On the 12th of August, 2015 I decided to show up publicly my interest for youth development by organising an interactive session between the students and some prominent and successful youths in my state – Akwa Ibom state where our guests Speaker for the day Comrade Ubon Marcus FNVP, did justice to the the theme which was "Youth and Civic Engagement".
This year I want to use this medium to reach out to the youths of the world especially Nigerian Youths. The theme of the 2016 International Youth Day is” THE ROAD TO 2030: ERADICATING POVERTY AND ACHIEVING SUSTAINABLE CONSUMPTION AND PRODUCTION”. This year's Day is about achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. It focuses on the leading role of young people in ensuring poverty eradication and achieving sustainable development through sustainable consumption and production.
Sustainable consumption entails the use of products and services that meet the basic needs of communities while safeguarding the needs of future generations. The development and promotion of individual choices and actions that increase the eco-efficiency of consumption of all and minimize waste and pollution is critical to achieving equitable socioeconomic development.
At this point the only way Nigeria can meet up with the world's standard by 2030 is by engaging in "GREEN REVOLUTION".
Over the years, Nigerians have abandoned their beautiful climate and soil texture which is very rich in agriculture and turned the face of the economy to crude oil. Before the discovery of crude oil in Nigeria, we were very rich in Palm oil, that under the watch of King Jaja of Opobo in 1869 the produce were being exported directly to Liverpool. Malaysia a small Asian country came to Nigeria and bought the seeds from us and today they are the second largest exporter of Palm oil in the world. We have other cash crops like maize, millet, rice, yam, coco, rubber etc and even livestock like cows, goats, pigs etc, yet we have not increased in our production to even satisfy our needs that we still import that which we have the capacity to produce. The Green Revolution simply entails a radical investment in agriculture that will bring great income and alleviate poverty in Nigeria.
"The most important kind of freedom
is to be what you really are. You
trade in your reality for a role. You
trade in your sense for an act. You
give up your ability to feel, and in
exchange, put on a mask. There
can't be any large-scale revolution
until there's a personal revolution,
on an individual level. It's got to
happen inside first." – Jim Morrison.
Finally, I call on all Nigerian youths and governments at all levels to embrace this "Green Revolution" and invest in agriculture as this will make Nigeria great again.
HAPPY INTERNATIONAL YOUTH DAY
#IYD2016
Comrade Ini-obong Uko
Is the Vice President (South-South) National Association of University Students (NAUS)
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