By Abbas Bamalli
An International Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), Mercy Corps Nigeria, has advocated for peace, harmony and unity amongst youths in Katsina State.
Mr Philip Ikita, Mercy Corps Senior Programme Manager, made the advocate in Katsina on Thursday, at the celebration of the 2024 International Youths Day.
According to Mr Ikita, youths should engage in meaningful contributions towards peace and harmony in their respective communities, as they are future leaders.
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The programme manager further said that peaceful living among the youths can lead to various developments across the state and also in their communities.
He added that they are important in every society, therefore the government should give them more priority, saying that Mercy Corps is committed towards their development.
According to him, the role of the youth is to promote a safer and peaceful community as the society is full of criminal activities of which most of it is related to youths.
“In the four Local Government Areas (LGAs) that we work with, Kankara, Danmusa, Batsari and Jibia, we discovered that the youths are energetic and ready to promote peace in their communities.
“Some dignitaries here are not youth, but are here to support them and discuss ways in which each of them can play big role in ensuring peaceful community.
“We have People With Disabilities (PWDs), young farmers and secondary school students here, and everyone is supposed to play their role in the community,” Ikita said.
He further expressed hope that the programme will give birth to a peaceful community as it will affect Katsina and the northwest as a whole.
In his remarks, the state’s Commissioner of youths and sports development, Alhaji Aliyu Lawal lauded the NGO for sponsoring various meaningful programmes in the state.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Commissioner was represented by Alhaji Sani Yahaya, the Director of Youths Development in the ministry.
According to him, the state government has long been partners in promoting peace and harmony among the youths, pledging to sustain the tempo.
He added that the commitment of the NGO in the state, especially towards facilitating farmers/herders conflict resolution across some communities is commendable.
“The day is celebrated annually to honour and recognise the achievements of young people, as well as to draw public attention to the challenges young people are facing as they strive to contribute their quota to national development,”he said.
The celebration was organised by the UN Migration (IOM), Mercy Corps, Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD), National Youths Council of Nigeria, and funded by the European Union (EU).
(NAN)