Whichever way you look at it the ambivalently and critically complex nature of the Youth question in Sierra Leone makes it almost mandatory for any progressive government to lend some political will into addressing it albeit willy-nilly. Sierra Leone has a very youthful population unlike South Korea where the ageing dominates. Some months ago the BBC even made the comment that South Korea was so worried about its threateningly dwindling youth population that the government allowed workers to leave work early to go home and make babies. The youth population imbalance is part of nature’s own way of life’s disparities. African countries that are normally considered poor are the ones with large youth populations. Our countries generally do not have very particular provisions for people in their old age…their situations are for the most part left to their families to bear.
Some seven years ago or so the first National Youth Policy was formulated which was meant to kick-start efforts to give the Sierra Leone youth some direction. At the time there existed a separate Youth and Sports Ministry headed by Dr. Denis Bright. The document was seen as good for a start but then lacked the kind of push and pep to make it real active. However it contained quite a lot of salient policy statements that needed sound actions to push the process of marching the youth forward. Many Youth Serving Agencies pushed for going beyond the policies and actually proffered strategies. According to that policy itself a review of it was to take place around 2005. Quite a lot of Agencies working on youth issues at the time even included the National Youth Policy Review process as a foremost agenda. The NMJD took lead in this in Eastern Sierra Leone and also facilitated action in other parts of the country with financial support. Series of consultations were held countywide under the umbrella of the Forum of Youth Serving Agencies (FYSA). Sometime around 2008 a report on nationwide consultations on the review of the National Youth Policy was done. Many youth at chiefdom and district levels took part in the deliberations. It is worth mentioning here that a few international Agencies including the UN system gave the moves their blessing.
That same year a big meeting was called by FYSA at the stadium to present and discuss the youth- contributed to draft National Youth Policy. The meeting was attended by over 50 youth representatives from all over the country. The Expression of frustrations over the delay in pushing the youth agenda forward by governments past and present formed part of the highlights of the meeting. The putting together a draft National Youth Policy was seen as a proactive move in the face of the apparent lack of political will to push youth issues. The frustrations came to a head in 2009 when Al- Sankoh Conteh’s National Youth Coalition gave government an ultimatum to set up the National Youth Commission. There was a standoff which later fizzled out when dialog with government started. Well the commission is now a reality and the Chairman has been approved by Parliament. He is Mr. Muar Farouk sesay.
Well I venture to say welcome Sir! Welcome and congratulations on your appointment to this very important position. It’s definitely not like other commissions that people know little about and tend not to bother about at all. No, the youth have been crying for years on end to have the needed political will to chat a way forward for them. Now that political will is been manifested. I am pretty sure the youth are going to grab the opportunity to make a huge load of demands on their commission. One thing we need to note is that for the past ten years every government in power has prioritized youth issues, at least at policy level. Today we have gotten this far and I think it is a very great step taken. However much depends on the youth and youth Serving Agencies to fully actualize the dream. They say that hopes drawn out make the heart sick, but a dream come true is a tree of life.
In 2009, at the Sierra Leone Consultative group meeting and Donors Conference in London, President Koroma touched on the youth issues, interestingly in the same way Former President Kabba did when the national Policy was been compiled. President Koroma, at the conference put his finger right on the youth question and confirmed that the majority of the people of Sierra Leone are youth and they represent the future of the nation. He even said that the agenda for Change can only be achieved when the youth are completely integrated into its development. He did not stop there. He also spoke of the partnership with youth and a comprehensive employment program that that integrates youth activities into all sector of the economy. Well here we are with the ball squarely in the court of the youth. This indeed is a great opportunity, the closest to getting there.
Mr. Umar Farouk Sesay, on your shoulder rests a very big responsibility. Heading the youth is not an easy task; they are always in a hurry to see things done. Many people thing youth is a blunder but is it not better if Old Age is regret? What a man becomes at old age definitely starts at youthood. The Prominent international Investor said some time ago that if you look at the real Sierra Leone, it is clear that the country has the genuine potential to become a leading African economy. Despite this seeming compliment, many people in the west still see Sierra Leone as a country in crisis. How can we turn this around and follow Soros’ mind? I think the starting point is the youth. Investing in youth could well be a country’s best investment for a viable future. Like I said earlier in this piece a lot of work has already been done and these need to be picked up and followed up.
A major issue is youth unemployment. Apart from the years lost to the war there had always been the problem of the youth preparedness for employment. The kind of jobs our youth would want do not necessarily match with the kind of qualifications they have. This is indeed a real problem for the job creation pronouncements embedded in the Agenda For Change. I can remember around 2006 or so when the youth Employment scheme was introduced much of the jobs were limited to street decoration and drainage cleaning. These were not very successful as sometimes the remunerations of about Le150, 000 was paid late and some youth apparently became bored with performing non- white color jobs. How this job creation thing is going to be tackled is one big question. Never mind, now that the structures are coming on strong things may as well straighten up fast. There is need to galvanize all players old and new to harness every creativity to approach the youth question straight in the face. Where do we start? Now we should more the process fast to get the structures and get to understand them. Let the youth know exactly how they come in. Consultations with the youth in all matters pertaining to them need not be overemphasized. Let us build on the mistakes of the past years and carve some meaningful future for our ever increasing youthful population. For the sake of a brighter future and security a little bit of pampering of the youth today makes a little bit of sense. Do we really have a choice? Their generation might seem crazy, when we look back on our own days were there not a few crazy things here and there. Can you remember the miniskirt? How about the bell- bottomed trousers that swept the streets as you moved along. Well in any case the youth are the ones we need for all our developmental activities. They are indeed all over the place and no one can really ignore them. Besides all the youth belong to some adult…their parents!
By S. Beny SAM