The Chief Executive Officer, African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) Continental, Prof. Eddy Maloka, has urged the newly inaugurated Youth Vanguard of APRM Nigeria to let dedication, selflessness and exemplary leadership be their watchword.
He gave the charge on Monday in Abuja at the formal launch of the Association, which was in line with the commitment of APRM Nigeria to create a platform for Nigerian Youths’ engagement with their continental counterparts in the areas of Good Governance and Sustainable Development.
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The launching with the theme “African Youth: The Hope of Good Governance” and the pioneer members were inspired with words of encouragement from the continental and national structures of APRM.
While launching the association, Prof. Maloka commended Nigerian youths for their determination to contribute their quota towards continental development.
He said, “We are happy to launch APRM Nigeria Youth Vanguard because the vanguards are the most dedicated, selfless exemplary youths in the continent. We look forward to collaboration between APRM Nigeria Youth Vanguard and the APRM Youth Network to promote synergy and effectiveness among African Youths.”
Speaking earlier, the Chief Executive Officer, APRM Nigeria, Hon. Princess Gloria Akobundu, said the Youth Vanguard was borne out of several engagements between APRM Secretariat and the youths across the country.
Akobundu, who is also the National Coordinator, African Union Development Agency- New Partnership for Africa’s Development (AUDA-NEPAD) Nigeria, said that the youth population in Nigeria is huge and cannot be neglected, that is why we have to bring them on a platform that can be used to compete positively and actively with their counterparts in the continent.
She said, “The youth vanguard will be used to propagate mandates of APRM to the youths in various sectors of the economy and at all levels of governance, especially at the grassroots.
“Through the Vanguard, we will further expose students in various levels of learning, from universities to secondary schools in the country to ‘Good Governance and Development’ so that they will imbibe it and promote it wherever they go.
“That will help us achieve `Nigeria We Want’ and `Africa We Want’ as enshrined in African Union (AU) Agenda 2063 and United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) 2030.”
She mentioned various efforts by President Muhammadu Buhari to give sense of belongings to Nigerian youths, including signing into law `Not Too Young To Run’ Bill in 2018 which further widened the net for youths participation in governance in the country.
Also, Member, National Governing Council (NGC) APRM Nigeria, Dr. Louis Mandama, urged the youths to embrace APRM values so that they could be part of Nigeria’s efforts to berth the ‘Africa We Want’.
On his part, Leader of APRM Nigeria Youth Vanguard, Ambassador Michael Chukwuemeka, said the association would hit the ground running.
