By Dr. Jumai Ahmadu
Much of the public conversation around the Federal Capital Territory Administration in recent years has understandably centred on roads, bridges, interchanges and other major infrastructure projects reshaping Abuja. But beyond the visible transformation of the city’s landscape, another important development deserves attention: the growing investment in Abuja’s young people.
For a territory with a large and increasingly ambitious youth population, roads alone cannot guarantee sustainable development. Young people need institutions that listen to them, skills that prepare them for a changing economy, opportunities to earn sustainable livelihoods and facilities that enable them to develop their potential.
It is against this background that some of the youth-focused interventions of the FCT Administration under the Minister, Barr. Nyesom Wike, become particularly significant.
Giving Youth Development an Institutional Home
Perhaps the most fundamental intervention is the creation of a dedicated Secretariat for Youth Development — the first of its kind since the creation of the Federal Capital Territory.
Its importance goes beyond creating another government structure. For the first time, youth development has a dedicated institutional platform within the FCT Administration capable of coordinating policies, programmes and interventions specifically targeted at young people.
This provides an opportunity to move youth matters from occasional empowerment programmes to a more structured development agenda encompassing skills acquisition, entrepreneurship, employment opportunities, leadership development, innovation, sports and civic participation.
For young people, representation within the machinery of government matters. It means their peculiar challenges and aspirations can receive focused attention in policy formulation, budgeting and programme implementation.
Empowerment That Creates Livelihoods
Another practical intervention is the provision of 80 vehicles for youth empowerment.
The significance of such an initiative lies in its capacity to provide productive assets rather than temporary relief. Transportation remains an important part of Abuja’s economy, and putting income-generating assets in the hands of young people can provide livelihoods while supporting economic activity and mobility.
More importantly, it reinforces a message that must increasingly define youth empowerment: government cannot employ everyone, but government can create an enabling environment and provide opportunities that help young people become entrepreneurs and employers themselves.
Investing in Young Nigerians Serving the FCT
The Administration has also intervened in facilities serving members of the National Youth Service Corps.
The renovation of the FCT NYSC Orientation Camp in Kubwa has improved an important facility used by thousands of young Nigerians posted to the Federal Capital Territory for national service.
Beyond physical renovation, providing a conducive environment for corps members speaks to their welfare and dignity at an important stage in their transition from higher education into the wider world of work and responsibility.
Even more significant is the approval for the construction of an NYSC Orientation Camp in Kwali.
Its benefits could extend well beyond the corps members who will use the facility. The construction and eventual operation of the camp can stimulate economic activity in surrounding communities, creating opportunities for artisans, farmers, food vendors, transport operators, suppliers and other small businesses.
In this way, a youth-focused public investment also becomes an instrument for grassroots economic development.
Turning Nyanya Youth Centre into a Skills Hub
Perhaps one of the most important challenges confronting today’s young people is the widening gap between formal education and the practical skills demanded by the modern economy.
The upgrading of the Nyanya Youth Centre for diverse skills-acquisition programmes therefore has enormous potential.
With the right facilities, instructors, partnerships and programmes, such a centre can become much more than a government building. It can become a place where young people acquire vocational, entrepreneurial and digital skills; develop ideas; receive mentorship; and prepare themselves for employment or self-employment.
The future of work is changing rapidly. Digital technology, the creative economy, technical trades, renewable energy, agriculture, fashion, entertainment and other emerging sectors are opening opportunities that did not exist a generation ago. Youth development programmes must prepare young people to take advantage of these possibilities.
Youth Empowerment as a Security Strategy
There is another dimension that should not be overlooked: security.
Youth unemployment and economic exclusion do not automatically translate into crime, but prolonged idleness, frustration and lack of opportunity can increase vulnerability to criminality, drug abuse, cultism and other social vices.
This is why meaningful youth engagement should be viewed as part of a broader preventive security strategy.
A young person who acquires a marketable skill, establishes a business or finds meaningful employment has something to protect and something to build upon.
Investing in young people therefore strengthens not only the economy but also the peace and social stability of communities.
The Next Frontier
The challenge now is to consolidate these interventions and ensure that their benefits reach young people across all six Area Councils of the FCT.
The Youth Development Secretariat provides an institutional foundation upon which more ambitious programmes can be built. Skills centres can be strengthened, private-sector partnerships expanded, entrepreneurship financing encouraged, and technology and innovation programmes introduced on a larger scale.
There should also be mechanisms for tracking beneficiaries and measuring outcomes. The success of youth empowerment should ultimately be judged not simply by how many people attend programmes or receive items, but by how many businesses survive, how many sustainable jobs are created and how many young people become economically independent.
Abuja’s transformation cannot be complete if magnificent roads lead to communities where young people have no opportunities.
The bridges, roads and public infrastructure being delivered today are important. But equally important are the human beings who will use, maintain and ultimately inherit them.
That is why the emerging focus on youth development deserves to be sustained and expanded.
The most enduring infrastructure any government can build is human capacity. When Abuja invests in its young people, it is not merely empowering another generation; it is investing in the economic prosperity, security and future of the Federal Capital Territory.
Dr. Jumai, Director Reforms Coordination and Service Improvement Department, FCTA can be reached at jumaiabuahmadu@yahoo.com
