AIDE REITERATES JONATHAN'S INTEREST IN YOUTH DEVELOPMENT

DESPITE the barrage of criticisms that have greeted President Goodluck Jonathan’s policies, his Senior Special Assistant on Youths and Students Affairs, Jude Imagwe, yesterday reiterated Jonathan’s administration’s commitment to investment in youth development because of their importance to nation building.
   Imagwe spoke in Benin City when he hosted Youths and student leaders from the Southern part of the country.
    He said the President had deliberately evolved policies and programmes geared towards engaging youths in various activities and urged the youths to remain focused and also bring out the best in what they do and stay away from crime and troubles as it was capable of mortgaging their future.
   He noted that contrary to general thinking that there is no future for Nigerian youths, with the policies and programmes initiated by Jonathan’s administration, there is hope for youths in the country.
   He listed some of the policies and programmes to include YOUWIN and Youths Employment in Agriculture Programme (YEAP).
 “In life, we have every right, as growing people, to get ourselves involved or associated with anything that makes us happy.
   “But in whatever we do, we must realize that in becoming that man you what to be tomorrow, you must stay alive, because the man you want to be tomorrow, if you had died yesterday, you certainly will not have somebody you want to be like.
   “Another thing I want to us to understand is to believe in ourselves. A whole lot of us give up on ourselves. We believe we have tried and had failed.
   “Our challenge does not define who we were but it is our hope that makes us who we are. These challenges will always be there but when this hope is strong, it will give us a reason to indentify our challenges.
  “Our hope will give us a reason to confront our challenges and our hope will give us the strength to address these challenges and this is what makes us who we are.
  “I advice the students to be careful of what they think and the thought they allow to settle in their minds because an issue that is not addressed today, will certainly disgrace you tomorrow.”
  The presidential aide however noted that the only way to guarantee the continuity of these policies and programmes of Jonathan transformation agenda is for the youths to vote massively for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in 2015.