The Coordinator of the National Youth Conference, NYC, Nkechi Obi has said that 41% and 40% of registered youths have indicated their interests in education and politics.
This was revealed jointly by Obi and Media Head, Gbenga Olorunpomi, in a press release statement on Monday.
This year’s conference being organised by the Ministry of Youth and Sports Development according to the statement have reportedly registered 6,000 youths to participate virtually.
The statement also said that the conference, which is set to kick-off on the 12th of October, has been generating much interest by the private sector and development agencies.
According to her, the registration data reveals interesting details on gender and topic preferences.
83.2 percent of those that have registered are male while only 16.8 percent are female. 62.3 percent of the respondents are between the ages of 18 and 30, while 36.2 percent are between 31 years and 40 years old.
Of the five topics to be discussed, 41 percent of the Youth showed interest in the issue of Education and Youth Development.
Another 40 percent said their main interest is Politics and Nation Building while 36.7 percent picked Youth in Peace and Security as their preference.
Technology and Innovation was picked by 34.6 percent of the respondents and 23.6 percent said they want to join the conversations around Sports, Entertainment and Creative Industries.
“The enthusiasm with which young Nigerians are registering for the National Youth Conference is encouraging,” the statement read.
“There is genuine eagerness by the Youth to have a front row seat at the table and that is what this conference offers. It is clear from the data we are seeing on the website that more female online users need to register. We were particularly surprised that Youth participation in politics is generating more interest than sports and entertainment. We are doing our best to ensure that we get the best resource persons to handle each of these critical topics.”
With about two weeks until the start of the conference, the young Nigerians have been registering online through the conference website, www.nationalyouthconference.ng, to participate in the event.
The event, which will be declared open by President Muhammdu Buhari, will be hosted by the Honourable Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Mr. Sunday Dare.
Governors, Ministers are expected to participate in some of the sessions.
The conference is also being supported by private companies and development agencies.
“So far, we are getting support from many local corporations and international agencies. They all say this conference is timely and critical. The Minister of Youth and Sports Development is grateful for their support and looks forward to having everyone at the conference,” Miss Nkechi added.
