The African Youth Charter and Youth Development: A Reflection on Challenges of Implementation in Nigeria

Abstract

Youth Development in Africa is a must undertaking; it is a sine-qua-non of the continent’s development. Therefore, in view of the importance of youth to the socio-economic development of the present and future generations of the African continent, the African Youth Charter (AYC) was set in motion in 2006, as a template for the advancement of the rights and freedoms of young people. In principles, African states have ratified the Charter and vowed to implement it in their own countries for a common approach to salvaging the indignities of the youth in the continent from excessive neglect, disregard and violations of their rights and general disempowerment. The paper relied on secondary sources of data collection and documentary analysis as its methodology using content analysis. In the context of Nigeria, the paper argues that the state should promote laudable policies that are aimed at hitting the nail on the head rather than the usual sloganeering programmes that are meant to raise concerns rather than solving them. On their part, the youth should pursue career development through education, training and re-training in order to empower them to fight for their rights and freedoms. For rights are ‘taken’; not ‘given’, through constant struggles.