Resilience of the Youth in the New Normal
- Joko Ojosipe
- Nov 18, 2022
- 10 min read
Resilience of the Youth in the New Normal
Introduction
The events of the past few months have revealed to us all the power of the people who we have ignored for far too long, the Nigerian youths. Although their concerns are now reverberatingacross the country, they have always been at the forefront of driving social change for a very long time.
I am therefore delighted to have been invited to this online seminar by the Advocacy for Social Justice and Ethical Values Initiative (ASJEV) to speak on the resilience of the youth in the normal in commemoration of the World Day of Social Justice.
First, I will explore the concept of social justice with a focus on the application of the concept to the Nigerian context. I then take a deep dive into the renaissance of the youth in the country and how the government and all relevant stakeholders may sustain what is considered a renewed drive and energy among the youths.
Background: Social Justice
Social justice can be seen as the fair and equitable distribution of power, resources, and obligations in society to all people, regardless of their age, gender, ethnicity, or spirituality (Ayala, Wilcox, & Hage, 2011). It creates and promotes a world where individuals and groups receive fair treatment and an impartial share of the benefits and goods of society. With the application of social justice, people are not to be discriminated against or their welfare and wellbeing dependent on gender, sexuality, religion, political affiliations, age, race, belief, disability, location, social class, or socioeconomic circumstances(Obanubi, 2015).
The notion of social justice is relatively new. It first surfaced in Western political thought and language in the wake of the industrial revolution and the growing development of the social doctrine. The concept began as an expression of protest against what was seen as the exploitation of labor by capitalists and as a focal point for the creation of measures to improve the human condition (United Nations, 2006).
To apply social justice requires a geographical, sociological, political and cultural framework within which relations between individuals and groups can be understood, assessed and characterized as either just and unjust. Today, this framework is the nation state. The country is the context in which different aspects of social justice are observed and measured (United Nations, 2006).
Presently, social justice is taken to mean distributive justice, which is implied in various academic and theoretical works that may only include broad references to justice. ‘Just’ derives from equality of rights for all peoples and the possibility for all human beings to benefit from the fruits of societal economic progress.
There are three areas of priority regarding equality and equity, according to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and many other internationally ascribed charters. These three domains are: equality of rights, equality of opportunities, andequity of living conditions for all living individuals and households.
Equality of rights
This is the elimination of all forms of discrimination and respect for the basic freedoms and civil and political rights of all individuals. This is the most basic form of equality.
Equality of Opportunities
Requires stable social, economic, cultural and political conditions that enable all individuals to fulfil their potential and contribute to the development of society. Equality of opportunities is linked to the application of public policy to offset the many unnatural inequalities that segregate individuals from different sociocultural and socioeconomic backgrounds. Public policies focusing on health, education, and housing are primarily seen as an important component of ensuring equality of opportunities.
Equity in Living Conditions
The concept of equity in living conditions is often understood to reflect a contextually determined acceptable range of inequalities in income, wealth and other aspects of life in society. The change in terminology from equality to equity is as a result of the fact that equality in living conditions has never been achieved in practice, and is today seen as incompatible with freedom. Equity is the most logical reference point in determining what is considered just or unjust with regard to living conditions and related issues in society.
Social Justice as a critical component of Democracy
Democracy is said to be the government of the people, by the people and for the people. As pointed out earlier, for the concept of social justice to be applied there needs to be a framework in which relations between individuals and groups can be assessed and measured, and this framework is the nation-state.
Although the framework for assessing and measuring social justice is the country, the extent to which the government of a country can positively apply social justice varies on the system of government in place. Authoritarian regimes are less likely to promote and apply the concept of social justice simply based on their characteristics. Forms of government such as these concentrate power in the center and deliberately marginalize majority of the population in favor of a minority who are friends or family members of government officials at the center of government. A major feature of authoritarian regimes is the consistent abuse of human rights and freedoms of the people whom they are meant to serve thereby intentionally ignoring the concept and principles of social justice. Alternatively, democracy is a system of government that puts the people at the center and respects the rights of every individual being governed in the state and by so doing ensures that the principles of social justice are consistently applied.
Social Justice: The Nigerian Context
Although we have been practicing democracy for over 20 yearsin Nigeria, the application of the concept of social justice has been limited. With the country polarized along different ethnic and religious lines, social justice becomes more difficult to achieve. Moreover, the persistent corruption, poverty, insecurity, youth unemployment, and extreme gender and income inequality appear to have worsened the conditions for the application of social justice.
According to Transparency International (2021), Nigeria is ranked 149 out of 180 countries in the NGO’s CorruptionPerception Index. This time defying vice of ours has infiltrated every aspect of both the public and the private sector.
Three years ago, the country was designated the poverty capital of the world, overtaking India and it is predicted that in less than a decade, Nigeria would be home to over a 100 million people living in extreme poverty (Kharas, Hamel, & Hofer, 2018). The existence of any form of poverty in a country is antithetical to the principles of social justice, less to talk of extreme poverty.The eradication of poverty is the springboard to which the application of social justice can take place. For if poverty is addressed, many of the inequalities prevalent in our society will begin to become a thing of history.
Although some might disagree, the country’s insecurity challenges are directly related to both our poverty and youthunemployment crisis. Annually, Nigeria churns out over 600,000 graduates from its over 300 accredited degree awarding institutions with more than half of them unable to findmeaningful work (Babalobi, 2019). Without jobs and a means of livelihood, our youths are left to fend for themselves and unfortunately a significant proportion of them choose the life ofcrime to make ends meet (either kidnapping, ritual killings, banditry or internet fraud also known as ‘yahoo-yahoo’). Those who decide not to engage in crime and have no meaningful work are stuck in perpetual poverty spanning across generations.
The fact that young people are usually the most affected by social injustice, is becoming more evident in the wake of the unprecedented Covid 19 pandemic currently ravaging the world.
Resilience of the Youth in the New normal.
With a growing youth population, African governments and policy makers have been constantly faced with the challenge of how to provide opportunities for Its young population of over 200 million according to the United Nations. (Prison Fellowship Nigeria, n.d.) Nevertheless, this demography is capable of contributing to the socio-economic development of the continent if given the opportunity.
According to the new national youth policy, youth in Nigeria includes citizens between the ages of 18 and 35. This has recently been reviewed to 15-29 years given current global dynamics (Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports development , 2019).
The demography represents an asset the nation can harness to achieve economic growth and development. The Nigerian youth currently constitute 70% of the entire population. Unfortunately, this numerical strength is yet to translate into development policies that deliberately factor in the young people.
Participation of youth and women in the governance process is often largely limited as a result of lingering belief systems that have perceived the youth as inexperienced and the women as unfit for certain leadership roles. This explains the leadership demography in the continent.
The constant advocacy by youth-based civil society organisations and support groups for youth mainstreaming in political processes birthed the Not-Too-Young to-run bill passed in May 2018, reducing candidacy ages across major political offices. Despite this development, young people are yet to attain the level of inclusion required for participation and representation in mainstream governance processes. Actual youth political empowerment is not yet evident and there is low representation of the demography in policy making roles across the country.
The youth constituency remains weak, bereft of resources and devoid of visible leadership.
Nonetheless, the events of the past few months are direct indicators of increasing momentum and resilience of the youth in taking active part in governance process and economic development. It has also revealed their resolute nature to continue coordinating action in the face of challenging situations. A relevant number of youth have demonstrated openness about their interests, enthusiasm and commitment to core values. Their eagerness to influence policies needs to be enhanced to reflect inclusion in political and socio-economic processes in order to prevent conflict.
The Covid 19 pandemic has precipitated a ‘new normal’ for the entire world, influencing how we do things. Technology has played a huge role through provision of platforms for enhancing interactions and trade relations in the absence of physical gatherings.
While the world continues to grapple with the ravaging effects of the pandemic on all spheres of life, Nigerian youth seem to be seizing the opportunity to deepen their level of consciousness and ability to organsise and direct action towards identified causes.
There are indications that when given the platform, young people can demonstrate the capacity to influence policies and drive social change. The outbreak of the pandemic has led to an increase in solidarity and volunteering action particularly among young people. A case in point is the recent action against police brutality led by the Nigerian youth which resulted in the dissolution of the notorious Special Anti-Robbery Squad, SARS.
It behooves on government to continue seeking ways to promote youth inclusion to enhance political participation and social justice. Failure to do so portends high security and socio-economic risks. Significant economic losses, armed conflict and instability can be direct consequences for youth exclusion.
Lack of employment opportunities, low access to Education and segregation from policy formulation process can expose young people to violence and hooliganism (Collier and Hoeffler 2004)as recorded in the origin of Boko haram and most recently, #ENDSARS unrests.
Building resilience in the Nigerian Youth
New normal
Corona virus has brought about varying outcomes for different countries. However, as I earlier noted in this paper, young people seem to be at the heart of it all, either in Education, career or economic opportunities and disposable income. Reports by the International Labour Organisation, ILO reveals that the pandemic has affected young people more than any other group, with increasing rate of unemployment more pronounced in young women. One in six young people has been out of job as a result and those who are still employed have seen a decrease in their working hours, thereby affecting total income. (Falt, 2020)
It is therefore time for governments to intensify efforts towards building youth resilience, enhancing engagement and inclusion through harnessing their creative and energetic capabilities. To build youth resilience in the new normal, government needs to anticipate the impact of migration and brain drain hence, adopt sustainable recovery measures by applying effective governance policies.
Resilience should not be portrayed as an individual characteristic, rather systems and environments should be created to enhance youth resilience. Research has shown that resilience is a concomitant which follows positive youth development. The implication is that youth development is a sufficient condition for building resilience. In essence, positive youth development alone is capable of generating resilience among these young people. (Lilian C. J. Wong, 2012)
Skills
The 2020 World youth Skills day, in recognition of the impact of the covid19 pandemic was themed: ‘’Skills for a Resilient youth’’.
While it is understandable that the economic impact of the pandemic has posed a great challenge for many nations in terms of continuous skilling of the youth, the Nigerian government must not miss the opportunity of supporting its young population with skills for driving innovation and economic recovery.
Governments should take advantage of the youth agency by engaging them in formulation, co-creation and implementation of responsive policies and recovery plans. Many countries are promoting harmless digital initiatives to accelerate covid-19 recovery plans.
Framework for Youth Inclusion
The National Youth policy as reviewed in 2019 needs to be duly implemented to promote youth development and participation in the context of changing realities and sustainable development.
The framework must adopt ways to achieve the vison of developing Nigerian youth with equal opportunities to realise their dreams and aspirations, irrespective of their background and living in a safe and secure environment that will optimize their contributions to national development.
The implementation of the strategic thrust should be accelerated in these areas:
1. Developing a productive workforce and sustainable economic engagement of the youth.
2. Promoting health development and appropriate social support systems to ensure a healthy youth population and cushion the effect of the pandemic on mental health.
3. Removing barriers to effective youth participation in civic and political affairs.
4. Providing an enabling environment for utilisation of youth creativity, taking advantage of ICT.
5. Partnership building and effective collaboration with dynamic youth sectors and representatives.
Strengthened social connections
Community based participation should be provided for young people as an alternative to thuggery, hooliganism and violence. Facilitation of youth inclusion in the local electoral and consultation procedure is a viable means for upgrading the level of youth participation.
Seizing Opportunities
Studies have shown that the reconstructive path for youth participation is built on their ability to seize opportunities and build their own future. I charge young people to consciously take advantage of existing opportunities to build trust and display their capabilities, particularly in these peculiar times.
Conclusion
While it is evident that the world will continue to deploy iterative measures to adapt to the new normal, Nigeria is presented with a huge task of ensuring its young people are included in the scheme of things as much as possible. As I have tried to emphasize in the course of my address, providing supportive structures for building resilience and tenacity among our bulging youth population is important in achieving and sustaining social justice in Nigeria for broad-based development.
Thank you all for your time.
References
Akabueze, B. (2021, February 04). Budget and National Strategy: Leverage and Synergy Potentials . Retrieved from Proshare: https://www.proshareng.com/news/BUDGET%20AND%20PLANS/Budget-and-National-Strategy--Leverage-and-Synergy-Potentials/55591
Ayala, E., Wilcox, M. M., & Hage, S. (2011, January). Social Justice Theory. ResaerchGate.
Babalobi, B. (2019, December 17). Nigeria - Why Graduates are Unemployed and Unemployable . Retrieved from All Africa: https://allafrica.com/stories/201912240618.html
Kharas, H., Hamel, K., & Hofer, M. (2018, December 13). Rethinking Global Poverty Reduction in 2019. Retrieved from Brookings: https://www.brookings.edu/blog/future-development/2018/12/13/rethinking-global-poverty-reduction-in-2019/
Obanubi, F. (2015, February 18). Social Justice, Leadership and Civil Society: The Nigerian Example. Retrieved from INTRAC: https://www.intrac.org/social-justice-leadership-civil-society-nigerian-example/
Transparency International . (2021). Our Work in: Nigeria. Retrieved from Transparency International : https://www.transparency.org/en/countries/nigeria#
United Nations. (2006). Social Justice in an Open World: The Role of the United Nations. New York: United Nations.
Eric Falt (2020) In The Citizen; Preparing the Youth for the New Normal
Lilian C. J. Wong, Ph.D., Meaning-Centered Counselling Institute Inc.
Federal Ministry of Youth and Sports Development (2019): Enhancing Youth Development and Participation in the Context of Sustainable Development.
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