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OSCA WOVEN WORDS COMPETITION – OJO OLUWABAMISE

“Imagination gives birth to things unknown but the writer’s pen turns them into shapes and gives to them living breaths.”

ALSO READ: BOWEN WOVEN WORDS COMPETITION WAS A HUGE SUCCESS

The 2018 OSCA WOVEN WORDS COMPETITION was organized by My Woven Words and it was only for undergraduates of tertiary institutions in Osun State as approved by the ministry of education, Osun state. There were Terms and Conditions for contestants.

OSCA Woven Words Competition remains the “first-of-its-kind” and “one-of-its-kind” in Osun state, Nigeria. To avoid Conflicts of Interest, we reached out to a number of unbiased scholars in a university outside Osun State to assess the submitted manuscripts and select the best contestants. All the contestant got a certificate of participation and some of the submitted manuscripts were selected for online publication.

TOPIC: The Tenacity of Nigerian Youths in National Development and Leadership Roles.

A topic like this offers a youth like me with an objective reasoning faculty, a mind filled with opinions and ideas, an opportunity to objectively accentuate reasons why youths should be allowed to attain important leadership positions in Nigeria. Also, the importance for youths — the leaders of tomorrow to be practically and actively involved at the helm of affairs in this nation. Youth in Nigeria includes citizens of the Federal Republic of Nigeria aged 18-35 years.

Nigerian Youths are definitely among the most talented and creative youths in the world. They have the ability to work under pressure and elicit desired result for an organization or institution that employs or engages them. Exemplary leaders like Sir Tafawa Balewa, Sir Ahmadu Bello, Chief Obafemi Awolowo and Dr. Nnamdi Azikwe campaigned relentlessly as youths to deliver the national and political independence we all enjoy today as a nation. In a broader sense, youth refers to people who have energy, vigor and enthusiasm to get things done. It is a state of mind not a function of age, a quality of imagination, a predominance of courage over timidity and an insatiable appetite for progressive reasoning. The youths are the engine room of any nation. For any nation like Nigeria to develop and progress, ample opportunities need to be extended for young minds to actively work and shoulder more responsibilities. The importance of the Nigerian youths to nation building can be compared to a car engine, without which, vehicles cannot move.

A National Youth Development Policy was created and designed in the year 2009 to advocate for youths and youth development. The policy views youth welfare and involvement as vital to Nigeria and its socio-economic development. There is practically no aspect of nature, physical, anthropological, material, human, complex diversity, undefined homogeneity, regional, international, academic, sport, religion and ethnicity, where the youths have not proved to be fully and readily established for the development of the nation at large or inupholding her civic objectives towards the interest of the common man. There is literally no field of learning a Nigerian youth is not renowned both nationally and internationally.The energy and bright minds of youths function as torch bearers for national development. The countries that utilize their youths in the positive direction are more developed. The youths of the nation are the trustees of posterity.

In conclusion, Nigeria needs the wisdom of the old because if the involvement of youth is left unchecked, it portends imminent danger. It is time for the young generation to stop seeing themselves as too young to rule or lead as every Nigerian citizen have their own role to play towards the development of this great nation.