Osun State Youth otherwise known as Imole Youth engagement own development and that of their communities, including their empowerment to contribute to decisions about their personal, family, economic, social, and political development. This is to identify, interact and familiarize with young people in all aspects to promote enabling environment toward productivity. It would protect the right and showcase involvements of the Youths between ages 18 and 45 years, made them responsible citizens, promote their full participation in the overall development process and improve their quality of life via networking. Imole Youth Engagement programme would also promote ecosocial, cultural and entrepreneurship empowerment of the youths for self-reliance, mentorship and rendering guidance and counseling services for young persons in the Osun State.
To design and implement Osun State Youth otherwise known as Imole Youth Engagement programmes, theses following objectives would be achieved.
1. To showcase and encourage youth’s participation in the overall development process.
2. To help young people build skills and networks that are valued in the workplace, and can thus be a source of economic mobility and political stability.
3. To develop youths in leadership skills in order to become responsive and responsible citizen.
4. To guide, counsel and impact mentorship skills that will promote positive behavior and exact self-esteem in young people.
5. To inculcate in the young one’s leadership qualities, good citizenry and sense of patriotism.
The role of the youth in nation building is to provide fresh perspectives and energy to help drive economic development and social progress.
These are some of the examples of youth engagement in practice are;
1. young people being consulted about their ideas and opinions.
2. young people researching issues that affect their community.
3. young people planning or leading community activities or events.
4. young people taking part in youth committees or action groups.
5. young people taking part in adult-defined decision-making bodies.
6. young people doing well and making positive imparts in the society.
7. young people contributing to the economic and political growth.
Imole Youth Engagement would be implemented by the Commissioner for Youth Affair, Osun State, Hon. Olagunju Moshood Olalekan through the Ministry of Youth Affairs, Osun State to actively empower, involvement, interaction, dialogue and intentional partnership with Osun Youth as stakeholders, problem solvers, and change agents in their communities based on these following indicators.
• Who are the youth we are hoping to engage?
• How do we find them?
• Number of youth to be engaged?
• What are the recruitment processes?
• How long do we plan to engage them?
• How often will they work for us?
• What is the compensation for their engagement?
• What do we believe to be true about the youth we want to work with?
• What assumptions have we made about them?
• What existing skills and capacities do the youth we want to work with have?
• What perspectives do we hope they will bring to the project?
• What qualities and characteristics do we want them to have?
Youth engagement in politics fosters a sense of ownership and accountability among young individuals in Osun State. It instils a commitment to the democratic process, encourages a culture of transparency, and holds political leaders accountable for their actions. By actively participating in the political arena, young Nigerians can contribute to building a more inclusive, responsive, and representative democracy.