By Perpetua Onuegbu

Yiaga Africa, a Civil Society Organisation (CSO), says it will continue to engage the Nigerian youths especially those in tertiary institutions on critical thinking, to proffer solutions to developmental challenges in the country.

The Executive Director, Yiaga Africa, Mr Samson Itodo, said this at the grand finale of  a debate competition it organised for students in tertiary institutions across the country on Monday in Abuja.

Itodo said the organisation would regularly use the platform of debate to engage youths in proffering solutions to the country’s challenges.

“Nigerians  are unhappy with the state of things in the country but where will the solution come from if not from Nigerians,” he said.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports the theme of the debate is “My Nigeria, Our Nigeria” and the topic for the debate is “Electioneering at local government level, who should be responsible, INEC or State Electoral Commissions.

The Yiaga boss listed the University of Ilorin, Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Imo State University (IMSU) and Veritas University, as the institutions taking part in the debate.

Itodo said that the country was going through a turbulent time and needed Nigerians to tackle it.

“Nigerians  are unhappy with the state of things in the country but where will the solution come from if not from Nigerians.

“We felt that it is important that the young ones share their ideas about how to solve the problems of Nigeria; that is what citizenship is all about.

“That is why we came up with this debate competition to engage the students’ critical thinking to proffer solutions to our numerous challenges especially around governance,” Itodo said.

He said that the organisation collaborated with All Nigerian Universities Debating Council (ANUDC), the body that handles debates, to help with the organisation of the debate.

Mr Franklin Ubi, member, ANUDC, said the aim of the debate was to give students  tools to engage in governance, democracy and development.

Speaking on the impact of the debate on national development, Ubi said that not having enough citizen engagement in governance was the major problem with governance.

“There has been a lack of debate in our electoral processes; you don’t see critical debates during elections, so it gives birth to leaders who just consider the electoral offices or the political offices.

“They get to the office without understanding what they are supposed to do.

“That is why at the National Assembly, you see a lot of legislators without quality in their expressions when defending or supporting a bill.

“Government agencies in national standards should support programmes like this and as well utilise the opportunity of learning, so we can have a better National Assembly.

”This is because the National Assembly is about debate.”

Mr Olaniyan Sanusi, Programme Officer, Citizens Engagement Unit, Yiaga Africa, said the debate was to rekindle hope and trust amongst young people.

“Through the debates we have seen more young people debate topics around citizenship, governance, democracy and national values.

“They share their ideas on what an ideal Nigeria should look like.

“We want them to start thinking about what the Nigerian future should look like and when they start thinking like that, they also start thinking about what to contribute to bring that future to reality,” Sanusi said.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Veritas University won the competition with a prize of N1.5m.

Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) placed second, while Imo State University finished in third place. (NAN)