*THE AGE OF REASON*

May 22nd 2018 was our first anniversary after 10 long years of despair and hopelessness. I recall with nostalgia the endless struggle for the recreation of a Youth Council, and today, I found myself grateful for the existence of the council. Leadership at the council has had a tremendous and unmeasured impact on my life. It has transformed every area of my life and I have experienced a quality and caliber of a council I never knew is possible. Working with people from different backgrounds and philosophies has not been easy, but eventually finding a council of people that see and know each other’s wholeness and greatness is not only extraordinary, but very rare to come by. Our continued commitment to awakening individuals to live their inherent power and purpose is high and ever burning. As a team, we shall continue to inspire human beings to create a sense of power and purpose…..

I will not say much here, saving the best for the ‘General Assembly’ coming up soon, but will be good to also say here that the journey was not an easy one. We must know today that every call of God upon our lives as young people has a global mandate. And because we are called by His name, we cannot afford to fail. We live in interesting times with lots of challenges, which is why we must work to prove a point that we are global citizens and a beacon for the rest of the world. We must also know today that there is no nation on the face of the earth like Nigeria. Nigerian youths are not as illiterate as most youths around the world. We can work from any place, speak any language on the face of the earth and no weather can prevent us from striving. But we must also know that the challenges we face as youths today is daunting. We must come to the place of understanding that as a country, we are living on borrowed time, and that we have survived this is a mystery.

It’s about time we stand up for something. The division amongst us is so palpable like never before. We have many political parties, religion and ethnicity to maim, kill and die for, but not one to love for. God gave us eyes to see the truth; He gave us ears to listen to our generations cry. He made us with feelings to feel the pain and gave us knowledge and wisdom to learn from our mistakes and to know our rights and responsibilities. Abdicating on such responsibilities is a serious indictment and curse. We as young citizens have a right to know, we also have a duty to inform ourselves and God has given us the will to stand up and improve our lives beyond frivolous affiliations…

We have so many smart phones but we have not done courses online. We mismanage time forgetting time is everything. It’s a disregard for time that manifests itself in the plethora of baseless and unnecessary debates on social media. Rich men spend their money to create time and poor people spend their time trying to make money. We must know today as young people that the greatest enemy of success is procrastination. Excellence is what makes the difference between persons. We can disagree on so many fronts, but excellence has a common denominator. We want to eat our seeds and that is leading us nowhere. We have to take responsibility, bring forth our visions and move forward. As young people, we must understand politics is the place to serve and not be served. Contrary to what many young people think, politics is not a vacation, neither is it a job. It’s the future. We must all know that one can be a professional and still be successful. You don’t need a political office to be relevant. We keep complaining and cursing, but we are quick to forget that leadership is about an inward search. What price are we willing to pay as a people? What is our commitment? Yes, we see politics as a short cut to wealth. We have got to change the narrative by putting Nigeria first…

The demand for leadership is not the routine of insulting leaders or condemning them. It’s about creating solutions and also willing to take a leap of faith. How many of us sing the national anthem and say the pledge with all diligence and honour? Remember God does not take permission from anyone to bless you, which is why loyalty to country is the way forward. We have seen young people who want to contest, which is a welcomed development, but first, where are the models? What quality do we have? Have these models been tested against the odds? George Weah went back to school after 12 years, came back with a different vision and made it to the presidency. It’s a marathon and not a sprint. We are waiting for jobs which obviously are now the exclusive preserve of the elites. Where are the digitally relevant skills? Understood everybody aims for excellence and wants to make the difference but we must exist as though we are global citizens. Our competition is the world and not our country or state. We must know that hard work and perspective planning is the way. Everybody talks of failure of leadership and organization, but people are not developing…..

Everything starts from the mind. We must have the mind power for productivity. We must be on top of the game. And we must be prepared to lead. It’s possible to convert everything around us into a learning system. No one knows it all, so many experts everywhere. We must talk less and listen more, getting our facts so that we don’t miss the point. For the pursuit of knowledge is power. The integrity system must be strengthened and we must have a reputation. So many people earn money without going to work? What you say and do is what makes you great. Your name is all you have to protect, which is why you must build reliability around your name. We must have a vision and share a mental model. We must have the enterprise or power to execute. Team work makes a world of difference. I don’t get insecure because of the people around. People don’t commend you, rise and shine, be men of service and be quit a legacy….

As young people, we must learn to appreciate things and people. It is a therapy that removes migraine, inherent exercise that helps you have peak performance, it kills transfer aggression and does magic. It’s a balm that soothes tension. You must appreciate if you don’t want to depreciate. Your support and engagement for creating a bigger council in 2018 and beyond is vital. We are entering into a new and exciting territory as we re-imagine our next best space. Until then, we ask for your love, admonishment, prayers and support, knowing and affirming that our next right space is revealing itself with grace. If you have a specific skill or talent that you would like to contribute, to this process, please consider joining the council….

Finally, We appreciate the Larger House for always serving as a whistle blower; we appreciate the rescue administration under the leadership of His Excellency Rt. Hon Simon Bako Lalong for keeping to its words; we appreciate the Plateau State Medium and Small Enterprise Development Agency, the Plateau Peace Building Agency, the National Directorate for Employment, The Industrial Training Fund, the National Orientation Agency, NDLEA, NIMC, Ararocks, and AIESEC; University of Jos for providing platforms for youth engagements and empowerment. We appreciate all for standing with us at the council.
We appreciate our parent and supervising Ministry, the Ministry of Youths and sports Development, especially the Hon. Commissioner, Hon Victor Lapang
We appreciate Tsenba Wummen Bako. Even in death, your legacy lives on……

Jemchang Fabong
Chairman,
Plateau State Youth Council.

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PYC , the age of reason – Fabong Jimchang