The Minister of Youth Development, Mr Ayodele Olawande, has tasked officials of the ministry with delivering measurable results, strengthening partnerships and ensuring greater impact of programmes targeting Nigerian youths.
Olawande gave the charge at the ministry’s Annual Ministerial Retreat, themed: “Consolidating Youth Development Priorities, Delivering Results, Strengthening Partnership and Expanding Impact.”
He said the retreat provided an opportunity to objectively assess the ministry’s performance, identify challenges affecting programme delivery and agree on practical measures to achieve better outcomes for Nigerian youths.
The minister said the ministry had strengthened its institutional systems, improved coordination and monitoring, and aligned its activities with the government’s Renewed Hope Agenda.
He said the ministry had also implemented programmes aimed at expanding opportunities for young Nigerians through skills development, employment, entrepreneurship, digital opportunities, education, arts, agriculture, civic participation and social inclusion.
Olawande, however, said officials must look beyond the number of activities conducted and focus on the measurable difference made by the ministry’s interventions.
He urged departments and agencies to determine who had benefited from their programmes, whether interventions were reaching intended beneficiaries and what factors were affecting implementation.
According to him, institutional and financial constraints affecting programme delivery must be identified and addressed to improve the ministry’s overall performance.
Olawande said youth development required a cross-sectoral approach, stressing that no single ministry could address the numerous challenges confronting young Nigerians.
He identified employment, education, skills, health, agriculture, digital transformation, migration, climate change, entrepreneurship, financial inclusion, sports, creative industries and civic participation as areas requiring stronger collaboration.
The minister urged departments and agencies to avoid working in silos, saying their programmes should complement one another while relevant data should be appropriately shared.
He said the National Youth Data Bank would provide an important opportunity to strengthen evidence-based planning and improve the targeting of youth development interventions.
Olawande said the ministry must move from a culture of activity reporting to measurable performance, with every department and agency demonstrating its contribution to the ministry’s mandate.
He stressed that objectives and deliverables must be clear and measurable, while evidence should be verifiable and reports submitted promptly to strengthen accountability.
The minister said the ministry’s planning, research and statistics function, human resource management, monitoring and evaluation structures, as well as central delivery coordination, would be important in supporting the transition.
He said the retreat should produce clear priorities, responsibilities, timelines, performance indicators and mechanisms for implementing agreed decisions.
Olawande also urged participants to identify areas where stronger partnerships could unlock additional resources, technical expertise and opportunities for Nigerian youths.
He said the youths possessed enormous creativity, energy and entrepreneurial potential, adding that effective policies, programmes and partnerships were needed to help them translate their potential into productive and sustainable outcomes.
The minister urged participants to engage frankly and objectively, challenge existing approaches where necessary, learn from past experiences and agree on practical measures to improve youth development outcomes.
Also speaking, the Permanent Secretary of the ministry, Dr Maryam Keshinro, represented by the Director of Human Resources, Mr Olaniepekun Adebay, also called for stronger coordination, accountability and measurable performance.
Keshinro said the retreat should enable officials to assess achievements, identify constraints and develop practical measures for delivering better results for Nigerian youths.
She said the ministry must demonstrate that its programmes responded to the needs and aspirations of young Nigerians and that available resources were producing measurable outcomes.
Keshinro stressed the importance of collaboration among government institutions, development partners and civil society in addressing the challenges confronting Nigerian youths.
She urged participants to focus on solutions, learn from experience and ensure that the retreat resulted in practical decisions capable of improving the ministry’s performance.(NAN)
