A senior lecturer in the department of Communication and Language Arts, University of Ibadan, Dr. Babatunde Ojebuyi has declared that Covid-19 pandemic and insecurity have negative impact in the life of many Nigerian youths.
Ojebuyi made this declaration while speaking at the youth aspirations and resilience workshop organised by Partnership for African Social and Governance Research (PASGR) in partnership with MasterCard foundation.
At the workshop held on Wednesday in Ibadan were various youths organisations, opinion moulders and media representatives.
Ojebuyi who doubled as the Project Principal Investigator in Nigeria while speaking on the outcome on the research project, said that several barriers such as Covid-19 pandemic and insecurity affected the aspirations of many Nigerian youths.
He added that the research outcome shown that many young women experienced emotional trauma during the pandemic.
He explained further that many women were constrained to stay at home to take care of their children and in the process, many of them fell victims of rape and other forms of domestic crimes.
He said, “Several barriers such as the COVID-19 pandemic and insecurity negatively affected the aspirations of Nigerian young men and women in different ways.
“Most of the youths (79.0%) running businesses indicated that the COVID-19 pandemic affected their businesses compared to pre-COVID-19 era.
“More than 5 out of 10 young people lost opportunities and customers and business options were reduced by about 45.0%.
“However, young women, generally experienced more emotional trauma: They were constrained to stay at home to take care of their children and in the process many of them fell victim to rape and other forms of domestic crimes”.
The Programme Officer, Research and Policy, PASGR, Joel Otieno in his opening remark, noted that young people have the potential to unlock Africa’s growth.
“We are based in Nairobi, Kenya. What is important to us is the centrality of youths. Young people have the potential to unlock Africa’s growth”.
ENDS