Over 6,000 youth have registered to participate virtually at the National Youth Conference 2021 put together by the Ministry of Youth and Sports Development.
The staggering number does not include 370 delegates expected to physically attend the three-day event scheduled to hold at The Velodrome, Abuja from October 12.
According to a joint statement on Monday by the conference coordinator Nkechi Obi and media lead Gbenga Olorunpomi, the registration data reveals interesting details on gender and topic preferences. 83.2 percent of those that have registered are male while only 16.8 percent are female. 62.3 percent of the respondents are between the ages of 18 and 30, while 36.2 percent are between 31 years and 40 years old.
The statement further said that of the five topics to be discussed, 41 percent of the youth showed interest in education and youth development. Another 40 percent said their main interest is politics and nation building while 36.7 percent picked youth in peace and security as their preference. Technology and innovation was picked by 34.6 percent of the respondents and 23.6 percent said they want to join the conversations around sports, entertainment and creative industries.
“The enthusiasm with which young Nigerians are registering for the National Youth Conference is encouraging,” the statement reads. “There is genuine eagerness by the Youth to have a front row seat at the table and that is what this conference offers. It is clear from the data we are seeing on the website that more female online users need to register. We were particularly surprised that Youth participation in politics is generating more interest than sports and entertainment. We are doing our best to ensure that we get the best resource persons to handle each of these critical topics.”
The event, which will be declared open by President Muhammdu Buhari, will be hosted by the minister of youth and sports development, Sunday Dare. Governors, ministers are expected to participate in some of the sessions. The conference is also being supported by private companies and development agencies.
About 100 members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), that is delegates from each state including the FCT, will be attending the conference.
Youth can register to participate at the event via the conference website, www.nationalyouthconference.
