Today’s youth are tomorrow’s assets

Active inclusion of young people to safeguard a sustainable future cannot take time off during a crisis; nor should we – as young people who must stand as the gatekeepers of accountability, equality and equity. Therefore, now more than ever, we must ensure that young people are given more opportunities for economic empowerment, and safeguard their freedoms against any further growing inequality in our societies. It’s your country; it’s our world – and we must guarantee that we build back better for all, inclusively and sustainably.”

This quotation is from the 2020 Global Youth Development Index, which says that the conditions of young people have improved around the world by 3.1 percent between 2010 and 2018. But the progress remains slow.

Released recently by the Commonwealth Secretariat, the Youth Global Index report delves into its triennial rankings of youth development in 181 countries, with 156 of them at least recording slight improvements in their scores.

You have to think deeply about the place of Tanzanian youth, based on various researches whose reports show similar trends for Tanzanian youth. The researches include – but are not limited to – those conducted by Twaweza, Midas Touché East Africa, the British Council and State of East Africa.

Among the recommendations in the Commonwealth Secretariat Index are increased investments in lifelong digital skilling of young people; mental health services; apprenticeships; roads safety and youth participation in decision-making to reverse trends which adversely impact them.

There is no gainsaying that today’s youth are tomorrow’s retirees. It is pointless to leave the youth out when building a prosperous future for them.

However, as we try to build the future for Tanzanian youth, we must accept the realities that such researches reveal, and work on them for a better future.

The first reality is that building on youth’s future must be based on truth, pure and simple. Unfortunately, we have not done much in that area, sad to say!

We continue to misuse our youthdespite knowing full well that nothing but the truth shall set them free, and on the path to future prosperity.

We virtually misuse our youth in political rallies, and feed them morsels with much bravado.

As the research findings recommend, we should provide skills to our youth, people and even better, imparting upon them tomorrow’s skills today.

Surely, this does not depend on rulers/leaders exaggerating development track records but on soberly revamping our educational curricula and related developmental sectors.

The Tanzanian youth are said to be enterprising go-getters. They are consumed with the desire to make the best of their young lives. What seems to be missing is exemplary behaviour among their seniors, from whom they could learn positive lessons.

Their elders’ attitude to hard, honest-to-goodness work is not particularly exemplary for the youth.

That we have trust issues in our relationships is no secret; indeed, this has arguably become part of our national identity.

That we more often than not demand payment money for little or no work done is no longer a secret; a trait which has taken root in our society.

We have been calling for universal education without caring a hoot about the quality of the education we provide. One consequence of this is that we have millions of young people who are either illiterate, or varsity graduates who are unemployable for lack of professional qualifications/skills!

Some political forces are still keen on selling us the narrative – false or true – that the enemies within us are the well-to-do; the very rich and very powerful. But, those forces have a hold on a people who do not know better – and, hence, blindly believe the narratives.

It may not be long before we see the poor of the poorest amongst our youth destroying properties the filthy rich, believing rightly or wrongly that they are the problem. We just recently saw this happening in South Africa when former President Jacob Zuma was jailed in July this year.

If we really want prosperity for the Tanzanian youth, we must prepare for it today.