By Gistflash News

Aug 15, 2021

The Enugu State Government has advised the youths to use digital advocacy and community engagement to tackle the rising rate of societal ills in the country.
Mr Elvis Obi-Nwankwo, the Special Assistant to the Governor on Innovation, Science and Technology, made the call on Sunday at a Youth Stakeholders Round-table to commemorate the 2021 International Youth Day in Enugu.
The theme of the meeting is “Roles of youth in creating an innovative community engagement in tackling climate crisis and promoting food security”.
Obi-Nwankwo said the only way youths could deal with the nation’s societal ills and make impact with limited resources was to embrace technological innovations.
“Youths must innovatively think on how to solve the challenge of climate change and food insecurity.
“We cannot continue to tackle them in the same old ways and expect new or better results.
“Youths must be able to think outside the box and come out with something new, such as smart innovation, to drive a change and solve societal ills.
“Where digital advocacy cannot penetrate, you do practical community engagement and if possible give them better alternative to counter the wrong way they have been doing things before now,” he said.
Also, the Executive Director of Heroine Women Foundation, Mrs Onyinye Mamah, said ditigal advocacy remained the surest and cheapest way to appeal and reorientate a lot of people against a particular societal ill.
“Collective digital advocacy on an issue can make much impact since with time the message will be imbibed and everybody would be saying the same thing concerning an issue and the change will certainly come,” Mamah said.
The President of Enugu State Young Farmers Association, Mr Kenneth Eze, said there were few youths engaged in agriculture, even with the food insecurity real in the country due to low productivity.
Eze said youths must arise through advocacy to encourage each other to take up all forms of agriculture, especially modern agriculture practices.
He said the measure would help in replacing the aging farmers in the country.
The Executive Director of Daniel Ukwu Leadership Foundation, Mr Daniel Ukwu, urged youths to take up the leadership challenge in the country by being innovative to drive a change.
“It is us (youths) that will make the needed change for our generation and that of our children to be better and be able to confront challenges of climate change and shortage of food being experienced.
“God will not come from heaven and effect a change here.
“We must think out how we will get out of the woods and get to the Promise Land, which is the hallmark of excellent leadership,” Ukwu said.
The event was jointly organised and supported by a coalition of non-governmental organisations in the state.

NAN