{"id":6421,"date":"2025-08-17T15:56:33","date_gmt":"2025-08-17T15:56:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/?p=6421"},"modified":"2025-08-17T15:57:39","modified_gmt":"2025-08-17T15:57:39","slug":"aibom-youth-policy-dev-roadmap-stakeholders-review-10-years-policy-documents","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/2025\/08\/17\/aibom-youth-policy-dev-roadmap-stakeholders-review-10-years-policy-documents\/","title":{"rendered":"A’Ibom Youth Policy Dev.Roadmap: ….stakeholders review 10 years policy documents\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"
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By Emmanuel Ikpe<\/div>\n
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A High-Level Stakeholder Roundtable for the Review and Validation of the Akwa Ibom State Youth Policy and adoption of the Youth Development Roadmap has come to an end with a call for implementation by government and critical stakeholders.<\/div>\n
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The event, which also marked the commemoration of International Youth Day 2025, had in attendance several high-profile stakeholders.<\/div>\n
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In his opening address, the Hon Commissioner for Youth Development, Dr Ekererte Ekanem described the Akwa Ibom State Youth Policy as a comprehensive framework\u2014not just a vision on paper\u2014designed to transform the lives of young people in the state.<\/div>\n
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He expressed appreciation to the Clement Isong Foundation, Youth Pride, ActionAid Nigeria, and the staff of the Ministry of Youth Development for their collaborative efforts in bringing the vision to life.<\/div>\n
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Emphasizing that \u201cthe time for action is now,\u201d he urged all present to move from potential to productivity and work together to set a precedent for youth development in Akwa Ibom State.<\/div>\n
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Earlier on his opening Remark, the Executive Director of Clement Isong Foundation reflected on the lessons from the failure to achieve the MDGs, which led to the adoption of the SDGs.<\/div>\n
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\u00a0He warned that without conscious effort, the SDGs may also remain unfulfilled. He stressed the importance of aligning the Akwa Ibom State Youth Policy and Development Roadmap with the SDGs, highlighting how both are interconnected.<\/div>\n
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Key areas he highlighted included:<\/div>\n
No Poverty: Youth enterprise funds and job creation initiatives.<\/div>\n
Zero Hunger: Agricultural training and enterprise development.<\/div>\n
Quality Education: Skills development, ICT, and STEM integration<\/div>\n
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He noted that the policy has the potential to translate the SDGs into actionable plans, attract development partners for financing, and turn conversations into tangible action.<\/div>\n
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He urged youth to take ownership of the policy\u2019s strategic initiatives and reminded participants that International Youth Day is a reminder of the global race for development\u2014one in which Nigeria must run faster to fulfill its potential.<\/div>\n
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He also shared the Clement Isong Foundation\u2019s achievements in youth development, including establishing a youth hub in Ibino Local Government Area, supporting youth in agroecology, and providing capacity-building opportunities for young people in the state.<\/div>\n
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The Director of Administration and Supplies in the Ministry of Youth Development stated that the dialogue\u2019s main goal was to validate the drafted Akwa Ibom State Youth Policy (2025\u20132035) and adopt the Road Development Roadmap in order to gather meaningful stakeholder feedback.<\/div>\n
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On the policy roadmap and overview,\u00a0 Mr. Emmanuel Akpabio who took the stakeholders through memory lane regarding the genesis and development process of the policy, highlighted the positive impact that His Excellency Pastor Umoh Eno,\u00a0 and the Hon. Commissioner for Youth Development have brought\u00a0 on the Youth Development space within the past two years he presented the document, highlighting six strategic thrusts:<\/div>\n
1. Promotion of entrepreneurship development and engagement for Akwa Ibom youth.<\/div>\n
2. Promotion of healthy lifestyles.<\/div>\n
3. Promotion of youth participation, engagement, and social inclusion.<\/div>\n
4. Promotion of peacebuilding and safe environments for youth development.<\/div>\n
5. Promotion of mental health and psychological wellbeing.<\/div>\n
6. Building effective partnerships and collaborations with stakeholders and partners.<\/div>\n
He also expatiated on why we need the policy as well as the unique features of the policy.<\/div>\n
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The Ministry’s Consultant, Mr. Emmanuel Etukudo presented the Youth Development Roadmap of the State emphasizing the unique provisions in it.<\/div>\n
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He also referenced the existing Akwa Ibom State Youth Development Fund Bill, which will be fine-tuned to meet youth needs and, hopefully, passed into law by 2026. This would open doors for funding from key donors, such as Mastercard. However, he lamented that a major constraint to sustainable youth development in the state is the lack of reliable data.<\/div>\n
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The high-level stakeholders proceeded with a clause-by-clause review of the drafted policy, providing feedback to effect necessary corrections and ensure democratic approval of the final document.<\/div>\n
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Elder Ukeme Anwan thanked God for keeping me alive and relevant to participate in te stakeholders\u2019 meeting. This journey began over a decade ago with the \u201c10 Percent for Youth\u201d campaign. Though the road has been filled with setbacks that made the vision seem impossible.<\/div>\n
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Attendance at the meeting includ; the Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Youth Matters, Hon. Iniobong Akpan; the Director of Administration and Supplies, Covering Duties of\u00a0 the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Youth Development, Mr. Anthony Isong; the Director of Youth Development, Mr. Emmanuel Akpabio, the Special Assistant to the Governor on female Youth, Mrs Esta Nta Bob, the Bank Of Agriculture State Manager, Elkanah, the Ed. of Clement Isong Foundation, the Program Manager, Dr. Caroline Justine; Amb. Peace Edem; Directors of the Ministry of Youth Development and representatives from CBOs, FBOs, among others.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Emmanuel Ikpe A High-Level Stakeholder Roundtable for the Review and Validation of the Akwa Ibom State Youth Policy and adoption of the Youth Development Roadmap has come to an end with a call for implementation by government and critical stakeholders. The event, which also marked the commemoration of International Youth Day 2025, had in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6422,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[1026,1006,4096,4097,1589,280,4095],"class_list":["post-6421","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics","tag-campaign","tag-implementation","tag-participate","tag-proceeded","tag-relevant","tag-stakeholders","tag-validation"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6421","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6421"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6421\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6423,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6421\/revisions\/6423"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6422"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6421"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6421"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailyechoes.ng\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6421"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}