Nigeria’s Consul-General in New York, Benaoyagha Okoyen, has commended the Nigerian youth for being among the best in the world in spite of challenges facing them.

Okoyen made the remarks when a delegation of the Nigerian youths, who attended the 22nd Session of the ‘International Youth Leadership Assembly’ at the UN headquarters in New York, visited him.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the ‘Youth Assembly’ brings together people from different backgrounds in an atmosphere of unity and collaboration to facilitate knowledge-sharing, cultural exchange and action.

The Nigerian envoy commended the delegation for participating competitively among other youths at the international youth gathering.

“We have the brightest youths and we can always beat our chest that we can do well anywhere we find ourselves. I congratulate you.

“I encourage you not to be discouraged. You cannot afford to join those who are not taking the path of honour.

“As the youth of this great nation (Nigeria), we need to take this path of honour to make our country proud.

“As we are reminded and told almost on a daily basis that the future of our country is in our hands.

“You cannot afford to let it down,’’ Okoyen said.

He said the consistent participation of Nigerian youths at international events was a clear demonstration of the growing commitment of the Nigerian Government in encouraging youth participation in international development, especially in the area of technology.

The Nigerian envoy recalled that the President Muhammadu Buhari administration’s recently inaugurated the Technology and Creativity Advisory Group to drive policy in tech-innovation and entertainment.

“As a lead to the policy, we have witnessed the team of five Nigerian girls from Anambra that won a gold medal in the United States,’’ he said.

“In the ‘World Tech-novation Challenge’ held in the Silicon Valley in San Francisco, these girls have become world champions.

“They proudly defeated representatives from the U.S., Spain, China and technological giants in the world.

“Truly, the Nigerian youths have all it takes to stand tall in the world and be counted.

“We must put our creative energy to doing the right thing and succeed as a nation.’’

Okoyen remarked that only committed citizens could change their countries and calling on the Nigerian youths to utilise every available opportunity to positively advance their chosen careers and for the development of their country.

LEADER OF THE NIGERIAN YOUTH DELEGATION TO THE 2018 INTERNATIONAL YOUTH LEADERSHIP ASSEMBLY AT THE UN, WHEN THE DELEGATION PAID A COURTESY CALL ON OKOYEN AT THE NIGERIA HOUSE, NEW YORK

Earlier in his remarks, the leader of the 50-member Nigerian youth delegation, Aminu Danladi, said Nigeria had the highest number of delegates from Africa.

This, he said, was in spite of the fact that none of them was sponsored by the Federal Government.

Danladi, a graduate of the American University’s Washington College of Law, said the Nigerian delegation was made up of Nigerian from the Homeland and in the Diaspora.

“We sponsor ourselves and sometimes we contribute money to make sure bright students from Nigerian public schools benefit from this opportunity of attending the youth assembly at the United Nations.

“The Assembly discusses extensively on how to achieve the SDGs and issues of leadership.

“We believe the young people are leaders of tomorrow, and as such, we are strong advocates of “Not-Too-Young-To-Run law’’.

Danladi called on the Nigerian government at all levels to sponsor and support the youth delegates to participate in the subsequent sessions.

Most of the participants are running non-profit organisations with SDGs-focused projects that are impacting their communities all over the country.