Some stakeholders have called on youths to focus on adding values in their social and economic engagements, especially the use of social media.
The stakeholders, who made the call at the opening of the Grand Charity Youth Development (GCYD) on Wednesday in Ilorin, also called for a mechanism to regulate the excesses of the youth on social media.
Speaking with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on the sidelines of the event, Dr Audu Idowu, said that in spite of the positive impact of social media, it had done more harm than good in the lives of the youth.
Idowu, who is a general medicine practitioner, said it was a common practice for youths to mismanage their productive hours on social media platforms such as Facebook, WhatsApp, and others.
According to him, the development has resulted in the distraction of many youths from facing life challenges, thus promoting the negative impacts of social media.
The medical expert, who is one of the trustees of GCYD, warned that failure to checkmate the use of social media among the youth could lead the country to a disastrous end.
“Distraction is something that is seen everywhere.
“In those days, social media platforms were not available. But everybody now, no matter how young, is on Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, Twitter, and so many other platforms.
“Although many of these platforms may have a positive impact on the lives of the youth, yet their negative impacts seem to be more.
“So, if you don’t have a control mechanism that will balance that, we might be heading towards disaster as a nation.
“And that is why I believe that Grand Charity Youth Development is one of those organizations that can take up this challenge by refocusing the minds of our youths.
“Many organizations are also doing that. We need to join hands together and see how we can further strengthen the minds of the youth.
“This period is very fragile for our youth, as they can be easily led astray by some of these vices. That is why we need to come up with so many innovations to guide them.
“And that is one of those things this organization is expected to be doing”, Idowu said.
Also speaking, the Coordinator, Centre for Community Development, Kwara State University, Malete, Lawal Olohungbebe, admonished the youth to be cautious in selecting their role models, saying they must apply a moral compass in measuring the success of people.
He added that parents and teachers had crucial roles to play in helping young people to pick those they intended to emulate as role models so as not to be misled.
In her speech, the Director of Programmes, GCYD, Haleemah Gegele, said that the organization was conceived to build the competencies, skills, and ability of youths in order to grow and flourish.
She noted that the organization was also formed with a view to giving the youth moral, psychological, financial, medical and emotional support in every field they wished to thrive.
“We also have a mission to foster activities where young people feel included, regardless of gender or ethnic affiliations.
We have the vision to keep making an impact on young people to be useful to themselves, the society and the nation at large”, Gegele added. (NAN)
