NYCN Crisis Deepens As Fresh Exco Emerges
BY EDMOND ODOK, ABUJA – Deepening crisis rocking the National Youth Council of Nigeria (NYCN) has taken another twist with the elections of new officers to manage the Council’s affairs for the next two years.
At an extra Ordinary Congress of the management committee held in Abuja, members elected Almustapha Asuku as the President and 23 others to handle the activities of NYCN.
The development is coming barely two weeks after the immediate past Minister of Youths and Sports, Barrister Solomon Dalung recognised and inaugurated another faction as the authentic leadership of the National youth body.
The management committee comprises the Board of Trustees, critical stakeholders, Voluntary Youth Organization (VYO) and State Council chairmen of NYCN.
In his remarks, the Chairman, NYCN’s Board of Trustees, Ambassador Dickson Akoh told delegates that the Congress was necessitated by a subsisting court order voiding an earlier congress held in Gombe Congress or any other parallel congresses that might have taken place.
He said in picking the new executives, the Board was motivated by the urgent need to address what he described as a show of shame by some aggrieved youths engaged in imposing themselves leaders and National Executive Council (NEC) members without following due process.
Akoh, who presided over the extra-ordinary Congress, said the current action was necessary given the need to produce a formidable Youth forum to be in the forefront of pursuing a robust national youth agenda for sustainable socio-economic growth and development in the country.
He said the new executives are drawing their strength from the presence of representatives from the Sports Ministry, BoT members, VYOs as well as State Chapter Chairmen of NYCN at Congress.
He warned desperate NYCN members to desist from impersonating as executive members of Council, stressing that legal action shall be instituted against any culprit.
In his remarks after the election, new President, Almustapha Asuku thanked God, the incorporated Trustees’ leadership, State Chairmen, VYOs and all delegates for having confidence in the new team.
He urged all NYCN members to shun acts of divisiveness and join hands with the new executive to collectively sanitize and move the council forward.
He said there is an urgent need to restore the Council’s integrity and lost glory, assuring that the voices of Nigerian youths would henceforth be heard at all levels of governance.
He also appealled to all security agencies, well-meaning Nigerians, and relevant stakeholders to partner with his team to achieve the set objectives of repositioning the youths as active stakeholders in the Nigerian project and Next Level agenda of the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration.
The extra-ordinary Congress was declared open by the representative of Permanent Secretary Federal Ministry of Youth and Sport development, Mr. Aliu Sule, a Deputy Director Network and Social Development.
In the recent past, the NYCN has been crises-ridden with the initial challenge being the NEC’s threat of a no-confidence vote on its President Bello Shagari in March, 2019
However, two months later, the NEC reversed itself, passing a vote of confidence on Shagari. Interestingly, things boiled over two weeks later as the BoT disbanded all the Council’s executives, following a court ruling that has subsisted for several months.
The situation was further compounded when the former Sports Minister, Dalung, also citing court orders, recognized Sara-Igbe Sokunbo-led team just few days after the BoT’s declaration.
