The Lagos State Government through its Office of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) & Investment Monday launched the Lagos SDGs Youth Alliance aimed at fostering youth participation in the achievement of the global goals in the state.
Solape Hammond, Special Adviser to the Lagos State Governor on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) & Investment, at a news conference in Ikeja, Lagos, said the alliance was borne from a conviction that youths represented formidable and potent force through which positive impact could be made in all sphere of human endeavours and where meaningful engagements with them was a prerequisite for achieving the Greater Lagos Agenda and by extension the Global Sustainable Development Goals.
She said, “Certainly, we are starting a new journey and shaping an exciting future by enabling young people to immerse in a social reality and responsibility that will help unleash a new tribe of citizens that are committed to common good.
“We are poised to make this movement a special purpose vehicle that will drive a society of resourceful youth whose potentials are to be harnessed to drive the Greater Lagos ambition by channelling their energy, education, intellect and resourcefulness towards positive engagement for a better future,” she said.
Hammond expressed the government’s determination to deepen the focus on youth-oriented approach to social change, saying that, youths, along with their drive and enthusiasm to do well, bring a diversity of fresh perspectives and interpretations to the challenges and opportunities the society faced.
“They remain a source of new energy and solutions to the persistent problems of our time. This administration is not oblivious of the unique challenges of today’s world. Nonetheless, having an active and substantive engagement with young women and men of great potential and deploying their competence into planning, articulation and implementation of development priorities will improve the efforts of the government and establish positive influence on the society,” she said.
Hammond charged the youths to maximise the advantages of invaluable networking, priceless contacts, profound deliberations, quality mentorship, exchange of brilliant ideas and collaborative action that were available through their participation in this noble cause.
