Review by Alheri Books
The book “Service my country” has been written based mainly on the authors work as a youth development expert, advocate, researcher and policy consultant. Having worked at the different levels of youth development, Dabesaki provides a profound response to the usual question policy makers always have “what value do young people bring to policy making processes?” Dabesaki should know the answer. Having been involved in the policy making processes himself, he should know what value young people do always add to the policy debate.
The primary basis of the book is the author’s appointment as the representative of Nigeria to the Commonwealth Regional Youth Caucus, an integral part of the governance structures of the Commonwealth Youth Programme, which allows young leaders aged up to 29 years to influence its policy and programming agenda. Each caucus member is expected to serve up to a 4 year term and contributes to youth development processes at national, regional and pan Commonwealth levels. The author’s involvement included participation in the different efforts to bring youth issues into the national economic empowerment and development strategy (NEEDS) - a world bank/ IMF poverty reduction strategy type document. Nigeria’s NEEDS was focused on creating wealth, reducing poverty, changing values and generating employment. The author argues that despite wide spread criticisms of the strategy, some progress had been made in the critical sectors. Relying heavily on government statistics, and while also expressing scepticism, he puts growth in the non-oil sector at 9.33 percent!
Dabesaki has played a key role in the establishment of major national, continental and international youth advocacy organisations. First, he was appointed as the coordinator of Student Without Borders- the international students arm of US based Teachers Without Borders. He later became the founding executive director of Development Partnership International- a non-profit with offices in Nigeria and Zambia, as well as Task Force member of the Global Youth Coalition on HIV/AIDS. Since beginning his involvement in youth development efforts, he has travelled to 28 countries speaking on various issues of youth development: ICTs for development and education service delivery, HIV prevention among young people and youth empowerment. He highlights his role and exit from the global youth coalition on HIV/AIDS as a regrettable event and tenders an apology to those who may have been disappointed by the turn of events.
Providing a reflection on the author’ national youth service, the book calls on young Nigerians to put service to country at the fore of their daily lives. It promotes patriotism, citizenship and national service as important aspects to which every citizen must be committed. One aspect of this is the challenge of development in the Niger- Delta region. The development challenge of the Niger Delta can be said to be one of Nigeria’s most well documented challenges. However, the resolution of the challenge remains the most difficult. The book presents a 4 point proposal for the resolution of the challenge. 1. Law enforcement as the core solution, calling for the law to take its full course with those who commit crimes. 2. Human Capacity development as a means to empower people and build the relevant institutions to facilitate the process of development. 3. Infrastructural development to address the huge infrastructure gap existing in the region. This includes a call for the implementation of the proposals of a recent government committee to synthesise all different reports and research on the region. 4. Building institutional capacity for the implementation of government programmes in the region.
The book profiles young people from across the world aged 30 and below, who have done outstanding work to improve the lives of other young people in their communities. If anything, this supports the main objective of the book- to show that young people are contributing to the improvement of their societies. It provides recommendations on what should be done to empower young people and to move society forward. It calls for the involvement and inclusion of young people in various sectors including: foreign policy, education, tourism, agriculture, entrepreneurship and rural development, among others. It highlights Nigeria’s leading role in global affairs: as a donor nation supporting development efforts in Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific through its Technical aid corps; as a major proponent and supporter of the global fund for AIDS, TB and Malaria, donating 10 million US Dollars to support its programmes and as a big player in Africa, supporting efforts in Sudan, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Sao Tome and Principe, as well as apartheid South Africa and pre-independence Namibia. Ultimately, it calls for the integration of young people in these efforts to show the new face of Nigeria.
The introduction of the book indicated that the objective was to show that young people are contributing to the development of their countries. Did it achieve this? Yes, especially based on the authors own contributions and the various examples of the work of the young people profiled. In the foreword of the book, Dr. Raymonde Agossou, head of the youth programme at the African Union commission says “I know Dabesaki because he is a young person, he has a lot of challenges facing him, he has a lot of hopes, he believes that changes are possible. But on top of all those elements, he is convinced that he has the strength to fight the challenges, the knowledge and the skills to build his own capacity and leadership, to construct the avenues for self-achievement and the faith to work today to improve tomorrow, for himself, his family, his country and for Africa.” I encourage you to read this book. It is a reflection of the enormous experiences of the author who has worked in and travelled to over 27 countries as consultant and adviser to United Nations agencies, the Commonwealth and the African Union.
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