FG inaugurates State Technical Committees for Youth Confab 2025
The federal government has officially inaugurated the State Technical Committees (STCs) ahead of the National Youth Conference (Youth Confab 2025), a key initiative aimed at promoting youth inclusion in governance and policymaking across Nigeria.
The inauguration, held virtually on Thursday, was presided over by the Minister of Youth Development, Comrade Ayodele Olawande, who described the event as a crucial step toward institutionalising youth leadership, inclusive governance, and meaningful dialogue.
According to the Minister, the Youth Confab 2025 is designed to offer young Nigerians a strategic platform to influence policy and decision-making. “It is not just another event; it is a national movement that gives young people a seat at the table,” he said.
Olawande tasked members of the STCs with several responsibilities, including facilitating grassroots consultations across all 360 federal constituencies, compiling policy proposals, ensuring the inclusion of women and persons with disabilities (PWDs), and creating safe, respectful, and non-partisan spaces for youth engagement.
He also outlined five guiding principles for the Committees: inclusion, genuine participation, grassroots policy relevance, decentralised engagement, and measurable impact. The Minister said the outcomes of the engagements would be integrated into a National Youth Agenda and tracked through a Youth Confab Implementation Taskforce and Impact Index.
The Ministry listed major milestones to follow the inauguration, including nationwide and diaspora-led consultations, constituency-level dialogues, zonal meetings, and a national conference in Abuja, which will culminate in the presentation of a final policy blueprint to the President.
“This is your moment, not just to facilitate logistics, but to ignite real change,” Olawande told committee members. “You are shaping the dreams of Nigerian youth and helping build a bridge between the current leadership and the next generation.”
Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Olubunmi Olusanya, in his welcome remarks, urged committee members to prioritise transparency and inclusiveness. He also emphasised the need for coordinated grassroots engagement to ensure no youth constituency is left behind in the national dialogue process.
