Youth bulge and the prospect of demographic dividend in Nigeria

Ngozi M. Nwakeze, University of Lagos

The youth consists of the crucial human resource required by a modernizing economy particularly for the attainment of MDGs. This is because they are usually vibrant and dynamic young men and women with visionary minds. Nigeria has a very young population and the majority are youths. In order to reap the full demograghic dividend of the youth bulge, there is need to optimally harness the youth potentials. The paper; therefore examines the ways of unleashing the potentials of the youth for improved productivity. It also highlights the negative impact of pornography on the productivity of the youth and calls for moral education and value re-orientation. The paper also calls for an effective national youth policy as a framework for youth empowerment and involvement in decision-making. Keywords: Nigeria, MDGs, Youth Bulge, Youth empowerment and Demographic Dividend.