HARNESSING THE CREATIVE POTENTIALS OF YOUTHS FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF DELTA STATE.

By Prof Demas Nwoko

A latent creative talent which is not developed will remain dormant and therefore useless to society.

The first step is to train talented youths to recognise and learn how to apply their creative abilities. The training process should start with children in pre-primary, primary and secondary schools. By the time they are youths, their areas of carrier strengths are already identified so they move easily into specialised training in professional institutions.

Such properly directed youths never become problems to society. In the past, our educational systems failed to recognise the all importance of creativity as the foundation of national development. So the first step to the production of useful youths is the restructuring of our school curriculum to lay greater emphasis on creative arts.

The study of art develops the vision of the child, to see thing in greater details. It trains the hands to fashion things and in that process, become accustomed to fabrication of useful objects. It sharpens his sense of aesthetics judgement teaching him to recognise, the good and the bad. It builds up their self confidence when they perform in front of audiences in singing and dancing.

I have explained the benefits of the study of the Arts in school, to show that the study of the arts is not necessarily meant to make professional artists of all children. It unlocks their creativity in all other professions, like Architecture, Engineering, Medicine, and the Sciences. It is the creative ones in these fields of human endevour who advance them to new heights.

THE YOUTHS

The pressing issue of to day is what to do with the teaming number of youths who did not have the benefit of the ideal education which should have developed their creativity. They have to be led through a guided path to production. They have to be trained to create products which is marketable in society.

  1. . Their natural interests however faint or obscure, should be identified in the first place.
  2. . They should be then trained to a level of proficiency which will support a viable and profitable production. in.
  3. The infractural means of production should be secure.
  4. The market for the products should be assured even if it means that Government should guarantee that it is so. v. They should have access to cheap funding which in Nigeria of today mean Government subsidised loans or outright grants.

Youths want to excel in their endevours being in perpetual competition with their peer groups. If the condusive environment to perform is absent, this healthy urge can be directed towards negative, antisocial activities. The first target is constituted authorities and later, society at large.

The youths who are creatively productive expect instant success through recognition and patronage. If they have put in their best and recognition and reward do not follow, they will likely discontinue productive life and go to steal as rebellion against society.

Just as it is the duty of Governments, to educate and train the youths, it is also their responsibility to provide sustainable avenues for private enterprise to blossom.

Governments is a consumer of finished products so it is imperative that they should source most of their needs in goods and services within their area. This will keep their citizens who they have invested much to train, in perpetual employment.

MODEL INDUSTRIAL ESTATE PROJECTS.

The UNDP type of crash programme of training unemployed youths and equipping then to establish way-side production shops have not worked. This is because of the general state of poor infrastructure which destroy their tools, or is not available for constant production. These apparently empowered youths are driven back to the streets sooner or later because the programme is not sustainable. In 1997, I sent a proposal to UNDP for a sustainable industrial estate model in year 2001 the proposal still looks viable so my offer still stands and can be discussed it reads thus:-

MODEL INDUSTRIAL ESTATE PROJECT FOR DELTA STATE DESIGNED BY AFFRICAN DESIGNS DEVELOPMENT CENTRE LTD.

Many adverse conditions and situations are militating against the rapid and sustained growth of medium and small scale industries in Nigeria.

These include:

In the past. Governments idea of an Industrial Estate, is a bulldozed site with a grid of earth roads which is usually wiped out with the next rainy season. Prospective entrepreneurs are asked to purchase plots and build factories complete with back-up power and environmental services.

No small scale industrialist can accomplish that feat and still source his raw materials and employ labour.

My Proposals

  1. . Build a number of ware house-like shades divided into leaseable production shops.
  2. Provide the estate with centralised common infrastructural services like Water, Power, Gas, Environmental and Technical maintenance facilities.

Common commercial services could also be established to promote and market the products of the Estate.

Set up training and retraining facilities for entrepreneurs and their employees.

Target Industries

These target industries are areas in which our higher institutions graduate thousands of students each year, who cannot find ready employment. Their practical proficiency is low, and they do not have enough capital or knowledge to start off on their own without the type of support, guidance and direction as I am proposing. New culture Studios and African Designs Development Centre have established a nucleus of what we are advocating at Ibadan and a rural community Idumuje-Ugboko in Delta State. We can use these institutions as initial training centres before the entrepreneurs move to the build-up Industrial estates.

Craft technical training can be given to secondary school drop-outs to provide labour for these industries.

CULTURAL INPUT TO TECHNOLOGICAL EDUCATION.

It was announced that Government intends to establish a number of polytechnics and technical schools and that foreign consultants are being invited for planning inputs.

Once a foreign model is put in place cultural relevance of such institutions goes out the other way. A technological training which is not directed to serve a cultural end is at best useless or at worst a problem. Strong words you may say, but it is gospel truth. Our Technical Institutions must be founded on appropriate technology enable graduates to function in our level of developmental environment.

American and European models works with tools which are expensive and discriminatory to intensive human labour. We can not afford both yet.

In our technical school, we want to understand the machine and be able to make them. The advanced technology only teach us how to operate and replace spare parts.

I have put in place the model I think we should use in Idumuje- Ugboko and I am seizing this opportunity to invite your Excellency and your entire Government to visit Idumuje-Ugboko to see for your selves .

Thank you.

DEMAS NWOKO Designs Director ADDEC LTD.