Stakeholders in adolescent health have called for robust partnership and collaboration to harness Nigeria’s policy on adolescents and youths’ health to secure the nation’s future.

They made the call on Sunday at the Stakeholders Forum on Adolescent and Youth Health Policy in Nigeria.

The University of Ibadan Research Foundation organised the forum as part of the activities for the organisation’s 76th Founder’s Day celebration.

In his address, the keynote speaker, Adesegun Fatusi, the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Medical Sciences, Ondo, lamented that many young Nigerians died of preventable causes.

According to him, the best investment anywhere in the world that any society can make is in the life of young people.

“This is because they are leaders today making the move for tomorrow. Today, you can protect their health because a lot of young people are dying, and they are dying of preventable causes.

“So, if we invest in their lives appropriately, it means we can secure their today and tomorrow. This is because most of the diseases that happen in adulthood have to do with behaviours that start at the adolescent stage.

“And, because they are the next generation of parents, when you invest in them, you are investing in the children of tomorrow. So, it is the best investment any society can make,” Mr Fatusi said.

He said, “We have been careless and lackadaisical about investing in the adolescents and the youths. But things are improving a little bit now but we need to do far better than what we have done.”

Akin Abayomi, the chairman of the occasion and Lagos’ commissioner for health, said that 50 per cent of Nigerians were under the age of 20 years, hence the need to invest in them.

Mr Abayomi said: “We are moving out of the era of mineral wealth into the era of the knowledge economy. Everybody is talking about artificial intelligence and machine learning.

“We are moving into an era where we can accelerate knowledge and so, we are dependent on a healthy youth, a healthy education. We are dependent on you to generate that knowledge that our economy now depends on.”

Earlier, the vice-chancellor of UI, Kayode Adebowale, said the UI-Research Foundation had developed a platform to tap into valuable gem deposits to support decision-makers.

According to him, it will aim to foster asset-based, impact-driven strategies and policy options in Nigeria.

“This aim is to enhance the benefits of the advances in science for policy actions and especially for adolescents and youths health in Nigeria,” he said.

The VC said each leader’s contribution and the university’s commitment would make the mission a reality in Nigeria.

In his address, the director of the UI Research Foundation Ibadan, Ayoade Oduola, said the forum was to get the input of stakeholders on how best to implement a town-to-gown initiative.

Mr Oduola said the knowledge from the university would be used to work with implementers and decision-makers in the ministries and local government areas on the interventions that would improve adolescent health. 

(NAN)