A community-based initiative, the Bauchi State Youth Rehabilitation Network, has successfully rehabilitated 5,282 young people previously involved in social vices, including crime and drug abuse.
The Network’s Chairman, Aminu Muhammed, announced the achievement on Saturday during a Stakeholders’ Strategic Engagement on Youth and Women Rehabilitation held in Bauchi.
Muhammed explained that the beneficiaries had histories of immoral behaviours such as theft, drug abuse, and fornication. The initiative worked by distributing rehabilitation forms through village heads to youths who were willing to turn away from societal misconduct.
“These youths willingly filled the forms and were taken through the rehabilitation process,” he said.
Muhammed added that plans are underway to provide starter packs to beneficiaries upon completion of their skills acquisition programmes, enabling them to become self-reliant.
Stakeholders Call for Parental Responsibility
During the event, officials urged parents to prioritise the moral upbringing of their children.
The Bauchi State Commissioner for Humanitarian Affairs, Hajara Wanka, described this as a critical religious and civic duty. “Societal peace and harmony can only be achieved when every family, regardless of status, actively participates in guiding children rightly,” she warned. “When your neighbour’s children are not well trained, your children are also in danger.”
Speaking on behalf of security agencies, Officer A.A. Saidu of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) criticised parents for neglecting their responsibilities.
“The most troubling situation is when these youths commit offences and are arrested; the first people you see at the security office are their parents, pleading for their unconditional release,” Saidu noted. He called on the government to establish an agency to monitor communities and proffer solutions to recurring social vices.
“What Will Be Our Fate?” Rehabilitated Youth Appeals for Jobs
One of the rehabilitated youths, identified as Mai Laya, narrated his experience. He said that after graduating with a Diploma in 2014, unemployment pushed him into negative behaviours that brought shame to himself and his community.
While expressing hope, he highlighted the critical need for economic empowerment to prevent a relapse.
“Even as we stop what we used to do, like theft and street fights, what will then be our fate? We have no source of income,” he lamented.
He appealed to the government and well-meaning individuals to provide jobs and business opportunities to sustain their reintegration into society.
“I use this opportunity to seek forgiveness from government authorities for our past actions,” Mai Laya added. “We want to become proud citizens of our community, state, and country.”
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