The words ‘youth’ and ‘restlessness’ have become so common together in recent years that they seem to have taken on a life of their own. In the last decade and more, there has been a proliferation of cases across the country and indeed the world of youth riots that have had tons of people killed and valuable infrastructure as well as personal property lost and destroyed.

A sustained protest initiated to enforce a desired outcome of an authority constituted by an organized body of youth fits the label of youth unrest. It is also a combination of any action or conduct that constitutes unhealthy, socially unacceptable activities by youth in any community.

It is a phenomenon that in practice has led to a near breakdown of law and order, low productivity due to the interruption of production activities, increased crime rate, intra-ethnic hostilities and harassment of would-be developers, and other criminal trends. .

This scourge has been around for a long time and seems to be defying solutions. Perhaps the question that must be asked is what is really responsible for this expression of dissatisfaction among young people? Have your complaints not been heard or addressed over the years? Is there more to killing and destruction than simply calling attention to the needs they want to satisfy? Are young people trying to draw society’s attention to themselves rather than to the problems they seem to be facing? These and more are the questions we would try to address today.

In Nigeria, for example, the Niger Delta region, which is arguably the base of the Nigerian oil industry, was in the news for a long period of time, as the youth of that region tried various means to get the government and the oil companies will pay attention to their dire problems. living conditions and relief from their suffering since, according to them, the resources that are building the nation are sprouting from their land, so by virtue of this they should also participate in its benefits. This conflict caused an increase in kidnapping and vandalism of oil pipelines as well as other vices that were being perpetrated.

After a period of… Years, the Nigerian government stepped in and the Amnesty program was created to help fulfill some of the promises the government had made to the youth in those areas.

The relay was soon handed over to eastern Nigeria. The increased rate of armed robbery attacks, kidnappings and rampant vandalism became the order of the day.

Today, the northern part of Nigeria has literally erupted with unparalleled violence. Bomb blasts, kidnappings and murders of Nigerians and others have become the predominant trend. Despite beefing up security in these areas, trouble still looms. This situation raises the questions, ”what is the current government willing to do to permanently put an end to these problems.