According to Alhaji Yerima Shettima, National President of the Arewa Youth Consultative Forum (AYCF), the younger generation is essential to the nation's long-term stability and security.
In order for them to emerge, he urged the government to foster the right environment.
On Tuesday in Kaduna, he told reporters that giving them jobs was not enough; they also needed an atmosphere that would let them realise their full potential.
They will be able to learn skills through training, in his opinion, if the conditions are favourable.
He said that since local and state governments may potentially do more to support youth development and inclusion than the federal or state governments could on their own, AYCF was preparing for that possibility.
He said the tiers of government should consider plans to key the youths into programmes that would reduce the number of unemployed on the streets, especially in the northern part of the country.
The President stated further that when there was a conducive environment, the youth was bound to become productive.
Speaking on the interface with Presidential candidates by a joint Area Committee, he said it was important that the North should unite and give everyone a level playing ground.
” Northern part of the country has never had it well at all, and who are the direct victims? The youth and the women have suffered so much.”