By Prince Okafor

Establishment of universal bridge founded on cultural inclusivity and tolerance, has been identified as a key instrument for youth development globally.

This was the submission of the Consulate General of the United Arab Emirates, UAE in Lagos Dr. Abulla Almandoos during a webinar with the theme, ‘Youth Empowerment: The effects of Cultural inclusion on the development of the youth.

The event was aimed at creating awareness on several channels to encourage tolerance, cultural inclusivity and development of the youths outside the classroom.

According to Almandoos, the need in the 21st century is to establish a universal bridge founded on the solidarity of Cultural inclusivity and tolerance.

This will stand as a proper foundation for building the future generation.

“UAE’s mandate is to serve as a model for cultural tolerance and appreciation of individuals’ heritage.

“Nigeria is one of the most populous countries in West Africa, a country of approximately 200 million people and we believe it is the best place for a constructive event to take place that will have the most effect on secondary countries within the west of Africa and so the UAE is working together with the Lagos state Government to establish a cultural centre in Lagos, that will serve as a multinational centre and give value to entire West Africa,” he added.

Present at the event includes, renowned cultural and heritage books author and a specialist on youth development, Mr Dele Olafuyi, the Host of the ChannelsTV book club, Mr OlaKunle Kasumu, the Executive chairman of the Lagos State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), Mr Alawiye-king, amongst others.

While underscoring the importance of reading as one of the ways to introduce and simplify foreign culture to the youth, Mr Olakunle said: “Reading is a fundamental part of youth development, either in the form of a book or a written article on social media, it’s imperative that we introduce more cultural non-fiction.”

“We are on course to empower youths with highly simplified non-fictional information regarding their heritage, it will be across borders and we aim to include foreign languages to the version of these stories. We see the importance of promoting awareness of the African culture amongst foreign nationalities.” – Mr Dele buttressed.                    

While speaking on the theme, Alawiye-King stressed the value of cultural development on National and economic development of a country.

He stated the direct proportional value of promoting the cultural integration many sectors of the national development map.

“The government has introduced several projects to help boost cultural developments of the youth. Notably is Project Zero, an initiative aimed at capturing more out-of-school youths”- He added.