ABUJA, Nigeria -                                               President Julius Maada Bio of Sierra Leon, on Wednesday charged African leaders to look into the exponential growth of youth population in the continent or risk a full-blown insurgency in the near future.

According to Bio,  it had become imperative for African leaders to take pragmatic steps to address the problems associated with youth population, considering that their involvement in all spheres of life would save the continent from “justifiable anxiety”.

President Bio said leaders across the world are concerned about the situation in Africa, particularly as the number of African youths keeps growing daily with the challenges of poor infrastructure, poverty, lack of opportunities, lack of quality education and rapid urbanisation, among others.

The Sierra Leonean President expressed the concerns while delivering the Graduation Lecture of Course 27 at the National Defence College, Abuja, the nation’s capital.

The lecture, titled: Youth Inclusiveness and Good Governance: Imperatives for Regional Security and Development, was attended by top military officers, including representatives of the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), the Service Chiefs and representatives of the Inspector General of Police and the Comptroller General of Customs Service (NCS) and Controller General of the Nigeria Immigration Services (NIS).

Bio, who was accompanied by his wife, Fatimah, and other top government officials, said statistics had shown that over 60 per cent of African population from age 0-24 comprises young people.

The Sierra Leonean President noted that the youth population is projected to grow by 50 per cent in 2050.

He said: “By 2050, sub-Sahara Africa will have overwhelming youth population in the world, estimated to be in the region of 945 million people, meaning that compared with South Asia, Western Europe and North America, by 2060, 86 per cent of the poorest people in the world will live in sub-Sahara Africa.

“So, one can easily deduce that the majority of the world’s poorest people will be young people who will be on our continent. It is, therefore, important that we provide solutions to this challenge because the youth population can be assets or liability, depending on the approaches adopted by governments in the continent.”

President Bio called for the involvement of African youths in all spheres of socio-economic and political developments in the continent.