Hon. Taiwo ilawole, Democratic Labour Alliance (DLA) candidate for the House of Representatives, Ilaje/Ese-Odo Federal Constituency, has commended the Honourable Minister of Youth Development, Comrade Ayodele Olawande, for ensuring that the National Youth Confab 2026, first promised by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu over a year ago, is now a reality despite numerous constraints.
Reacting to the development, Hon. Taiwo ilawole (DLA) stated that as the DLA candidate for Ilaje/Ese-Odo Federal Constituency, he commends the Minister of Youth Development for holding firm to President Tinubu’s vision and ensuring that the National Youth Confab 2026 is no longer a promise but a reality, adding that the Minister’s assurance that the Confab’s resolutions will not gather dust on an office shelf is a critical political commitment because Nigerian youths have heard enough speeches and what they need now is implementation that creates jobs, expands skills, and opens real opportunities.
Hon. Taiwo ilawole further emphasized that DLA will continue to demand accountability and follow-through from the Executive and the National Assembly to ensure that the outcomes of this Confab translate into concrete policies, programmes, and projects that directly benefit young people in Ilaje, Ese-Odo, and across Nigeria. For Ilaje/Ese-Odo Federal Constituency, home to vibrant youth populations in riverine and coastal communities, the Confab offers a strategic platform to amplify local youth voices on unemployment, skills development, climate resilience, and digital inclusion, secure targeted interventions in entrepreneurship, vocational training, and technology adoption tailored to riverine and coastal realities, and ensure political accountability so that resolutions from the Confab are implemented rather than archived.
Hon. Taiwo ilawole (DLA) pledged to work closely with youth groups, stakeholders, and the Ministry of Youth Development to ensure that the outcomes of the Confab deliver tangible benefits to young people in Ilaje/Ese-Odo.
President Tinubu first announced the National Youth Confab in his Independence Day broadcast on October 1, 2024, pledging a 30-day dialogue to give young Nigerians a meaningful voice in national development, and after nearly two years of planning, the Federal Government officially opened the Confab on Friday, October 2, 2026, in Abuja, with about 360 delegates representing all federal constituencies and the six geopolitical zones. In his opening address, Minister Olawande declared that the Confab is “more than a conference” and assured participants that its outcomes “will not end as paper documentation on another office shelf”, charging young Nigerians to move beyond talk and develop practical solutions to the challenges confronting them while describing youths as “one of the country’s greatest assets”.
