Sierra Leone has gone through turbulent moments in her history, with the brutal civil war (1991 – 2002) which marked the climax of nurtured grievances and political instability, resulting to the death of thousands of people whiles millions were displaced. During this period, youths (18–35 years) were both perpetrators and victims of human rights violations. It is observed that it has been a dual role which youths had become accustomed to during the post-independence era when they became both the abusers and the abused. They were the instruments of oppression, acting as vicious thugs to influence the outcomes of elections and to putdown anti-government demonstrations; they have greatly struggled to find its rightful place in the society (TRC Report, 2004). According to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission Report, experiences of the youths during the war have disrupted their lives and traumatised them. As a result, many are currently moving without direction, unable to access education or employment. Some are arguably disillusioned with their environment they are desperately seeking a way out and would readily resort to violence.
The post war era saw the formulation and implementation of various development programmes aimed at moving the country from conundrum; hence security, justice and public sector reforms among others are laudable ventures. In all these, the youths are considered pivotal. It is reported that over 70 percent of the country’s population are under the age 30 constituting a third of the country’s citizens, making Sierra Leone a country of young people and one that can only move forward relying on their energy, resilience and creativity for national development (Revised Youth Policy, 2014). In line with this, the Government has developed a number of youth policies and programmes such as establishing a youth ministry, youth commission and presidential youth aide to design and champion youth affairs programmes across the country in line with the Revised National Youth Policy 2014. The purposes of these policies and institutions are commendable; and have benefited individuals and communities across Sierra Leone to some extent, with a good number of youths taking leadership roles in nation building supported by government and individuals. On the contrary, it is discouraging to know that the current trend of many youth posture is arguably undermining national development.
It seems to me that the purposes of policies and programmes have not yield expected outcome as behavior and attitude of youths posing serious threat to national security and development. Many youths have reverted to violence, forming themselves into well-known groups of gangs and cliques, causing mayhem across cities and towns. Their activities range from violent attacks on individuals and residences they perceived opposed to their activities; disrupting sporting activities such as football matches and athletics competitions; musical shows; and political rallies among others. Some of these incidents have resulted to death and serious causalities which often result to police action. In some cases police intervention is meted with violent confrontations from these gangs and often led to arrests.
Even schools and tertiary institutions which are known to be agents of change have become breeding grounds for youth hooliganism. There is fear that these groups could be easily manipulated by influential individuals or groups for their selfish gains. The brutal war started just in such a form with serious youth radicalization especially at the Fourah Bay College, University of Sierra Leone, in which students are presently divided along ideological lines with varying support from the wider political realm.
Part of the problem of youth violence has been poor reintegration programmes since many child soldiers were not properly reintegrated with their families, some of them are finding it difficult to cope with civic demands of society. They should have been monitored to see that they acclimatized well. Unemployment has been a contributing factor to the problem which the government is grappling with. One would argue that many youths are unemployable considering that they lack the necessary skills required for the job market; however a good number of employable youths are without jobs. Unemployment figures in Sierra Leone tend to downplay the problem of underdevelopment and poverty which are widespread among the youths in the country. Youth chances of getting paid jobs are lesser as compare to those above the youth bracket (Sierra Leone Youth Report, 2012). These set of people could be easily manipulated by influential people and peer groups to engage in violence.
Poor attitude of youths is also noteworthy. Some youths could not take up developmental initiatives themselves, but rather depend on readily made opportunities. A significant number of them are members of the ghettos, taking alcohol and drugs such as palm wine, marijuana and tranquilizers. It is observed that drugs and alcohol make young people more likely to result to violence and commit crimes, especially as they usually take drugs out of frustration (Restless Development, 2012). The government should expand its measures on improving human development index with priority to empowerment and living standard of youths by designing more working policies and strategies that concentrate not only on public sector but also the private sector to provide youth with space.
In addition, youth should equally take responsibility of being peaceful and developmentally oriented individuals. They should take advantage of whatever opportunities provided them. Finally, achieving sustainable development in Sierra Leone strongly depends on an elderly community which is determine to provide young people the opportunities to develop and take leadership roles and a viable youth population that is willing to listen, learn and determined to take the country forward.
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