A senior official in Nigeria’s Kogi State has donated motorcycles to local youths as part of a personal initiative to improve mobility and support community policing in the region.
Oladele Nihi, the Special Adviser on Youth and Student Matters to the Kogi State Governor, presented the vehicles to two recipients, Babatunde Adebayo and Sunday Oloye, on Tuesday morning.
The donation is the latest in a series of similar gifts this month, aimed at providing young people with a means of livelihood and assisting local vigilantes who patrol remote areas.
‘A small gesture with a big goal’
Speaking at the presentation, Mr. Nihi described the motorcycles as a practical tool for empowerment, acknowledging the current economic challenges facing many young Nigerians.
“This is a small gesture, but it shows we care about the future of our youths,” Mr. Nihi told reporters. He added that while he currently focuses on motorcycles, he hopes to scale up the initiative to include larger vehicles as more resources become available.
Boosting community policing
The move has been framed as a dual-purpose strategy:
- Economic Empowerment: Providing a source of income for youths who can use the bikes for transport services.
- Security Support: Enhancing the “response time” of local vigilante groups who often rely on motorcycles to navigate Kogi’s rugged and often inaccessible rural terrain.
This latest donation brings the total number of motorcycles distributed by the Special Adviser to four in the month of January alone.
Why mobility matters in Kogi
Kogi State is a vast, largely agrarian region where the “gateway” roads are well-paved, but many interior communities remain disconnected. For the youth, owning a motorcycle is often the difference between unemployment and a steady income in the burgeoning “okada” (motorcycle taxi) sector.
Local community leaders have praised the initiative, urging other political appointees to adopt similar direct-impact schemes to address the high rate of youth unemployment in the state.
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