As a young person, I have often thought that the progress of my country depends solely on the government, who we elected to represent us in office. But as the events of my country are turning out today, where every man is in pursuit of his own happiness, it has suddenly dawned on me that I can’t wait on the government to handle my affairs anymore. Its time to take matters into my own hands and make a choice to make the life of my fellow youth’s meaningful.

I went out the other day to talk to some young people about the IYD and what they thought their roles were to play as young people to help their peers who are faced with RH issues. The first thing that struck me was that so many of these young people in this community were not aware of commemoration of this IYD, a day set aside worldwide to celebrate youthfulness. As I went on, I asked one of the young people who I came in contact with, what his role was to play in his community and he said it was not up to him, but up to the government. Now, the theme for this year IYD reads, “Sustainability: our challenge, our future” I have come to the understanding that the fight against teen pregnancy, STI’s, HIV, and every other RH issue lies in our hands as the leaders of tomorrow, because the challenge is ours and not solely the government. This is to say that the time to rise up from our slumber has come.