Youths in Nigeria under the aegis of the Not Too Young To Perform (NTYTP), a leadership development advocacy group, have joined calls for the immediate review of over 20-year-old sanctions against the Republic of Zimbabwe.
In a statement signed by the Executive Coordinator/National President of the group, Comrade James Ezema, the NTYTP noted that “young people in Zimbabwe who were not party to whatever led to the sanctions are the ones bearing the heavy burden of the bilateral restrictions against the country.”
The Nigerian youth group then called on the heads of government in Nigeria and other African countries to pressure the United Nations, United States of America, and other International Diplomatic Systems and influential countries to bring to an end the long-overdue sanctions on
Zimbabwe.
“We therefore join the All-Africa Students Union (AASU) and other African youths toempathize with our peers in Zimbabwe, who are daily bearing the burdens of the decades of military, economic, and other sanctions against their father land.
“Anything that negatively impact on one youth anywhere in Africa, is negatively impacting youths everywhere in the continent and any other part of the world.
“The psychological impact of sanctions on today’s generation of Zimbabweans, as a result of slowed progress and inhibited economic recovery, can only be imagined. “Agreed that sanctions programs by some international systems target human rights abusers and those who undermine democratic processes or facilitate corruption, prolonged military sanctions could, on the other hand, further expose the most vulnerable people in Zimbabwe to the adverse effects of insecurity.
“While we call on the Zimbabwean government to continue to strive to take steps towards addressing the root causes of Zimbabwe’s ills, including corrupt elite and their abuse of the country’s institutions for their personal gains, we commend the President Emmerson Dambudzo Mnangagwa administration for ongoing reforms.
His administration’s 4-Key Reform Pillars for Zimbabwe’s Implementation Program, including Governance Reforms, Land Tenure Reforms, Compensation of former Farm Owners, and the Resolution of Bilateral Investment Protection Agreements are sufficient evidence that President Mnangagwa is fully committed to ensuring that all factors that are undermining Zimbabwe’s democratic processes and institutions are speedily removed.
“And as sanctions are not intended to be permanent but to incentivize behavioural changes, we believe that the over two decades of sanctions have achieved that purpose in Zimbabwe and needs immediate review”, the NTYTP stated.