Youth advocate sees leadership crisis in TT

THERE is a leadership crisis in TT and the wider world. Former temporary independent senator Nikoli Edwards expressed this opinion at the launch of the RBC Future initiative at the Arthur Lok Jack School of Business in Mt Hope on Tuesday.

Edwards, a youth advocate, said this crisis was not because of a “paucity of leaders” but a perception of what leadership is. He explained that in TT and many other countries there are leaders who cling to power simply to remain relevant.

Edwards said these people also create the impression that institutions will collapse if they are not there, saying this is counter-productive and the better strategy is to empower young people “to be leaders in their own right” and pass on knowledge through succession planning.

Saying he never regretted his tertiary education, Edwards said, “When you give a young person an opportunity, you give a generation a chance.”

He did not pursue education simply to get a job, he said, but “for the purpose of education,” and this had allowed him to positively influence many young people to empower themselves and follow their dreams.

Rather than young people giving in to frustration and despair, Edwards said they should put that energy to more productive use. His own education enabled him “to be able to function in a society that had its own share of challenges and concerns.”

TT has the same issues with safety and security that other countries have, he said. “There is no place in TT that one can ideally say is safe ,but at the same time there is no one place in TT that we should just completely consider gone to the dogs.”