Dear Editor,

As we approached the month of November, I anxiously awaited the surfeit of activities in recognition of Youth Month.

I praise openly the ministry for choosing such a solid theme: ‘Substance Ova Hype!’ My only request of the youth leaders is to put it into practice. Leadership is not ‘showbiz’. “Dweet fi di love and nuh dweet fi di likes.”

I find the theme for this Youth Month profound and suggestive of changes. I hope this applies to the batch of self-interested youth leaders that we have among us. They cannot be representing youth but consider themselves above those whom they represent. At the same time, they cannot be of substance to the demography they represent if they are not willing to be true advocates of the cause for effecting change that will benefit the wider youth population and not just a few.

I have observed too many youth leaders who work with strong political influence and only pursue benefits in the few opportunities to travel, hold offices, and access resources. They validate their work based on the number of likes they can get on any particular social media post and go around putting on the perfect show while hard workers are often sidelined.

I hope the theme for this year’s Youth Month is a sign that things are changing.

Remember now, it’s ‘Substance Ova Hype!’

Arielle Triton

tritonarielle@gmail.com