Nasser Youth Movement; In the Spirit of Gamal Nasser.

Gamal Abdel Nasser was the first president of Egypt. Before him, Egypt was ruled by prime ministers and through an overthrow of the monarch, he became the country’s first president in the middle of the last century. Despite his human weaknesses, Abdel Nasser did well in revolutionizing the nation through great reforms.
Over 50 years after his death, the leader still lives on in the memory of his countrymen and the rest of the African continent. He is the individual after whom the Nasser Youth Movement is named. The founder of the movement however is Hassan Ghazaly.
Hassan is a 2016 and 2019 African Union Youth Volunteer Corps (AUYVC) government partner. He is also a Member of the African Union Commission Specialized technical committee on Youth, Sports, and culture. Since founding the Nasser Youth Movement, Ghazaly has championed a lot of initiatives towards ensuring that the African youth is empowered to think beyond their localities.
His Mantra of “Egypt is my village and Africa is my country” brings out the ideology of unity and cooperation for the continent. And if Africa is to leapfrog in terms of massive developments economically and socially, then this thinking should begin to crown our minds. The idea of free economic trade blocks within the continent without barriers can be achieved if we borrowed a leaf from this slogan.
Take a moment and think of Kenya, my country for instance, as a microcosm in a bigger society (country) called Africa driven by mature democracy, transparency, unity and cooperation and you see all the possibilities. Living with selfishness, animosity and malice sometimes even against our own kin has hampered such a development leave alone looking at another countryman in the continent as a brother or sister.
This movement seeks to change that. At the continental level, the movement seeks to empower African youth leaders by enabling them attend the Nasser Fellowship for International Leadership – a 15 days program- in Egypt. It also aims at strengthening ties between the various countries within the continent at continental as well as regional level.
In addition, the movement offers online building capacity programs for young leaders, maximizes Pan Africanism principles in those programs and links its members with national, continental & international decision makers and other youth organs.
Over the years, the youth have been watching things unfold from the edge. They have been promised of their time in the future for along time, a future which never gets to dawn for a number of them. It is now being made possible for the youth to actively participate in building their continent through such initiatives as the Nasser Youth Movement.
There is a popular saying that says something to the effect that pulling others down doesn’t make us move forward. In fact it ensures that we don’t all progress. In the good spirit behind the movement for the African youth, it is necessary to push others up or pull them up depending on where you are.
Is is in the period of Abdel Nasser’s leadership that a robust middle class was created in the Egyptian economy. In that spirit as well we need to create a robust youth network that ensures their efforts don’t get wasted in tearing down mother Africa but rather gets used up in building her up.
Today, the Nasser Youth Movement is in operation in over 44 countries across the world with concerted efforts to ensure that young leaders are developed, empowered, and prepared to drive this continent to the level being added daily. From the south to the north, east to the west, south east to north west the drive is one; to push the African young person to live to his/her highest potential.
It is upon us as the young people to take advantage of these opportunities and build networks for posterity. It is a call to all of us to weigh in our efforts towards enabling national, regional and continental integration. It is for us to ensure that we make this continent an envy of others.
We can only do this if, together, we all rise beyond the differences that segregate us. Let each one of us understand that we have a responsibility upon our shoulders to make a positive impact; a great one for that matter on this continent. Understand like Gamal Abdel Nasser or Hassan Ghazaly that it is up to you to make the difference.
By doing so, you would have taken the first critical step that will catapult you into action towards transforming this continent.