Oche Otorkpa

Drug cartels have taken the driver__ seat, training our youngmen and women on how best to self destruct, while the largercommunity watches on helplessly as these bands of renegades leadour people towards the path of self annihilation

One way to be sure you are not making the wrong decision, is to lookvertically upwards

Raped at age nine by a relative and pregnant at 14 Oprah Winfrey,like many others have experienced the wickedness and brutality ofour society. Sadly, it__ an environment where blood lines no longerhold.

From New Delhi to New York, from Durban to Rio; women andgirls are been hunted down by rapists, abused by pedophiles andemotionally decapitated by a society that is becoming increasinglyhostile to the womenfolk

Increasingly, the girl child is becoming an endangered specie aspedophiles_ continue to roam free in our societies terrorizingthe lives of our children and stripping them of all the joy andexcitement that comes with childhood.

So many interests compete for our young people, from drug baronsto sex traffickers who are constantly looking for ways to revive their ageing workforce

As the world confronts the challenges of globalisation, theentertainment Industry and a web saturated with explicit sexualcontent, is increasingly making it difficult for young people to makeinformed decisions about sex

Globally, millions of married men and women engage the servicesof sex workers each year. Despite growing health concerns aboutthe increased risk of STDs and HIV AIDS this trade continues toblossom, leading to the premature termination of several lives andthe dissolution of several marriages.

A complex world of intrigues and power play among couples hascombined to deny young people the love and attention they trulydeserve, more and more teenagers are leaving home to peer up withbad influence which eventually lands them in jail for the lucky onesand six feet under for the not so lucky.

Our actions has ensured that we made headlines for all the wrong reasons

The stigmatization and the excruciating pains of social alienationhave compelled most victims to conceal their status while themalevolent ones continue to distribute the virus free of charge tounsuspecting men and women

HIV is free, why pay for it

The Media and the internet have taken up the responsibility of molding the young ones amongst us, leaving us to pursuethe careers we treasure.

In their quest to hit cloud Nine, our young men and women intheir prime are gradually finding themselves on ground Zero,emotionally battered, academically bankrupt and medicallyparalyzed.

The sudden surge of hormones at teenage age will continue to play an important part in the life of young people

I am constantly reminded that we are a products of the choices we make

One of the greatest challenge facing young people today, is thelarge scale availability of half truth__ and manipulated facts

If young people are our greatest asset in a war that must be won then wemust be willing to extricate them at whatever cost from the clutchesof those who seek to exploit their weaknesses