Youth told to diagnose society’s problems: President Yoweri Museveni has urged the university students to participate in diagnosing the challenges in their societies and help wake the population to exploit the available land resource for wealth creation.

The President made the remarks on Saturday 14th June while giving a lecture to over 600 students from Makerere university, Gulu university, MUBS and Uganda Christian University.

The lecture was under the theme; ” Historical Mission of our Generation: the Role of Intellectual Youth in Uganda and Africa.”

The students have been undergoing a one week’s course on crime prevention at the Police Training School Kabalye in Masindi district in Bunyoro Sub-Region.

President Museveni likened society’s problems to a patient whose ailment is thoroughly diagnosed by a medical doctor who then prescribes appropriate treatment.

“Similarly for leaders, citizens and academicians, you must do a diagnosis of problems in your society and find solutions to those problems”, he counseled.

While giving an example of 3 strategic bottlenecks out of the 10 that impede development, President Museveni noted that NRM, right from the beginning, identified the main problems in Uganda and Africa that revolved around ideological disorientation especially along religious and tribal lines, among others.

He explained that anybody who follows tribal leanings is not only an enemy of his own people but also of those in the region and the African continent.

He cited the example of Banyankole who, between themselves, have little complementarities as regards marketing of their produce since they produce similar products.

He stressed that Banyankole need all Ugandans, East Africans, Africans and the people of the whole world who provide markets for their produce.

He also cited the inability to build a strong state due to ideological disorientation as one of the strategic bottlenecks and the third element as that of balkanization which, he observed, was resolved by the leaders of Africa who created regional bodies like the East African Community and others.

“One of the weaknesses of Africa, on account of colonial balkanization, was smaller markets that cannot support sustainable production. In order to produce sustainably, I need a market”, he stressed.

President Museveni later advised the youth who have completed their courses to choose areas of employment opportunities in the fields of commercial agriculture, industries, services and Information Communication Technology (ICT).

Responding to some of the students’ concerns, Mr. Museveni assured the youth that the government has put total trust in them right from the very beginning when the universal immunization programme was prioritized as well as the establishment of courses in universities and other higher institutions of learning that are marketable.

The President later attended the shooting range by the university students and was very much impressed by their marksmanship.

In attendance was the Minister for Bunyoro Affairs, Mr. Ernest Kiiza, the Inspector General of Police, General Kale Kayihura, senior Police and Masindi district officials among others.