I want to know if there is a certain age bracket that the nigerian constitution refers to as youths. My main reason for asking this is because i have read somewhere in the past a newspaper which was discussing a 65years old man heading the youth section of a popular political party in nigeria. My question is :is that man a youth in nigeria?. Again, i have once greeted a woman whom in my eyes is an elderly woman "good afternoon mama" and she reacted immediately by calling me names like "onye ara! Idiot! Who are u referring to as mama? "Am i older than ur mama?. The woman in question should be around the age of 55yrs to 60. So i was wondering whether it was the greeting or the mama that provoked her, did she expect me to say "good afternoon miss or under-16". So i wanna know whom a youth is.

Why good afternoon mama instead of good afternoon ma?

That's rude.

Youth could be someone under 20, someone under 30, or someone under 40, depending on the context.

And generally speaking, to an 80 year old, anyone under 60 would still be a youth.

tpia1: Why good afternoon mama instead of good afternoon ma?

That's rude.

is anything wrong with mama? Don't u know that "ma" is a short form of mama?

instead of arguing, you should learn.

i've explained to you what you did, but you're more interested in justifying your rudeness.


ma is a polite way of addressing an older person, as long as they have no problem with it.

mama when directed at someone below your grandmother's age, is extremely rude and shows lack of home training.



in short, toutish behaviour.

tpia1: instead of arguing, you should learn.

i've explained to you what you did, but you're more interested in justifying your rudeness.


ma is a polite way of addressing an older person, as long as they have no problem with it.

mama when directed at someone below your grandmother's age, is extremely rude and shows lack of home training.



in short, toutish behaviour.

daalu, you've tried also.

dont worry, hope you wont end up in fisticuffs with some young upstarts when they call you old papa or grandpa.

just a matter of time!

tpia1: dont worry, hope you wont end up in fisticuffs with some young upstarts when they call you old papa or grandpa.

just a matter of time!

hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha

As far as I am concerned, and based on international definitions of the word, a youth is someone coming to a sense of independence in this world. The period between childhood and adulthood. The UN, for statistical consistency across regions, defines ‘youth’ as those persons between the ages of 15 and 24 years. It can be based, for instance, on the definition given in the African Youth Charter where “youth” means “every person between the ages of 15 and 35 years". The Nigerian National Youth Policy defines youth as anyone between the age of 18 and 35. From the above definitions, it is out of place to call people like Gov Bello and Senator Melaye youth, except contextually as a distinct age group from Buhari and ilk.