over 125,000 black youths. The mentoring typically takes place in the community in a group setting to create positive relations amongst the youth. In 2002, the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences published a major report examining after-school and other community programs designed to foster positive youth development. The report concluded that very few after-school programs “have received the kind of comprehensive experimental evaluation necessary to make a firm recommendation about replicating the program in its entirety across the country.” However, the report singled out mentoring programs modeled after the Big Brothers Big Sisters mentoring program as a rare exception, and recommended its widespread replication. Nigeria As with mentoring everywhere, informal mentoring predates the formal style of mentoring in Nigeria. Informal mentoring is how youths are educated and family traditions, instructions and rituals were passed through generations. However the formal mentoring in Nigeria is seen in various sectors including the academia, business as well as others. Nigerian youth are widely known for their entrepreneurial skills. More than 80% of them, irrespective of gender, are said to have the potential entrepreneurial mentoring as a way of investing in their future. Although informal mentoring has been the original form of most mentoring relationships, formal mentoring in exist in academia, but with a largely male predominance thereby causing a skewed dyad that require training and improvement of the formal training structures available. Barriers to mentoring includes lack of funding, lack of trust, as well as lack of appropriate gender based mentoring especially for young women in mentoring. This is not an exhaustive list, as there is a call for the development of more research into youth mentoring in the Nigerian context. Also, the May 31st 2018 "Not Too Young to Run" Bill signed to law by President Muhammadu Buhari encourages youth participation in political leadership roles. Several community efforts by non-governmental agencies such as the Toni Elumelu Foundation, Strategy for Mentoring Initiative and Leadership Empowerment (S.M.I.L.E) in Lagos as well as We Aspire Youth Mentorship Initiative, a youth based group centered around encouraging males and females alike to engage in peer-based mentoring. Youth club Peer mentoring Tutor StudentMentor.org MENTOR National Mentoring Month References External links Mentorship: A Selected Bibliography. . Mentorships Alternative education Private aid programs