Young Nigerians and other stakeholders have called for greater youth participation in governance, better access to opportunities, and stronger interventions to address the economic and security challenges facing the country.
The calls were made on Generation Next: Youth, Power & The Future We Must Build, a live broadcast on Channels Television on Thursday to commemorate Nigeria’s 66th Independence Day anniversary.
The discussions centred on the place of young Nigerians in politics and governance, the impact of government policies on youths and the country’s economic and security outlook.
Speaking on young Nigerians’ perception of politicians, a human rights activist, Aisha Yesufu, said the widespread distrust of politicians among youths was grounded in their experiences.
She said young people had not been treated well or given the country they desired.
“I mean courtesy is not a strategy when your life is literally being taken away before your very eyes,” she added.
The activist said the political class had failed young Nigerians when youths contested elections in 2023 and did not see the impact.
She, however, argued that young people must participate in politics if they want to contribute to solving the problems in the political system.
A chieftain of the African Democratic Party, Kola Ologbondiyan, called for education to enable young people to participate in governance.
He, however, faulted President Bola Tinubu’s claim that Nigeria was moving into prosperity.
‘No Delay In Payment Of NELFUND’
The Minister of State for Education, Suwaiba Ahmad, allayed fears over claims of a delay in the administration of loans to students under the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND).
While reacting to a comment by an undergraduate in the live audience who lamented that the loan did not arrive when it was needed the most, the minister said such a situation could be an isolated case.
APC Chieftain Backs Tinubu
Meanwhile, the National Youth Leader of the All Progressives Congress, Dayo Israel, said the Tinubu administration was building a future for Nigerian children and urged youths to play their part through active participation.
Israel said the President had encouraged youth participation through the appointment of young people.
“I don’t think that there has been any president in Nigeria that has actually prioritised youth inclusion like President Bola Tinubu has done in this administration,” he said.
His position, however, drew disagreement from some young Nigerians in the live audience.
“The APC government has not favoured me. The APC government has not favoured the youth like myself, especially youths who come from average families and who do not know somebody that knows somebody,” Phelia Gbada, who spoke about her inability to apply for the NELFUND programme, said.
The Chairman of IPAC, Yusuf Dantelle, echoed Gbada’s position, saying the dividends of democracy had not been widespread when compared with the experience in the early years after independence.
But Israel responded that more than one million Nigerians were benefiting from NELFUND and that several states had various interventions for young people.
“You might not benefit directly from student loans, but you are driving on roads that were built by the Tinubu administration,” the APC youth leader added.
He, however, acknowledged that more still needed to be done for young Nigerians.
Economic Progress And Pain Points
On the economy, economist Ayo Teriba said macroeconomic progress had been evident under the current administration since its inception on May 29, 2023.
He said there had been improved liquidity, although he acknowledged that the issue remained debatable.
“You have seen inflation accelerate in their first 18 months, and since December in the past 20 months, you have seen inflation decelerate.
“And then you have seen growth, GDP growth, accelerate from 2.5 when they came to 4.43 now,” he stated.
Teriba also said interest rates were beginning to come down, based on the sovereign reference rate, which he identified as the treasury rate.
He also cautioned against making definitive claims about the current level of poverty in Nigeria.
For former Director-General of the Budget Office of the Federation, Ben Akabueze, the government needs to address three critical areas affecting Nigerians: food, housing and transportation.
“So, there has to be a way of basically intervening in the short term,” Akabueze said.
Technology And Security
Former Chief of Defence Staff, General Lucky Irabor, called for infrastructure that would enable the application of technology in addressing insecurity.
“The overall infrastructure helps you to be able to harmonise, or if you like, integrate all the applications that you have for it to be able to make sense,” Irabor said.
Security expert Kabir Adamu also highlighted the role of technology and data in addressing insecurity, saying young Nigerians had much to contribute in the area.
“There is no modern security framework that can survive without analytics. When was the last time we conducted a survey around the policing method that we are using?” Adamu said.
“Put 10 young people in a room, give them a computer, ask them to conduct that, you will be amazed at what they would produce for you.”
Tinubu Defends Economic Reforms
The discussions came hours after President Tinubu, in his Independence Day address, assured Nigerians that the government’s economic reforms would lead to better days.
He said the reforms had not weakened the economy but had confronted its existing weaknesses, while arguing that promises made to Nigerians were being fulfilled.
“When this administration assumed office, we resolved to do things differently. We chose to excise the cancer. The reforms that followed were difficult. The side effects were real. Yet, we must never confuse the medicine with the disease,” the President said.
Tinubu, who is seeking a re-election in the 2027 general elections, said the country should resist calls to abandon the reforms and return to what he described as the abuse of addictive subsidies.
“Our reforms did not create the weaknesses in our economy. They confronted them,” he said. “Now, as certain influential but regressive voices would have us abandon the treatment and return ourselves to the abuse of addictive subsidies, we must resist their siren song. We must remember why we began this journey and how far we have already come.”
The President said Nigeria’s economic outlook had improved, citing growth of more than four per cent and contributions from both the oil and non-oil sectors.
He also cited reduced oil theft, lower inflation, rebuilt foreign reserves and a stabilised foreign exchange market.
Tinubu said international observers, journalists, NGOs and multilateral institutions had seen the changes, adding that the private sector had also delivered its verdict while foreign direct investment continued to rise.
The President said Nigeria had reached a turning point of prosperity, stressing that prosperity should be understood beyond economic statistics.
“When I speak of prosperity, I do not speak merely of a larger economy, abstract numbers or better statistics. I mean something much more personal,” the APC candidate said.
“I mean a Nigeria in which the farmer can cultivate his land safely, produce more at lower cost, and earn a decent return for his labour.”
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