Perspective
Why Youths Must Reclaim Leadership In Nigeria – Amir Safiyanu Allah-Kayi
A Case For Nigerian Youths.
“Dear Youth, Nobody Will Hand You the Future: This is the best & right time to take It.”
“On the 15th July, 2025, we laid to rest a man who had lived 82 years on this earth.
A man who joined the army at 20, fought a war for his country at 25, became a governor at 33, a minister at 34, a GOC at 38, Head of State at 41, Chairman of PTF now PTDF at 52, joined politics at 60, got elected President at 71, left office at 80 and was finally laid to rest at 82. Even for a fictional character, that’s a good one.” Then he asked, “Where are the leaders of tomorrow?”
In the comments, as expected, some young people repeated that tired, lazy line: “Sun kwace tomorrow din ai.” And I shook my head not in disbelieve but in amazement. If you are still waiting for someone to hand you your future, you’ve not understood how the world works especially Nigeria. The truth is hard but simple: nobody will hand you the future. You must take it and if we don’t take this chance right now, what better time are we then going to take it?
Will we sit and keep demanding rather than do or act towards taking and shaping the future we all clamor for?
We’ve been presented with “The not too young to run” bill.
It is not the job of the older generation to give you power or hand you leadership. That era is long gone, if it ever existed then today’s world is a jungle. The determined, the prepared, the disciplined, the resilient; they are the ones rising, regardless of their background, and regardless of who is holding what position now, this is not only time for survival but also change.
Within the same rotten system, many are thriving. Any serious young person will not wait for the system to be restored and made perfect before they can be serious, determined and focused in getting to the zenith of their success ladder. If we feel the older generations have failed then we should not wait for the failed ones to correct the failure. The young should make themselves relevant and get there, not make noise about when is tomorrow. In any case, I am not saying the leaders have done the right thing. My point is simple: nobody will give you your due right. Nobody will correct things for you. If you see that things are wrong, then get ready to make the change or at least a change but first things first, The Change must start with You & i. Those who killed the system will not give you the power to correct what they killed on a platter of gold.
There are people in their 30s and 40s today who are CEOs, PhDs, Professors, Generals, Senators, Commissioners, tech innovators, global religious leaders, digital billionaires, and industry leaders. Not because they had connections or godfathers. But because they refused to wait.
They took charge, came prepared, paid their dues & made their way up the ladder with step by step & got there. You can also do same.
Yahaya Bello became governor of Kogi State at 40. Dimeji Bankole became Speaker of the House of Representatives at 37. Salisu Buhari even got there at 29. Maitama Sule was elected to parliament at 25. El-Rufai became DG of BPE at 39. Abdulrasheed Bawa became EFCC Chairman at 40. Nuhu Ribadu was 42 when he first headed the EFCC. Pantami became DG of NITDA at 43 and a federal minister at 46. All these names were not born with gold spoons. Most came from humble backgrounds, but they were armed with knowledge, competence, and clarity of purpose. They worked.
Let’s not even talk about the soldiers in the trenches, risking their lives to keep the country together. Most of them are in their twenties and thirties. The real warriors of our time are young people carrying rifles in the bush, not microphones in air-conditioned studios shouting about how old people have hijacked the future.
Mu gayawa matasa gaskiya. It’s not just about your connections. It’s not about your background. It’s not about who is in power now. It’s about how far you’re willing to go. Do you have what it takes?
Are you acquiring the skills?
Are you mastering your craft?
Are you building your influence?
Are you negotiating for your space in the world?
Dr Usman Bugaje once said, “In the real world, no one gets what he deserves; one only gets what he negotiates for. And the currency for that negotiation is power.” He wasn’t talking only about political office. He meant the power of knowledge, of strategy, of resilience, of discipline. Intellectual and emotional power.
Yes, connections exist. But even the connected need competence. And in fact, many young people today are so good, so sharp, so skilled, so relevant, that the so-called powerful people are the ones begging to be associated with them. You must become that person. Don’t reduce yourself to an entitled spectator.
Be a player.
It took Pantami a degree, two master’s degrees, a PhD, years of da’awah, mastery of ICT, and sustained relevance in academic, religious leadership and public policy to rise and stay relevant both as NITDA boss and as a minister, and continue to be celebrated locally and globally even after leaving the Federal Executive Council. That’s how it works. You prepare yourself so thoroughly that no serious system can ignore you.
Many youths today, from the poorest of homes, have climbed high be it from Ajegunle to UN headquarters. From the Ghetto to Google. From trenches to Senate chambers. If you haven’t, that’s not on Buhari. That’s on you.
Of course, not everyone will be a Governor. Not everyone will be a Senator. But everyone can rise in their lane. And if enough of us rise in our various lanes, then the nation itself rises. But the starting point is for you to drop that dead weight called pessimism.
Kill that virus called “kwadayi” (longer throat) & replace it with energy, strategy, skills, and grit.
The digital age has put power in your palm. With your phone, tablet and laptop, you can conquer the world. You can build businesses, raise movements, learn any skill, sell anything, teach anybody. The opportunities are bigger now than at any time in history. And the old guards, they don’t have our energy, our tech fluency, our cultural leverage, our time advantage. We have the edge. But we must wake up.
If you prepare well enough, nothing can stop you. If you don’t, nothing can help you.
Young Nigerians & my fellow Youths, tomorrow is not a date on the calendar. It’s a decision. It’s not something we are given. It’s something we take. And millions of our peers across the country have already taken it. In politics, in business, in ICT, in religion, in the military, in the academia. Let’s move from “when is our time” to “this is our time.”
You too can. You must. You will. But only if you stop complaining and start building.
Written by Amir Safiyanu Allah-Kayi,
Nasarawa State.
