Nigeria today stands at a dangerous crossroads. A nation blessed with an army of vibrant, brilliant, and creative young minds is instead fast becoming a graveyard of wasted dreams. According to the “State of the Nigerian Youth Report 2025,” nearly 80 million of our youths are unemployed, while more than 1,500 schools have been shut in the last two years. These are not just statistics; they are human tragedies—each number a son, a daughter, a brother, a sister whose tomorrow is being stolen before our very eyes.
The youth are supposed to be the backbone of any nation. But in Nigeria, that backbone is being systematically broken. Instead of being nurtured into innovators, leaders, and builders of tomorrow, our young people are left to rot on the sidelines, abandoned by a government that seems more interested in election campaigns for 2027 than in confronting the burning house that Nigeria has become.
The irony is as bitter as kola. Nigeria parades itself as the “giant of Africa,” yet the so-called giant is crawling on its knees while its children scavenge for survival. How can a nation with over 60% of its population under 30 fail to provide pathways for them to thrive? What future can a country boast of when education—the ladder to opportunity—is violently pulled away from one million children due to insecurity?
Every year, 1.7 million graduates walk out of the gates of universities and polytechnics across this land. They step out with hope in their hearts and certificates in their hands, only to find the job market as empty as a barren field. Their degrees become nothing more than framed decorations on the wall while hunger gnaws at their stomachs and despair whispers in their ears. Some are forced into irregular migration, chasing greener pastures that often end in deserts, oceans, or the cold embrace of foreign prisons. Others are lured into cybercrime, cultism, or the barrel of a gun. Can we blame them entirely when their leaders have slammed shut every legitimate door of opportunity?
This report lays bare a frightening reality: more than 600,000 people killed and 2.2 million kidnapped in recent years. The majority? Young people. Our youth are not only dying from bullets but also from hopelessness. The country’s farmlands—once sources of livelihood—are now theatres of bloodshed, displacing 2.6 million and leaving 25 million Nigerians staring hunger in the face. If a hungry man is an angry man, then Nigeria is brewing an army of angry, restless youths with nothing to lose.
But what does the political class care? President Bola Tinubu, state governors, and ministers appear more concerned about securing their political seats in 2027 than about securing the future of Nigeria’s young population today. The corridors of power echo with whispers of zoning, permutations, and alliances, while the cries of millions of jobless youths are drowned out like raindrops in the ocean.
It is often said that “when the elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers.” In Nigeria’s case, the youth are the grass. They are being trampled underfoot by leaders who treat governance as a game of thrones rather than a solemn responsibility. Instead of policies that open doors, what we get are political rallies and empty promises. Instead of genuine investments in education and industries, what we see are budgetary allocations swallowed by corruption and mismanagement.
Nigeria’s young people are not asking for the moon. They are not demanding castles in the sky. All they ask is for a fair shot at life: schools that work, jobs that exist, farms that can be cultivated without fear of bandits, and leaders who place the people above politics. Is that too much to ask?
The government must understand that the greatest asset of this nation is not oil, gold, or gas—it is the youth. Yet, that asset is being squandered, neglected, and abandoned. A nation that refuses to invest in its young people is signing its own death warrant. As the saying goes, “a child that is not embraced by the village will one day burn it down to feel its warmth.” If Nigeria continues on this path, we are only sowing seeds of chaos for the future.
The warning is clear. Nigeria is sitting on a keg of gunpowder. Each unemployed youth, each closed school, each displaced farmer adds fuel to the fire. And while politicians scheme for 2027, the house is already burning in 2025. Leadership is not about winning the next election; it is about securing the next generation. Sadly, our leaders have gotten it the other way around.
We must speak truth to power: Nigeria cannot afford to waste its youth. They are not just the leaders of tomorrow—they are the builders of today. But until the government shifts its gaze from elections to governance, from self-preservation to nation-building, the country risks losing its brightest minds to despair, migration, and crime. And when a nation loses its youth, it loses its soul.
Stanley Ugagbe is a seasoned journalist with a passion for exposing social issues and advocating for justice. With years of experience in the media industry, he has written extensively on governance, human rights, and societal challenges, crafting powerful narratives that inspire change. He can be reached via stanleyakomeno@gmail.com
