The growing hunger for public validation has quietly roped many young people into a worrying, almost theatrical way of living, where life is staged like a performance, acted for applause, instead of being lived with quiet purpose and steady direction.
Increasingly, the loud chase for instant wealth has shaped a misleading picture of success that it must arrive early, loudly, and all at our own timing.
There is a silent pressure to outrun time itself. If achievement does not come when it is most desired, it is often dismissed as failure.
This restless urge to compete, to outshine, and to always be ahead has created a generation tempted to do almost anything just to stand in the spotlight.
The patient rhythm of growth, once seen as the natural anchor of success, is being replaced by the idea of microwaved success: fast, neatly packaged, and often deceptively effortless.
This is not a negation of hard work or ambition among young people. Rather, it is a reminder that ambition must remain grounded in moral clarity, and in the understanding that life rarely moves in straight, predictable lines.
Real progress is like a slow sunrise, it does not rise at the speed of public expectation or social comparison.
It would also be unfair to place the issue of youth unemployment in Nigeria entirely on government failure.
The reality is more layered. There are growing contradictions in our society where a young undergraduate, barely settling into school life, already feels pressured to maintain a glittering lifestyle; while at home, parents quietly wrestle with unexplained signs of sudden wealth.
The rising get-rich-quick mentality, fueled by internet fraud and other harmful shortcuts, is becoming dangerously normal.
Worse still, those who question it are often ridiculed or brushed aside.
At what point did it become an expectation that a young person must immediately become the financial rescue rope for their family, instead of first building the strong roots needed to carry such responsibility?
Yes, there is a real economic gap that demands urgent attention. But there is also a quieter responsibility shared by families and society where values are either carefully planted or slowly eroded over time.
A good and comfortable life is a fair dream for every young person. But it should never be chased at the expense of the quiet foundations of character: honesty, patience, empathy, discipline, and integrity.
Pius Kadon, is a journalist and prolific writer.
He can be reached: Pkabido2@gmail.com, 0810 0519 94
