THE NIGERIAN YOUTH: WAITING FOR OPPORTUNITY OR CREATING IT?
By Shae Bebeyi @ Curiously Yours Arena
The future of Nigeria is not somewhere ahead of us. It is already being decided by what we do with our young people today.
There is a young Nigerian somewhere staring at a phone screen, watching the success stories of others and wondering when his own story will begin.
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There is a graduate sending applications that receive no response. An apprentice struggling to afford the tools of his trade. A young entrepreneur with a promising idea but no access to affordable capital. A talented creative searching for an audience. And a young professional considering leaving the country because the future appears more predictable elsewhere.
Yet, somewhere else, another young Nigerian has stopped waiting.
He has started something small.
A business. A farm. A skill. A technology project. A creative venture. A service.
And this raises an important question:
Are Nigerian youths waiting for opportunity, or are they learning to create it?
The truth is that many are doing both.
Nigeria’s young people represent one of the country’s greatest strengths, yet many face unemployment, underemployment, insecurity, poor access to quality education and limited economic opportunities.
The challenge, therefore, is not simply to tell young people to work harder. Nigeria must also ask whether it has created an environment where hard work can reasonably produce results.
A nation that keeps telling its young people to be patient must eventually explain what it is doing with their future.
Young Nigerians are not lacking in ambition. They are building businesses, creating digital platforms, producing music and films, exploring agriculture, learning new skills and competing globally in technology and creativity.
But resilience should never become an excuse for government failure.
Resilience is admirable, but it should never become a substitute for development.
Young people need more than motivational speeches. They need quality education, security, reliable infrastructure, access to finance and an economy that rewards innovation rather than connections.
For many Nigerian families, education once came with a simple promise: go to school, graduate, get a job and build a meaningful life. Today, that promise has become uncertain for many young people.
The solution is not for every graduate to wait endlessly for a government or office job. Nigeria must also give greater value to technical and vocational skills. Carpentry, agriculture, fashion, electrical work, mechanics and digital technology should not be regarded as inferior to university education.
Education should not merely prepare young people to seek jobs; it should prepare them to solve problems.
However, entrepreneurship is not a magic answer. Telling young people to start businesses without addressing access to capital, electricity, infrastructure, taxation and insecurity is simply transferring government responsibility to individuals.
Government may not employ every young person, but it has a duty not to make employment impossible.
The Japa phenomenon also raises important questions. Many talented Nigerians are leaving in search of better opportunities and more predictable futures. Rather than simply condemning them, Nigeria must ask why so many young people believe their future is more possible elsewhere.
Nigeria should become a country where leaving is a choice, not an escape.
At the same time, young people must recognise that not every opportunity will arrive with an invitation. They must prepare, learn, acquire skills, improve their competence, take calculated risks and start small where possible.
Young people can demand accountability while still developing themselves. They can criticise bad policies while learning new skills. These responsibilities are not opposites. They are partners.
Nigeria’s future cannot be built by government alone, and it cannot be built by young people alone.
Government must create the environment. Institutions must work. Schools must prepare young people for the future. Businesses must invest in talent. And young Nigerians must continue to learn, innovate, create and build.
They may be waiting for a Nigeria that works, but they must not stop working to create the Nigeria they want to see.
Because sometimes, the future does not belong to those who found the perfect opportunity.
Sometimes, it belongs to those who had the courage to create one.
The curious question is –
If every young Nigerian stopped waiting for the perfect opportunity today and started creating solutions with what they have, while government finally created the right environment, what kind of Nigeria could emerge tomorrow?
(Democracy Newsline Newspaper, August 30, 2026)
