By Moses Okorie
Nigerian youths have been urged never to give up on the country despite its current challenges. Stakeholders made this call in Abuja on Friday during the 2026 Democracy Day summit titled ‘The Role of Youths in Nation-building and the Future of Young Entrepreneurs’, organised by Youth Initiative for a Better Nigeria in conjunction with other partners.
Speaking to our correspondent, Mrs. Linda Turner, the founder of Linda Hope Initiative, lamented that a lot of Nigerian youths have given up on the country, going by the level of insecurity and other social vices.
According to her, “My call today is a collective effort. We should not just leave everything for the government and wait for the magic moment.
“We need to participate in building this nation together, because youths are the leader of today; not the leader of tomorrow.
“So, they also have to build good character, integrity and accountability to also strive as good leaders. We all need to work together.
On the Democracy Day Summit, Mrs. Turner said, the event is to create awareness, encourage young people that want to come out for any leadership position, to have the spirit of resilience and push further to create a better Nigeria.
She revealed that her organisation caters for the elderly women and vulnerable people in our society, and supports the youths through training, education, and how to build themselves without support.
Speaking further, Dr. Christos Etoka, the chairman and chief executive officer of X-Mind Engineering Group said it is not over for Nigeria, and so youths should keep the hope alive.
According to him, “It’s not over; it’s not a competition. Nigeria is in a journey of transformation and we all have to key in and put in our individual efforts to get it done. You don’t have to give up.
“Would you give up on your family because your grandfather was poor? So if your grandfather was poor, your father was poor, it doesn’t mean you should be poor. You don’t give up on your generation”.
He encouraged Nigerian youths to ensure they exercise their rights by obtaining their permanent voters cards (PVCs), and voting in the forthcoming elections.
Earlier in this address, a co-convener of the summit, Mr. Providence Chukwuka said youths must be involved in who governs them, because all systems revolve round governance.
“They don’t want to engage in anything related to governance, but if you watch, everything that is going on, it all revolves around government. Even if you are a business person, one government policy can bring your business down.
“So that is the more reason the youths should be involved in nation-building. And we want all the youths to actively engage in anything that concerns Nigeria, because you and I are citizens of Nigeria. Before you became anything, you were first in Nigeria, and we all have to make Nigeria great again.
On his part, another co-convener of the event, Mr. Osita Daniel decried the level of division Nigerians have plunged themselves into, which has made citizens to consider their ethnic nationalities above national unity.
According to him, “Nigeria is a nation blessed beyond measure. We are blessed with natural resources, fertile lands, brilliant minds, resilient people, diverse cultures and an energetic youth population. Yet despite these blessings, we often find ourselves divided by the very diversity that should be our strength.
“Today, many Nigerians introduce themselves first by their tribe before their nationality. We hear statements like “I am Igbo,” “I am Hausa,” “I am Yoruba,” “I am Tiv,” “I am Ijaw,” before we hear “I am Nigerian.”
“Our politics is increasingly shaped by ethnic calculations. Our public debates are coloured by regional sentiments. Our elections are often influenced by identity rather than competence. Even our sympathy sometimes depends on where tragedy occurs and who is affected”.
The event had in attendance youths from different organisations to came to make the summit a success.