Minister of Youth Development, Ayodele Olawande, has called for a national shift from token empowerment to productive investment in young people, saying Nigeria’s development depends on how well it equips its youth to innovate, create jobs, and drive change.
Olawande made the call on Thursday at the Youth National Discourse 2025, held at the Banquet Hall of the Nigerian National Merit Award House, Maitama, Abuja. The event was organised by the Eleniyacares Leadership Foundation.
The minister said it was time to redefine empowerment from a system of handouts and publicity stunts to a sustainable process that builds real capacity among young people.
“For too long, empowerment has been about giving out stipends and taking pictures,” Olawande said. “That era is over. What we need now is productive empowerment — building the capacity of young Nigerians to become creators, employers and innovators.”
He said the Federal Government was taking deliberate steps to strengthen youth inclusion in governance and economic planning, noting that President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda had positioned young people at the centre of policy design and implementation.
According to him, the Ministry of Youth Development is establishing the Nigerian Youth Academy (NiYA), a digital learning platform modelled after global e-learning systems, to provide access to vocational, business and technology-based skills training for young Nigerians.
“NiYA will connect millions of youths to local and international opportunities,” he said. “Young people should not have to wait endlessly for government programmes to reach them. The platform will give them the freedom to learn, innovate and grow wherever they are.”
Olawande added that the government was in discussions with private sector actors and foreign partners, including the United Arab Emirates, to create more training and innovation hubs across Nigeria.
He also urged Nigerian youths to replace confrontation with constructive engagement, noting that dialogue remains the most effective path to national progress.
“Protest is a right, but partnership is progress,” he said. “We must move from protest to participation, from agitation to achievement.”
The minister commended the organisers of the Youth National Discourse for creating a platform where young people could share ideas directly with policymakers, describing it as an example of how civic dialogue can shape policy in practical ways.
Founder of the Eleniyacares Leadership Foundation, Hon. Segun Olulade, urged Nigerian youths to embrace dialogue, innovation, and partnership as tools for national development rather than resorting to protests that often end in violence and disunity.
He said the discourse marked the beginning of a movement that recognises young people as partners in building the Nigeria of their dreams, not as problems to be managed.
“Today, we are not just seated for another conference. We are witnessing the birth of a movement, a movement that believes that young people are not problems to be managed, but partners to be trusted in building the Nigeria of our dreams,” Olulade said.
The former Lagos lawmaker said while youth frustration had led to several protests over the years, many of them ended without tangible results, leaving behind divisions, destruction, and loss of lives. He urged young Nigerians to seek constructive channels to express their concerns.
“Dialogue builds bridges where divisions once stood and creates understanding where suspicion once thrived,” he said. “Through dialogue, we can forge synergy between the government and the very dynamic youth of our great nation.”
Olulade acknowledged that some protests were infiltrated and manipulated by individuals or groups who profited from chaos, leaving innocent youths to suffer the consequences. He said such experiences underscored the need for continuous and honest communication between young people and those in leadership.
According to him, the administration of President Bola Tinubu has demonstrated willingness to engage young Nigerians through inclusiveness, innovation, and policy consultation. He cited the appointment of young ministers and increased youth participation in governance as signs of progress.
“The doors of engagement have never been more open than they are today,” he said. “We must seize this moment to rebuild trust and move Nigeria forward through collaboration, conversation, and commitment.”
Olulade said the Youth National Discourse was conceived to provide a platform for youth-government partnership and to help shape practical policies that reflect the realities and aspirations of young Nigerians.
“I encourage every participant to speak truth to power, not through aggression but through reason, facts, and solutions,” he said. “Let us redefine engagement from protest to partnership, from despair to development, and from agitation to achievement.”
He urged the participants to use the forum to contribute ideas that could drive policy reforms and social transformation, saying the future of Nigeria would depend on how well its youth channel their creativity toward progress.
“Together, let us move Nigeria forward, not by shouting on the streets, but by shaping policies that echo the collective dreams of our generation,” Olulade added.
