By Gold Adesola Adedayo
Nigeria has produced so many President with successful sons and daughters, but Seyi Tinubu stands tall and towering among all. His incredibly dominant stature was not in his body length and weight, but in his well fitted intellectual capacity, street credibility, dazzling generosity and unsurpassable love for the youth population.
His scintillating youth empowerment drives earned him the sobriquet: “The King of Boys”. As a middle aged man, he has promoted countless of youth to be big players in the business world, governance and politics. In fact, he really deserves and earns the respect being widely accorded him.
Going by the trajectory of leadership in Nigeria, class differences has been a major snag widening the gulf between the children of the privileged few and the poor. Hardly could people have access to the children of a governor, let alone a president that is holed up in the Presidential Villa.
But Seyi Tinubu is a man without protocol. He has demystified this myth and defied this long standing history. He has a demeanour that is outstanding and different from others. While some were creating and building classes and walls, Seyi was dismantling barriers to fraternise with the poor. He loathes pride and unnecessary social stratification. This has differentiated him from others in his ilk.
Most fascinating among his landmark exploits in life has been the way he carries the youth empowerment right on his head. Even before President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Presidential ascendancy, he had been championing the cause of the Nigerian youth.
He holds the fanatical view that the monster called “poverty” can be utterly dismantled within the youth’s ranks, with government and privileged people pulling the right strings and placing their hands on the right ploughs.
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As a serving Ekiti State Commissioner for Youth Development under a youth- friendly governor, Biodun Oyebanji, I knew the difficulties being encountered by young population. I knew how much our government was expending to disentangle Ekiti youth from the web of poverty. I understand the enormity of the task ahead to really put their feet on a rocky pedestal.
Under the foregoing context, I am in an apt position to cherish whoever commits his personal and hard earned money to support government in subduing some of the identified challenges confronting our productive population. It is with the spectrum I am viewing Seyi Tinubu’s exhilarating exploits in youth empowerment.
Since his father mounted the saddle of governance two years ago, he has demonstrated that the youth are majorly his focus and nothing more. Without the risk of being immodest, Seyi was instrumental to many of the youth that were appointed into his father’s cabinet. This accounted for why the Tinubu’s government stands tall as the most youth- friendly government in history. The skeptics and naysayers can take me up on this, by cross checking my fact, which I know is unassailable.
It is saddening and heartrending that everything is politicized in Nigeria. His fraternity and closeness with the poor was being misinterpreted by some critics to mean an attempt to hoodwink the youth into voting for his father in 2027. Those opposed to his charming ideas have been making insalubrious comments to shoot down his good intention. Despite this, he remained unfazed in his commitment to this onerous duty.
Rather than to offer accolades for the series of empowerments, both in cash and kind that he had undertaken, the critics undeservedly reeled out invectives and condemnations, contriving all manners of dirty intrigues to politicise his actions, as if everything starts and ends with politics.
In this just concluded Ramadan season by Muslims all over the world, Seyi demonstrated his stuff as one guy with panache and clairvoyance. He toured virtually all the States in the Northern Nigeria where Islamic adherents are majorly domiciled to lend hand of fellowship. He distributed cash gifts and food stuffs to exhibit the spirit of camaraderie to Muslim Ummah.
In case the self appointed critics, who see nothing good in him didn’t know, Seyi, a co-founder of Noella Foundation, had partnered with well-meaning firms within and outside the country to create over 10,000 jobs for unemployed Nigerians. Among these staggering numbers are graduates and artisans. No group or class was alienated. It is all-inclusive, because of his belief in one Nigeria.
As a true son of his father, he owes it a duty to key into the Renewed Hope Agenda being driven by President Tinubu. This could be predicated on the fact that the intention behind Tinubu’s agenda, where youth occupies a prime of place, coincides with his unflagging belief that youth must be accorded priority in governance.
Speaking in Kano, Gombe, Adamawa, Yobe and Kaduna States during one of his impactful outings, he disabused the minds of those linking his moves and body languages to politics. He said his passion for youth empowerment and economic emancipation predated his father’s presidency. It is an inbuilt natural instinct.
He was emphatic that he would continue to fight the cause of the Nigerian youth, whether his father is in position of authority or not. I firmly believe his assertion, because he is a man of his words. He always walk the talk and doesn’t play to the gallery. This is one trait that has made him a symbol of honesty.
As of August 1, 2024, Nigeria’s population is just under 230 million, with youth comprising 70%, which is about 160 million. Out of this tally, over 50% of them are either unemployed or underemployed. The foregoing was fueling the japa syndrome among Nigerian youth.
This puts a great deal of task on the shoulders of our leadership and successful individuals to coalesce actions, to forestall Nigeria’s future from total collapse. Like a prophet, he realised this long ago and was well mobilised to take up the gauntlet against rising poverty pummeling the youth.
This highly futuristic youth leader never opposed japa, connoting the frequent traveling of Nigerian youth abroad to seek greener pastures. Seyi doesn’t hold the view that there are no viable opportunities in Nigeria. He was of the opinion that they can realised their potential here if supported through government policies, programmes and most importantly, factoring them into the political and economic focuses.
In spite of plethora of criticisms against him, his good deeds had attracted accolades from great and high profile Nigerians. The Sokoto State Governor, Dr Ahmad Aliyu, recently praised Seyi Tinubu, who is the founder of the Renewed Hope Youth Empowerment Initiative, for his contributions to politics and economic development. He called on him to extend his programmes to Sokoto’s young population.
The Governor urged Nigerians to stop politicising and weaponising ethnicity to shoot down good intentions. He commended Tinubu for his philanthropic gestures during Ramadan, especially towards the less privileged across the North.
Rising above the pedestrian ethnic barometer with which some viewed things in Nigeria, Tinubu expressed commitment to youth development in Sokoto, pledging that his foundation would continue to support initiatives across the state’s 23 local government areas.
Also, speaking at a medical outreach in Abuja to commemorate International Youth Day, he said NOELLA foundation in the next few months would create more jobs by upskilling young Nigerians with tools, resources, and opportunities that empower them to carve their own niche towards success in different industries.
“In a world where the challenges facing our young generation are both numerous and complex, Noella Foundation has emerged as a beacon of hope, a driving force that propels dreams into reality,” Tinubu said. As we look forward to the horizon of the next twelve months, we stand on the cusp of witnessing something truly remarkable. We would also back this up by setting up exchange programs and summits within and outside Afric
“We would also encourage those who have begun thriving businesses with resources to do more and employ more. We would also fill vacancies in organisations and institutions with young Nigerians who are willing and able to work.
“As we celebrate this remarkable day, let us be reminded of the countless stories that will soon unfold. Stories of young minds breaking free from the shackles of unemployment, stories of resilience, determination, and a relentless pursuit of excellence.
“Each of these jobs will be a stepping stone, a bridge that connects aspiration to achievement. Nigeria is blessed with a youthful population, with over 65% under the age of 30, making it one of the most blessed nation with youngest population globally”, the young Tinubu stated.
The Forum of Nigerian Youth and Sports Commissioners, which I chaired, valued Seyi Tinubu’s strides in youth empowerment and development. That was why we immediately proceeded to engage him after my election on March 29, 2025, and gave the unshakeable assurances that we will work with him closely for his good deeds to percolate down to the states.
The Commissioners used the veritable interface to pass a vote of confidence in the Minister of Youth Development, Mr. Ayodele Olawande. They eulogised President Tinubu for giving the nation a truly youth loving individual to man the Ministry.
According to Adedayo, working with Seyi Tinubu and the Youth Minister connotes that his colleagues are incurably desirous of seeing their dreams of ensuring that the youth are economically, socially and politically viable, to be seamlessly accomplished across the states of the federation.
Building of a virile Private-Public Partnership initiative, we unshakably believed, will build a more robust networks that will make young population highly productive and economically engaging.
