Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba has stated that Nigeria’s vast youth population is only an “asset” if properly educated, skilled, and provided with opportunities, warning that without these prerequisites, the same youthful energy becomes a “threat to society” and a “curse.”
Ndoma-Egba stated this during the inaugural interview of The Exchange Podcast, hosted by Femi Soneye.
The senator, who is the Pro-Chancellor of the Federal University, Oye-Ekiti (FUOYE), highlighted the innate qualities of the youth — innovation, energy, daring, and courage — as vital ingredients for societal drive. He, however, cautioned that this energy must be channeled constructively through deliberate national policy.
For the youth to be an advantage, Ndoma-Egba said the country must make a deliberate policy to give them education.
He identified education as the crucial “starting point” that “opens your mind, opens your head, your eyes to all sorts of opportunities that are closed” otherwise.
Beyond education, he stressed the dual necessity of ensuring youths are both skilled and empowered with opportunities.
He warned that an educated person who has no opportunity also poses a threat to society, noting that an “educated armed robber is more dangerous” than an illiterate one.
Painting a picture of the Nigeria he wishes his grandchildren to inherit, he noted that he would like to see a “secure and prosperous Nigeria.”
Ndoma-Egba lamented the erosion of both security and economic stability over the decades, recalling when traveling at night was preferable and crime was virtually non-existent.
He also recalled the era of robust industrialisation in the North, mentioning a meat factory in Bauchi that exported to West Africa, the presence of Steyr Motors, and over 50 textile factories in Kano, all of which have largely disappeared today.
“The prosperity was tangible, with goods like high-quality brocade being sold like they sell groundnuts today,” he said.
He noted that achieving a secure and prosperous future rests on three pillars – security, a working economy, and the deliberate empowerment of the youth.
“These elements are essential to reverse the current trend and transform the demographic bulge from a potential liability into the driving force for national development,” he added.
Ndoma-Egba stressed that leaders must create the environment for this transformation, just as he and his generation received opportunities when they were very young, even if they were circumstantial.
“The current generation of young people must have mentors and deliberate pathways to participation and success,” he said.
