A chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Convener of The Alternative, Otunba Segun Showunmi, has paid glowing tribute to the late Major General Shehu Musa Yar’Adua, describing him as a symbol of justice, unity, and generational responsibility.

Showunmi, in a statement issued on Tuesday to mark the 28th anniversary of Yar’Adua’s passing, challenged the country’s leadership to “complete the relay he envisioned, a relay that demands renewal, transition, and succession.”

He said: “We honour the memory of General Shehu Musa Yar’adua not with ritual praise, but with an honest reckoning. To truly love Shehu, one must understand the principle of the pendulum: history does not stand still. Leadership must swing forward. And every generation must accept the moral truth of succession.

“Today, as we listen to reflections about legacy, sacrifice, and national promise, we must also confront the sober reality: the Nigeria we inherited is more fractured, more uncertain, and more burdened than the Nigeria you promised to build. The dream was noble, but its custodians faltered.

A generation that once championed courage allowed selfishness, complacency, and political entitlement to seize the very institutions meant to protect the people.”

Showunmi noted that though Yar’adua believed in justice, unity, and generational responsibility, reverence for his ideals must not blind the country to the truth, adding that the baton meant to be passed forward was held too long, clutched, guarded, politicised, and in that hesitation, the country’s fractures deepened.

“The younger generation faces the consequences every day – unemployment that crushes potential; insecurity that stifles hope; and a political culture that confuses longevity with wisdom, and seniority with service.

“The union we inherited is not the union he imagined. And we say this not out of disrespect, but out of duty, out of clarity. Out of love for the same nation Shehu bled for. If Shehu believed leadership was a relay, then the truth is simple: the race cannot move forward if the runners ahead refuse to release the baton.

“Our elders fought their battles; we acknowledge that. But now, our generation faces a reality they did not prepare us for. The dream was not supposed to be a museum piece polished at anniversaries; it was meant to be a living project, renewed by those who inherited it. Yet, we inherited an unfinished and, too often, mismanaged structure,” he said.

Continuing, Showunmi said: “We stand here not to condemn but to declare: the time for renewal has come. The pendulum has swung. The baton must pass not later, not someday, not in theory but now. We are not the future; we are the present. The youth of Nigeria are no longer “emerging.” We are here. We are many. And we are ready.

“We carry the creativity, the resilience, the anger, the hope, and the discipline demanded by the next chapter of Nigeria’s journey. We do not seek permission to dream; we seek responsibility to build. Our generation is not perfect, but no generation ever is. What defines a new era is not perfection, but courage: the courage to do differently, to do better, to refuse the cycles that held us hostage.”