The revelation that 80 million Nigerian youths are unemployed and over 1,500 schools have been shut in just two years should shake the conscience of every leader in this country.
These are not just numbers; they represent broken dreams, wasted potential, and a looming national catastrophe.
Nigeria prides itself on having one of the largest youth populations in the world, yet this demographic dividend is fast turning into a demographic time bomb.
Each year, 1.7 million graduates step into a job market that offers little hope. Those who do not find opportunities are forced into irregular migration, cybercrime, or worse, joining the very banditry and extremist groups that thrive on hopelessness.
The closure of schools is particularly tragic. Education is supposed to be the ladder of opportunity, but for nearly one million children, that ladder has been violently pulled away. An uneducated child today is almost certainly a disempowered adult tomorrow — and that cycle of poverty and insecurity will not spare anyone.
What makes this crisis even more urgent is that violence has crippled farming communities, leaving millions displaced and 25 million Nigerians at risk of hunger.
Hunger, joblessness, and insecurity form a deadly triangle that no nation can survive for long.
The federal and state governments must move beyond rhetoric. It is not enough to pass bills or make promises at youth summits. Job creation must be intentional, vocational training must be tied to industries, and education must be protected as a national security priority.
Nigeria cannot continue to squander its most valuable resource: its youth. They are not just the leaders of tomorrow; they are the builders of today. To abandon them to poverty and insecurity is to gamble with the country’s survival.
The time to act is not tomorrow. It is now.
A stitch in time saves nine .
