Daud Olatunji
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has urged Nigerian youths to reject divisive campaigns, discrimination, segregation and marginalisation, charging them to take an active role in shaping the country’s future.
Obasanjo made the call on Saturday while reacting to an honorary doctorate degree conferred on him by Skyline University Nigeria, Kano, during the institution’s fifth convocation ceremony.
The former president, who addressed the gathering through a recorded video message, said young Nigerians must rise above ethnic, religious and generational differences and recognise their collective responsibility in building a better country.
He maintained that the future of Nigeria depended largely on the willingness of its youths to challenge existing structures and pursue the changes they desired.
Obasanjo stressed that meaningful transformation would not come without deliberate efforts from the younger generation, insisting that they must take responsibility for their destiny rather than wait for external intervention.
According to him, young Nigerians must be positively disruptive in their quest for national development and should not allow divisions to undermine their collective strength.
He recalled that several prominent Nigerian leaders who championed political and national transformation during the pre-independence, immediate post-independence and military eras were young and actively involved in shaping the country’s direction.
“Most of the leaders of the immediate, pre and post-independent era were young and active.
“They went for change, and they made it happen. Nigeria, as a whole, benefited from their activism,” he said.
Citing nationalist figures Aminu Kano and Anthony Enahoro, Obasanjo said their contributions demonstrated the capacity of young people to influence the course of national development.
He also referenced his role alongside the late Head of State, General Murtala Muhammed, in spearheading change in the country.
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