Asiwaju Yinka Fasuyi Urges Nigerian Youths to Embrace Leadership Today, Not Tomorrow

‎The Asiwaju of Ijesaland and Chairman of the Ijesaland Community Development Assembly (ICDA), Asiwaju Yinka Fasuyi, has challenged Nigerian youths to discard the long-held notion that they are merely "leaders of tomorrow," insisting that they are, in reality, the leaders of today.

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‎In a thought-provoking article titled "Nigeria Youths: Leaders of Today and Not Tomorrow!", released on Sunday, Fasuyi argued that the popular slogan has outlived its usefulness and now serves more as a postponement of leadership responsibilities than an inspiration for young people.

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‎According to him, leadership is not determined by age but by one's ability to add value to society through creativity, innovation, vision, productivity, sacrifice, problem-solving, and resourcefulness.

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‎Reflecting on his address during the inauguration of the 3rd National Executive of the Ijesa Youth Forum (IYF) on October 1, 2025, Fasuyi said he had challenged young Nigerians to seize existing opportunities and begin demonstrating leadership in their communities rather than waiting for an undefined future.

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‎The ICDA Chairman pointed to the Not Too Young To Run Act, signed into law in 2018 by former President Muhammadu Buhari, as a landmark legislative reform that has already empowered young Nigerians to seek elective offices at much younger ages. He argued that the law effectively dismantled constitutional barriers to youth participation in governance and reinforced the fact that young people are capable of leading today.

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‎Fasuyi cited several examples of young leaders and entrepreneurs from Nigeria and across the world, including technology innovators, business founders, and political office holders, to demonstrate that age has never been a limitation to impactful leadership. He maintained that Nigerian youths possess the creativity, intelligence, and resilience needed to drive national development if provided with the right opportunities.

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‎Describing Nigeria's youth population as the nation's largest productive demographic, Fasuyi said they constitute the country's "economic engine room" and should therefore occupy a central place in development planning.

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‎Beyond political participation, he called for greater emphasis on business and entrepreneurial leadership. According to him, the nation's employment realities demand a shift from dependence on government jobs to enterprise development capable of creating wealth and employment opportunities.

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‎To achieve this, Fasuyi proposed legislation compelling every state government to establish a State School of Enterprise (SSE) dedicated to equipping young people with practical entrepreneurial and business management skills.

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‎He also advocated a comprehensive restructuring of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), recommending that the one-year programme be divided into six months of vocational skills acquisition and six months of entrepreneurial development. Such a reform, he argued, would produce graduates who are job creators rather than job seekers.

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‎While commending the Federal Government for introducing skills acquisition initiatives within the NYSC and abolishing tuition fees in the country's 33 Federal Technical Colleges, Fasuyi stressed that more deliberate policies are required to tackle youth unemployment and unlock Nigeria's entrepreneurial potential.

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‎He further urged the private sector to complement government efforts by investing in youth-focused entrepreneurial development programmes capable of producing globally competitive business leaders.

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‎Fasuyi concluded that Nigeria's future will not be determined by the age of its leaders but by the quality of their vision, character, competence, and courage. He called on governments, educational institutions, businesses, and all stakeholders to create an enabling environment that empowers young Nigerians to assume leadership roles today rather than waiting for tomorrow.

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‎The ICDA Chairman also commended the Ibadan Business School for introducing its six-month Youth Entrepreneurial Development Programme (IBS-YEDP), describing it as a commendable initiative that could serve as a model for institutions seeking to equip Nigerian youths with practical business and enterprise skills.

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‎He maintained that with the right support, Nigerian youths possess the capacity not only to lead the country today but also to sustain that leadership for generations to come.
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Full Text of the Article Below:

NIGERIA YOUTHS: LEADERS OF TODAY AND NOT TOMORROW!

The popular phrase often used to describe Nigerian youths is, "You are the leaders of tomorrow." While it may have been intended as a message of hope, it has increasingly become a slogan that postpones the leadership responsibilities of young people rather than encouraging them to embrace them today.

Yes, leaders of tomorrow but who says that tomorrow does not start today?

The first time I challenged the youth to seize the opportunity of today to demonstrate their potentials, capacity, zeal, resourcefulness, interest, and leadership was at the Inauguration & Swearing-in of the 3rd National Executives of the Ijesa Youth Forum (IYF) on Wednesday 1st October 2025 at Oba Dr Gabriel Adekunle Aromolaran 11 Civic Center, Owa's Palace, Ilesa.

At the ceremony I had a duty to remind our youth that leadership is already thrust on them in their respective age brackets and why are they still waiting till tomorrow to claim what already belongs to them today?

WHO IS QUALIFIED TO BE A LEADER?

In my view, a leader is anyone who consistently adds value to society through creativity, innovation, problem-solving, productivity, sacrifice, vision, and resourcefulness.

AND WHO IS A YOUTH?

International organisations such as the United Nations (UN) and the World Health Organization (WHO) generally define youth as persons between the ages of 15 and 24 years, while the African Union adopts the age range of 15 to 35 years. Nigeria's National Youth Policy (2019), however, defines youth as persons between the ages of 18 and 35 years.

But in 2018, there was a foundational and transformative change through The Not Too Young To Run Act that was signed into law on May 31st 2018 by President Muhammad Buhari

This landmark legislation significantly expanded political opportunities for young Nigerians by reducing the minimum age requirements for several elective offices, thereby affirming that young people are capable of assuming leadership responsibilities today rather than waiting for tomorrow.

For instance, the Act allows Youth at age 25 years and above to be eligible to be elected and legislate and make laws for his State through the State House of Assembly; the law empowers the Nigeria Youth to become a Federal Legislator at age 25 years and make laws for the 242 million Nigerians as an elected House of Representative member; the same law similarly gave a voice to the Nigeria Youth to either become a Distinguished Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria or be elected to the revered position of His Excellency the Executive Governor of his dear State at age 35 years!

Are the Nigeria Youths still leaders of tomorrow?

I guess the continuous use of the outdated phrase Nigeria Youths Are The Leaders Of Tomorrow is a ploy to discourage and undermine the Nigerian Youths from taking their rightful position in the leadership advancement towards the growth and development of Nigeria. No wonder less than 5% of the African Youth population are occupying leadership positions.

In the Private Sector world, we have seen the creative leadership of Mark Zuckerberg who started Facebook at age 19 years; the world has recognized the innovative leadership of Ritesh Agarwal in giving birth to OYO Rooms at age 17 years; the universe has noticed the enterprise leadership of Blake Ross at developing Firefox at age 19 years; Ghana's Fred Swaniker has debunked that there is no racial discrimination in leadership prowess through his African Leadership Group formed at age 24 years; neither has Nigeria disappointed the world with her own resource leadership in Odun Eweniyi who established PiggyVest at age 26 years.

Similarly in the Public Sector world, the Youths have not ceased to amaze the global world with the performance-driven political leadership.

No wonder why the world today continues to celebrate the likes of Sanna Marin the youngest Prime Minister of Finland at age 34 years(2019-2023); Gabriel Boric the youngest President of Chile at age 35 years (2021); Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez the youngest woman ever elected to US Congress at age 29 years; our own Owaisi Jawad the youngest House of Representative member in Nigeria elected at age 31 years in 2018 after "The Not Too Young To Run Act of 2018"; Melanie Joly the youngest Foreign Minister in Canada at age 36 years; Kim Jong-un the youngest Head of State in North Korea at age 28 years.

IF WE HAVE THE ENABLING LAW AND GLOBAL ANTECEDENTS, THEN WHAT ARE THE NIGERIA YOUTHS WAITING FOR TO START THEIR LEADERSHIP TODAY?

Currently Nigeria is estimated to have a population of 242 million people.

41% of this population are under 15 years while 56% constitutes the working age of 15 to 64 years. This therefore leaves the estimated 65 million Nigeria Youths between ages 18 to 35 years as the largest working-age block in Nigeria. These Youths therefore constitute the undeniable "Economic Engine Room of The Nation" whose development must attract the topmost priority if the country must tap their potentials, creativity, capacity, and talents for the sustainable development and growth of Nigeria.

Globally, there are three classes of sectoral leadership namely, Political Leadership; Business Leadership; Social Leadership.

The Political Leadership opportunity has been legally provided for through "The Not Too Young To Run Act of 2018".

STRATEGIES TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE LAW

1. A Youth should start his or her leadership journey from the home and family he comes from. Identify challenges confronting his immediate family and be part of the solution provider.

2. At school, in addition to his academic pursuit, identify a few of the learning environmental challenges, profer solutions, and participate in the solution implementation. Don't stop at criticizing but go a step further to explore alternative solutions. Play a part within the implementation of the alternative solutions.

3. At work, beyond the target given by the organization, strive to excel beyond the target and continuously set a new performance benchmark for yourself irrespective of whether you are being rewarded or not.

4. At Personal Level, cultivate a personal positive disposition to all issues and challenges you are given or confronted with. Develop the Yes, I can do attitude to all situations. This assists you to build your self confidence and performance delivery.

5. In your community, don't wait to be invited before playing your civic responsibility. Develop the habit to serve and sacrifice with no expectation of any returns.

6. In Social Network, be your brother's keeper. Show love and empathy where necessary

7. In all financial transactions with other parties, exhibit fairness, transparency, accountability

8. In the general public conduct, exhibit leadership by example! And also practice what you preach to others.

9. On a daily basis, subject yourself to self evaluation by asking yourself daily "What is the people's perception of me?" The feedback you received from this intuition enables you to appraise your leadership traits, capacity, and make room for adjustment and improvements.

10. Finally, ask yourself daily the question "How can I improve on myself better than yesterday?" The intentional efforts you put into this daily improvement makes you a ready LEADER TODAY AND NOT DELAYED TILL TOMORROW! And in return, people shall therefore seek for your leadership either in political position or social representation.

The enumerated strategies above could be employed amongst others to attain either Political Leadership or Social Leadership in the Society. This now leaves us with the critical issue of Business Leadership.

BUSINESS LEADERSHIP

In life every rational human being desires to make a good living. It also logically follows that every rational human being would desire to work in order to earn a good living!

There is only one destination to this course which is EMPLOYMENT.

And to arrive at this destination, there are only two routes, namely, TO BE EMPLOYED or TO BE SELF-EMPLOYED.

In Nigeria with an estimated population of 242 million people, the total number of people employed in the Federal Ministries, Departments, and Agencies (MDAs) combined with those employed by the 36 States plus FCT, coupled with all those in the employment of the 774 Local Governments in Nigeria are estimated at 5 million workers. That is the total workforce in the Public Sector of Nigeria.

In the Organised Private Sector, the total number of employees is estimated at 1 Million workers.

The two sectors added together gives us an estimate of 6 million people in paid employment in Nigeria.

121 million of Nigeria's population are estimated to belong to the non-working ages of 1 to 17 years.

Another 2.9% or 7 million Nigerians are of ages 65 years and above.

Adding the two groups together gives us a total of 128 million Nigerians in the non-working class. This leaves us with a working population of about 114 million Nigerians.

When we subtract the estimated gross of 6 million workers in both Public Sector and Organized Private Sector from this number, we are left with a whooping mass of about 108 million Nigerians who are Self-Employed. This is a critical revelation that requires and deserves the attention of all Stakeholders in the country.

Of this staggering figure of 108 Million working class, a humongous 95 Million of this group are Youths between ages 18 to 40 years old. Isn't this another justification why business leadership should emerge amongst the Nigerian Youths?

What President Muhammad Buhari did by promulgating the "Not Too Young To Run Act" of May 2018 to empower the Nigerian Youths in taking their Political Leadership roles, the current Administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu should kindly compliment by evolving through the National Assembly an Act of Law mandating ALL the 36 States Government in Nigeria to establish at least one State School of Enterprise (SSE) where courses to empower the business capacity and capability of our teeming Nigeria Youth can be learned at least within one academic year. Each State Government shall have the responsibility to finance the establishment of such Schools of Enterprise in their respective States.

Furthermore, the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) should be radically overhauled to meet the current challenges and needs of Nigerian Youths as at today. The recent restructuring of the scheme which has introduced skills acquisition component coupled with the elongation of the camp period to six weeks are highly desirable and welcome but inadequately salutary

Vocational skills acquisition is the order of the day to arrest the frightening unemployment crisis of our Youth in Nigeria and the current Administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu deserves to be commended for removing all school fees payment in all the 33 Federal Technical Colleges in Nigeria. This remarkable policy would in no doubt yield multiplier effects on the number of enrollment and eventual schools' products upon graduation after the three-year course.

But after producing the graduates from the Universities, Polytechnics, and Colleges, what next?

We need to empower the graduates with the relevant enterprise and business skills with which they need to turn their academic skills and knowledge into profitable and sustainable business capable of turning them into Entrepreneurs and to earn income for sustainable livelihood and become economic partners in their respective communities, States, Nigeria, and the World.

My recommendation therefore is that the one year NYSC scheme should be restructured to where six months should be spent in acquisition of a minimum of two vocational skills while the remaining six months are spent in the Entrepreneurial Development Program.

The graduates leaving the NYSC program would therefore not need to wait for the tiny employment opportunity in the Federal, States', and LGAs civil service nor the limited opportunity in the Organised Private Sector but can immediately proceed to apply their education combined with their learned vocational skills to start an enterprise and instantly become a value-addition to themselves, their communities, and nation.

And this shall significantly reduce the number of idle hands in the society and invariably reduce the budget on security in which savings recorded can be continually ploughed back in improving the business infrastructure for the Entrepreneurs.

And the solid foundation for Nigeria Youth Business Leadership shall be laid. And trusting the creativity and potential of an average Nigerian Youth, the Nigeria economy shall be better for it in terms of tremendous jump in our national Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and our enhanced participation in the global economy.

The Private Sector could also compliment in the development of the Enterprise and Business Capacity of the Nigerian Youths by introducing a number of innovative Entrepreneurial Development Programs targeted at the Youth for their economic emancipation.

The future of Nigeria will not be determined by the age of its leaders, but by the quality of their vision, the strength of their character, and the courage to lead when opportunity presents itself. Nigerian youths therefore should be supported by all Stakeholders in meeting their respective expectations to the development and growth of Nigeria by recognizing them as leaders of today with potentials to sustain the leadership till tomorrow and beyond. The nation must create every opportunity for them to prove it!

It is noteworthy the initiative of Ibadan Business School which recently introduced a 6-month virtual training titled Ibadan Business School-Youth Entrepreneurial Development Program (IBS-YEDP) which it has started to run as it's Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) offered to Nigeria Youth at a highly subsidized fees for the 26-week long online program. The online approach adopted by the School is to ensure that geographical distances do not constitute a barrier for any Nigerian Youth from benefiting from the rich business management expertise and experience of the IBS Faculty. It is hoped that similar learning institutions across the country can leverage on this national priority to salvage and help us build economically flourishing Nigeria Youths of our pride.