Sanwo-Olu, Adesina urge investment in youths

Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, and the former President of the African Development Bank (AfDB), Dr Akinwumi Adesina, have called for greater investment in young people, urging leaders to create opportunities for them to develop their skills, build businesses and participate in governance.

They made the call on Monday at the Seyi Tinubu (TST) Colloquium, themed “Shaping the Future Together,” held at the Eko Convention Centre, Lagos.

Sanwo-Olu, who reflected on his experience as a young political appointee, said mentoring, providing opportunities and allowing younger people to participate in leadership were essential to building institutions capable of outliving their founders.

The governor recalled that a former Lagos State Governor, Bola Tinubu, gave him an opportunity to serve as a special adviser in 2001 or 2002, when he was about 36 years old.

He said the experience shaped his understanding of the importance of opening doors for younger people, adding that several other individuals also benefited from Tinubu’s decision to bring young people into government.

According to him, the principle of youth inclusion should extend beyond political appointments to employment, business contracts and other areas of professional development.

“Mentor a young person that certainly cannot pay you back,” Sanwo-Olu said, urging established leaders to invest in the development of young people without expecting immediate personal benefits.

He also advised employers to recruit young people who lacked experience but were willing to learn, while providing the supervision and guidance needed for them to succeed.

“Give a young person their first contract, but supervise that person. Nobody is going to do it for us,” he said.

Sanwo-Olu stressed that leadership should be measured not only by the projects completed by those in office but also by their ability to prepare successors and sustain institutions.

He said one of the greatest achievements of leadership was the ability to hand over responsibility to another person who could build on existing accomplishments.

The governor urged young Nigerians to take advantage of available opportunities by participating actively in their workplaces, local governments and communities, noting that such engagement would help them develop the skills required for leadership.

He added that Nigeria’s future depended on the ability of its young population to translate its potential into meaningful contributions to national development.

In his keynote address, titled “Africa Next: Building the Demographic Asset Class,” Adesina said Africa’s growing youth population should be viewed as an economic opportunity rather than a burden.

He argued that the continent needed to move beyond conventional youth empowerment programmes towards financial systems capable of identifying promising young entrepreneurs, accepting calculated risks and investing in their potential.

According to him, young people need access to capital and markets to establish businesses, create jobs, increase incomes and build sustainable wealth.

Adesina cited the establishment of a youth-focused entrepreneurship investment bank in Nigeria as an example of an approach designed to address the financing challenges confronting young entrepreneurs.

He said the institution was intended to recognise young people as potential economic assets rather than high-risk borrowers because of their age or limited financial histories.

“What the young people need is a financial system that is prepared to meet their potential, take appropriate risks and invest in their potential,” he said.

Adesina explained that the objective should be to build youth-based wealth rather than introduce another empowerment initiative without lasting economic impact.

He also challenged African leaders to ensure that the continent’s demographic advantage translated into productive capacity, technological innovation and shared prosperity.

According to him, the central question is not simply how many young people Africa has, but how many businesses they can establish, how many problems they can solve and how much economic value they can create.

He urged governments to invest in education, skills development, entrepreneurship and technology, while ensuring that young people had opportunities to apply their capabilities.

Adesina further called for greater African investment in local enterprise and job creation, arguing that the continent needed to build economic opportunities capable of providing decent employment for its growing population.

He said Africa’s future would depend on whether its young people were equipped to shape technological and economic change rather than merely respond to developments elsewhere.

“Because when we invest in the mind, in our skills, in our intelligence, everything changes,” he said.

The former AfDB president urged participants to recognise their individual and collective value to their families, communities, Nigeria and the African continent.

In his remarks, the convener of the colloquium and founder of the City Boy Movement, Seyi Tinubu, said the future of Nigeria’s democracy and development depended on the willingness of older leaders to share experience with younger generations.

He said the country’s next generation of leaders needed to learn from those who had participated in previous struggles to establish and sustain democratic governance.

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Tinubu argued that experienced leaders should make room for younger people to contribute to decision-making, while young leaders should prepare themselves for the responsibilities ahead.

He said the theme of the event raised an important question about how those expected to address tomorrow’s challenges could learn from those confronting the challenges of today.

According to him, the relationship between generations should be based on mentorship, shared responsibility and preparation for leadership.

Tinubu also emphasised the need for Nigeria to prioritise investment over excessive consumption and enterprise over access, as part of efforts to build a prosperous future.

The colloquium brought together political leaders, government officials, traditional rulers and other stakeholders to discuss youth participation, leadership, entrepreneurship and Africa’s development prospects.