‘They’re leaders today’ — Obasanjo calls for inclusion of youth in governance

Olusegun Obasanjo, former president, has called for the inclusion of young people in governance and leadership at all levels.

Speaking on Saturday in Abeokuta, Ogun state capital, during the grand reunion and maiden lecture series of the Royal College of Defence Studies (RCDS), United Kingdom Alumni Association, Nigerian chapter, Obasanjo said the youth must be part of decision-making today,  not just seen as leaders of tomorrow.

The former president said elders and leaders across society owe the younger generation a duty to provide truthful, transparent, and selfless leadership that secures the future rather than depleting it.

Delivering a lecture titled “The Challenges of Youth in a Fractured World”, Obasanjo, represented by Samuel Daramola, deputy director of the Olusegun Obasanjo Leadership Institute, reflected on how today’s generation of youth are growing up in a far more uncertain and unstable world than those before them.

“Some of us were youth immediately after the Second World War; I was. Most of you were youth at the height of the Cold War,” he said.

“The world was not perfect, but there was some order, respect for international law, rules and regulations. There were threats but no impunity. They talked of balance of terror in those days with reasonable stability, predictability, peace and common security with shared responsibility and prosperity among the leading nations of the world.

“The developing nations could breathe reasonably freely. The superpowers negotiated and consulted among themselves. Today, the youth face herculean challenges which they must not be left to handle alone.”

Obasanjo said young people must be incorporated into all aspects of family, private and public life, while developing the resilience and self-reliance needed to thrive in an unstable world.

“Youth are not leaders of tomorrow; they are leaders today,” he said. “Let them be part and parcel of leadership today in preparation for tomorrow.”

He stressed that intergenerational collaboration is key to building a stable and progressive society.

Earlier, Oluwaseun Oshinowo, president of the RCDS alumni association and a retired major-general, said the body was inaugurated eight years ago to create a platform for strategic dialogue and nation-building.

“Our main aim is to tell the world that we are here and we are available for whatever they want us to do when it comes to strategic-level discussion and debate,” he said, emphasising the importance of youth inclusion in national development.

In his goodwill message, Yusuf Tuggar, minister of foreign affairs, described the event as an important gathering for reflection and renewal among alumni of one of the world’s foremost institutions of strategic learning.

Represented by Abosede Awolola, a director at the Institute of Peace and Conflict Resolution, Tuggar said the Royal College of Defence Studies “occupies a special place in the architecture of global leadership formation”.

“The administration of President Bola Tinubu is committed to a foreign policy that is citizen-focused, economically driven, and globally respected,” he said.

Also speaking, Dapo Abiodun, governor of Ogun state, said the breakdown of family values remained a major threat to national development.

Represented by Olusola Subair, his special adviser on security, Abiodun urged all stakeholders to play their part in reshaping the minds of young people towards more productive ventures.