AfDB President calls for generational transfer of power, wealth to Nigeria youth

The African Development Bank (AfDB) President, Akinwumi Adesina has called for transfer of power and wealth to Nigeria youth, saying that the future of Nigeria depends on what it did today with its dynamic youth population.

He said nation’s youth demographic advantage must be turned into a first-rate and well-trained workforce, for Nigeria, for Africa region, and for the world.

Represented by his Senior Special Adviser, Prof. Banji Oyelaran-Oyeyinka, at the occasion of the 80th birthday celebration of the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Pastor E.A. Adeboye, the AfDB President said, “for Nigeria to be all it, the youth of the country must be all they could.”

While delivering a lecture titled: “Nigeria -A Country of Many Nations: A Quest for National Integration”, Adesina noted that close to 40 per cent of Nigeria’s youth are unemployed.

According to him, they lack skills, economic opportunities, they are discouraged, angry and restless, as they look at a future that does not give them hope.

“We should prioritize investments in the youth: in upskilling them for the jobs of the future, not the jobs of the past; by moving away from so-called youth empowerment to youth investment; to opening up the social and political space to the youth to air their views and become a positive force for national development; and for ensuring that we create youth-based wealth.

“From the East to the West, from the North to the South, there must be a sea of change in economic, financial, and business opportunities for young Nigerians.

“The old must give way to the new. And there must be a corresponding generational transfer of power and wealth to the youth. The popular folk talk should no longer be “the young shall grow,” it should, rather, be: “the young have arrived.”

The former Nigeria Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, said that the young shoots were springing up in Nigeria, saying today, Nigeria’s youth are leading in the FinTech Industry.
“Two companies – PayPal Interswitch are both valued at $1 billion. A third company, Flutterwave more than tripled its valuation in less than a year to over $3 billion. What does this tell us? The future is here and young entrepreneurs are central to it.”

He recalled that AfDB in December 2021 approved $170 million for Nigeria to support its program to expand digital and creative industries, by unleashing the incredible entrepreneurship of Nigeria’s youth.

He added that the Bank was also exploring the establishment of Youth Entrepreneurship Investment Banks – financial institutions for young people, run by first-rate young bankers and financial experts, to drive youth-wealth creation.

He said that Nigerians deserve wealth, not poverty, adding that “there cannot and should not be a Nigeria for the rich, and another Nigeria for the poor.”

Adesina being blessed with incredibly rich diversity of people, cultures, religions, mineral resources, oil, and gas, and amazingly rich biodiversity, Nigeria should be the envy of the world.

“We are blessed with abundantly diverse agro-ecologies, that should also make us a land of bountiful harvests with the capacity to feed Africa.”

He said that Nigeria diversity was not its problem, rather its strength, but when mismanaged, diversity becomes divergence.

Adesina said that Nigeria must manage its diversity for the collective good, learning from Singapore. He described Singapore as a nation of diverse people and national origins, with diverse, multi-ethnic, multi-cultural, multi-religious society, yet, was able to forge a unified identity that has powered its extraordinary economic progress and development.

“By better managing its diversity, Singapore has been able to forge incredible economic growth, which benefits all in the country.

“They have 100% access to electricity and 98% access to water and sanitation. Their schools rank among the best in the world.

“Today, Singapore is a AAA-rated economy by the global credit rating agencies.”

He said that though Singapore faced challenges of divisive ethnic and race riots in the 1960s that almost pulled the nation apart, they overcame that by getting some things right. Some of the measures that assisted Singapore according to Adesina were focus on fusion of national purpose and identity.
Also was putting in place cultural policies that ensured no one ethnic group or the other dominates or assimilates others, but rather, promotes multiculturalism.

“They put in place a constitution that reinforced national fusion. Article 12 of the constitution forbids discrimination based on race, descent, or place of birth.”

He added that, “singaporean society is based on meritocracy, not aristocracy or ethnocracy or ‘religiocracy”

“Any society where meritocracy is subjugated to aristocracy, ethnocracy or ‘religiocracy”, eventually tends towards mediocrity.

“Nigeria must learn from this experience and forge a new way of engagement among its diverse ethnic groups and religions.”

He said that Nigeria must start managing its diversity for prosperity, adding that we must drive for national cohesion, not ethnic nationalities.

“We must address the fundamental reasons for agitations, by listening, understanding, removing prejudices, and allowing for open, national dialogues, without preconditions, but with one goal:
“Build one cohesive, united, fair, just, and equitable nation for all, not for a few, or for any section of the nation or religion.”

He added that like Singapore, Nigeria needed to put in place the compulsory teaching of its major languages in schools, from primary through universities, to ensure multilingualism, cross-cultural understanding, and to build a strong socio-cultural capital that unifies.

While commending the rationale for establishing the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), Adesina said that the inclusiveness was yet to be achieved as after the one year of service, an NYSC graduates were often not able to gain employment in governments where they served, simply because they were not indigenes of those States.

He added that in almost all of Nigeria, regardless of how long you have resided in any place, you could not run for political offices in those states or locations, just because you were not born there. “This needs to change.

“Governments must be open to representation based on nationality not on ethnicity, to build a society of mutual trust, where diversity is well managed.“
He advised the nation’s youth not learn the ways of the past, but renew their minds and work for the better future for a new Nigeria.

“Correct the mistakes of our past.
“Break down barriers of suspicion! Pull down walls that have divided us and caused us to war against each other. Pull down walls of fear and instead embrace and accept one another.

“In the process, we will build together.

“We will build a new Nigeria, where one will be respected and accepted, not according to the village of one’s birth, the state of one’s nativity, or one’s religion, but by the dignity within … the simple dignity of being a Nigerian.”

He urged every Nigerians to begin to change the history, build bridges that connect, not walls that separate, saying together, in a better and just society, we will thrive.

Adesina stressed the need for constituent States in Nigeria to be more financially autonomous through greater fiscal prudence.

He said that if states focused on unlocking the huge resources they had, based on areas of comparative advantage, they would rapidly expand wealth for their people.

“With their increased wealth they will be able to access capital markets to secure long-term financing to fast-track their growth and development.

“States that adopt this strategy would have less of a need for monthly trips to Abuja for grants. Instead, part of their federal revenue allocations can be saved as internal ‘state sovereign wealth funds.

“This can then be used as guarantees against borrowings from capital markets. They would be free from needing to exclusively rely on the federal government.”

On a way out of the economic quagmire, Adesina said restructuring should not be driven by political expediency, but by economic and financial viability – the necessary and sufficient conditions for political viability.

He advised that the resources found in each state or state groupings should belong to them adding that the constituent entities should pay federal taxes or royalties for those resources.

“The achievement of economically viable entities and the viability of the national entity requires constitutional changes to devolve more economic and fiscal powers to the states or regions.

“The stronger the states, or regions, the stronger the federated units. In the process, our union would be renewed. Our union would be stronger. Our union would be equitable. Our union would be fully participatory.”

He said that Nigeria must be audacious, changed the relational mindset between the states and Abuja stating “the fulcrum would be the states, while the center would provide support to them, not lord over them.

“With good governance, better accountability systems, and a zero tolerance for corruption, more economically stronger constituent states would emerge!

“We would unleash massive wealth across the states. It would be a commonwealth. Wealth for all, not wealth for a few.”

He congratulated pastor Adeboye, who will be 80 on March 2, describing him “a man whose heart is for humanity and the God he serves.

He added that the general overseer of RCCG is a man who like the good Samaritan in the Bible, does not discriminate, for he knows that God is for all, and works in all.

“Your life is a continuing journey of the grace, the faithfulness of God, and His special divine hands on you to be a shepherd and source of blessing to humanity.”