HOW YOUNG NIGERIANS CAN HELP BUILD THE CHANGE THEY WANT TO SEE.
Young people are often the most vocal about the challenges facing their country, ranging from unemployment and economic hardship to corruption, insecurity, and poor leadership.
They complain and raise concerns to express their dissatisfaction and how they want things to be better.
While these concerns are legitimate, complaining alone cannot bring about meaningful change. If we desire a better country, we must move beyond identifying problems and begin contributing to solutions.
As young people who are desirous to see change, we have a responsibility to develop ourselves, contribute to our communities, and hold our leaders accountable. To explain how we can achieve this, I have developed a mnemonic called ‘P.U.S.H’., which represents four practical actions, beyond complaints young Nigerians can take to contribute to build change.
P — Productive Participation: Young people should actively contribute to society by acquiring useful skills, creating businesses, supporting local production, and participating in community development. Rather than waiting for every opportunity to come from the government, sitting back and complaining alone, we should explore ways to create value and employment for ourselves and others.
U — Unity and Understanding: National development requires cooperation across ethnic, religious, and political differences. Young people should embrace teamwork, respect diverse opinions, and combine their abilities to solve common problems instead of allowing division to hinder progress.
S — Skill Acquisition: Education should go beyond obtaining certificates. Undergraduates should develop practical, digital, technical, and entrepreneurial skills that enable them to solve real-life problems. We should use our knowledge and creativity to develop innovations that improve livelihoods and strengthen the economy. Certificates should be complimented with knowledge of practical skills to keep young people engaged profitably.
H — Honesty and Holding Leaders Accountable: Young people must practise integrity, reject corruption, vote responsibly, and peacefully demand transparency from public officials. We must also recognise that government has a responsibility to provide security, infrastructure, quality education, and an enabling environment for economic growth.
Ultimately, building a better country requires collective effort. Young people cannot solve every national problem alone, but through productive participation, unity, skill development, and accountability, we can make meaningful contributions to the actualisation of the change we want to see.
The goal is not to silence young people’s complaints but to transform them into constructive action.
This is because complaints can help expose problems but they must be accompanied by constructive efforts to build the change we want to see. Less complaining without action, more contributing through solutions. It is time for young people to P.U.S.H. for change and P.U.S.H. for national progress.
