Look at me. Look closely. I have spent the better part of my life fighting for democracy, justice and the progress of our beloved country. Time has given me experience, but it has not diminished my conviction.
The fire that inspired me as a young student activist still burns today because every day I see millions of young Nigerians denied opportunities that should have been theirs.
I stand before you today not merely as a former Vice President or an elder statesman, but as a lifelong democrat who has never stopped believing that Nigeria can become the great nation its people deserve.
When I was your age, I was actively involved in student politics. Like many young Nigerians of my generation, I believed that leadership was not about titles but about service, courage and the willingness to challenge injustice.
We did not have social media to amplify our voices. We organised. We debated. We mobilised. We marched. And sometimes, we ran from the police.
As the years passed, many of us joined countless other Nigerians—students, labour leaders, journalists, civil society organisations, pro-democracy activists and ordinary citizens in resisting military authoritarianism and demanding democratic governance. Many paid dearly for that struggle. Some lost their freedom. Some lost their livelihoods. Some paid the ultimate price with their lives.
By the grace of God, some of us survived to witness the return of democratic rule in 1999. I was privileged to serve as Vice President at that defining moment in our nation’s history. Together with millions of Nigerians, we helped lay the foundation for the democratic Nigeria we all cherish today.
But, my dear young Nigerians, restoring democracy was only the beginning. Democracy is not merely about conducting elections.
Democracy must create opportunities. It must protect lives. It must reward enterprise. It must give every young Nigerian confidence that hard work, not connections, will determine success.
That is where our country has fallen short.
Successive administrations have failed to build consistently upon the democratic foundation that was laid.
Institutions have weakened. Public trust has diminished. Corruption has become entrenched.
Insecurity has spread into communities that once knew peace. The economy has become increasingly difficult for families and businesses alike, leaving millions of young Nigerians wondering whether their dreams still have a place in their own country.
That is why I accepted the responsibility of offering myself once again to serve our nation.
I am not seeking office for its privileges. I am seeking it because I believe Nigeria can still become the country we all know it is capable of becoming, a nation where leadership is accountable, institutions are strong, opportunities are abundant and every citizen, regardless of background, has a fair chance to succeed.
But I cannot achieve that vision alone.
No President, no matter how determined, can rebuild Nigeria without the active participation of its greatest asset—its young people.
That brings me to the central message of my address today:
The role of young Nigerians in building a new democratic Nigeria.
The current political establishment often looks at young Nigerians and sees a restless population to be managed, manipulated or mobilised only during elections.
I see something entirely different.
I see the greatest national asset Nigeria has ever produced.
I see innovators building world-class businesses from laptops and mobile phones. I see young farmers feeding communities despite enormous odds. I see creators, engineers, doctors, teachers, entrepreneurs, artisans and professionals proving every day that the Nigerian spirit cannot be defeated.
Unfortunately, I also see enormous talent trapped by poor leadership.
I see graduates searching endlessly for jobs that do not exist.
I see entrepreneurs spending more money on diesel than on expanding their businesses.
I see brilliant young people leaving Nigeria, not because they have stopped loving their country, but because they no longer believe their country loves them back.
That must change.
And it is precisely why this election is about much more than politics.
It is about whether your generation will finally inherit a country that rewards merit instead of connections, innovation instead of patronage, productivity instead of propaganda, and competence instead of mediocrity.
My challenge to you today is simple:
What good is the strength of a giant if the giant refuses to rise?
Young Nigerians constitute the largest voting population in our country.
Yet, too often, you have allowed yourselves to be divided by tribe, religion and political manipulation while a much smaller political class decides your future.
That must end.
Your vote is far more valuable than any amount of money a politician can offer.
Do not exchange four years of your future for one afternoon of inducement.
A bag of rice will disappear.
A few thousand naira will be spent.
A campaign T-shirt will eventually fade.
But the consequences of electing incompetent leadership will remain with you long after the campaign has ended.
When you sell your vote, you are not merely exchanging a ballot paper.
You are surrendering opportunities that belong to your generation.
You are surrendering better schools.
Better hospitals.
Safer communities.
Reliable electricity.
More jobs.
A stronger economy.
And a government that truly works for everyone.
Never underestimate the value of your vote.
It remains the most powerful instrument any citizen possesses in a democracy.
My dear young Nigerians,
Please do not allow yourselves to become instruments of political violence.
Every election season, some politicians suddenly discover that you are “leaders.”
They give you caps.
They give you T-shirts.
They give you a little money.
They ask you to insult opponents, disrupt campaigns or intimidate voters.
But immediately after the election, they disappear.
Your phone stops ringing.
The promises vanish.
And you are left exactly where they found you.
Do not mortgage your future to people who remember your name only during campaigns.
The greatest service you can render any politician is not fighting for him.
It is insisting that he earns your vote through ideas, character, competence and integrity.
That is the foundation of every successful democracy.
And that is the kind of political culture we must build together.
So, the question before us is simple:
How do we convert frustration into national renewal?
How do we transform the largest youth population in Africa into the greatest democratic movement our continent has ever witnessed?
I propose three strategic mandates.
Mandate Number One: Move From Social Media Outrage to Democratic Participation.
Young Nigerians have demonstrated extraordinary creativity in the digital space.
You influence conversations.
You shape opinions.
You hold governments accountable.
You have shown the world that Nigerian youths can organise, innovate and inspire.
But while social media can awaken a nation, it cannot by itself elect a government.
Hashtags do not count votes.
Livestreams do not secure polling units.
Tweets do not defend democracy.
Only citizens do.
Our challenge in 2027 is therefore clear.
We must transform online influence into offline participation.
Register to vote.
Verify your registration.
Understand the Electoral Act.
Volunteer.
Serve as polling agents.
Observe the process.
Protect the people’s mandate peacefully and lawfully.
Remember this:
The old political establishment may have enormous financial resources, but you possess something far more powerful—your numbers.
If millions of young Nigerians participate peacefully, vote responsibly and defend the integrity of the process, no amount of money can overcome the collective will of the people.
Democracy belongs to those who show up.
Show up.
Mandate Number Two: Reject Division. Embrace Our Shared Future.
Perhaps the greatest tragedy of Nigerian politics is that those who benefit from our divisions have convinced us that our neighbour is our enemy.
They tell you your problem is your tribe.
They tell you your problem is your religion.
They tell you your problem is your region.
Meanwhile, the real problems remain exactly the same.
The young graduate in Kano is searching for work.
The young entrepreneur in Aba struggles with electricity.
The farmer in Benue worries about insecurity.
The fisherman in Bayelsa wants a better market.
The young woman in Lagos wants affordable housing.
The student in Maiduguri wants quality education.
Different languages.
Different cultures.
One reality.
No Nigerian youth wakes up hoping for unemployment.
No Nigerian parent dreams of sending a child to an unsafe school.
No entrepreneur prays for higher inflation.
No family wishes to live in fear.
Our shared challenges must produce a shared purpose.
The Nigeria we seek will never be built on ethnic suspicion or religious division.
It will be built by citizens who understand that our diversity is a strength—not a weakness.
In 2027, let us vote for competence.
Let us vote for character.
Let us vote for ideas.
Let us vote for the future.
Mandate Number Three: Become Builders of a New Nigeria.
I ask you today not merely to support a candidate.
I ask you to build a movement.
A movement founded on ideas.
A movement rooted in integrity.
A movement committed to peaceful democratic change.
Go back to your communities.
Go back to your campuses.
Go back to your workplaces.
Go back to your markets.
Become ambassadors of hope.
Become educators.
Become organisers.
Become guardians of democracy.
Help every eligible young Nigerian obtain a Permanent Voter Card.
Help first-time voters understand why every vote matters.
Encourage peaceful participation.
Reject violence.
Reject intimidation.
Reject vote buying.
Reject every attempt to make democracy a marketplace where votes are purchased instead of earned.
Our democracy deserves better.
And so do you.
My dear young Nigerians,
Do not allow anyone to tell you that you are too young to lead.
History disagrees.
Across the world, nations have been transformed by young people who refused to accept failure as their destiny.
Innovation has always belonged to the young.
Great discoveries have always belonged to the courageous.
Every generation inherits two things:
The country it receives.
And the country it leaves behind.
The first is not your choice.
The second will be your legacy.
The question history will ask your generation is not whether Nigeria faced enormous challenges.
History already knows that.
The question history will ask is this:
What did your generation do when the future of Nigeria rested in your hands?
Will history remember that you complained?
Or will history remember that you organised?
Will history remember endless arguments on social media?
Or millions of young Nigerians who peacefully changed the direction of their country through the ballot?
That decision belongs to you.
THE NIGERIA WE MUST BUILD TOGETHER.
My dear young Nigerians,
Politics is not an end in itself.
Power is not an end in itself.
Elections are not an end in themselves.
They are only meaningful if they improve the lives of the people.
The Nigeria we seek is not an impossible dream.
It is a nation within our reach, provided we have the courage to choose competence over propaganda, integrity over corruption, and service over self-interest.
I dream of a Nigeria where no child is denied an education because of poverty.
I dream of a Nigeria where every graduate can aspire to meaningful employment or build a successful business without being suffocated by poor policies.
I dream of a Nigeria where electricity powers factories instead of generators, where businesses grow instead of merely struggling to survive, and where innovation is rewarded instead of frustrated.
I dream of a Nigeria where our farmers cultivate their land without fear, where our communities are secure, and where no parent goes to bed wondering whether their child will return safely from school.
I dream of a Nigeria where technology becomes a gateway to prosperity, where artificial intelligence, innovation and entrepreneurship create millions of new opportunities for our young people instead of forcing them to search for greener pastures abroad.
I dream of a Nigeria where talent matters more than tribe.
Where competence matters more than connections.
Where character matters more than political patronage.
Where hard work is rewarded, and every young Nigerian has a fair opportunity to succeed.
My dear young people,
The greatest tragedy before us is not that Nigerian youths lack talent.
The greatest tragedy is that Nigeria has lacked leadership worthy of your talent.
That is why this election is different.
This election is not merely about changing a government.
It is about changing the direction of our country.
It is about restoring hope.
It is about rebuilding confidence.
It is about creating opportunities.
It is about ensuring that no young Nigerian feels compelled to abandon the country of his birth in search of dignity elsewhere.
I believe in the Nigerian youth.
I believe in your intelligence.
I believe in your creativity.
I believe in your resilience.
And I believe that if we work together, there is no obstacle too great for our nation to overcome.
Together, we can build a Nigeria that rewards enterprise instead of excuses.
A Nigeria that inspires confidence instead of despair.
A Nigeria that gives every citizen, not just the privileged few, a genuine opportunity to succeed.
That is the Nigeria we must build.
That is the Nigeria we must leave for generations yet unborn.
CONCLUSION.
My dear young Nigerians,
The future of our country will not be decided only in Aso Rock.
It will not be decided only in party headquarters.
It will not be decided only in television studios or on social media.
It will be decided in our communities.
It will be decided in our schools.
It will be decided in our workplaces.
It will be decided in our polling units.
And above all, it will be decided by ordinary Nigerians who refuse to surrender their future to fear, manipulation or despair.
This retreat must not end with inspiring speeches, beautiful photographs and good intentions.
It must become the beginning of a national movement.
A movement that educates.
A movement that organises.
A movement that unites.
A movement that inspires.
A movement that protects democracy.
And a movement that reminds every Nigerian that public office is a sacred trust, not a private inheritance.
To our political leaders across all parties, I say this respectfully:
Young Nigerians are not merely a voting population to be remembered every four years.
They are citizens to be respected.
Partners to be engaged.
Leaders to be developed.
The future custodians of our Republic.
Open the doors of leadership to them.
Trust them with responsibility.
Reward competence above loyalty.
Reward integrity above patronage.
Create opportunities that allow them to fulfil their enormous potential.
To the young Nigerians gathered here today, I leave you with this challenge.
Do not merely demand a better Nigeria.
Become the generation that builds it.
Do not merely criticise bad leadership.
Prepare yourselves to provide good leadership.
Do not merely ask what Nigeria can become.
Ask what history will say about your generation.
History presents every generation with a defining moment.
This is yours.
Years from now, your children will ask where you stood when Nigeria stood at the crossroads.
They will ask whether you accepted hopelessness as your destiny.
Whether you watched from the sidelines while others decided your future.
Or whether you stood up peacefully, organised responsibly, voted courageously, and helped change the course of your nation.
My generation has carried the baton this far.
Today, with confidence and hope, I place that baton in your hands.
Carry it with courage.
Carry it with discipline.
Carry it with integrity.
Carry it with patriotism.
Build a Nigeria where talent triumphs over tribe.
Where competence triumphs over connections.
Where justice triumphs over injustice.
Where hope triumphs over despair.
Where every child can dream without fear.
Where every young person can succeed through hard work.
Where every citizen can once again believe that government exists to serve the people.
The task before us is great.
But the Nigerian spirit is greater.
The road ahead may not be easy.
But no great nation was ever built by people who surrendered to despair.
My dear young Nigerians, the future is not something we inherit.
The future is something we build.
Let history record that when Nigeria called, your generation answered.
Let history remember that when democracy was tested, your generation defended it.
Let history remember that when hope seemed to fade, your generation restored it.
And let history remember that together, we rebuilt the promise of Nigeria.
Nigeria does not need another miracle.
Nigeria needs courageous leadership, active citizenship, and a generation determined to make this nation work.
I believe that generation is here.
I believe that generation is you.
Together, let us rise.
Together, let us rebuild.
Together, let us renew the promise of our great nation.
Thank you.
God bless the Riseup Naija Movement.
God bless the Nigerian youth.
And God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria. -AA
