Nigeria’s real goldmine isn’t oil—it’s our youth

By Chi Tola

Over the past few years, I’ve come to a bold realization: Nigerian youth are not waiting to be empowered—they are already empowered by default. What they need now is investment.

Everywhere you turn in this country, you’ll find young Nigerians doing extraordinary things with little to no support.

Building apps and digital solutions from shared laptops in tiny co-working spaces.

Creating global-standard fashion brands from local fabrics.

Turning farmland into tech-driven agro-businesses.

Producing music, film, art, and content that’s earning global recognition.

Yet, we keep hearing about “youth empowerment programs” as though our young people are empty vessels waiting to be filled. No. They are already filled—with ideas, talent, resilience, and fire. What they truly need is for someone to believe in them enough to invest in them.

It’s time for

Companies to rethink CSR—not as charity, but as co-creation with youth-led innovation.

Governments to shift from political tokenism to policy-backed, sustainable funding of youth enterprises.

Leaders to stop handing out fish and start backing the net-makers.

Because here’s the truth: we don’t have a youth unemployment crisis—we have a youth underinvestment crisis.

The Nigerian youth is not our problem. They are our potential. They are our most powerful resource. And like any resource, without proper investment, we risk wasting what could transform this nation.

Let’s stop calling them “the leaders of tomorrow.” They’re already leading—just not always with our support.

So I pose this to business leaders, policymakers, and development stakeholders:
What would it look like if we stopped empowering youth as a form of charity—and started investing in them as a national strategy?

Let’s talk.