Picture a young graduate, certificate in hand, dreams in heart, walking from office to office, year after year, with nothing to show for it. This is the reality for millions of Nigerian youths today. We are told we are the leaders of tomorrow, but tomorrow keeps getting pushed further away because there is no today to build on. No jobs. No opportunities. No support. Just endless hustle, endless disappointment, and endless waiting. Some have given up on the dream entirely, choosing instead to leave the country in search of a better life elsewhere, a trend now so common it has its own name, japa. Others stay, hustling on okada, selling by the roadside, or doing anything just to survive, far from what they studied for. How do we celebrate a democracy that has failed to create opportunities for its largest population, the youth? A nation's strength lies in its young people, yet here we are, talented, educated, energetic, and idle. This Democracy Day, before the speeches and the parades, someone needs to ask the real question, what is being done for the millions of unemployed youths? Until that question is answered honestly, celebration feels hollow. Are you one of the many still searching? 💔🇳🇬
