What do you think young Nigerians need most right now?
I see their talent wherever I go: young people learning new skills, building things, and looking for a chance to serve their country. What they need first is work that pays enough to get them through the month. Ambition is not in short supply in Nigeria; what is scarce is the chance to turn that ambition into a living. That is the gap I believe must be closed.
Where this comes from
Article on X Article by @atiku on X · https://x.com/atiku/status/2105647953729769974 2026-10-01 ›
You speak of young Nigerians building unicorns. I see their talent wherever I go. I see young people learning new skills, making things and looking for a chance to serve their country. They first need work that pays enough to get them through the month. Ambition is abundant in Nigeria. What is scarce is the chance to turn it into a living.
And please do not describe every new loan as an opportunity. A student loan does not make education affordable when fees are rising. Under your watch, some institutions have raised fees by more than 400 per cent, and your answer is to offer students loans to pay them. Consumer credit does not make a worker prosperous if repayment takes another bite out of a wage already too small to live on. Tell Nigerians what these programmes have delivered, who has benefited and what they must pay back.
The confusion extends to your budgets. You have just signed an extension keeping the 2025 budget in operation until the last day of 2026. The 2026 budget exists alongside it. Soon, your government will ask Nigerians to examine a 2027 budget. How many budgets must be open at once before you can tell the country what was funded, what was completed and what remains unpaid? A budget should be a timetable for delivery, not a ball passed from one year to the next.
