When I look at the lives of many young people, particularly those at the grassroots who are struggling every day to break free from poverty, establish themselves and build meaningful lives, I am often forced to confront an uncomfortable reality.
In a society where opportunities can sometimes depend more on connections than competence, and where patronage can determine who gets heard, recognised or supported, a young person without strong values, hard work, resilience and faith may eventually find himself compromising the very principles he once held dear.
This is not merely a question of personal morality. It is a reflection of the kind of society we are building.
As a writer and media practitioner, my principal calling demands neutrality, balance in news reporting, fact-finding and an unwavering commitment to truth.
Yet, recent experiences have reinforced a troubling question: Can journalism remain truly independent in an environment where patronage appears to influence relationships and opportunities?
The danger is that when access to opportunities becomes conditional on silence, conformity or unquestioning loyalty, principles gradually become expensive commodities.
Experience, unfortunately, is not always appreciated in our environment.
Those who have walked through the system, endured its difficulties and accumulated knowledge are sometimes treated as though their contributions have an expiry date.
But that is not how enduring societies are built.
In more developed societies, institutions and leaders understand that legacy is not about ensuring that everything begins and ends with one individual. The true measure of leadership is the capacity to build institutions, empower younger generations and leave behind a foundation upon which others can build.
What, therefore, is the evidence of nation-building when one person seeks to own the beginning, the middle and the end of every legacy?
Young Nigerians deserve better.
They deserve a system where brilliance is recognised, where hard work is rewarded, where experience is respected and where opportunity is not permanently controlled by a select few.
I have walked through the system. I have observed its contradictions. I have documented many of its challenges in my writings and memoirs: the burial of brilliance, the ravenous appetite for influence, the hendicagon generation, youth apathy and the many silent battles people fight simply to remain relevant.
Yet, I have never retired my pen.
I will continue to write as long as my pen can give voice to those whose voices have been imprisoned by circumstances. Like Michelangelo’s figures waiting to be released from marble, there are talents and possibilities trapped within many young Nigerians, waiting for the opportunity to emerge.
I have spoken through different forms, sometimes directly, sometimes tacitly, sometimes poetically.
I have addressed readers with the dramatic imagination of Shakespeare and encouraged those tempted to give up to remember that recognition in this world is not the only measure of a meaningful life.
Abioye Tosin Lawrence is the Publisher of Oriontimes, author of Voices From the Fire: My Journey Through a Hollow Empire, and a political analyst and public commentator with an interest in governance, youth development, media ethics and nation-building.
