El-Rufai to Youth: Solve Nigeria’s Problems or Raise an Angrîer Generation

Former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, has urged young Nigerians to channel their frustration into constructive action, warning that failure to solve the country’s deep-seated issues will only produce an even angrier generation.

Speaking on his frequent engagements online, El-Rufai noted he is regularly targeted with criticism from youths on social media platforms like Facebook. “On Facebook, I get abused all the time by young people who say ‘what did you do when you were in office? Is it today you discovered that Nigeria has gone bad?’ and so on and so forth,” he shared.

He acknowledged the legitimacy of the youth’s anger, given the nation’s economic and social hardships. However, he emphasised that anger alone cannot bring about lasting change. Progress, he argued, requires innovation, leadership, and practical solutions.

“You are an angry generation and maybe you have the right to be. But, anger doesn’t solve the problem, it is constructive thinking and solutions that will solve the problem because you can be as angry with me as you like, but in 20 years I will be dead. So you have to find someone to be angry about and then you will be 40something and then your children will be angry at you if you don’t solve the problem,” El-Rufai stated.

The former governor called on the youth to take ownership of Nigeria’s future by moving beyond blame and engaging in meaningful problem-solving. He stressed that the current generation has a duty to build sustainable systems that will benefit both themselves and those who come after them.