On the 5th of June, 2021, the Nigerian government decided to ban Twitter. This was a platform used by both Nigerian leaders and followers.

As expected, this move led to an uproar among the youths. Twitter had been a platform where youths discussed both important and trivial matters.

In other words, Twitter had been a community for many youths. After a few days, many people downloaded VPNs and began using Twitter. But that's not where I'm going.

The banning of Twitter was a significant move and statement to Nigerian youths. Much more significant than most of us thought.

This move was a show of utter lack of respect for Nigerian youths. Some people in the leadership thought they could ban Twitter and there would be no consequences.

That in itself showed how highly (or lowly) Nigerian leaders see the youth. During this same period, the CBN is going hard for youths who dared to trade cryptocurrencies.

According to them, youths are using cryptocurrencies for money laundering and other criminal activities. Now, I have to ask, are these youths governors, ministers, senators, chairmen, or the president?

The same youths that are struggling to make ends meet are using cryptocurrency for money laundering? So Nigeria, without banning cryptocurrencies officially, is closing bank accounts of people involved in crypto trading.

This is the same country where the economy is so bad that you'd have to be very creative and work hard like crazy just to make ends meet. It is in this same country where the government would prefer that the thousands of youths who trade crypto stay jobless and poor.

And those are not even the worst things that are happening to youths in Nigeria. Let me paint a scene.

In Nigeria today, you can be walking on your street and be approached by policemen. Right there, they'll point guns at you and request for your smartphone.

Sadly, you may have to pay money before you have your phone back. Whether there's any incriminating evidence on your phone or not.

As unbelievable as it is, you can get shot if you try to argue your rights with those policemen.

Does that sound like a democratic society? That looks like a society that has descended into anarchy.

As a young man, 28 years old, I considered Nigeria 10 years ago and how worse things have become today. With this trajectory, I don't want to imagine what living in Nigeria will look like in 10 years.

Now, how have the youths been part of this problem?

Unfortunately, some youths have been a major tool that leaders have used to attack the rights of the average Nigerian.

So, when some youths decided to protest to end SARS, some youths were hired to disrupt and turn those protests into violence. We can call them thugs, but they're still youths.

I've never seen old men snatching ballot boxes and killing people during elections. It's always been young people.

So, when we say the old people are destroying Nigeria, let's know that they're using young people to achieve that purpose.

How can youths be the solution to this problem? First of all, each of us needs to know that we can make a big impact in this country.

You may see yourself as just one out of millions, but when each youth decides to do the right thing, we will change Nigeria for the better.

After all, the youths make up the majority of the Nigerian population. We need to consider the long-term consequences of our actions.

Will you take that 10,000 naira today to vote for a politician and watch your business run down in 2 years because of massive inflation and a bad economy?

A good government is worth millions to its citizens. That's why most of us won't mind paying millions to travel to a developed 'foreign' country.

2023 is coming. Youths that have been despised with bad governance and disrespect will be expected to work for these old men to win power again.

Of course, I have no issues with old men if they're making this country a better place to be. But that's not happening.

Nigerian youths need to recognize our power and be united. Even if we're not all voting for the same party, we should be united in our requests from whoever wins: make Nigeria better.

Beyond protests, we need to take more actions to achieve our goals. Register for your PVC and vote. If you must be a thug, use your thuggery to ensure free and fair elections rather than being a tool in a politician's hand.

If Nigeria will become better, we need to contribute our quota. We need to require more from our leaders.

Only if INEC, DSS, Judiciary and the military are not in their pockets!

Hmmm

LordIsaac:
Only if INEC, DSS, Judiciary and the military are not in their pockets!

Change starts somewhere. If youths want change, the consideration shouldn't be whether everybody else is in their pockets, it should be whether YOU are in their pockets.

Change starts with a few determined people and then gain momentum to attract other people.

ConcernedYouth:

Change starts somewhere. If youths want change, the consideration shouldn't be whether everybody else is in their pockets, it should be whether YOU are in their pockets.

Change starts with a few determined people and then gain momentum to attract other people.

Some youths are in their graves now for voicing out in the recent endsars protests. Your question should be if the youths are ready to die?

LordIsaac:

Some youths are in their graves now for voicing out in the recent endsars protests. Your question should be if the youths are ready to die?

Many more people have died as a result of insecurity, bad economy, poor infrastructure, and bad governance. And everybody will still die las las.

But should the youths now become politicians' you so that we don't die? Doing that itself will mean those protesters died in vain.

Most of the youths who are the problem either don't read stuff like this or can't even read stuff like this,so how do u expect change
Them to change