A speech delivered by Isime Esene, Managing Editor of Y!, at the Future Impact Conference held on September 5, 2015 at the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife.

Greatest Nigerian youth,

The cycle of one generation handing over the reins of responsibility to the next, is one that has existed in every society everywhere in the world from the beginning of time. The new replaces the old. This time, in this era, that replacement generation is us.

Or is it? The famous ‘youths are the leaders of tomorrow’ refrain does not appear to have manifest in our society yet. You do not need to look too far to see evidence of this. Those who pass themselves off as leaders of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) are far older than many of you seated here today.

When you look at those who parade themselves as youth leaders in our political parties, you see the same pattern. They are 40 years old and over, often with one or more children, but have no qualms in occupying such positions.

In a country where the average age is 19 years old, there is a clear lack of representation for young people in all areas of governance and society. This is backed by statistics.

The Commonwealth Youth Development Index for 2014 ranks Nigeria 140 out of 170 countries surveyed, showing that we have a lot to do in to make sure that young people reach their full potential. From Education, Health and Employment, to Political and Civil Participation, successive governments have proved unable to properly equip the next generation to move the nation forward.

Much has been made of Nigeria’s large population, both in terms of market size and as a driver for economic growth in the coming decades. But with high youth unemployment, this large population becomes a curse rather than a blessing, instead, the ground seems more fertile for insurgencies in the South-South and the North-East, as well as other forms of violent crimes everywhere else.

On the face of it, it seems we are not been given sufficient tools by those before us in order to become ready to replace them when the time comes. Certainly, they have their own share of the blame, but now that we have attained adulthood, we have the opportunity to inform ourselves and demand precisely what we deserve from our leaders.

In my time in the media, I have been privileged to witness its use by citizens to demand that those in authority do their jobs. In less than a decade of social media, that power has only been amplified, leading to planet-wide movements, some of which have brought real change and others that have not.

The trend is the same. Ordinary people are now finding that they have a voice, and are using that voice to draw attention to the everyday injustices they face, coming together to make a difference. According to NOI Polls, the use of social media as a means of information by citizens has grown from 2% in 2007, to 20% now.

In those 8 years, and specifically in the last 5 years, Nigeria’s young people have used social media to get themselves heard on a lot of issues: From Occupy Nigeria to high salaries and allowances for legislators to rape incidents on a campus to the return of the Chibok girls, our political leaders have realized that they must engage on social media, however imperfect this engagement may be.

Before merely being able to make ourselves heard, however, the question must be: “What are we saying?” This is a vital question, because for engagement with authority to be fruitful, it must come with some basic knowledge of how government works. To what extent are we familiar with the 1999 Constitution and other important laws? Do we know who the current state governors are?

Do we know what they are up to? Do we know what is going on in various states of the federation? Do we seek out analysis of the news in order to be better informed? The sayings go that leaders are readers, and knowledge is power.

If we want to be the replacement generation, we must take these words to heart and constantly deepen our knowledge about the issues our country currently faces, so that we do not make the mistakes of those who have gone before us. To do so would be a shame, and render speeches like this pointless.

The logical next step means that those who wish to inform others through the media must also be informed. This is a burden that is greater than it looks at first glance. News, especially bad news, travels fast. But when this news is without its proper context, or worse still plain falsehood, it can literally cost lives. As such, only information of a high quality can equip the minds of the replacement generation to excel in all areas, notwithstanding previous disadvantages.

The company I represent here today, Red Media Africa, celebrates a decade of its existence this October. It is a company of the young, run by the young, for the young. The reason for its existence is to uplift and empower young people in every area of Nigerian society.

All our platforms, online through YNaija, on TV through Rubbin’ Minds, on radio through the FrontPage, and our development arm called The Future Project, are all geared toward informing and celebrating the efforts of the replacement generation as it tries to create a better society.

That Nigeria is blessed with rich human and natural resources is beyond doubt, but what is still in doubt is whether this generation, the one you and I belong to, will mark a turning point in Nigerian, and perhaps African history. What is still in doubt is whether we are prepared to do what we can today, so that our children will enjoy tomorrow.

The saying goes that we do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, but we borrow it from our children. What kind of Nigeria will we leave behind for our children when the time comes for them to replace us as well? Shall we hand over a country that continuously refuses to fulfill its vast potential? We cannot afford to.

And so, the choice is a simple one. We can either be part of the problem, or part of the solution. We can either do what we need to do now to improve this society, or in two or three decades there will be another forum, just like this one, and a young person, just like me, will stand here and give a similar speech to his peers, talking about nearly the same things I talk about today.

I come before you all as a partner in progress, both individually and as a collective. The society we see around us is the sum total of all our individual actions. Once we start to change our individual actions, our collective reality will begin to change for the better.

I urge you to join me in creating this reality.

Thank you very much.