Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has stated that adults and societal leaders have a duty to provide truthful, transparent, transformational, and selfless leadership to the younger generation.
Obasanjo made this remark in Abeokuta on Saturday during the grand reunion and maiden lecture series of the Royal College of Defence Studies, United Kingdom Alumni Association, Nigerian chapter.
The former president presented a lecture titled, “The Challenges of Youth in a Fractured World.”
Represented by the Deputy Director of the Olusegun Obasanjo Leadership Institute, Prof. Samuel Daramola, Obasanjo described youth as the stage between childhood and adulthood, characterised by vitality, idealism, hope, expectation, dreams, and a touch of adventure and naivety.
He noted that today’s leaders had once experienced this phase marked by imagination, energy, beauty, and fantasy, but that young people now face numerous difficulties in a fractured world.
“Some of us were youth immediately after the Second World War; I was. Most of you were youth at the height of the Cold War.
“The world was not perfect but there was some order, respect for international law, rules and regulations.
“There were threats but no impunity. They talked of balance of terror in those days with reasonable stability, predictability, peace and common security with shared responsibility and prosperity among the leading nations of the world.
“The developing nations could breathe reasonably freely. The super powers negotiated and consulted among themselves. Today, the youth face herculean challenges which they must not be left to handle alone,” he said.
Obasanjo urged leaders to give priority to the future by investing in it rather than exhausting resources meant for future generations.
He emphasised that young people should be integrated into all aspects of family, private, and public life.
As the association’s grand patron, Obasanjo encouraged youths to cultivate resilience and strength, which are vital for self-reliance and progress in a fractured world.
“Youth are not leaders of tomorrow, they are leaders today. Let them be part and parcel of leadership today in preparation for tomorrow,” he said.
Earlier, the President of the Association, Maj.-Gen. Oluwaseun Oshinowo (Rtd), explained that the association was established eight years ago, noting that this year’s meeting aimed to deliberate on key issues that would advance the nation’s development.
“Our main aim is to tell the world that we are here and we are available for whatever they want us to do when it comes to strategic level discussion and debate,” he said.
Oshinowo highlighted the crucial role of youth in national development.
In his goodwill message, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Maitama, described the event as an important occasion for reflection, reconnection, and renewal among those who had attended one of the world’s most prestigious institutions of strategic learning.
Maitama, represented by a Director at the Institute of Peace and Conflict Resolution, Mrs Abosede Awolola, noted that the RCDS held a special place in shaping global leadership.
“The administration of President Bola Tinubu is committed to a foreign policy that is citizen-focused, economically driven, and globally respected,” he said.
The Special Guest, Governor Dapo Abiodun, represented by his Special Adviser on Security, Olusola Subair, stated that the erosion of family values continued to pose a threat to national development.
Abiodun urged all stakeholders to contribute to reshaping the mindset of young people towards more productive engagements.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Royal College of Defence Studies (RCDS) was founded in 1927 in the United Kingdom.
