Presidential aide on Social Media, Honourable Dada Olusegun, has called on Nigerian youths to move beyond online criticism and participate actively in shaping the country’s future as preparations intensify for the National Youth Conference scheduled for October 2026.
Olusegun spoke at a briefing with the Minister of Youth Development, Honourable Ayodele Olawande Wisdom, alongside other presidential aides at the State House, where he explained the rationale behind the planned representation of young Nigerians across the country.
He said the decision to select one representative from each of the 360 federal constituencies was designed to ensure broad and grassroots representation, similar to the principle of representation in the National Assembly.
“The sense behind picking each one person from the 360 federal constituencies is the same as the sense in the National Assembly in and of itself – that is a proper representation of Nigeria in and of itself,” Olusegun said.
According to him, the conference is intended to bring together young Nigerians from different ethnic, religious, political and social backgrounds to deliberate on the future of the country.
“All of the tribes, all of the ethnic groups, there’s a need for us to have a sit-down, for us to sit down, for us to chat together, a future that would involve all of us,” he said.
Olusegun stressed that the proposed dialogue would transcend political affiliations, ethnic and religious differences, while also ensuring the inclusion of young persons living with disabilities.
He said the conference was conceived as an opportunity for young Nigerians to move beyond expressing frustrations online and become active participants in developing solutions to the country’s challenges.
The presidential aide also explained why the government had taken considerable time to prepare for the conference rather than rushing into implementation.
He noted that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu had given the administration the charge to organise the youth conference about 18 months ago, but the organisers deliberately reviewed previous national conferences and consultations to identify shortcomings and avoid repeating them.
“I understand when the reporter from The Punch made reference to that 18 months, it was supposed to be a punch to us, but ostensibly what we did was that we decided to look at the past confabs, the mistakes that were made, and how to ensure that, given this opportunity, we will not make those mistakes again,” he said.
Using an analogy, Olusegun said the organisers preferred to take time to properly prepare the process rather than produce a hurried outcome.
“It is better for us to relate to the cook than for us to bring a quick meal that has zero quality,” he said.
He explained that the extensive planning was intended to ensure that the conference was built from the grassroots and that the voices of young Nigerians were properly captured.
Beyond dialogue, Olusegun said the organisers were focused on ensuring that the recommendations emerging from the conference translate into government policy and tangible action.
“As much as we want to be drivers of this, we believe sincerely that as young people who are already within the system, the only thing we can do now is to ensure that all of the deliberations don’t just become words; they become policy,” he said.
He further stated that President Tinubu had demonstrated what he described as the political will to implement recommendations arising from the process.
“Mr. President stated this very, very categorically: there’s political will to implement all of the recommendations that come from these deliberations,” Olusegun said.
The presidential aide also pointed to the appointment of a young person as Minister of Youth Development as an indication of the administration’s focus on youth participation in governance.
“This is the first time since I was born, and now I’m almost going to be 40, this is the first time that a young person will be Minister of Youth,” he said.
He argued that young Nigerians should take ownership of conversations about their future rather than leaving such decisions entirely to previous generations.
“The generation of our fathers cannot decide what our future will look like for us. So it has to be us that would have these conversations, these important, these difficult conversations,” Olusegun said.
The National Youth Conference is therefore being positioned as a platform for young Nigerians from across the country’s constituencies and diverse backgrounds to engage in substantive discussions on the nation’s future, with emphasis on translating the outcome of those discussions into policies and programmes. Previous plans for a national youth confab have similarly emphasised broad youth participation and policy-oriented dialogue.
The October 2026 conference is expected to provide another avenue for young Nigerians to participate directly in national conversations and contribute ideas on the direction of the country.