Stakeholders Urge Nigerian Youths To Drive Positive Change

Stakeholders have urged Nigerian youths to take an active role in shaping their communities and driving positive change.

They stated this at the just-concluded Lagos Leadership Summit (LLS) 2025, which ignited a fresh wave of urgency and accountability among Nigeria’s emerging leaders.

Hosted by the Lateef Jakande Leadership Academy (LJLA), the two-day summit was a stirring convergence of ideas, insights, and challenges, united under the theme: ‘Transformative Leadership: Developing Responsive, Adaptive and Inclusive Models’.

Designed to provoke thought and drive meaningful change, LLS 2025 assembled a cross-section of Nigeria’s most influential leaders in governance, enterprise, media, and civic society. Their unanimous message to young Nigerians was clear and unrelenting: leadership is not a position but a practice. It is not someday; it is now.

The Deputy Governor of Lagos State, Dr. Obafemi Hamzat, urged participants to critically examine Nigeria’s leadership culture and their role in reshaping it.

“We cannot afford to glamorize leadership without grounding it in values and structure. We need a new generation of responsive leaders who build, who solve, who care. If we curb the erosion of values and embed integrity into every layer of society, we can rebuild our nation from the inside out,” he said.

Contributing a global perspective, the Lord Mayor of Entebbe Municipality, Republic of Uganda, Fabrice Rulinda, added powerful insight into Nigeria’s leadership potential, urging participants to recognise the country’s competitive edge in innovation, energy, and human capital.

He stressed that Nigeria’s path to greatness lies in building structures that help leaders thrive locally and lead globally, saying leadership is a local responsibility and a global standard to be met and exceeded.

A standout moment during the summit was the spontaneous recognition of Tinuade Adeyanju, founder of the TARF Foundation, who received a $2,000 grant from Lord Fabrice to support her efforts in providing sanitary towels to young girls in underserved communities.

The executive secretary of the Lateef Jakande Leadership Academy and Convener of the Summit, Ayisat Okunade-Agbaje, stated that “this is more than a summit. It is a declaration. A declaration that young Nigerians are no longer waiting for change; they are becoming it.

“I am deeply proud of the ideas, energy, and commitment that filled this room. Through this platform, we are seeing young Nigerians take ownership of their voice, impact, and future, and we will continue to nurture leaders who will transform this nation from the inside out.”

The Lagos Leadership Summit 2025 concluded with a collective charge reverberating through the halls: a definitive call to show up differently, lead with purpose, and build systems that outlive momentary acclaim.