Junior Achievement Nigeria has urged youths to move from being beneficiaries of aid to become builders of businesses. The call comes as youth unemployment remains a structural challenge for Nigeria’s economy.
Speaking at the KEFFESO-hosted Community Development Trust stakeholders’ meeting held recently in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, Olaolu Akogun, acting executive director of Junior Achievement Nigeria (JAN), emphasized the future of sustainable development lies not in doing more for young people, but in having them as contributors to a system being built.
Referencing Nigeria’s demographic realities, he noted that with over 60 percent of the population under 25 and a median age of 18, young people remain central to shaping the country’s future and should no longer be treated as passive recipients within development conversations.
Akogun explained that meaningful impact requires a shift from inclusion to co-creation, where young people are actively engaged in identifying challenges, designing solutions, and implementing ideas that directly affect their communities.
He added that adopting human-centered design approaches ensures interventions are more relevant, scalable, and responsive to real societal needs.
