By Our Correspondent
The Executive Director of the Initiative for Youth Awareness on Migration, Immigration, Development and Reintegration (IYAMIDR Nigeria), Solomon Okoduwa, has called on First Lady, Oluremi Tinubu, to champion policies that create sustainable economic opportunities for young Nigerians rather than promoting what he described as “survival strategies.”
In an open letter addressed to the First Lady on Sunday, Okoduwa expressed concern over recent comments encouraging self-reliance through small-scale ventures such as akara production, arguing that while such businesses have sustained many families, they should not be presented as the pinnacle of economic aspiration for Nigeria’s youth.
The youth advocate said many young Nigerians are struggling despite possessing academic qualifications and vocational skills, citing widespread unemployment, lack of access to affordable credit, and rising living costs.
“Survival is not a development agenda,” Okoduwa stated in the letter, noting that graduates, artisans and small-scale traders across the country face significant barriers to economic advancement.
Drawing from IYAMIDR Nigeria’s engagement with young people across the South-South region and beyond, he highlighted the plight of unemployed graduates, skilled workers unable to access capital, and small business owners grappling with escalating production costs.
According to him, reducing youth aspirations to informal trading risks undermining confidence in education and professional development, while contributing to increasing migration among skilled Nigerians seeking opportunities abroad.
Okoduwa argued that Nigeria’s challenge is not a lack of resilience among its citizens but an “opportunity deficit” driven by inadequate infrastructure, limited access to finance, inconsistent policies and insufficient job creation.
He urged the First Lady and the Federal Government to pursue structural reforms capable of unlocking the productive potential of the country’s large youth population.
Among his recommendations was the establishment of a ₦500 billion Youth Enterprise Fund offering single-digit interest loans without collateral requirements, accessible at the local government level.
He also called for the creation of agro-processing hubs across all senatorial districts to support value addition in agriculture and stimulate industrial development.
The IYAMIDR Nigeria executive further advocated government-backed investments in technology parks, creative industry hubs and industrial clusters equipped with reliable power supply to support entrepreneurs and skilled workers.
Okoduwa stressed the need for government interventions to be linked to the creation of dignified jobs that provide living wages, healthcare coverage and pension benefits.
Appealing directly to the First Lady in her role as a national mother figure, he urged her office to engage youth-focused organisations in designing programmes aimed at moving young Nigerians from economic survival to sustainable prosperity.
“We love Nigeria too much to dream small for her,” he said, while expressing the organisation’s readiness to collaborate with the Office of the First Lady and stakeholders involved in the Renewed Hope Agenda to develop practical youth empowerment initiatives.
The letter comes amid ongoing national conversations on youth unemployment, economic hardship and strategies for expanding opportunities for Nigeria’s growing young population.