Being a young person in Nigeria today feels like running on a treadmill—exerting effort, sweating profusely, but getting nowhere. It is waking up every morning with dreams so big they could shake mountains, yet watching reality chip away at them piece by piece. It is existing in a system that expects so much from you yet offers you almost nothing in return.
Nigeria is hard. That’s an understatement. It is brutal. And for young people, the situation is even worse. The economy is failing, the job market is shrinking, and the cost of living keeps skyrocketing. Our parents told us that education was the key to success, but here we are—armed with degrees and still stuck at the starting line. The few who manage to secure jobs find themselves drowning in responsibilities that go beyond their paychecks.
Many of us are not just working multiple jobs because we want extra cash; we have to. It is the only way we can afford even the smallest comforts in life. A single source of income is a ticking time bomb—one unexpected expense and everything crumbles. So, we work during the day, freelance at night, and run side hustles on weekends. Not because we enjoy the grind, but because slowing down isn’t an option.
The most painful part? There’s no clear path to a better future. No roadmap, no assurance that things will get better. In many ways, being a Nigerian youth feels like holding onto a rope that keeps slipping through your fingers. We chase opportunities with everything we have, knowing that one missed step could mean falling into an abyss of hopelessness.
We watch our peers leave the country, searching for greener pastures. The rest of us, left behind, wonder if we made the wrong choice by staying. Yet, despite everything, we survive. We adapt. We find ways to smile through the pain, laugh at our struggles, and keep pushing forward—because what else can we do?
To be a Nigerian youth today is to live in uncertainty, to constantly question whether your hard work will ever pay off. It is to dream with caution, to celebrate small wins like they are grand victories, and to hold onto hope even when there’s little reason to. Because at the end of the day, hope is the only thing we have left.