Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has urged political and societal leaders to embrace truthful, transparent, and selfless leadership that secures a better future for the younger generation.
Speaking in Abeokuta on Saturday at the grand reunion and maiden lecture of the Royal College of Defence Studies (RCDS), United Kingdom Alumni Association, Nigerian Chapter, Obasanjo said leaders owe it to the youth to provide transformational guidance in a fractured and unstable world.
Represented by the Deputy Director of the Olusegun Obasanjo Leadership Institute, Prof. Samuel Daramola, the former president delivered a lecture titled “The Challenges of Youth in a Fractured World.”
He described youth as a phase of vitality, idealism, and boundless dreams, stressing that today’s generation faces more complex challenges than those who came before them.
“Some of us were youths immediately after the Second World War; most of you came of age during the Cold War,” Obasanjo said.
“The world was not perfect then, but there was order, respect for international law, and a sense of shared responsibility. Today’s youth are navigating a more chaotic and uncertain world — and they must not be left to handle it alone.”
He called on leaders to prioritize investments in the future rather than draining resources meant for generations to come, emphasizing the need to integrate young people into leadership at all levels.
“Youth are not leaders of tomorrow; they are leaders today,” Obasanjo declared. “Let them be part of leadership now, in preparation for the future.”
The association’s President, Maj.-Gen. Oluwaseun Oshinowo (Rtd), said the event aimed to foster strategic dialogue and national development, noting that the alumni body was ready to contribute to policy discussions of national importance.
Also speaking, Minister of Foreign Affairs Yusuf Maitama, represented by Mrs. Abosede Awolola of the Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolution, praised the RCDS for its role in shaping global leaders, adding that the Tinubu administration remains committed to a citizen-focused and economically driven foreign policy.
Ogun State Governor Dapo Abiodun, represented by his Special Adviser on Security, Olusola Subair, decried the erosion of family values and called on all stakeholders to guide youths toward productive and responsible living.
Founded in 1927, the RCDS remains one of the world’s foremost institutions for strategic leadership and international cooperation.
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