The attention of the leadership of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Lagos State Chapter, has been drawn to a misleading and malicious publication currently circulating online under the title: “A Call For An Immediate Vote of No Confidence on the Failed Leadership of NDC Lagos.” Ordinarily, the party would not dignify baseless propaganda and politically motivated attacks with a response. However, in the interest of our members, aspirants, supporters, and the general public, it has become necessary to set the record straight and correct the false narratives deliberately being spread to create confusion and disunity within the party. First, we categorically reject the false allegations of extortion, exploitation, and coercion against the leadership of NDC Lagos State. At no point were aspirants forced or compelled to make any unofficial payments. The only approved payments made by aspirants were the officially recognized screening fees as directed and approved by the National ...
A nation cannot raise resilient leaders through comfort alone.
To place young people in sensitive positions in Nigeria, there must be intentional grooming, not applause on social media, not ceremonial appointments, and not empty slogans about youth inclusion.
Leadership is not inherited through hashtags; it is forged through fire.
Young people must pass through seasons that test character, loyalty, endurance, discipline, emotional intelligence, and restraint. Across campuses and communities, there should be young men and women who understand struggle firsthand.
Some will face disciplinary panels, suspension, rejection, betrayal, humiliation, and moments where victory itself feels like a curse because of the weight attached to it. Some will fail publicly before succeeding privately. Yet, that process is what builds depth.
A generation that has never been tested cannot defend a nation under pressure. If we continue to raise young people whose only political exposure is watching their grandfathers dominate party conventions while they wait for their fathers to “know somebody” who can help submit a CV for employment, then we are not raising leaders , we are breeding dependency.
Nigeria today stands between exhausted elders and unprepared successors. Many of the grandfathers still controlling political structures should already be resting somewhere peacefully, enjoying retirement like men who have completed their race. Yet they remain in the arena, still carrying the burden of a nation, perhaps because too few among the younger generation are prepared to truly build.
And while they struggle to hold together a fragile country, many young people are busy envying the moccasins of power they have not earned the discipline to wear.
Meanwhile, destinies are drifting into dangerous directions, and the future trembles quietly before our eyes.
Nigeria does not merely need young people in office. Nigeria needs a generation built like disciplined soldiers in the barracks: mentally alert, emotionally controlled, strategic under pressure, loyal to a cause greater than themselves, and capable of surviving hardship without collapsing into bitterness.
Because leadership is not simply about occupying offices. Leadership is the ability to carry uncertainty without losing direction.
I say this knowing fully well that I belong to that younger generation wrestling to make impact before life passes by. Because the most painful thing is not death, it is existing without purpose.
At the end of life, every soul seeks an answer to one final question: Did I serve my purpose?
For the greatest tragedy is not to die, but to leave the earth without an inscription worthy of remembrance:
"Here lies one who fought for something greater than himself.
No regrets.
No wasted existence."
Abioye Tosin Lawrence Publisher Oriontimes News
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