Odita Sunday 
By Ewere Okonta
08037383019
eobnewsmedia@gmail.com
www.ewereokontablog.org.ng
If there is any conversation Nigeria cannot run away from in this season of social chaos, digital confusion, political fatigue, and moral dissonance, it is the one about youth, mentorship, and leadership. These three concepts, often thrown around like football on social media; have become the most abused yet the most necessary pillars for rebuilding a society struggling to find direction.
Today’s sermon asks difficult questions: Who is a youth? What is mentorship? What is leadership? Why do they matter? And why does it seem like our “leaders of tomorrow” are still waiting to arrive, even though tomorrow has clearly clocked in and resumed duty?
YOUTH: MORE THAN AN AGE BRACKET
A youth is not just someone between 18 and 35.
A youth is energy, potential, restlessness, and the possibility of national transformation or national tragedy, depending on who mentors them. Nigerian youths today occupy an unusual intersection: they are the most educated generation ever, yet the most economically strangulated.
With access to the internet and technology, they are globally connected but locally frustrated. They want change, but the pathways to change are narrow, guarded, or corrupted.
MENTORSHIP: THE BLUEPRINT OF DESTINY
Mentorship is simply leadership transferred through influence. It is the hand that shapes vision, character, and capacity. Good mentorship produces good leaders. Bad mentorship produces national disasters.
The painful question is: Who is mentoring Nigerian youths today?
If TikTok influencers, Yahoo boys, clout chasers, compromised politicians, and fake prophets have become the loudest voices in our youths’ ears, then we have a generational crisis waiting to explode. The tragedy of mentorship in Nigeria is that many who should mentor the young are too busy, too bitter, too selfish, or too broken to do so.
And when the right mentors are silent, the wrong mentors take the microphone.
LEADERSHIP: RESPONSIBILITY, NOT TITLE
Leadership is not office.
Leadership is not agbada.
Leadership is not convoy.
Leadership is service, sacrifice, vision, competence, and character. It is influence that elevates the collective, not power that intimidates the people.
Nigeria’s problem has never been the absence of youths; it has always been the absence of prepared youths.
THE MEETING POINT: YOUTH + MENTORSHIP + LEADERSHIP
When these three meet, a nation transforms.
When they collide wrongly, a nation collapses.
The meeting point is RESPONSIBILITY.
Youth provides the strength.
Mentorship provides the template.
Leadership provides the direction.
Without proper mentorship, youthful energy becomes misguided. Without youth involvement, leadership becomes stale, repetitive, and disconnected. Without leadership, mentorship becomes powerless.
ARE YOUTHS REALLY THE LEADERS OF TOMORROW – MYTH OR REALITY?
This line has been repeated at every graduation ceremony, every political rally, every church youth conference, and every motivational seminar. Yet, many of the youths who heard this statement in 1985 are now uncles and aunties with potbellies, and that tomorrow still has not come.
So, let’s say it plainly:
The youths are NOT automatically the leaders of tomorrow.
Leadership is not inherited.
Leadership is not transferred by age.
Leadership is prepared for, fought for, earned, and demonstrated.
Yes, some youths are breaking boundaries; look at tech founders in Lagos; see innovators in Abuja; witness young legislators like Hon. Olumide Osoba; observe youth-led movements like the #EndSARS generation. But the question remains:
Are we preparing our youths for leadership or distracting them with survival struggles?
THE DANGER OF WRONG MENTORS
We cannot pretend: many of our youths are being mentored by people with wrong values
• Politicians who celebrate thuggery.
• Entertainers who glorify drugs.
• Pastors who preach prosperity without integrity.
• Influencers who promote shortcuts.
• Community leaders who reward loyalty over competence.
If the wrong people mentor the right youths, the future becomes a crime scene.
Nigeria cannot produce visionary leaders if our mentorship pipeline is polluted.
NIGERIAN EXAMPLES THAT SPEAK LOUDLY
• The political godfather culture has turned many brilliant youths into errand boys instead of nation-builders.
• Internet fraud, glamorised in some music videos, is mentoring thousands into believing that hard work is foolishness.
• Fake pastors and miracle merchants are brainwashing youths into waiting for spiritual shortcuts instead of pursuing personal development.
• Youth wings of political parties, rather than grooming future leaders, often train them in propaganda, trolling, and election violence.
These examples show that mentorship, not age, determines direction.
SO, ARE OUR YOUTHS PREPARED FOR LEADERSHIP?
Some are.
Many are not.
Most are confused.
Preparation requires:
• exposure
• discipline
• service
• vision
• character
• competence
• learning
• courage
Leadership is not wishful thinking; it is intentional building.
THE CALL TO ACTION: PREPARE, OR REMAIN SPECTATORS
This sermon calls on parents, teachers, pastors, political leaders, and corporate institutions:
Mentor the youths – intentionally, correctly, urgently.
Because if we fail to mentor our youths today, we will spend tomorrow repairing the damages of misled adults.
Nigeria stands at a crossroads:
either we build our youths, or we brace for consequences.
As tomorrow stands before us, one thing is clear:
Youth leadership is not a myth.
Youth leadership is not automatic.
Youth leadership is a responsibility; one we must prepare for.
And the time for that preparation is not tomorrow.
It is now.
This is the Sunday sermon from my holy pulpit!
Ewere Okonta is the CEO of EOB Media. He is a family values advocate. He writes from the Department of Business Administration, University of Delta, Agbor.
#EOB #everyone #sundaysermonwithewere
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