Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has said that adults and societal leaders owe it to the youth to provide truthful, transparent, transformational, and selfless leadership. Obasanjo spoke in Abeokuta yesterday at the grand reunion and maiden lecture series of the Royal College of Defence Studies (RCDS), United Kingdom Alumni Association, Nigerian chapter.

The former president delivered a lecture titled, “The Challenges of Youth in a Fractured World.” Obasanjo, represented by the Deputy Director, Olusegun Obasanjo Leadership Institute, Prof. Samuel Daramola, defined youth as a period between childhood and adulthood, marked by vitality, idealism, hope, expectation, dreams, and a touch of adventure and naivety.

He observed that today’s leaders once passed through these phases marked by fancy, energy, beauty and fantasy, but now the youth face numerous challenges in a fractured world. “Some of us were youth immediately after the 2nd World War. I was. Most of you were youths at the height of the Cold War.

“The world was not perfect but there was some order, respect for international law, rules and regulations. “There were threats but no impunity. They talked of balance of terror in those days with reasonable stability, predictability, peace and common security with shared responsibility and prosperity among the leading nations of the world.

“The developing nations could breathe reasonably freely. The super powers negotiated and consulted among themselves. Today, the youth face Herculean challenges, which they must not be left to handle alone,” he said. Obasanjo called on leaders to prioritise the future by investing in it, rather than depleting resources meant for generations to come.

He stressed that the youth must be incorporated into all aspects of the family, private and public lives. Obasanjo, the association’s grand patron, encouraged youths to develop a tough and resilient character, essential for self-reliance and breakthrough in a fractured world.