The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire, has challenged stakeholders to move youth empowerment beyond rhetoric by ensuring that it translates into jobs, innovation, entrepreneurship and sustainable development.
Orelope-Adefulire made the call in Abuja while delivering a keynote address at the 2026 iHEAL Global Youth Impact Forum, organised by the Waterlight Save Initiative for young Nigerians from across the country.
Represented by her Special Assistant on Media, Publicity and Strategic Communication, Desmond Utomwen, the presidential aide said Nigeria’s youthful population was not merely a demographic advantage but a critical national asset capable of driving the country’s transformation.
She urged government, the private sector, development partners and other stakeholders to invest deliberately in young people through quality education, access to finance, mentorship, technology and opportunities for meaningful participation in decision-making.
“Young Nigerians should not be regarded merely as beneficiaries of development, but as indispensable partners and active architects of national and global transformation.”
Orelope-Adefulire said youth empowerment must be anchored on practical opportunities that enable young people to turn ideas into businesses, skills into livelihoods and innovation into solutions to societal problems.
She challenged participants to become “innovators, problem-solvers, ethical leaders and responsible citizens,” while promoting peace, inclusion and environmental sustainability in their communities.
According to her, the administration of President Bola Tinubu remains committed to expanding opportunities for young Nigerians through economic diversification, digital innovation, entrepreneurship, skills development and job creation.
She added that her office had continued to facilitate interventions in areas including healthcare, education, water and sanitation, renewable energy, social protection, livelihoods and skills acquisition.
The presidential aide also called for stronger partnerships among government, development institutions, academia, civil society and the private sector to expand access to finance, incubation, mentorship and global opportunities for young entrepreneurs.
The forum also featured a call by entrepreneur and former House of Representatives member, Shina Peller, for African youths to embrace entrepreneurship and active citizenship rather than depend solely on government and private-sector employment.
Peller urged young people to create opportunities for themselves and others by building enterprises capable of solving social and economic challenges.
Similarly, the Chief Executive Officer of Lokoja Dialogues, Polly Alakija, challenged young Nigerians to develop practical solutions to the country’s water challenges.
Alakija said Nigeria’s natural resources and youthful population presented enormous opportunities, but stressed the need to close gaps in access to clean and safe water.
She called for stronger collaboration among communities, policymakers, innovators, academia and the public and private sectors to turn discussions around water sustainability into concrete interventions.
Women, youth inclusion critical to development — AbdulRazaq
The wife of the Kwara State Governor and Chairperson of the Waterlight Save Initiative Advisory Board, Olufolake AbdulRazaq, called for greater inclusion of young people and women in governance and national development.
AbdulRazaq said youth participation was essential to Nigeria’s socioeconomic and political transformation, urging young Nigerians to prepare themselves for leadership and take advantage of opportunities for mentorship, networking and entrepreneurship.
She cited youth-focused initiatives by the Kwara State Government as evidence of the importance of creating avenues for young people to participate meaningfully in governance.
She also urged beneficiaries of grants and empowerment programmes to deploy the support responsibly to build sustainable businesses.
AbdulRazaq said the iHEAL initiative, unveiled at the World Sustainability Summit in Doha, Qatar, represented a shift from conventional aid towards long-term, community-driven empowerment and sustainable development.
The Chief Executive Officer of Waterlight Save Initiative and convener of the forum, Ero Ibhafidon, said the initiative was designed to move young Nigerians from potential to productivity through its iHEAL framework.
According to him, the framework focuses on six interconnected areas: innovation, income and infrastructure; healthcare and hygiene; education and empowerment; agriculture, food and clean water; and living standards, leadership and livelihoods.
Ibhafidon said the initiative was designed to create practical pathways through which young people could transform ideas into enterprises and dependency into economic empowerment.
He disclosed that selected young entrepreneurs received non-refundable grants of N1 million and N500,000 to establish, strengthen and expand their businesses.
Beneficiaries also received sewing machines, industrial grinding machines, hairdressing kits, professional makeup equipment and other vocational and business support tools.
The Waterlight Sustainable Ambassador, Dorcas Mutfwang, said the iHEAL framework was designed to tackle poverty through holistic, community-led and sustainable interventions aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals.
She said the approach was also aimed at strengthening grassroots resilience and ensuring that development interventions produced lasting benefits for communities.
The forum therefore brought together government representatives, entrepreneurs, development advocates and young Nigerians around a common message: youth empowerment must no longer end with promises—it must produce skills, enterprises, jobs and measurable development.