A retired Brigadier-General, Chief G. Alabi Isama, has charged Nigerian youths to reject corruption and embrace integrity-driven leadership.
Isama also stated that the future of the country depends largely on the values young people choose to uphold today.
Isama gave the charge while delivering a lecture titled “From Potential to Power: Nurturing Youths for Transformative Leadership” at a leadership summit organised by the Postgraduate Students’ Association of the University of Ilorin on Wednesday, January 28, 2026.
He said although, every young person is born with potential, not all potentials translate into power, stressing that power only emerges when ability is guided by vision, discipline, integrity and a clear sense of purpose.
“Potential is hidden ability, but power is the capacity to influence positive change in society.
“Without direction, potential becomes wasted talent,” he said.
The retired military officer described Nigerian youths as energetic, intelligent and creative, noting that they continue to excel in academics, technology, entrepreneurship, sports and the arts.
However, he, warned that when youths are not properly guided, their energy could be channelled into fraud, violence, drug abuse and political thuggery.
He blamed weak values and poor leadership examples for the moral crisis confronting many young Nigerians, adding that corruption in governance remains one of the country’s biggest setbacks.
“For years, public resources have been misused, institutions weakened and personal interests placed above national development.
“This has led to unemployment, insecurity, poor infrastructure and loss of public trust,” Isama said.
He cautioned youths against seeing corrupt leaders as role models, describing the belief that dishonesty and shortcuts are the only routes to success as dangerous.
“Corruption has never built a great nation. It only retards progress and multiplies the suffering of the people.
“If the next generation copies the same corrupt practices, Nigeria’s future will be worse than its present,” he warned.
Isama stressed that leadership is not defined by position but by impact, urging students to stand for justice even when it is inconvenient.
“True leadership is the courage to refuse to normalise wrongdoing, even when it is popular.
“Transformative leaders value integrity over wealth, service over selfishness and justice over power,” he said.
He challenged Nigerian youths to begin national transformation with personal change, urging them to be accountable, disciplined and courageous enough to be different.
According to him, university campuses remain critical breeding grounds for future leaders, policymakers and professionals, adding that habits formed at that stage would determine the quality of leadership Nigeria would have tomorrow.
“If corruption is rejected at the campus level, it will be harder for it to survive at the national level,” he said.
The retired general also outlined reforms he believes youths should pursue when they eventually find themselves in positions of authority, including genuine federalism, independent candidacy, the end of godfatherism, stronger checks and balances and the removal of what he described as feudal political practices.
On education, he called for free schooling up to university level and an end to nepotism in admissions, while advocating the scrapping of policies that undermine merit.
He also pushed for improved security architecture through the creation of state, local government and school police, as well as reforms in the oil sector that would allow states greater control over resources and economic development.
“Nigeria does not lack resources or talents. What we lack is righteousness and accountability in leadership,” Isama said.
He concluded by reminding the students that Nigeria’s future would not change by chance but by deliberate choice, urging them not to inherit the failures of the past.
“You are not too young to lead and not too small to make a difference.
“When your potential is guided by values, it becomes power – the power to transform Nigeria and leave a legacy of hope for generations to come,” he said.
(vitalnewsngr.com)
