Abstract

Nigeria attained its political independence in 1960 amidst hope and optimism that, the attainment of the political independence from the British would bring about good governance, engender the rule of law and allow for popular government through violent-free election and also unfettered rooms for economic growth and sustainable human development. Few years later, the hope of a young and dynamic Nigerian state was shattered through a bloody military intervention. Life that was much more abundant at independence gradually became difficult for many people especially the youths in the late 1970s and 1980s. Crushing economic hardships inflicted sorrow on many Nigerian youths. Thus, the picture of Nigerian youth since independence has been that of a marginalized group. As the military continued to hold on to the country’s political power up till 1999, the life of an average Nigerian youth kept deteriorating. Thus, the fact that Nigeria had a re-entry into liberal democracy in the same year did not change matters. Hence Nigerian youths, in an attempt to safe their future from absolute deterioration disaggregated themselves into different forms of resistant militia groups. Today, some of those whom society looked upon to as youths in the past have turned adults, doing what their predecessors did in government, stealing government money at will and fabricating lies to cover up their illegal deals. What hope do Nigerian youth have in this world of misery, violence, HIV/AIDS, assassination, examination malpractice, sexual promiscuity and joblessness? This paper is directed at providing answers to some of the above questions.

Key words: Nigerian youth, age, state, military, corruption.