Not Lazy, Just Trapped: The Burden of Hopelessness on the Nigerian Youth
By Ameh Abraham
In 2018, former President Muhammadu Buhari stood before an international audience and called Nigerian youth “lazy” and “uneducated.” The backlash was swift and fierce, not because the youth could not take criticism, but because the accusation ignored a simple truth: this generation is not lazy. It is trapped. And the trap is made of unemployment, unaffordable housing, broken healthcare, and a government that expects gold from a mine it refuses to dig. Nigeria produces world-class talent, yet many promising graduates struggle to find employment with degrees that have become a mere formality in a broken economy. Hence, the Nigerian youths are among the unhappiest on earth. This is not a feeling. It is a policy outcome.
The Mathematics of Adulthood
In developed nations, young adults achieve financial independence and move out by ages 22–25. In Nigeria, the average first-time home buyer is 40. In the US, it’s 33. In Canada, 36. But even that 40-year figure is optimistic: most Nigerian youth will never own a home. The housing deficit is 14.92 million units. A bag of cement rose from N5,500 (2023) to N10,000+ today. Findings from International Cement Review, evaluating the average cost of 100 bags of cement by administration, shows, a continued upward surge in the prices. During the Obasanjo years, the average cost of 100 bags of cement was N105,000, it increased to N117,500 in the Yar’Adua years. It rose to N170,000 during the Jonathan administration, then to N400,000 in Buhari’s time. Currently in the Tinubu’s administration it stands at N1,200,000.
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A Nigerian youth earning the minimum wage of N70,000 per month would need 114 months (nearly 10 years) of zero spending to afford a one-bedroom government estate apartment costing N8–9 million. Forget eating, transport, or life itself.
A youth earning N150,000 monthly would need over 50 months of saving every kobo to buy a used Tokunbo car worth N8 million. In South Africa, a median-income youth can afford a car in 8–12 months. Nigeria’s car ownership stands at just 35% vs. 50% in South Africa, a measure not of preference but of impossibility.
The Marriage Crunch
Young Nigerians are not delaying marriage because love is dead, but because the economic math no longer adds up. Median age at first marriage for men has risen from under 26 to over 28. Among educated women, it rises to 21.7 years, but for those with no education, it stays at 16.6 years, poverty forcing early marriage on some while pricing others out entirely. Young people work two, three, or four gigs just to survive. There is no time or money for courtship. Dowry, weddings, housing, furniture, all have become a financial Everest.
Numbers of Hopelessness
Youth unemployment: 53%. Over 80 million Nigerian youths are jobless.
NEET rate (Not in Education, Employment, or Training): 13.5–15.5%.
GDP per capita: $807—lowest in recorded history; 178th out of 189 countries.
Mental health: One in five Nigerians suffers a mental disorder.
Psychiatrist ratio: fewer than 200 psychiatrists for 200+ million people (WHO recommends 1 per 10,000).
“Things Have Always Been Hard” – A Rebuttal
Every time this conversation comes up, someone, usually older, usually more comfortable, says: “Life has always been hard. Our parents suffered too. No matter the price of cement, people will always build houses. No matter the price of cars, people will always buy them.”
This is not wisdom. It is amnesia dressed in proverbs.
Let me show you the difference between “hard then” and “impossible now.”
Then (1980s/1990s): A fresh graduate could get a job within 6 to 12 months of completing NYSC. The minimum wage could buy a modest used car within 18 months of saving. Housing was within reach for a two-income household within 5 to 7 years.
Now (2025/2026): A fresh graduate faces a 53% unemployment rate. The minimum wage cannot buy a bag of cement in one month; a bag of cement costs N10,500, while the minimum wage is N70,000. That means 15% of your entire monthly salary goes to a single bag of cement. To build a modest three-bedroom house requiring at least 150 bags of cement for block work, you would need to spend over N1.5 million, or 23 months of the entire minimum wage salary to save up for cement alone. And that is just cement, excluding land, labour, roofing, finishing, and all the other costs.
In the 1980s, a graduate could expect to own a home by age 30 to 35. In 2025/2026, that figure is 40 and shrinking. The percentage of Nigerians born in the 1960s who bought their first home by ages 30-35 was not less than 40%. Today, that figure has significantly dwindled.
The difference is not just in numbers. It is in the shape of possibility. Your parents may have struggled, but they struggled towards a horizon that existed. Today’s youth are running on a treadmill that leads nowhere.
How long is the Nigerian Youth expected to live?
A baby born in Monaco can expect 89 years. A baby born in Nigeria: 54 years. That is a 35-year gap, not genetics, but geography, healthcare, and inequality. Nigeria’s life expectancy of 54.8 years sits against a global average of 73.7 years. A young Nigerian’s life expectancy is closer to the global average of the 1950s than to today. With a median age of just 18, millions are being born into a system that has already decided they will die young.
Conclusion: The Burden and the Choice
Millions of Nigerian youth wake up each morning wondering, What is the point? A generation that should be building families is delaying marriage. Should be owning homes but rent rooms they cannot afford. Should be driving cars, but boards okadas and prays to arrive alive.
This is not a phase. It is a crisis. It will not be solved with platitudes about hard work or prayers alone. It requires policy, accountability, and a government that sees youth as assets, not problems.
Until then, the burden remains. And the youth will continue to survive, struggle, and hope that tomorrow might be different. But hope, as we have learned, is a dangerous thing to run on empty.