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Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has said Nigeria’s youthful population remains its greatest asset in the quest to achieve global influence and economic power, Eko Hot Blog reports.
Delivering the inaugural Distinguished Lecture Series of the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA) in Victoria Island, Lagos, Sanwo-Olu stressed that with an estimated 100 million people under the age of 20, Nigeria holds one of the world’s largest youth populations an extraordinary advantage if properly harnessed.
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Speaking on the theme “Lagos and Nigeria 2030: Projections of a World Power”, the Governor described global power as an evolving, multidimensional concept shaped by economic capacity, technological advancement, soft power, demographic strength, military capability and natural resources.
Tracing Nigeria’s journey from the oil-driven 20th century to today’s tech-driven global order, Sanwo-Olu urged deliberate investment in innovation, artificial intelligence, and cloud technologies, adding that Nigeria must not remain only a consumer but emerge as a producer in these sectors.
“Our most important assets, above our oil and gas and above our marine and forest wealth, are the people,” he said. “This makes it impossible to envision the workforce of the 21st century without fully accounting for Nigeria.”
The Governor backed President Bola Tinubu’s reforms including petrol subsidy removal, foreign exchange unification, and fiscal restructuring describing them as bold measures capable of setting Nigeria on the path to achieving a $1 trillion economy by 2030.
Sanwo-Olu also positioned Lagos as the “laboratory of growth and innovation” for Nigeria, noting that the state’s economic strength would be central to the country’s global competitiveness.
“Lagos is the beating heart of Nigeria,” he declared. “Our nation’s capacity to convert its raw potential into global influence will depend, to a large extent, on Lagos.”
The lecture, attended by academics, policymakers, traditional rulers, industry leaders, and journalists, marked the beginning of a new NIIA series designed to engage leaders on Nigeria’s role in shaping global affairs.
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