By Prof. Mukhtar Imam
There is an African proverb that says, “What the old man sees sitting down, the young man cannot see standing up.” This is not a dismissal of youth; it is a reminder of perspective — that the energy of youth must be paired with the wisdom of age to build a balanced society. Yet in today’s world, being young has become an achievement in itself, an identity that is carried like a badge of honour; worn like a crown and flaunted like a title.
Modern culture seems obsessed with youthfulness — the youngest CEO, the youngest billionaire, the youngest lawmaker, the youngest Nobel Prize nominee. Every headline seems to scream one thing: look how young they are. But here lies the danger: when we celebrate youthfulness more than the utilization of youth, we risk breeding arrogance, entitlement, and shortsightedness in a generation that should be learning discipline, humility, and perseverance.
We are living in an age where many young people are more focused on being seen as young and successful than on actually being useful. How then do we argue that youthfulness hasn’t lost its essence? That society, in its attempt to inspire the next generation, has not inadvertently produced a cohort that is at risk of mistaking visibility for value and applause for achievement? And that if we do not correct this trajectory, we may be raising a generation that has energy but no direction, ambition but no patience, confidence but no competence?
In addressing the essence of youthfulness, the critical question we must ask therefore is; what have we forgotten? Historically, youthfulness was a stage of becoming — a period marked by hunger for knowledge, apprenticeship under elders, and an unrelenting desire to contribute to society. In many African cultures, a youth was not considered a man or woman until they had undergone initiation, learned the history of their people, mastered a trade, and shown readiness for communal responsibility. But what do we have today? Youthfulness without apprenticeship. Recognition without responsibility. Loud voices without learned depth.
The essence of youth — the stage of preparation and humility — is fading. Youth is supposed to be a laboratory of growth, a place where mistakes are made, lessons are learned, and character is forged. But if a youth is given too much applause too early, they may confuse potential with achievement. This is not a small problem. History is full of examples of individuals and movements that started brilliantly but ended in tragedy because they mistook early victory for final arrival.
The Rise of “Young and Accomplished” Culture; “30 Under 30.” “Youngest to Ever Do It.” “Youth Icons.” These tags dominate headlines across the world. Social media has made it worse: every week, a new “star” is trending, hailed as the future of their industry. Of course, we should celebrate excellence — but we should also ask: what exactly are we celebrating? Is it depth or just novelty? Is it impact or just age? The dangerous thing about this culture is that it trains young people to value recognition more than preparation. The goal becomes not to learn, but to “make the list.” Not to build something lasting, but to go viral.
As a result, we now have a generation where some youths are:
Too arrogant to be taught — they believe mentorship is beneath them because they already have an audience. Too impatient to build sustainably — they want overnight success, not decade-long mastery.
Too entitled to take correction — they mistake criticism for hate and guidance for control.
This is the tragedy of a generation that walks around wearing “young age” as a badge of honor instead of a call to duty, breeding the dangerous marriage of ignorance and arrogance. Mind you, Ignorance is not a crime. In fact, ignorance is the natural state of youth.
The whole point of youthfulness is to be moulded, to be taught, to be guided out of ignorance and into understanding. But when ignorance is paired with arrogance, we have a toxic mix. Many young people today are extremely confident — sometimes more confident than they are competent. Social media rewards hot takes, not thoughtful ones. Virality rewards confidence, not accuracy. And so, we are seeing the rise of loud, brash youth voices that speak with absolute certainty about things they have not deeply understood. This is dangerous not just for them, but for society. The young are supposed to be the builders of tomorrow. But if they are not equipped with depth, patience, and humility, they will inherit power they are not ready for — and history shows that such transitions often end badly.
All around us today, we see the pitiable sight of youthful arrogance in action. In the political spaces of many countries, we have seen youthful lawmakers who enter office with enthusiasm but quickly get consumed by the very corruption they vowed to fight. Without mentorship, they are swallowed by the system. Same applies to Business cycles where Start-up culture has celebrated “youngest founders,” some of whom raise millions only to collapse spectacularly due to poor management, lack of experience, and unchecked egos. No least social activism; where social media influencers who rise as activists sometimes burn out or sell out, because they lacked ideological grounding and mentorship. To set the record straight, these are not reasons to stop empowering youth — but a reminder that empowerment without guidance is a recipe for disaster.
It will be a disservice not to acknowledge society’s role in creating the monster. Society cannot escape blame. We have built a culture that confuses noise for progress and visibility for value. We reward youth for being young rather than for being excellent. The media is complicit, chasing viral headlines instead of asking hard questions. Parents are complicit, treating children as trophies rather than guiding them through discipline. Governments are complicit, using youth for token representation instead of genuine empowerment. If we do not fix this, we will have a generation that is high on confidence but low on competence — a dangerous mix for any society.
At this point it is existential to reclaim the essence of ‘youth’ or ‘young’, and the solution is not to stop celebrating youth but to celebrate them responsibly. Young people must be reminded that: Youth is a window of preparation, not a badge of arrival; accomplishment should humble you, not inflate you; mentorship is not control, it is guidance; and that true impact takes time — sometimes decades — to build. We must create a culture where young people are praised not just for starting fast but for finishing strong.
As a cultured people, the role of elders and institutions in this regard cannot be overstated. Elders must be willing to mentor without condescension. Institutions must provide platforms for youth to learn, fail, and try again — without premature coronations. Governments, universities, religious bodies, and professional associations must re-invest in mentorship programs, apprenticeships, and leadership pipelines that do not just hand over power but prepare young people to handle it, because our young are a generation at a crossroads.
Youthfulness is a gift. But like all gifts, it must be stewarded. Society must stop worshipping youth and start guiding it. Youth must stop wearing age as a badge and start wearing responsibility as a crown. The future belongs to the young — but only if the young are willing to be taught, to be disciplined, and to be patient enough to grow into the leaders society truly needs.
When youthfulness loses its essence, society loses its future. It is time we recover both.
*Mukhtar Imam is a Professor of International Relations and a Directing Staff at the National Institute for Security Studies, Abuja.
Mukhtarimam01@gmail.com
