Sanwo-Olu Inducted as NIIA Fellow, Urges Harnessing Youth to Secure Nigeria’s Global Power

Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu was on Tuesday inducted as a Fellow of the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA), during the institute’s inaugural Distinguished Lecture in Lagos, where he called for deliberate investment in Nigeria’s youth to drive the country’s emergence as a global economic force.

Delivering a paper titled “Lagos and Nigeria 2030: Projections of a World Power,” the Lagos governor said the nation’s estimated 100 million citizens under 20 were its most valuable resource for competing in a fast-changing global economy.

Sanwo-Olu stressed that Nigeria’s competitiveness in technology, transition energy, culture, sports, and finance depends on properly harnessing its youthful population and aligning national policies with the “energies” of Lagos which he described as the country’s “laboratory for growth and innovation.”

He also renewed advocacy for special federal status for Lagos and for the establishment of state police, while highlighting major state projects Lekki Free Trade Zone, Dangote Refinery, Eko Atlantic City, Lagos-Ibadan Standard Gauge Rail, Fourth Mainland Bridge, and Lekki International Airport as proof of Lagos’ economic clout.

The governor pledged to endow a Foreign Policy School at the NIIA within 12 months to support research and training in diplomacy.

NIIA Director-General Prof. Eghosa Osaghae praised Lagos’ transformation into “Africa’s foremost economic capital,” noting that Sanwo-Olu was the first serving governor to deliver the institute’s 64-year-old lecture series. Chairperson Dr. Dere Awosika described the event as historic, hailing Sanwo-Olu as a “techno-politician” with the experience to help shape Nigeria’s global standing.