By Iwar Aondona Simon

There is need for an urgent conversation among Tiv leaders, influential sons and daughters of Tivland, and the wider Tiv Nation: how do we deliberately create and distribute opportunities for our younger generation?

There are Tiv people who are accomplished professionals, politicians, military officers, academics, business leaders, civil servants, entrepreneurs, religious leaders, and other influential personalities who occupy important positions across Nigeria and beyond. Many of our sons and daughters have acquired considerable influence in the private sector, federal institutions, state governments, businesses, and professional organisations.
But influence becomes truly meaningful when it is converted into opportunities for others.

It is, therefore, time for Tiv leadership and influential Tiv sons and daughters in positions of authority to imbibe the culture of opening doors for opportunities for the next generation as a deliberate responsibility rather than as occasional favour.

From individual success to collective advancement
A Tiv son or daughter who rises to a position of influence should not be regarded merely as an individual success story. That person should become the potential bridge through which others can cross into meaningful opportunities.

This does not mean asking anyone to violate recruitment laws, undermine merit, manipulate public institutions, or give unqualified people positions. That would be counterproductive and unethical.
Rather, it means deliberately ensuring that qualified young Tiv people are identified, mentored, recommended, informed about opportunities, and given fair access to competitive processes.

If a Tiv person becomes a permanent secretary, director-general, managing director, chief executive, commissioner, senior executive, university administrator, military commander, business owner, or influential professional, the question should naturally arise:
“Who are the younger people I am helping to prepare for tomorrow?”
That should become part of our culture.
One opportunity should become an opportunity for many

The most important principle should be this:
One opportunity must not end with one person. One opportunity should create opportunities for others.

If a Tiv professional obtains a major contract, business partnership, or institutional opportunity, can another young person be trained through it?
If a Tiv person becomes influential in a federal ministry, department, or agency, can qualified young Tiv graduates be encouraged to apply for available positions?

If someone becomes a successful entrepreneur, can they employ and train young people?

If someone gains access to international professional networks, can they help young Tiv professionals connect to those networks?

If someone occupies a senior position in government, can they ensure that qualified young people from Tiv communities are at least aware of legitimate opportunities, internships, graduate programmes, scholarships, professional training, and recruitment exercises?

This is how individual achievement becomes collective progress.

A continuous Tiv opportunity agenda
This should not be something that happens only when a politician is seeking votes or when somebody needs political support.
It should become a permanent Tiv development agenda.
A structured mechanism could be established to monitor opportunities across:
●Federal ministries, departments, and agencies;
●State and local government institutions;
Private-sector companies;
●Banks and financial institutions;
●Telecommunications and technology companies;
●Construction and engineering firms;
●Oil and gas and energy companies;
●Universities and research institutions;
●International organisations and development agencies;
●Professional bodies;
●Entrepreneurship and investment opportunities;
●Scholarships, fellowships and internships; and
●Vocational and technical training programs.

The objective should not be to give jobs to people merely because they are Tiv. The objective should be to make sure that qualified Tiv sons and daughters are not excluded simply because they lack connections, information, or somebody willing to guide them.
Merit must remain the foundation
There is an important distinction between ethnic solidarity and nepotism.

The Tiv community should never advocate that an unqualified person should take the place of a qualified person. Such a system eventually destroys institutions and damages the reputation of the very people it is supposed to help.
Instead, our emphasis should be on preparation, competence, access, and fair representation.
▪︎Prepare our young people.
▪︎Inform them about opportunities.
▪︎Train them.
▪︎Mentor them.
▪︎Encourage them to compete.
▪︎Recommend qualified candidates where appropriate.
And when they succeed, teach them to repeat the process for those coming behind them.

That is sustainable empowerment.
THE ROLE OF TIV LEADERS
Tiv political and traditional leadership also has a responsibility to create a framework for this collective effort.
There should be a deliberate conversation among political leaders, traditional institutions, academics, business leaders, professionals, civil servants, entrepreneurs, and young people about building a pipeline of competent Tiv professionals.

A database of qualified young Tiv professionals could be developed, not as a mechanism for bypassing recruitment procedures, but as a talent pool that can be connected to legitimate opportunities.
Imagine knowing where hundreds of young Tiv engineers, doctors, lawyers, accountants, ICT specialists, administrators, economists, teachers, entrepreneurs, and skilled technicians are located and what their qualifications are
Such information could help leaders, businesses, and institutions identify talent whenever legitimate opportunities arise.

We must stop celebrating only those who have already arrived
Our society often celebrates successful people after they have reached the top.
We should also celebrate those who lift others on their way up.
A successful Tiv leader should not measure his or her legacy only by the number of houses built, political appointments obtained, businesses established, or honors received.
Legacy should also be measured by the number of young people who can say:
“This man gave me guidance when nobody knew me.”
“This woman introduced me to an opportunity.”
“This leader encouraged me to apply.”
“This businessman trained me and gave me my first professional opportunity.”
“This professional helped me become what I am today.”
That is a much more enduring legacy.

THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE YOUNGER GENERATION.

The younger generation must equally understand that opportunity comes with responsibility.
Nobody should expect automatic employment merely because of ethnicity or family connection. Young people must acquire relevant education, professional qualifications, discipline, integrity, digital competence, and entrepreneurial skills.

They must be prepared to compete.
They must also understand that when they eventually rise, the obligation continues.
You receive an opportunity; you create another opportunity.
That should become the chain.
Building a culture of collective advancement.

The real strength of a people is not demonstrated by how many individuals have become wealthy or powerful. It is demonstrated by how effectively those who have succeeded create pathways for others.

The Tiv people have enormous human capital.
What is required is better coordination of that human capital.
Our influential sons and daughters should, therefore, begin to think beyond personal success. They should ask how their influence can produce a generation of competent young professionals, entrepreneurs, and leaders who will take the Tiv community into the future.
We need a culture where success is not the end of the journey but the beginning of responsibility.

A CALL TO TIV LEADERSHIP.

Let this become a standing agenda for Tiv development:
Every influential Tiv person should deliberately help another qualified Tiv person gain access to an opportunity.
Not through corruption.
Not through nepotism.
Not by undermining merit.
But through mentorship, information, advocacy, networking, training, recommendation, and genuine commitment to human-capital development.

Let our leaders in government remember the young people coming behind them.
Let our business leaders create pathways into employment and enterprise.
Let our professionals mentor younger professionals.
Let our academics open doors to knowledge and research.
Let our entrepreneurs create businesses that employ others.
Let our political leaders make human-capital development more important than political patronage.
Let every successful Tiv son or daughter understand that personal achievement becomes truly significant when it becomes a platform for collective advancement.

The future of Tivland can not be built by a handful of successful individuals. It must be built by creating a broad and continuous pipeline of opportunity for the next generation.

One opportunity should, therefore, never remain an opportunity for one person. It should become an opportunity for many.
That is the kind of collective responsibility that can transform a people.

That is the kind of agenda Tiv leadership should sustain, not for one election, one administration, or one generation, but continuously, deliberately, and across generations.