Global survey reveals Nigerian youths are most positive about their country

Pick Fame, Money Over Family

A new global survey has revealed that young people in Nigeria are the most positive about their country, with 87 percent describing it as a “good place to live.” The Varkey Foundation carried out the 20-country survey, and only Canada reported a score this high (also 87 percent); all other countries polled across Western Europe, Africa and Asia reported lower figures.

Generation Z: Global Citizenship Survey – What the world’s young people think and feel is the most comprehensive up-to-date global survey of the views of Generation Z – today’s teenagers and young adults who were born around the turn of the millennium.

The same questions were asked to members of Generation Z (those born between 1995 and 2001) in Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, Nigeria, Russia, South Africa, South Korea, Turkey, the UK and the US, in a poll.

The survey shows that almost all young Nigerians are afraid of “extremism and the rise of global terrorism”, making them fearful for the future – higher than any other country.

Shockingly, over one in ten think celebrity and fame is the most important factor in their future career – far more than any other country. They also do not deem family to be important. Instead, they chose money as the most important factor for their future (49% chose ‘money’, compared to 19% who chose ‘family’).

Also, Nigerian youths were the least anxious about life of those surveyed. What made them most anxious were school pressures and violence. The country also had by far the highest proportion of young people (43%), who think religion is important in deciding on friendships. 86% of young Nigerians said that religion contributed to their overall happiness. Support for free speech even if offensive to religion was lowest in Nigeria among all countries surveyed (35%).

Sadly, the country is the least committed to gender equality (68%). Belief that same-sex couples should be allowed to marry is particularly low at 16% (compared to 63% at a total level). Nigeria (24%) had the lowest support for safe abortion of any country surveyed.