Bridging Generational Infrastructural Gaps to Foster Sustainable Community Growth and Development
Prof Gbenga S Ibileye
Former Provost
College of post graduate studies , Federal University Lokoja
Opening
Protocol observed
1. My distinguished members of this great and historic town of Iyah Gbede. I greet you all on the occasion of the 55th Annual Community Day celebration. Today is not just a day of celebration, but a day of reflection, a day of truth-telling, and most importantly, a day of hope and commitment. As we gather here, we stand at a crossroads. Behind us lie decades of promises, some kept, many broken. Ahead of us lies the future we must build together. The topic before us today ‘bridging generational infrastructural gaps’ is not just about roads and bridges. It is about building the foundation upon which our children and grandchildren will stand.
Introduction
2. When we speak of infrastructural gaps, we are speaking about the distance between where we are and where we should be. We are speaking about roads that become impassable when the rains come. We are speaking about schools without enough classrooms, without books, without the tools our children need to compete in the modern world. We are speaking about healthcare facilities that lack basic equipment, water that doesn’t flow reliably, and electricity that flickers on and off like a tired candle.
3. But infrastructure is more than what we can see and touch. It includes the security that allows a mother to send her child to school without fear. It includes the digital connections that can link our youth to opportunities across the world. It includes the systems that should work but often do not, the systems that leave us frustrated and feeling abandoned.
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These are not new problems. Our fathers saw them. Our grandfathers experienced them. And if we are not careful, our children will inherit them too. This is what we mean by “generational” gaps , problems that have been passed down from one generation to the next, growing deeper and wider with each passing year.
4. Each generation has carried this burden differently. Our elders built with what they had, often with their bare hands and the strength of community cooperation. They created the foundations we still stand on today. But they were often let down by those who promised to build on that foundation and never returned.
Our current generation, the parents, the workers, the struggling entrepreneurs, carrys the weight of maintaining what little we have while trying to create something better. We patch the roads ourselves when we can. We contribute to build the boreholes. We organize security watches in our neighbourhoods. We are tired, yes, but we have not given up.
And our youth, bright, educated, connected to the wider world through their phones, they see what others have and wonder why their own community falls short. Some grow frustrated and leave. Others want to help but do not know how to begin. They are our greatest asset, yet we risk losing them to despair or to distant cities.
5. These infrastructural gaps are not just inconveniences. They are barriers to our progress, and they cost us dearly.
They cost us economically. Businesses cannot thrive when power is unreliable. Farmers cannot get their produce to market when roads are impassable. Young people with skills cannot work from home when internet connectivity is poor. Every day, opportunities slip through our fingers.
They cost us in human potential. A child who walks five kilometres to school on an empty stomach cannot learn as well as she should. A sick person who cannot reach healthcare in time becomes a tragedy that breaks a family. A young graduate who finds no opportunity here takes his talents elsewhere, and we all become poorer for his absence.
They cost us in dignity. There is a weariness that comes from explaining to visitors why basic things do not work, from making excuses for our condition, from feeling like we are always behind. This weariness can become hopelessness, and hopelessness is the enemy of progress.
Perhaps most painfully, these gaps cost us security and peace of mind. When our infrastructure fails, when darkness reigns because there is no light, when roads are impassable and make our communities isolated – these conditions create vulnerability. Insecurity thrives where infrastructure is weak. Communities become targets when they are disconnected, when communication is difficult, when rapid response is impossible. Our young people deserve to grow up in safety. Our elders deserve to rest without fear. This too is infrastructure – the systems and structures that protect us and allow us to flourish.
6. A New Approach: Building Together
But today, I come with good news. These generational gaps can be bridged, but not in the way we have tried before. We cannot wait for salvation from outside. We cannot depend solely on government promises that may or may not materialize. We must take ownership of our own development, even as we demand accountability from those who lead us.
Bridging these gaps requires three things: vision, collaboration, and sustainability.
Vision: means seeing beyond our immediate frustrations to imagine what our community can become. It means our elders sharing the wisdom of what has worked before, and our youth contributing fresh ideas about what could work now. Vision means having specific goals: not just “better roads” but knowing which roads need to be prioritized and why. Not just “improved security” but understanding what systems and community structures can make us safer. Vision gives us direction.
Collaboration: means breaking down the walls between generations and groups. Too often, the elders plan without consulting the youth, and the youth act without respecting the wisdom of elders. Too often, men make decisions without hearing from women, and the educated speak without listening to those whose knowledge comes from years of living and working in this community. Collaboration means bringing everyone to the table, not just to talk, but to listen, to learn from each other, and to build consensus on what matters most.
Sustainability: means building things that last and creating systems that maintain them. It means thinking not just about construction but about maintenance. Not just about starting projects but about finishing and preserving them. Sustainability means involving the community from the beginning so that when something is built, the community owns it, protects it, and maintains it. It means training our own people to manage and repair what we build, rather than always depending on outside expertise.
7. Let me speak directly to the issue of security, that has become a sore point in Okunland, because no development is sustainable where there is no peace. Infrastructure and security are inseparable. Good roads allow rapid response to emergencies. Reliable communication systems allow communities to alert each other to dangers. Adequate lighting in public spaces deters crime. Connected communities are safer communities.
But security is also built through social infrastructure – strong families, active community organizations, youth who are engaged and have hope for the future. When young people have opportunities, they become defenders of the community, not threats to it. When neighbours know and look out for each other, criminals find no hiding place. When everyone has a stake in the community’s success, everyone becomes a guardian of its peace.
We must work hand in hand with security agencies, but we must also take responsibility ourselves. Community policing, neighbourhood watch programmes, youth engagement initiatives; these are investments in security just as much as any physical infrastructure.
8. A Call to Commitment
My brothers and sisters, bridging generational infrastructural gaps is not easy work. It requires patience when we want immediate results. It requires unity when division seems easier. It requires sacrifice when we are already tired. It requires hope when disappointment feels more familiar.
But consider the alternative. If we do nothing, if we simply wait and complain and watch our community decline, what will we tell our children? How will we answer when they ask why we had a chance to make a difference and chose comfort over commitment?
The infrastructure we build today: the roads, the schools, the health centres, the security systems, the digital connections, the community organizations, these will serve generations we will never meet. That is the meaning of legacy. That is the meaning of true development.
9. Closing
As we celebrate this community day, let us make it more than a celebration. Let us make it a turning point. Let us commit to three things:
First, that we will work together across generations, putting aside pride and prejudice to focus on our common goals.
Second, that we will move from talking to doing, identifying one or two critical infrastructural gaps and creating concrete plans to address them within the next year.
Third, that we will hold ourselves and our leaders accountable, insisting on transparency, tracking progress, and celebrating successes while learning from failures.
The infrastructural gaps we face are wide, but they are not insurmountable. Together, with vision, collaboration, and a commitment to sustainability, we can bridge them. We can build a community where children go to school safely on good roads, where healthcare is accessible, where businesses thrive with reliable power and connectivity, where everyone has clean water, where security is assured, and where no one feels left behind.
This is not a dream; it is a possibility within our reach. But it requires that each of us leaves here today with a determination to be part of the solution. Not tomorrow. Not when conditions are perfect. But now, with what we have, where we are.
Our ancestors did not wait for perfect conditions. They built with their hands and their faith. We have more knowledge, more tools, more connections than they ever had. What we need now is their courage and unity.
Let us honour them by building something worthy of our children.
Let us bridge these gaps together.
Thank you, and may Iyah Gbede community flourish.
