No Opportunities? Or just lazy, entitled Youth...

Yesterday, I rode a bicycle for over 25 kilometers. Not on some fancy cycling trail or in a city marathon, but through the rugged countryside, under a sky that seemed determined to drown me. The heavens opened wide, the rain poured, and within minutes, I was soaked to the bone. Mud splashed with every turn of the wheel, my legs burned, and every car that passed left me looking more like a stray dog than a man with purpose.

Why endure all this? Because I was headed to meet a group of talented young people—people I have worked with for months, helping them shape ideas around technology and the lot into real enterprises. It was their meeting. They set it up. They picked the time. They picked the place. I showed up, dripping wet, hungry, exhausted… and alone (mostly).

No calls. No messages. No apologies. Just silence.

And yet, when the dust—or rather mud—settles, these are the same young people who will look at society and claim, “There are no opportunities for us.”

The Myth of Limited Opportunities

For 15 years, I have worked with youth across this country. I have seen the brilliance, the passion, the raw energy. I have listened to ideas that, if acted upon, could transform communities. I have met footballers with the skill to light up stadiums, artists with strokes that tell stories words never could, entrepreneurs with innovations fit for global markets, and students whose hunger for knowledge could rival the greatest thinkers.

But here lies the problem: talent and passion without intent and focus are wasted gifts.

It is easy—too easy—to join the chorus of complaints about “lack of opportunities.” But look closely, and you will see that opportunities exist. What is missing is not opportunity—it is intent, commitment, and the courage to follow through.

The Sidetracks and Drop-Offs

The daily hustle distracts too many of us. Some trade ambition for quick thrills—drugs, gambling, unending gossip at the village base. Others carry the facade of progress: they show up at meetings, nod through presentations, and then vanish without lifting a finger afterward. A smaller few, the “survivors,” continue showing up, but merely as participants in a never-ending cycle, doing just enough to say they tried but never enough to leave an impact.

And then, when reality hits hard—when the bills pile up, when the job interviews never call back, when projects stall—they cry foul: “The system failed us. There are no opportunities.”

But the truth is harsher: many have failed themselves.

What My Rain Ride Taught Me

As I stood yesterday, water dripping from my clothes, watching the empty space where my team should have been, I realized something. It wasn’t just the rain washing over me—it was clarity.

The clarity that intent is everything. That without focus, passion is just noise. That without discipline, talent is just decoration.

I am tired of hearing the endless lament that “the government does nothing,” “NGOs don’t support us,” or “the community ignores us.” Some of these statements carry truth, yes. But I have seen, first-hand, too many chances wasted by youth themselves. Too many meetings called where no one shows up. Too many projects abandoned midway. Too many brilliant ideas suffocated not by external forces, but by procrastination and lack of will.

A Hard Reflection for Our Generation

This is not a condemnation of youth potential—if anything, I believe in it deeply. But belief alone is not enough. What we need now is intent. Real intent. Intent that drives us to show up, to follow through, to sweat, to push past the discomfort of rain, mud, or even humiliation. Intent that makes us accountable not just to ourselves but to each other, because no society is built on excuses and abandoned dreams.

The youth of Kenya can no longer afford to hide behind myths of limited opportunity. The truth is opportunities exist all around us. What is missing is the focus and discipline to seize them. Until we confront this truth, we will keep riding in circles—wet, muddy, and alone.

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✨ So here’s my plea, and perhaps my challenge: if you set the meeting, show up. If you believe in an idea, push it. If you want change, commit to it. Stop waiting for someone else to light the path. Because in the end, the real question isn’t whether opportunities exist—it’s whether we are ready to take them.

About Author: Kevin Makova