President Tinubu Receives Ahmad Yari in Lagos, Commends His Youth Engagement and Initiatives

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has commended Hon. Ahmad Abdulaziz Yari for the way he has brought young people into the campaign for the re-election of the Tinubu–Shettima ticket, and for the youth initiatives he has built in Zamfara and across the North.

The President received Ahmad and his father, Senator Abdulaziz Abubakar Yari, at his Lagos residence. For Ahmad, it was a chance to greet the President in person and to report on a very busy fortnight. For the President, it was an opportunity to put on record his appreciation of a young man whose name has become closely tied to youth mobilisation in the North-West.

A fortnight that spoke for itself

The meeting came only days after Ahmad's most demanding weekend of the year so far. On Saturday, 26 September, he was in Gusau, where young people from across Zamfara filled the state capital in solidarity with President Tinubu. By evening he was in Kano for the launch of the Yari Sport Initiative, where he serves as Patron.

The turnout in Gusau was the kind that politicians notice. Senator Yari said publicly afterwards that he was proud of his son and of every young person who came out. Ahmad himself went on to thank the Zamfara State Government for its reception, the Emir of Gusau for the title of Sarautan Dan Zaki, and the youth of Zamfara and Kano for the trust they had placed in him.

In Lagos, the President made it clear that the work had not gone unnoticed.

What the President commended

President Tinubu commended Ahmad's youth engagement and the initiatives he leads, describing them as a valuable contribution to the Renewed Hope agenda and to the effort to secure a second term for the Tinubu–Shettima ticket in 2027.

It is a commendation that reflects a deliberate choice Ahmad made early on. Rather than limit himself to appearances at rallies, he has tried to build structures that young people can belong to and that will last beyond a single campaign season.

Those structures now cover a fair amount of ground. Ahmad is an Executive Board Member of the Governing Council of the City Boy Movement, the youth movement that has become one of the most visible pro-Tinubu platforms among young Nigerians. He is National Convener of the Yari Messengers, whose national executive met him in Abuja in September and whose women's engagement has drawn women into grassroots work. He is Patron of the Yari Sport Initiative, which aims to find young athletes, connect them with coaching and give them somewhere to train. And through the Ahmad Abdulaziz Yari Foundation, he supports communities with practical help.

Each of these reaches young people in a different way. Taken together, they explain why the President singled out youth engagement as the heart of Ahmad's contribution.

Sport, politics and a seat at the table

There is a view, common among young Nigerians, that politics happens somewhere far away and that their only role is to cheer. Ahmad has spent much of the past year arguing the opposite.

The Yari Sport Initiative is a good example. Its launch in Kano was about horse racing and football, not party politics. But the idea behind it, that young people with talent deserve a pathway rather than applause, sits comfortably with the President's own emphasis on youth opportunity through programmes such as the Nigerian Education Loan Fund and 3 Million Technical Talent.

The City Boy Movement, on the other hand, is openly political. It gives young people a direct way to support the President and to organise in their own communities. Ahmad's role on its Governing Council has taken him to Gusau and beyond, and the Gusau rally showed how quickly that kind of organising can translate into numbers.

What ties both together is a belief Ahmad repeats often: that young Nigerians will show up when they are given a real reason and a real role.

Why Zamfara matters

Ahmad's home state gives his work an added significance. Zamfara has faced serious security and economic challenges in recent years, and young people there have often felt left out of national conversations. When thousands of them choose to gather peacefully in their own capital to support the President, it sends a message that goes well beyond one rally.

Ahmad has argued that young people in states like Zamfara want the same things as young people everywhere: education, jobs, a safe place to play sport and a voice in decisions that affect them. His initiatives are built around those needs, which is part of the reason they have found such a receptive audience.

Father and son in Lagos

The visit carried a personal dimension. Senator Yari, who leads the APC Presidential Campaign Council as Director-General, has worked closely with President Tinubu for many years. Watching his son receive the President's commendation in his presence was, for the family, a moment of quiet pride.

It was also a reminder of how differently father and son approach the same goal. Senator Yari's work as Director-General involves palaces, party structures, state chapters and national strategy. Ahmad's work happens on campuses, in football fields, in community gatherings and on the streets of Gusau. The President's message in Lagos was that both kinds of work matter to the campaign.

Ahmad paid his respects to the President in the traditional manner and thanked him for the time and the encouragement.

What comes next

For Ahmad and his team, the President's words are both a commendation and a challenge. The campaign for 2027 is still taking shape, and the young people who turned out in Gusau will expect the momentum to continue.

Ahmad has indicated that he intends to keep the focus where it has been: on platforms that give young people something to do, something to belong to and a reason to believe in the Renewed Hope agenda. More events under the Yari Sport Initiative are planned, the Yari Messengers will continue building its structures across the northern states, and the City Boy Movement remains active in Zamfara and beyond.

The Office of Hon. Ahmad Yari thanks President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for receiving him in Lagos and for his kind words. It also thanks the many young people whose energy over the past weeks made the President's commendation possible. It was earned on the streets of Gusau and in the stands in Kano, and it belongs to them as much as to Ahmad.

Photographs from the Lagos visit are available in the gallery.