The 'Future' of Nigerian Youths is 'Present'
If you attended primary or secondary school in Nigeria, you may have been fortunate to have heard the song: “parents listen to your children, we are the leaders of tomorrow…”. I have known this song for over 18 solid years now. However, a sort of interesting thing over the years is that the same sets of leaders have remained in power for about that same amount of years or even more – the gerontocrats. Hold on! It gets further interesting: the first born of my parents also knew this song when she was in kindergarten but now, the look on her face whenever this song is raised, suggests the singer keeps shut. Do not misunderstand me! Whoever composed this song, may Abraham’s blessings be upon him/her and if it flows over, may you remember me. Really, he/she may have seen the need for parents and leaders to train the young minds and prepare them to take the mantle of leadership. Unfortunate, regrettably I must say, this song has sold us out and it appears that it was composed to reflect immortality without actualizing the contents of the lyrics; no fault of the composer, however. I would assume the composer may have also seen the obvious danger of neglecting the youth, and decided to issue a warning to the public in disguise of this beautiful song. It is one thing to send an alert on a forecast of imminent danger however, it is entirely another thing to act on the alert; not just acting, but acting urgently.
It is noteworthy that this is not peculiar only to Nigeria – it is an African deformity. The oldies who pride as African leaders see themselves, unfortunately so, as ordained by ‘god’ to see to the affairs of the nations and continent at large. This gives me a gory imagination of how ‘god’ really ordained them to clinch their araldite fists on power. From East, West, North to Southern African, we have been so “lucky” to be ruled by the oldies, who forget that the older they get, their ability to function effectively depreciates. To make matters worse, their cabinets are filled with people of equal class, whose abilities to proffer solutions, to present day problems, have died a natural death.
When you compare the average ages of world leaders, you would realize that the average ages of African Leaders are from 60s and above against that of the West and Europe – averaged at 30 (if not less) and above. With all these misfortunes that have befallen the youths, can we still sing the song boldly or should we put the song aside and take the bull by the horns? I would prefer the latter.
Imagine you are at a gathering where the guest speaker is Mugabe (former President of Zimbabwe) and he is to give a speech, let’s say, about the youth as the hope of African continent, what will be running through your young mind as a youth? “laughable” you may say, but this happens every now and then: we see it in inaugural lectures, and book lunches on various topics on the youths as the future of the continent. I understand that it is only when we invite the oldies that we get the noisy cheques, and the rather unreasonable donations; then we promise them of our undivided supports at the polls. We keep shooting ourselves on the legs! My Nigerian youths, when are we going to wake up? “We are the future leaders” of a thing is only to give you comfort and get you out of their way. For your information, the future is not in the nearest future – it is now!
They come to tell you “another story” during elections, and fear obstructs your guts; preventing you from telling them it is time for the “future leaders” to take over. Well, the hard truth is that you are being fooled by these oldies and the “future” thing is a scam! The only future I know is the “NOW” future – that is the best future! Nigerian youths, you have to remember that the best time to do something was yesterday and another better time is ‘NOW’. The leaders who have ruled us since 1999 till date all took the bull by the horns and lived by the lyrics of that old song: they were all at least in their 30s when they took the mantles of leadership in various positions. I need not tell you their ages! All you have to know is that most of them were in their 30s. If they thought they were competent to rule the nation in their primes, what has changed now? Why can’t the youths be allowed to take over now? Well, they will give the immoral excuse that the youths are lazy and not ripe enough to plough the apples. Or, “it does not matter who rules (whether young or old) but the important thing is that the job is done", they will say. Brother, sorry to disappoint you, it does matter! Since the return to democracy till date, how many of the jobs have been done? Nigeria and Africa at large desire the 30s and 40s (as leaders) who are sound, burning with zeal and willing to proffer solutions to 21century problems, not some weak oldies who should be playing with their grandchildren in the gardens.
We need to quit the believe that our voices will never be heard. I would rather die trying than live and do nothing!
The future is now! Get you PVC and stop denying us your vote, because you think your vote does not count. Stop selling you vote for bags of rice and roasted meats – they cannot sustain you for the next 4 years. If you are a political thug, or intend to be one in 2019 elections, please do yourself a favor: pause for a minute and ask questions about the children of your political clients. Where are they, what do they look like, where are they schooling, how many degrees do they have, and where do they work? And if you already have children, how are they fairing? Your foolishness pays them and that is why they need you. “ Abeg, our mumu don do”!
A word is enough for the wise!
Nwachukwu Chidozie is a part 5
Law student of Obafemi Awolowo
University.