The truth is that, in Nigeria the competent, upright and intelligent youths are not given the chance, those given are people who do the dirty jobs for the godfathers or those who were given an opportunity as a repayment of debt owed to their parents. Yes, I mean the youths that find their way in this government are the yes sir boys that are clearly incapable and not worthy. The doors of leadership are usually shut on youths that are really worthy and ready, because the politicians see them as threat to their domination. They see them as people that may likely bring their reign to an end and to continue to justify the incapability of the youths, they use the incompetent youths, though they are aware of their incapacity, but still select them to blackmail the rest of the youths. Instead of blaming themselves for intentionally choosing the wrong youths for their selfish interest, they resort to blackmailing the rest of the youths claiming they are not better. It is worth stating that I am not a believer in questioning why youths are not given leadership opportunities, but I am a strong advocate for youths to take leadership responsibilities. This is because, only a lazy youth looks up to someone to give him or her leadership opportunities, real youths with distinctive character and leadership zeal for ‘excellence don’t ask for any chance, they create it, they don’t ask for leadership, they work their way to it. There is no doubt that it is the duty of the elders to prepare the youths for leadership responsibilities, but not in Nigeria, where the same leaders of the 70’s are still struggling for power in 2015. The leaders of yesterday remain the leaders of today and with the look of things if not checked, they would remain the leaders of tomorrow. The youths must look beyond this set of leaders for leadership opportunities; else, they would have to wait till eternity. Another major trick employed by the elders to continue to deny the youths of their rightly duty and role in government as well as prevent any challenge to the status quo is when they say the youths of Nigeria are not ready or are incompetent. I laugh at such comments because I know for sure that, the youths of any nation cannot be said to be incompetent or incapable, except that the elders and leaders of such nation are failed people. So, if our elders have failed already, even though the youths are said to be incapable, they are still better than the failed elders and there is no point in keeping failed elders in government. A youth is a young person who has only existed for a short period of time. It could also be said to be a new creature, with virgin reasoning, fresh thinking and new ideas. These youthful qualities are what is needed to make a progressive society, but unfortunately, all these qualities are missing in our government and the absence of which is denying Nigeria the impact of the youthfulness which would have ensured that the right action is taken for the right reasons and at the right time. So far, virtually all projects outlined by the government for the growth of the nation is counter productive, it lacked the youthfulness that would ensure its proper formulation and realistic implementation. Also, the projects conceived specifically for the youths have proven not effective due to it lacking the youthful passion required to actualize it. While I was discussing with an elderly man on my way to Abuja about the state of the nation and the need for youth involvement, he said, I just didn’t think it is right for any youth to take the lead. He maintained that, of what benefit is someone who had just existed for a short period of time to the government, when we have people with vast experience handling the affairs of the state? To answer this question as short as I can, I said to him, youths are capable of seeing the error that is holding the nation down in the old practices, those errors that have been preventing the nation from moving forward but the older people could not see it. The youth would note and attach value to what the older people will ignore knowingly or unknowingly, something that may turn out to be a key to solving the challenges facing the nation. Youths and children also are the majority in the society, they understand their own needs and aspirations, and they understand the challenges of the modern day youths which are beyond the scope of the elderly people to be able to proffer any meaningful and impacting solution. I pointed out that, seeing the error in the old practice is not with the aim of discrediting the older generation or practices, but to strengthen the work of older generation and improve the system for the betterment of the society. As it seems today, the problems facing the Nigeria are not major problems as such, but some minor problems that were ignored for a long period and eventually became a bigger challenge. So, given the youth’s leadership opportunities will amount to providing solutions to the challenges facing the majority of the country, identifying the minor challenges on time and proffering the solution which can be better initiated and implemented by the youths to tackle both present and future development. The youths have the capacity of seeing new things, new possibilities, new opportunities and new path to be explored. They would see the new hope, new dreams, new future as well as bring in a new believe to end all anomaly. In business, youths have demonstrated across the world that they are capable of bringing a new touch, new dimension and new initiative products that could sell in millions. In science, youths have equally demonstrated their ability to improve on old knowledge and discover new things. It is also the same in every other aspect of life. Why can’t youths take the chance in government? Since the older people usually concentrate on bigger challenges, like the stability of government and get consumed by it, the youths concentrate on minor but very crucial aspect of government, things that are crucial to the stability of the society. If both the youths and the elderly people should harmonize their respective thought and strong hold in government management, such a combination is surely leading to a rapid progress and development for the country. As the 2015 election draws nearer, I urge Nigerian youths to take a stand, and if it must support any political party, it must be based on a concrete plan, consideration and agreement for the betterment and protection of the interest of the youths.
Posted on: Sun, 04 Aug 2013 15:07:25 +0000
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