Every generation must out of relative obscurity discover its mission; to fulfil it or betray it. There is one wrong assumption that most people of this generation make; we are always quick to say, The last generation failed us, our parents generation failed us, bla bla bla. And perhaps Prof. Wole Soyinka even said it, that his generation failed us. I believe he was being modest. If young people of this generation did half of what Soyinka did in his youthful days, the thieving ruling class will be on the run now. I once shared that view too and echoed it as an excuse for the position we find ourselves. But over time and after carefully thinking it through, I realise that it is a wrong generalisation. If the past generation failed us, we would still be reeling under the colonial masters. If the past generations failed us, we would still be staging coups and fighting wars. If the last generation failed us, we would still be crawling under the boots of military dictators. We can say some sections of the past genetration failed us, and it isnt enough to make that generalisation. You are supposed to ask your parents what they were doing when people were making impacts on the society, you are supposed to ask them what role they played in making Nigeria what it is today, and if they cant tell you a thing, personalise that accusation, and tell yourself that your parents failed you. Martin Luther King Jr made it clearer: Every society has its protectors of status quo and the fraternities of the indifferent who are notorious for sleeping through revolutions.... Maybe your parents fell in that category. But then, should we say because our parents failed us, we should fail our childrens generation too. I think not! Our parents generations missions were to chase away the colonial masters, end the tyranny of the military and establish democracy. As a generation, we must discover our mission too, and fulfil it. Semaj
Posted on: Mon, 28 Jul 2014 08:40:35 +0000
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