By The Qoheleth
It is obvious that many Nigerian youths from the ages of 18-35 have not experienced what a decent and disciplined society looks like. Just as many youths in most Arabian countries have never experienced peace in their lives but have lived with war.
They, therefore, feel that life is like a jungle and all about war. Many of our youths are like slaves and prisoners in the hands of their parents and older generation. From primary schools to secondary schools to tertiary institutions, parents do virtually everything for their children. They do their school assignments, carry out their admission and registration processes in schools, choose courses and service areas for them, assist them in getting jobs, choose spouses for them, build houses and buy cars for them, fix certain deposits in the banks for their future, and enough money to play around, etc.
In the political space, the older generations occupied leadership positions from their younger age to old age. The youths are not given the opportunity to succeed them. The youths are only used to destroy the system, rig elections, and cause disunity. Such children and youths would no longer see any purpose in life. They don’t see any challenges to face because their parents have done everything for them. According to such parents that made such provisions; “we suffered and you don’t need to suffer again.”
Many Nigerians are alien to true democracy and good governance. They have neither read a book nor were taught how to achieve this. The few who experienced decent society and good governance in Europe and America kept the information to themselves and in most cases try to prove that it is not meant for Nigerians. They regard them as a western culture not meant for Nigerians.
In Nigeria, we have had only a few months of decency and they were attained in military eras. Meanwhile, many Nigerians believe that nothing good can come out of the military. Someone even designed an erroneous saying that “the worst democracy in Nigeria is better than the best military” and people swallowed this error hook, line, and sinker.
A decent society is a society where people are united, patriotic, and lawful. It is a society where people speak with one voice in condemning evil. A society where the nation’s interest comes before individuals. A society where people’s rights and freedom are respected and upheld.
A decent society is one where the choice of leadership is by the quality and not where you come from or what you believe in. A society where quality products are promoted and fake and adulterated ones are collectively nipped in the bud. A society where the will of the people is held sacrosanct and their choice of leaders willingly respected. A society where hard work is promoted, respected, and encouraged while laziness is condemned. A society where election rigging belongs to the archives. A society that keeps improving in science and technology.
Unfortunately, the legacy we have left for our children from independence to the present day is a society where people struggle to be one and united. A society bruised by war and anarchy. A society where leaders are hoisted on people willy-nilly. A society where people force themselves into leadership positions and through that recklessly plunder public wealth. A society where military intervention is so intermittent that people look at it as an alternative to democracy. A society where idleness brings so much wealth while hard work is thrown in the trash can. A society where law and order are not respected.
What models did many Nigerian youths meet in the country? What does their ideal society look like? What is their idea of a just and egalitarian society? To the Nigerian youths today, democracy is the freedom to do whatever you like. They believe that power belongs to the elected and their cronies. Once you have power and authority, you become lawless, and of course, nobody questions this. They believe that the armed forces are above the law especially when they are wearing their uniforms. That is why many people display such uniforms, belts, and stickers on their cars. People use armed forces uniforms to commit crimes because of fear of them.
Our youths model themselves after corrupt politicians, arrogant and lawless bourgeoisie, greedy and selfish clergymen as well as notorious fraudsters, kidnappers, and armed robbery kingpins. They look forward to ritualism and quick way of getting rich. They assume that education is now a waste and that politics is everything.
They believe that you cannot win an election in Nigeria if you do not have a godfather and millions of naira.
In reforming the country, the first thing is to change the mindset of our youths from these assumptions. It is time to grant them total independence to challenge the world positively.
If the old generation refuses to retire and keeps doing things for our children, they cannot grow up to take on specific responsibilities. The time to liberate our youths is now!
