The youths are the leaders of
tomorrow is a common saying that we all grew up to learn to repeat its
wordings. Years after years we have been
made to understand that the future belongs to us, and we will be the leaders of
this country when tomorrow comes. And so we went to sleep waiting for
the
arrival of that tomorrow when the mantle of leadership will be handed over to
we the youths. In our slumber, the old wise men turned us to pawns and baits in
their bid to grab political power, making us believe that that is the learning
process and very soon we will be matured and experienced enough to lead. So we
maintained the status quo; patiently waiting for that glorious tomorrow.
Elections
came and elections went, military juntas came and military juntas went, till we
found ourselves at the door of the 21st century under the rulership
[not leadership] of this same oligarchy who had hijacked the driver’s seat of
this nation since 1960 when the Union Jack disappeared from our skies. Under
the guise of coming to solving the numerous problems facing the country
[Problems they had themselves created], again they deceived us with the wrong
prescription that powerful people with experience is the only drug that can
cure this sick man called Nigeria .
Their ambitions chased our hopes out of the house into the sun to wait for
tomorrow before we could be able to taste the juice of leadership.
Now, 55
years have gone and the problems that they claim to be solving are only
multiplying, these same old wines have continued to reappear in new wine
bottles, and they have continued to deceive us that they have the monopoly of
power and experience to solve Nigeria ’s
uncountable problems. 55 years after independence, we have developed a bad
culture of recycling politicians who we all read about in our history and
government before graduating from secondary school. These same cliques that
kick started Nigeria’s journey of economic misery have refused to leave the
stage, though the music has changed times without number, they have irrelevantly
remained on the podium with their old dance steps that are the direct opposite
of the current realities.
2015 is here, and Nigeria is still held hostage by the
administration of an ex military general, a man who became an adult even before
Nigeria
gained independence in 1960. Believed to be an anti-corruption Czar, president
Muhamadu Buhari returned to take over the baton of leadership in Aso Rock three
decades after ruling Nigeria under the same premise of [ like every other past
Nigerian leader] having the strong personality and experience to heal Nigeria
of its countless injuries. And since taking over power, he has steadily
continued to form a gerontocracy [government by elders], by having strong
appetite for appointing his age mates in all sectors of the economy. Does it
mean that 55 years after independence we are still unable to produce youths who
have the experience to champion a new course for this nation?
In other climes where progress
exists not only in the dictionaries, the youths are the driving force behind
such progress. But here in my country, the youths belong to the streets, inside
the scorching sun, under the bridges at the mercy of power thirsty politicians
who cajole them with their ill gotten wealth to create more problems for the
society. Here in my country, the youths
have been trained to keep smiling even while they are suffering, we have been
trained to become sycophants, we have been trained to become thugs, we have
been trained to become kidnapers, we have been trained to become hooligans, we
have been trained to become almajiri job seekers, we have been trained to
become messengers to Abuja politicians, we have been trained posterate in order
to be connected to ‘Oga at the top’, and we have been trained with the belief
that we are the leaders of tomorrow. But when will that tomorrow come? Your
guess is as good as mine.
Twitter: @Aganjustice
My blog:
www.justiceagan.blogspot.com
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