Buhari, youths and the roses that defied the concrete

The social media is on fire.

are breathing flames like the famed fire god. Sango. Why? We all know. The gaffe made by the President. That youths are called lazy. I have not really read the exact words he said. But I know with reactions and some opinions I read. He said that many Nigerian youths depend on oil money and are not ready to work. Please correct me if I am wrong

There are two or three writers on political issues I deeply respect. One of them is my boss and big brother, Dr. Lasisi Olagunju. He should be a surgeon. Because he carefully dissects on national issues. He tries as much as possible to be neutral. He flogs the APC much as the PDP. He criticizes constructively.

He delves into many folklores using them as analogies for the problems of Nigeria. I am looking forward to reading his reaction on this presidential goof. The other is Abimbola Adelakun, a brilliant, down to earth columnist for the Punch newspapers. While the third is Dr. Bamidele Olateju, brilliant scientist and promoter of youth development and cultural values.

In 2015, we went out to vote. I was an avid supporter of change. Like many others. We were tired. Billions of money were disappearing under our nostrils. You are even afraid of switching on the news in the morning. Large sums of money slithering away like serpents, unaccounted for. The reserves were fast leaking, many things were so wrong aside that. We truly wanted a change. May be we did not sit down to access the change we wanted. Good change or bad change. The “stentorian” general was running once again and we all gave him our massive support. Though at the time he was head of state we are young, but we were told that he was a no nonsense officer.  We believed he could go a long way to shaping up this seriously mismanaged country based his earlier curriculum vitae.

We were wrong and I accept responsibility for that. I am that way I accept responsibility if I make a mistake and go ahead to make amends. When the fumbling began and I wrote about it, a respected older friend took a taunt on me. It was a wicked taunt. I told him off. It was a hard thing to do considering his age. But I told him, what he did was childish and unnecessary and he should piss off and stop nagging me. I told him he had the privilege of attending the uni when there was free food, good hostels and free tuition. He had the privilege of witnessing the “good old days”. So what was he saying?  He stopped speaking to me for a long time. After a while, he chatted me up and apologized. We had a long healthy and robust discussion.

We are all aware we have been sold a dummy. Right now, we have gone past, sticking our tongue out at people for voting Buhari in. It is moronic. For lack of a better adjective. What is on ground now is even deeper. With less than a year to the coming elections, what viable opposition do we have? Is there anyone to challenge the status quo? These are questions that begs to be answered.

• The President versus democracy and Nigerian youths

Coming to the real crux of this piece. I admit that some Nigeria youths and it’s just a very small fraction, engages in illegit hustle. We have seen or heard the outcomes of diabolical cyber-crimes a.k.a Yahoo plus, many are walking corpses. Running mad on the streets. Many have been caught and jailed. Many have even been caught in foreign countries and beheaded.

The results of such illegit hustles stare us in the face every day. It makes our news features. The average youth in all honesty is forced to face the fact that hard work and legit hustles are the ones that pay off. Ultimately.

Let me come home. Maybe Nigerians do not even need the help of the government in any way. A young man or woman builds her house. He digs a borehole or well to supply water. She installs an inverter that takes direct power from the sunlight. She or he buys a big functional generator. Perhaps it’s a new site, PHCN is not even thinking of installing a transformer in five years. But in that community, people live and thrive. Somehow the residents contribute money to buy a transformer. They get PHCN to connect it. PHCN does. Before two months it is coming to harass them with bills! Imposing on the sweat of hardworking youths who strove to make their lives better.

That exemplifies the microcosm of a larger government who takes from the labours of its youth and say they are not doing enough. Any graduate that sits down waiting for government job is wasting time. Are you surprised, people are learning vocations, like tailoring, catering , makeup, interior decoration, carpentry, painting and transport, to mention a few. Why? Survival. And many have one ahead to become success stories and motivational examples for others.

My office encourages and supports working mothers. But then these mothers are amazingly hardworking. Passionate litigators. Last year, one was pregnant. But she was in the office as promptly as ever, she will be in court to conduct her cases. And diligently too. With the discomfort that comes with pregnancy, she did her job diligently. When I tell her to take a break, she will laugh and say, she is only pregnant, not sick.

When she was quite heavy, I released her to go on maternity leave. She wanted to stay a bit longer but I gave her marching orders. “If you are restless, stroll around your estate,” I said. She laughed and complied.

After her delivery and maternity leave, she is back, juggling daycare and court, and other office activities. And so are other working ladies in my office. There is no room for excuse. I have used the example of a woman because she is the one to multitask and time try to build her career.

This is a little example of the dogged spirit of youths across the country refusing to be beaten down by the struggle. The rulers have become vampires sucking on the flesh of the ruled. But we are undeterred. We move on. And like a beautiful rose pushing itself out of an unforgiving concrete, we blossom. The Nigerian youth is unique. That is why we are found everywhere and anywhere in the world, doing great.  We are survivors. Like the hardy strong baobab in our continent, we withstand pressure, we withstand stress, we withstand drought.

Many youths from privileged homes are also achieving great feats but some others do nothing but feed fat on nation’s wealth, drive fast bikes and vehicles, attend parties and indulge in drugs and orgies. The end result of their slimly slothful lives are unenviable.

For teeming youths across the country, irrespective of background, experience, status or creed, it’s not enough to set the media on fire, it is time to start stoking the embers of real, progressive, positive change.

One day, we will be angry enough.

Okunniga is an Ibadan-based legal practitioner.