Nigeria and clash of generations

For more than two years, I have restrained myself from commenting on President Buhari’s administration. However, the latest backlash on the “lazy youths” comment by the president has forced me to break my silence. Unfortunately, the ongoing debates among the supporters and antagonists to the statements of lazy youths have shown that we are about to ‘mis-diagnose’ the cause of Nigeria’s problem.

Although, the ‘lazy youths’ comment is not an alien phenomenon to some of us, in particular, to those that were very active in student’s unionism between the 1990s and mid-2000s. The recent verbal attacks on youths and young Nigerians as lazy, unserious, immoral, full of entitlement attitude, just to mention a few, by the older generation, is a testament to the brewing clash of generations, a contest for the soul and heart of Nigeria.

A clash orchestrated by the difference of opinions between the older generation which I will henceforth refer to as the ‘Buhari generation’ and our generation regarding beliefs, leadership, work ethic, politics and values. It goes without saying that, the ‘Buhari Generation’ became more hostile to our generation the moment we found our voice to challenge the status-quo and how they have ran this country wastefully for more than five decades.

Before President Buhari’s statement in London, his generational compatriots have used every opportunity, forum, and gathering to berate the capacity of the Nigerian youths to lead this country, downplaying in particular the “Not Too Young To Run” movement. We have heard compatriots of the ‘Buhari Generation,’ the likes of Obasanjo, el-Rufai, various Senators and MPs, top civil servants, Ministers, religious leaders including captains of industries oozing out unprintable labels on our generation due to their conservative mindsets.

There is a straightforward explanation to all these coordinated attacks on young people, the ‘Buhari Generation’ is so scared to lose the benefits they have held onto for more than five decades, and if they are going to leave the podium, they would rather leave it for the kind of young people they groomed by themselves to look after their interest and continue the culture of waste and plundering which this nation have suffered since independence.

I want us to be guided as a people and we have to settle it in our thinking that the international community is not stupid and gullible. They deal with facts, and the statistics are there to show that Nigerians as hardworking people, particularly the youths. That is why you will see Ivy League universities granting admission to young Nigerians with third class degree and in some cases second class lower with scholarships because past experiences have shown that Nigerians are a brilliant set of people that can take on every opportunity to excel in their various fields. We are naturally problem solvers, which is one of the reasons why we don’t bother the government and hold them accountable. We provide for everything ourselves; from water to housing, from food to security, from health care to power supply among other essential amenities.

Ropo Egbeleke,

aderopoegbeleke@yahoo.com.