It is no longer news that youths are the strength of every nation and their relevance to nation building is without limits. But it is unfortunate that despite our constituting more than 65 percent of the total Nigerian population, we are still being deemed unfit or rather too young to make a change.
I want to state here for the record that Nigeria is what it is today because the youths are being shielded from taking the mantle of leadership and utilising their strength to effect positive change.
Nigeria was once a great country at a period when most of our leaders today were being begged to go to school, while some of them were even being paid to.
The academic policies of Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Chief Ladoke Akintola, Dr Nnamdi Azikwe and Alhaji Tafawa Balewa made Nigeria a country to be proud of.
However, those who were helped to the top of the ladder turned what they got for free to a fortune that most generations will not be able to afford.
People don’t just say “God bless America” for fun. In all facets of life, American citizens come first.
The country sees value in every child and plans their future even at birth. But ours has no such record. That is why Nigerians are scattered all over the developed countries, even when they are faced with hell just to make a living.
Why is it difficult for a young graduate to be employed? Where is the motivation for the youngsters when the best employees the government can ever provide is lies and empty promises of better days to come?
By the civil service laws, once you clock 60 years, you must automatically retire from the service. Do we care to even ask why?
It is generally believed that at that age, you will not only be less active, your strength will also reduce. If that clause is effective, how come we keep letting people at age 70 and above take charge of governance?
This is a wake-up call for Nigerian youths. The time to take our destinies into our own hands is now. This is a period to join the league of the likes of Mark Zuckerberg, George Weah, among others, to rise and make things better for us and even the generations to come.
It is my belief that if polio crippled young Franklin Roosevelt could save America from its 12 years of tumultuous depression and Abraham Lincoln of blessed memory could redefine democracy, it is undoubtedly certain that, together, we also can make Nigeria great once again.
Ezekiel Oladimeji
National President,
Young Visioneers’ Association of Nigeria.
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