Nigeria recently exited a recession, at least officially.
A recession signals a period when the economy is not doing well, and when industrial production and business activities are at a low level, leading to unemployment among the populace.
We Nigerian youths are disturbed by the trends in the economy because our tomorrow has already been mortgaged by the leaders of today. The leaders always deceive us, claiming that we are the leaders of tomorrow.
The whole world knows that the major plague that has held our nation by the jugular is corruption. It is threatening to render the nation impotent and has permeated the entire structure of the nation and apparently resisted every effort to kill it.
However, what is of grave concern to me is how the economic woes induced by corruption and ineptitude are going to affect the future of Nigerian youths.
It is saddening that when this nation was well off, our leaders did not think of applying the wealth to provide those things that could make the nation great.
They have failed to give us electricity that could ensure industrial revolution and provide jobs for the citizenry, especially the youths.
This is why many who graduated from our tertiary institutions are roaming the streets in search of jobs that are not available, eventually taking to crime.
Many of our hospitals are empty, while schools are poorly staffed and run. Strike is a popular word: nearly all sectors of the economy frequently embark on strike.
All of this points to the fact that the foundation for the tomorrow of the youths and the nation has not yet been laid by the leaders of today.
The politicians who are sabotaging the future of the youths through their looting of the nation’s wealth should stop the act.
They should turn a new leaf so that it may be well with all of us and our nation.
Ojoawo Ibironke
Offa, Kwara State.
and then