I remember sometime in February 2013, I was at the valedictory party of
the graduating set of the Department of History of my exalted Alma Mata,
Adeyemi College of Education. As we were engrossed in a discussion on what to
do after graduating from the bachelor's degree programme, one of my lecturers
gave this advice: "Do not think of what the government can do for you but what you can do for your country.”
After he said this I became furiously critical in my head and I spontaneously
reacted to that statement. I posed a question at him asking if he received that
kind of advice while he was in school in the 1970s or if it was a declaration
that there was no government in place in our country?
The problem with the Nigerian system is that there's never a government who has ever reckoned with the fact that there's a group of people called the youths. This is not a problem of 10 years. I told my friends that the group of people who have suffered most in Nigeria are the youths born since 1976 till date. I have been able to commune with so many people within that age range which of I am one.
Nigeria is so blessed with both human and natural resources that if a secondary school leaver should decide not to proceed with his education, such should not have problem in securing a job that will make him take care of his domestic business. Open enough is the fact that there's no encouragement of any kind for an average Nigerian youth. Most of the government policies are dream killers instead of sustaining. I still find it satanic that Nigeria still imports live ammunitions when we have been able to identify the sound of an Awka rifle since 1967. What does it cost Nigeria to send a couple of Nigerian graduates to identify how to improve on this local knowledge of our Igbo technicians and make it into an advanced machine? Also no drug/medicine produced by Nigerian pharmacists or trado-medics is safe for your health because of our government policies on them. We spend so much buying Tianshi products which are equally Chinese herbal concoctions.
Nigeria is in a capital dilemma today because the youths are the forgotten species or better put the endangered class because we have been so unfortunate to be created and sent by God to a nation being administered by irresponsible leadership.
The minimum wage in Nigeria is #7,500, while a youth corp member now earns possibly #19,000 monthly. In the United States, the minimum wage is $7.25 per hour. This is simply the lowest amount you can earn for doing the most unskilled job and you will work for an average of 8 hours every day. Some earn $35 per hour. Now tell me how long it takes people earning the lowest pay to make #7,500 or even the #19,000 for corpers in Nigeria. Simply multiply #165 by $7.25. We all know what the answer is. This means that every Nigerian lives below poverty level in reality, yet our leaders have businesses all over the world and they pay the stated rates by their host country but their own country can't be like that.
I get weary and hurt when I see our youths craving for an old man to keep the administration of our future and claiming that there's no trusted youth. We the youths keep rubbishing our fellows. In every country where we record technological advancement and breakthroughs, the youths are usually the driving force and their economies are somewhat stable. We have Nigerian youths spread all over the world with or without the legal status to live in different nations. I watched a video of how the Malaysian immigration officers dehumanised Nigerians living there; chaining them like dogs and leading them into a cage. It happens everywhere to Nigerians, even in the Republic of Benin, Ghana, South Africa and other crazy neighbors who maltreat us because we have been maltreated from home.
It's time for us as youths to wake up, even if we have been hypnotised or charmed. We must understand that we have a nation that should be our home. No matter how many years you spend abroad, you will still be issued a certificate of naturalisation telling you that you are not originally part of us but we have accepted you. This to me means that “iya ijo mo iye omo to bi” (a woman called the mother of the entire church knows her real children.) I have lived all my life as a Nigerian, loving Nigeria and wishing it well. Nigerian youths please let’s allow a wind of mental revolution to sweep through our mindset. We shall get there. Nigeria shall be recovered from the epidemic of cancerous leadership.
The problem with the Nigerian system is that there's never a government who has ever reckoned with the fact that there's a group of people called the youths. This is not a problem of 10 years. I told my friends that the group of people who have suffered most in Nigeria are the youths born since 1976 till date. I have been able to commune with so many people within that age range which of I am one.
Nigeria is so blessed with both human and natural resources that if a secondary school leaver should decide not to proceed with his education, such should not have problem in securing a job that will make him take care of his domestic business. Open enough is the fact that there's no encouragement of any kind for an average Nigerian youth. Most of the government policies are dream killers instead of sustaining. I still find it satanic that Nigeria still imports live ammunitions when we have been able to identify the sound of an Awka rifle since 1967. What does it cost Nigeria to send a couple of Nigerian graduates to identify how to improve on this local knowledge of our Igbo technicians and make it into an advanced machine? Also no drug/medicine produced by Nigerian pharmacists or trado-medics is safe for your health because of our government policies on them. We spend so much buying Tianshi products which are equally Chinese herbal concoctions.
Nigeria is in a capital dilemma today because the youths are the forgotten species or better put the endangered class because we have been so unfortunate to be created and sent by God to a nation being administered by irresponsible leadership.
The minimum wage in Nigeria is #7,500, while a youth corp member now earns possibly #19,000 monthly. In the United States, the minimum wage is $7.25 per hour. This is simply the lowest amount you can earn for doing the most unskilled job and you will work for an average of 8 hours every day. Some earn $35 per hour. Now tell me how long it takes people earning the lowest pay to make #7,500 or even the #19,000 for corpers in Nigeria. Simply multiply #165 by $7.25. We all know what the answer is. This means that every Nigerian lives below poverty level in reality, yet our leaders have businesses all over the world and they pay the stated rates by their host country but their own country can't be like that.
I get weary and hurt when I see our youths craving for an old man to keep the administration of our future and claiming that there's no trusted youth. We the youths keep rubbishing our fellows. In every country where we record technological advancement and breakthroughs, the youths are usually the driving force and their economies are somewhat stable. We have Nigerian youths spread all over the world with or without the legal status to live in different nations. I watched a video of how the Malaysian immigration officers dehumanised Nigerians living there; chaining them like dogs and leading them into a cage. It happens everywhere to Nigerians, even in the Republic of Benin, Ghana, South Africa and other crazy neighbors who maltreat us because we have been maltreated from home.
It's time for us as youths to wake up, even if we have been hypnotised or charmed. We must understand that we have a nation that should be our home. No matter how many years you spend abroad, you will still be issued a certificate of naturalisation telling you that you are not originally part of us but we have accepted you. This to me means that “iya ijo mo iye omo to bi” (a woman called the mother of the entire church knows her real children.) I have lived all my life as a Nigerian, loving Nigeria and wishing it well. Nigerian youths please let’s allow a wind of mental revolution to sweep through our mindset. We shall get there. Nigeria shall be recovered from the epidemic of cancerous leadership.
Itunu Levi Akorede
Dallas, Texas (United States)
Itunuemma@yahoo.co.in
September 2014
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