In The Name Of Nigerian Poor Youths By Hakeem Babalola In fifty year’s time, it’s my assumption that many children born today, would still be uneducated, paving way for them to be ruled by the children of our so-called ruling class, who will have successfully acquired the best education “stolen” money could buy. Many of us who discern this, have refused to let our children be born in Nigeria, or have taken the pain to do everything in our power against the illusion that blinded our parents to have had such “hopeless” hope about our future. It is in view of this anomaly that I would advise Nigerian rulers to stop talking in vain about future, for the future rests only with the ones who tend the future. They should please steal all what they want and leave the scene. But they should know that it’s impossible to fool all the people all the time. By now it should be obvious to them that they are dancing naked in the market. And we are laughing at them. We are laughing at them because we are tired of crying. We are laughing at them because deep down somewhere in the corner of our hearts, we know that history will definitely put them where they belong: In the dustbin. We know that sooner or later they will face the calamity of their knavery. One Diogenes Laertius saw the unquestionable power of youths when he declared that, “the foundation of any state is the education of its youths”. It’s not that Nigerian ruling class is ignorant of Diogenes assertion, but rather not sincere about laying any foundation at all, which I suspect suits their hidden agendas. Nigerian youths in their response have lost hope in a country that refused to cater for their well-being. Some prefer to die on Spanish water trying to escape the injustice at home, while many have engaged themselves in criminal activities. Last year, a group of armed robbers in their mid-twenties, raided the house of a friend. Recounting the horrible incident, my friend was more taken aback by the way the robbers spoke Queen Elisabeth English than anything else. A realistic man, he then summed up his ordeal as the sands of time. In the 50s to even 80s, most armed robbers were not as audacious as what we are witnessing now. In those days armed robbers tried to run away when caught, but modern ones stay to engage you in fierce battle. They knock on your door, and sarcastically tell you to open the door for your visitors. “Visitors?” You wonder. “At this time of hours?” And, only the lucky ones survived to tell their horrendous stories, which could have been averted with the right kind of leadership. Idle hand is the devil’s workshop, as they rightly told us. A youth who burnt the candles at both ends for four or five years before eventually graduating, will vex his anger - in revenge - against the society that has forgotten his existence. Such a youth will rage against heaven if he could. Such a youth will be susceptible to temptations of any kind. But revenge itself is not justice but injustice to get justice. Gone
were the days when students of higher institutions were assisted
financially during the course of their studies. Today, students are
being forced to engage in dubious activities to supplement their
existence. For example, most female students have turned professional
prostitutes in order to survive. Some who are not bold enough to engage
in prostitution prefer having “sugar daddy” to support their
education. It is not anymore a shame for a twenty-year old to have a
married man of fifty as “boy friend”. What does it matter as long as
he could finance her education and other necessities of life! Her
parents, probably the same age as her “sugar daddy”, do not care as
well. Why do they have to care as long as their daughter’s lover could
buy mobile phone for them! Such is the pitiable situation the How
can a nation be so insensitive to the plight of its youths, and yet
expects any tangible contributions from such disillusion youths. In this
period of nationalism being impart on many youths around the world,
Nigerian rulers are infusing or injecting inferiority complex on our own
youths. Or what do you think is the future of a nation full of
uneducated youths? Instead of embarking on youth’s reorientation
campaign, the In
most part of the world, qualitative education is compulsory up until
secondary level. In If
a Nigerian schoolgirl drops out of school as a result of pregnancy for
example, no one raises eyebrow. Her parents would even force her to get
married so as to bury the shame of the family. In an era when most kids
in Western world are becoming computer wizards, hardly can you see a
computer in Nigerian classrooms. The mobile phone that is considered by
Nigerian government as their prime of success is within the reach of
nine year-old pupils in most part of the world. Sure, the incidence of
violence and delinquency in Western society is increasing rapidly, but
the leaders in those societies provide well-established juvenile
institutions as a way of correctional method. There are stories of
delinquents turned journalists, judges, doctors etc. The same cannot be
said in It is probably only Nigerian rulers that refused to acknowledge the fact that education is the gateway to the future. According to Plato, the direction in which education starts a man or woman will determine his or her future life. Therefore, we need to enlighten Nigerian society for the need of education. It brings knowledge to those who possess it. A society full of educated citizens breathes in fresh air that sustains such nation until eternity. I agree with one Will Durant who said, “Education is a progressive discovery of our own ignorance”. Youths need proper education since they are the fountainhead of a nation without which such a nation will perish. Let start implementing serious educational programmes for the benefit of our youths. We just can’t afford to let our youths be another wasted generation hence they’ll spit over our graves, and stub ashes on our photographs. |