- By Bernard Ogbe
I have taken today, October 1st 2020 to get the youths busy thinking and talking in a new direction. This day on history, holds the freedom of Nigerians from their colonial masters. As ancient as this history holds, we still seem to yearn for another colonial masters, for life then, as told by our aged compatriots was far better than our generation inherited.
It’s unfortunate that 60 years are gone, but yet to find that route of national treaty to position us as the acclaimed giant of Africa.
There’s no gains redundantly saying, we lacked, all necessary requirements to become the best in the world. A nation, blessed with huge human and natural resources but lacking good leaders to pivot our resources to that finished point of satisfaction to the ends of her citizens.
It would be insane to always tag bad, our leaders, without rising up to that stage of making frantic efforts to effect on the nation our own quota as we all share in this miss managements of our nature given resources.
How well had we sold our continence, and vote in or harken to those same cankerworms that threatened our developmental progresses? How well had we closed our eyes to that insane acts that had led to the abandonment of national projects of beneficial requisites to the populace? How well had we rose to perform our constitutional and civic responsibility to do our voters registrations, cast our votes than panic at a government we care nothing about?
Records have it that the population of voters in the country is minimal to the population of complaints. How well can we challenge a government we never voted or participated in, either by victory or loss?
United States of America, Spain, Malaysia, Italy, United Arab Emirates, South Africa among others are countries that had passed through the trying taste of times. Today, people long to migrate to these developed countries, forgetting they went nor passed through hard times to define their present existence. The hopes of a better Nigeria is our duties to dictate and no one, foreigner nor expertise would do for us, what we can do for ourselves as a nation.
The youths are often said to be the leaders of tomorrow. Without compromise, the strength of a nation revolves round the activeness and strength of the youths.
To state facts, the workforce of a nation can not be viable keeping the youths at arm’s length in the operation and duties of the government.
Keeping aside the active age bracket of life, Nigeria seem to fall backwards to this given age brackets in politics and government. In the illusion of time, the reality to the limiting growth of the nation Nigeria is dictated in the outputs of the existed government of old aged leaders of outdated ideologies.
The statutory retirement age in Nigeria is 60 years or 35 years of unbroken active service. Why should it be so? What could be the reasons to peg retirement on that age bracket? Simple and common sense had proven, the weakness of man, hanging a balance between 70 to 76 years. At 76, the brain cells tend to depreciate gradually until 80-90 years when our brains return to that of an advanced child…
As it concerns Nigeria in her politics and government, we must first abolish that intake of leaders of 70 years and above and look on prospective leaders with the age range of 45 to 69 years, having brilliant blueprints and great manifestos that can possibly drive our economy and boast our standard of living.
The politics of succumbing to the show and display of cash by our old compatriots, as shameful as it is to the destruction of our economic and infrastructural progressions is a campaign we must put first, before our youth compatriots long before this coming 2023 general elections.
How well shall we continually dance to a melody that would hold us captive for years is a defeat we must overcome together as a nation that wants freedom from this old generation politicians that cared nothing or less about citizens.
The time is now to redefine the Nigeria we deserve.
The strength and willingness of the youths compatriots of Nigeria can make a change, that difference our old compatriots failed to make.
Welcoming, are those voices that would stand and profound solutions to the dying cries, in a nation of divers resources, than Condemn a government with no efforts to making things right. If this government is bad, there’s every tendencies, we had contributed to the ill fate of the government by our silence.
Irrespective of the struggles so far, with the efforts of this present government of President Muhammadu Buhari to step up project continuity across the country, I wish my Nation Nigeria a happy Independent day celebration, hoping tomorrow, to celebrate her in a glorious way, for our commitments and impacts of the leaders of tomorrow, would at a given time become meaningful.
Bernard Ogbe
Writing from The Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.
