International Youth Day in Nigeria: The irony of a nation’s leaders of tomorrow

By Kolade Joseph

No doubt that many youths in Nigeria would have loved and preferred not to know or read about International Youth Day for the fear of springing up bad memories of lost dreams and fantasies they grew up with.

Many will not forget in a hurry their childhood dreams and fantasy. While in our early age, we have beautiful thoughts and believe in our country and ourselves — a feeling that we often express while taking civil education especially when your handsome and beautiful teachers ask you “What do you want to become in the future?”

Smile.

Of course, you can remember your answer even while sleeping…doctor, lawyer, teacher, an engineer, an accountant among others. These are no doubt beautiful dreams from poor innocent ones. But what can we say of those dreams now?

Many have by chance and grace attained theirs, among the lucky ones, more were born with silver spoon, while the children of the poor woke up to reality as they began to grow up.

Oh life is not balance and even worst from this side of the world!
The stories we were told have changed. Children of the rich people can’t attend the same school with the poor again. No more free education and free meals. The government doesn’t sponsor brilliant students’ education abroad any longer.

Dream needs to be jettisoned for reality. We got to change course of studies to enable us further our education in any affordable higher institution. Remember, many have dropped out of the system.

The song keep changing. The youths are the future leaders, they are leaders of tomorrow. Here the youths have grown up to 40years, they are still youths and leader of tomorrow at 45 and 50 years of age. It’s that amazing!

Where are the youths prepared to take up the mantle of leadership and how ready are the leaders to hand over?
The system was intentionally structured to handicap the young people via poor education. Once majority of young people can’t afford education, their thinking and reasoning will be weak and lame leaving them with no power both financial and mentally to take over leadership via a polluted and unrefined democratic system.

The above conspiracy against youths is actually yielding results as evidenced in the present reality. The mental and financial poverty intentionally created enables conspirators to sponsor a cross section of youths against another, leaving the youths divided and disunited.

However, their evil conspiracy against youths is having a general fall back on the people which are clearly defined in areas of insecurity, terrorism, arm robbery among many menace.

Well, I don’t know how this little piece can serve as an eye opener to many young people there. But I think we got to think more on unity and love among young people without which the lamentations will continue from generation to generations.

There is hope by the way. The sun will later or soon shines.The beautiful destiny and future belongs to those that can work their dreams. If every youth out there knows the the truth, the truth will definitely set us free.