I’m proud to be a younger Nigerian; significantly to be a part of the crucial mass that strikes the needle – we used to wish for instances like these. Way back I started sensing that the salvation of this nation is within the palms her younger individuals and the extra I reside, the extra I’ve come to imagine it so intensely such that no one can inform me in any other case. I did a video some years in the past ever earlier than Gen Z grew to become a factor the place I acknowledged categorically that I’ve not seen or examine any nation in trendy historical past that wages a battle towards its younger individuals and gained. They might be outsmarted within the brief run however won’t ever be outnumbered and every time they get in formation – it’s sport over. I used to be livid that 12 months when younger Nigerians have been described as “lazy” a lot that I wrote a whole e-book about it. A few of us are usually not emergency lovers of Nigeria, this is the reason I’m dedicated to publicly documenting a few of my ideas regardless of my schedule as a result of a time will come when I’ll simply preserve quiet and solely reference what I’ve stated earlier than.
They Not Like Us!
We criticise public officers as a result of their choices are extra consequential in scale on residents than non-public individuals. This playbook of conflating points by churning out lame narratives reminiscent of disrespect for elders is pure BS. How do you clarify to a teenager {that a} whopping N9 Billion was allotted for the 2024 Olympics however her title was not entered for a contest or that she needed to borrow a bicycle from one other nation? We are able to’t proceed perpetuating this incompetence tradition by defending the indefensible with truckloads of baloney. In the event you ask me, the federal government must be grateful that regardless of their anger, some younger individuals may articulate their calls for very intelligently and in a really civilised method. If the basics of this agitation are usually not addressed, there may not be a heads-up subsequent time and sadly, this chest-thumping and related shenanigans gained’t be sufficient.
We go jam for the junction
What political get together does starvation belong to? What ethnicity is inflation from? What non secular tenets does poverty subscribe to? Fela was in his bag when he recorded Authentic Sufferhead as a result of the 4 issues he adumbrated, “water, mild, meals, home” are nonetheless choking massive swaths of the inhabitants in the present day. In the event you perceive the psychology of younger individuals, they sometimes aren’t thinking about politics. Nevertheless, when your reggae begins to spoil their blues and so they draw a straight line from their socio-economic outcomes to those voodoo insurance policies, they may enter the chat. In 2015, Nigeria was the third fastest-growing economy on the planet till that projection was interrupted by abominable management. You’ll be able to’t gaslight this supposed phone-pressing technology; they’ve educated themselves on how these in energy actually suppose at inflexion factors just like the pandemic, October 2020, the 2023 elections and even now with the federal government’s response to their professional agitation. It’s peak fooling to suppose that this sabre-rattling will make them blink first. No wam, we go jam for the junction.
Sorry For The Snigger
It leaves me in stitches every time I see some characters attempt to reprise their previous tips. All these undercover political operatives ought to know that they don’t seem to be coping with our mum or dad’s technology wey dem run avenue that 12 months. All people eyes don neat now, that format don forged – replace full floor. God is all about justice, fairness and equity. Tomorrow, they may say younger individuals don’t respect their elders however they won’t let you know how a few of these elders have ruined their legacy by making an attempt to abuse the reverence that was in any other case statutorily accorded them. Not gonna lie, conventional stools and distinguished custodians of tradition being lowered to hirelings of politicians shouldn’t be one thing I had on my bingo card.
I by no means thought one of the best that so-called grasp strategists may provide you with was mobilising individuals for counter-protests, thuggery, veiled threats from safety businesses and different acts of tomfoolery. I’ve all the time insisted that half of what we have been taught as historical past is pure lamba as a result of some of us who claimed to combat for democracy that 12 months have been totally uncovered as ethnic irredentists and bigots with a sprinkle of dictatorship. Awful-appointed public officers speaking down on those that have been validly elected through the poll field is a travesty of democracy – a badly written joke.
People who find themselves notoriously quiet when younger persons are going by way of hell however abruptly begin dropping unlucky quotes when the youths have been pushed to the wall ought to search their souls. We hear extra in regards to the financial influence of protests than the grand theft of 400,000 barrels of crude oil day by day. Some select to sing about our struggling however ghost on us when they need to converse up – afroshege appears to be their favorite style. Some intellectuals nonetheless suppose that is 2015 when dem dey type chef upandan, they need to know that cooking is not an unique protect of some – all people don get PhD for Culinary Research. This technology no too get pleasure like that. In the event you do anyhow, you go accumulate woto woto. Coconut head technology na your mate? Dey play my followers. As soon as once more, sorry for the snigger.
What Is It? Haven’t You Executed Sufficient?
In the event you reside in Nigeria, you no higher move your neighbour – being classist within the poverty capital of the world shouldn’t be the flex we expect it’s. Particular person success won’t ever be sufficient to compensate for collective failure. So long as your neighbour is hungry, you’re actually not balling. Younger Nigerians aren’t lazy, they simply want the fundamentals and they’re going to type themselves out. Nigerians shall not reside by palliatives alone; sharing of rice shouldn’t be an financial coverage – all these hand-outs are getting out of hand. Lots of younger persons are caught between the satan and the deep blue sea; they’re struggling to reside, and neither can they go away the nation. Price of dwelling wan kee the dwelling and it prices an arm and a leg to japa. What belongs to Caesar no positive for am once more; the common younger particular person might by no means be capable of journey overseas, construct a home or purchase a automotive of their lifetime and it’s not as a result of they aren’t hardworking. They’ve realised that political leaders have mortgaged their futures to a big extent and if one thing shouldn’t be completed urgently, neither they nor their kids are leaving the trenches anytime quickly. Youths have misplaced helpful years to abominable governance and they’re seeing the indicators that they could need to sacrifice extra of their youth for some extra propaganda-driven management that cosplays good governance. The worry of their future and the uncertainty is why they’re talking up as a result of the maths shouldn’t be mathing.
I used to suppose it was simply the nostalgia industrial advanced at play however on nearer interrogation, I see that there’s a enormous demand for encore vibes. I not too long ago noticed an advert the place a model needed to recreate a well-known TV business that struck a chord with audiences, extra musicians are outchea sampling previous songs extra, persons are reminiscing on previous instances after they perceived issues have been higher, and a preferred film studio needed to carry again certainly one of their OGs to revive its franchise, even in sure political quarters there’s a sturdy demand for encore management. Merely put, most younger individuals appear to imagine that below the present association, their future appears bleak in comparison with their previous.
The financial power of younger individuals appears to be an existential menace to sure feudalistic leaders and because it’s too late to make a few of them illiterate, such leaders attempt to make them poor. It appears the plan has all the time been to assault the mind, pocket or each. Financial ventures championed by younger individuals have gotten whacked with taxes, bans or obnoxious laws. From Bitcoin, ride-hailing providers, X, content material creators (though NFVCB classification doesn’t apply to on-line content material), tech companies and now there’s chatter about taxing distant staff. It’s not about performative stipends and selfies, any politician that claims to like younger individuals will present it by way of coverage. No be cho cho cho, present workings. I’ll go away the small matter of WhatsApp probably exiting Nigeria owing to extreme fines; apps wey our mama dey use reply tech sis? Na dem go enter streets, we no go even put mouth.
Ultimately, this Naija wey you see so, it’s our zone. These streets wey you dey see so, it’s our personal. All of the individuals wey we see, we love them to our bone. We’ll take our stand and construct our land with religion to defend what’s ours.
