THE ROLES OF NIGERIAN YOUTHS IN THE EMERGENCE OF A NEW NIGERIA

Ochai G. Isaac

Life as a whole has stages and certain things are better achieved at certain stages. The youth stage is the opportunity moment for someone to predefine how his or her adulthood would be like. It thus becomes necessary to understand who a youth is. According to Wikipedia, “youth is the time of life when one is young, and often means the time between childhood and adulthood. It also defines it as the appearance, freshness, vigor, spirit, etc, characteristic of one who is young”. Derivable from the latter definition is youth is that moment when one still has energy, aspiration and means to achieve something.

In order for a new Nigeria to emerge, the youths should first of all identify its current challenges and seek ways of solving those challenges. Such challenges are insecurity, poverty/unemployment, political violence and rigging, kidnapping, advanced fee fraud (419) and internet fraud, poor waste disposal/management, bribery and corruption, nepotism/tribalism, cultism, examination malpractice, drug abuse to mention but a few are indeed the stumbling blocks against Nigeria  growth and development.

In that light, the Nigerian youths have an integral role to play in the emergence of a new Nigeria by providing strategies to solving these challenges because it is only when these challenges are resolved that a new Nigeria can emerge.

In curbing insecurity for instance, the youths can embrace community policing/vigilante groups to assist in securing lives and property of citizens. It does behoves them to shun crime and become law abiding. They should dig their societies to expose enemies rather than becoming partners in crime. There is virtually nothing they can achieve in the midst of insecurity. Insecurity is unrest, it is death. Tyler Joseph in his words says “insecurity, for me, feels like the sensation of suffocating”. It blocks both individual and national achievements. Vin Diesel in his words also shares his opinion on insecurity as thus: “It’s insecurity that is always chasing you and standing in the ways of your dreams”.

Similar to the challenge of insecurity is kidnapping. It can be discouraged if the youths create awareness among peers on the dangers of kidnapping. There are youths that occupy influential positions in the press. Such youths should seek, find, confirm and report kidnapping cases across the country and avoid been blinded by the brown envelope syndrome.

The youths should de-emphasize white collars jobs and emphasize small businesses and partake in entrepreneurial skills. Local products can then be exported for profit maximization. Partnership should also be established to promote businesses for example e-marketing sales. By extending their businesses, foreign exchange can exist to diversify the economy.

Entrepreneurship should also entail agriculture. Youths should indulge in farming to curtail the rate of famine across the land. This in nutshell, implies that by indulging in entrepreneurship, the youths can become self-reliant thereby reducing the rate of poverty and unemployment across the country. Also related to solving this problem is adding entrepreneurship into the curriculum of schools. 

The ideology of politics is an adult game should be scrapped out. Political participation by the youths is another useful tool in bringing about a new Nigeria. Youths must involve in politics, register a party, intelligently solicit for support from fellow youths and concerned Nigerians to assume political office and rule responsibly.

Youths should discourage political violence and rigging by creating awareness on the dangers of such violence. In the first instance political leaders do not use their own children, they use the youths. If the youths therefore do not take part in political violence and thuggery, they can encourage and front other youths for political offices. It is believed elders should always take the lead but it is now obvious that age is not a determinant of effective performance in political offices as Nigerian leaders have failed even when elected based on age and track records. In addition to this opinion is leadership requires wisdom and wisdom is not the possession of only adults so even children can be wiser at times.

Advanced fee fraud (419) and Internet fraud are other challenges corroding the image of Nigeria. Creating awareness on improved surveillance and check against them among the youths to make them (youths) realize it is only a matter of time to be caught. There is no hiding place because systems have been put in place to stem the tide. Responsible youths thus should encourage their peers to desist from such practices because of the current realities.

Trying waste to wealth is a practice that should be imbibed in Nigeria. Youths should embrace creativity in their daily lives to invent ideas that generate wealth. Plastic bottles can be recycled to produce building materials, old tyre can be recycled to produce sandals and slippers, old cloths are used to make plants/flower pots and cooking stoves. The end products of these wastes are expensively sold at places. Waste to wealth is a concept which if imbibed in Nigeria will turn garbage heaps into opportunity of generating wealth. It also goes a long way preventing flood in the society because when wastes are properly managed for recycling they would not be dumped into gutters which obstruct erosion thereby amounting to flood.

Examination malpractices, cultism, drug abuse are all brand eroders to the country. Youths can influence their peers to desist from them by highlighting the ugly consequences such as rustication, death and insanity which have also bad effect on the country name or reputation.

Nepotism and tribalism can be curbed by encouraging more integration of Nigerian tribes. Mixed marriages will tackle this issue, pull down the barriers set up by tribalism and unify different ethnic groups under the umbrella of one nation, one people.

To curb bribery and corruption among youths, the youths should be hardworking because there will be no need to bribe anybody if you believe you have worked well.

Resolve the above challenges to witness what becomes Nigeria!

 

 

References:

Brainy Quote: https://www.brainyquote.com/