Lamentations Of Nigerian Youth

Lamentations of Nigerian youth By Bello Sammani Adam For the past years, since the beginning of "New Nigerian Democratic Era", the focus of the conscious Nigerian youth and Nigerian masses in general shifted toward developing strategies and ways of pleading and crying to our so-called fathers involving the act of kneeling down at their door steps. Just for what? Just for these our fathers to rectify the already laid down foundation for the betterment of the our fathers grandchildren down-down ward. What fathers! You wonder whether at all that "our fathers" ever exist! Of course, it is of great pity where a child is crying, but his father is nowhere listening to him talkless of helping him by holding him and feeding him. It is just established fact and of common sense that ‘whenever a child ceases getting support from his father as a fault from the father, the end result would not yield a favourable end’. The truth is that, a father is always there with listening ears and helping hands in solving his child’s problem. A father is always striving to lay down a good foundation for the betterment of his child his grand, grand child. A father is always there to bring his child out of sun. A father is always there to create opportunities for the development of his child. A father is always… always…always…there for his child. Anya kuwa! Are we Nigerian youth correct? Or are we just following that terminology enforced on us by the past generation? Are those our fathers really ours? Or are we to replace this terminology by another one? So let try this one our leaders! Ah! (I even laughed at myself). ‘Ai’ the two is the same!our fathers means our leaders! SHIKENAN How disappointing! Instead of listening to their children, Nigerian leaders just turn their backs on them, some even blocks their ears so they will not hear what it said to them. Instead of extending their hands out to solve their children’s problems Nigerian leaders fold their hands at their back, some will even push their children into more problems. Everyday you tune to your radio or YV sets what you hear, and watch, open a page of a newspaper or a magazine what you read; all is just voices, motion pictures and writings of Nigerian youth and Nigerian masses crying and pleading to "our fathers or our leaders. Please Baba! No job, ‘Aikinyi babu. Please Papa! No light, ‘Wayyo baba a kawo wuta Oh! Baba Wahala Plenty. Baba No education. Papa no, no, no with no end in Nigeria! But you know what? Like you are talking to gorilla, cow and others. They will just be nodding their head as they get what you are saying to them. But at the end we will understand that they never got anything you said to them. SO WHAT’S NEXT? The only way out is that we Nigerians must admit that the solution for many Nigerian unsolved questions (in our terminology), and the rapid increase of crying and pleading are not enough to bring about a worry-free life in Nigeria. This crying and pleading is not only unable to reduce the amount of suffering and youths’ slavery in Nigeria, but also has led to the emergence of fallacious world for the majority of Nigerians that living happily and all what it possess is nothing but mare fiction or motion picture watched on TV screens; and that Nigerian youth’s inevitable conclusion is to become a straw being tossed around by those egotistical, voracious, antiquated Nigerian leaders. Therefore, in order to free ourselves from the continuous anguish and suffering of life in Nigeria and go beyond the black cloud which darkens our souls, we urgently need righteous guided mind. It is here that the power of thinking becomes clearly manifested and shows its astonishing influence on man’s life. In order to safeguard ourselves from being victims of various events, and to protect ourselves from the waves of slackness, negligence, exploitation and exaggeration we must establish a scale of thinking for ourselves by which we can judge our actions and conducts; hence guiding

our souls to correct thinking that may equip us with powers to defeat slavery in Nigeria. Perhaps we are unable to elect the counted individuals whose conduct and ways of thinking are most like ours, but we are free to select our thoughts. We are the judges of our minds. We may choose that which we deem appropriate. The external causes and influence which we observe are not part of us that they may control and force us to think in a certain way. Therefore we must choose the correct way of thinking and eradicate disadvantageous ones. A time is about to come when the youths will arise to fix things themselves...they would emancipate themselves from mental, social, financial and political slavery....knowing that they are the future is just not enough, crying that our fathers have failed is not good either.......what stops them from pursuing, overtaking and recovering all. Even if this means tying the fathers to the stakes or executing them all in one fell swoop. Nigerian youths should stop crying...they should step up their game, and step up the plate.....yes they can. And since we are under the spell of negligence from the authorities, the question is not who is going to let us; it is who is going to stop us? Real leaders are ordinary people with extraordinary determination. What type of leaders do we therefore want to be tomorrow? ‘’There is no chance, no destiny, no fate, that can circumbent or hinder or control, the firm resolve of a determined soul.’’ Fellow Nigerian youths, are we determined to make Nigeria GREAT? Obsessed is just a word the lazy use to describe the dedicated. Are we obsessed with the love of our country or we just curse our lovely land. Will you and I continue to say "Ol boy, na Nija be dis? when there is black out or light failure?" Development, a word we talk about everyday in our discussion of Nigerian problem. "We are not developed", everybody would say. But are we really acquainted with what "development" means? Certainly NO! "…it implies increased skills and capacity, greater freedom, creativity, self-discipline, responsibility and material wellbeing." Walter Rodney At last, the deeper the communication is between the various element of society, the faster the development and advancement are. Thus, youth need to communicate and emancipate, liberate, release and free ourselves from the world of negligence, rule by laxity and leadership with slackness. So we say NO to slavery! Yes to emancipation! Bello Sammani Adam, is the Secretary General, Bakin Kasuwa Students’ Association (BAKSA). T/nufawa Qtrs. Jakara Kano City.