BUILDING THE FUTURE OF OUR YOUTHS

“we cannot always build the future for our youth, but we can build our youth for the future” Franklin D. Roosevelt

                                                               THE SCARS OF VAIN STRUGGLE

Recently, the whole country woke up, with utmost dismay, to the shocking Hollywood-like story of Daniel oikhena’s journey to Lagos as a stowaway on a flight from Benin city according to media reports, the teenager actually thought the flight was heading to USA. Since the incident Daniel has since assumed a star status of some sort, recently bagging a scholarship award from his home state. But the truth is, young Daniel was extremely lucky; many people never are.

We may not yet fully understood Daniel oikhena’s motives or intentions but desperation for a better life has often been cited as the reason for ‘’suicidal’’ bids by young Africans to travel to Europe and the Americas through extremely unconventional, nay unbelievable, means and routes. From attempts to cross into Europe on foot via north African deserts to hiding in airplanes compartments, many young Africans have lost their lives in their desperate bids for greener pasture in the west. The pit able stories of the Nigerian, Okechuku okeke, who was found dead in the nose wheel compartment of a united states airliner and that of Mozambican, josematada, who plummeted to his death on a London street, from the undercarriage of an airplane ten miles from Heathrow are two sad reminders of many young Africans misguided zeal and enthusiasm.

The ages of adolescence and youth are such beautiful years when their possessors only want to live their dreams, soar with their hopes and passionately pursue their desires. Full of energy and driven by unbridled willpower, they earnestly seek opportunities to hone and express their budding skills and talents, some more brazen than others. It is therefore unfortunate when we allow our youths to misdirect their energy or use their talents for negative purposes when we fail, deliberately or negligently, to help them channel their God-given resources towards positive ventures.

The Greek philosopher, Aristotle, was very profound when he said ‘’youths is easily deceived because it is quick to hope’’. Instructively, we cannot afford to leave our youths idle or unguided because you cannot hold down the energy that resides in them. They will always find avenue to exert their energy, to express their enthusiasm and they may be compelled to do so negatively if possible options are not readily available- sadly though, the scars of vain struggle can be enduring and painful.

For a couple of months now, the academic staff union of universities (ASUU) – the pressure group for university lectures- has been on strike, locking down our institutions of higher learning, whilst leaving the army of Nigerian undergraduates and post-graduate students idle and ruminating on the misery of the extra time they have to spend before earning their respective degrees. At a time when their mental and physical strengths should be devoted to scholarly activities we have left them futile and indolent, sadly, a number of them might be persuaded to exploit their physical and mental strengths in ways not only harmful to themselves but possibly more harmful to their milieu.

By all means and purposes, the attempt here is not to lay the blame on any of the relevant parties but to emphasise that as a country we must today resolve never to allow our youths to be idle again through strikes. It is very much achievable and it may well be the best gift for ourselves even as we commemorate our 53rd independence anniversary.

But more importantly, there is an urgent need for a total revamp of our educational sector as well as a deliberate effort at identifying practicalengagement programmes for our youths, especially in the area of agriculture, technical vocations, technology, sports and entertainment. Given recent trends in global economic dynamics, our educational curriculum needs to be revised for a more practical approach to learning. We need to focus more on vocational and skills-development courses that can foster innovation and entrepreneurships among our youths- development theorists have identified the next fulcrum of development as the transition from brawn to brain. On the whole the strength and potential of our dear country lie in the dynamism of its large youth population.

On this memorable occasion of our independence anniversary, we must renew our commitment for a better future for a better future for this great country, as embodied in our youth’s population. To sustain the vision and labour or our heroes past, we must help our youth the truth to know.

GET INSPIRED 19:39