The Place of Nigerian Youths in the Country’s Quest for Good Governance

By Ebuka Onyekwelu

I have come to the very bold and categorical conclusion that one way Nigeria can be changed is by transition of leadership responsibilities from the first post-independence Nigerian leaders and their allies, who are fortunately or otherwise still ruling the country, to youths and other Nigerians who are not more than sixty years.

Sixty years is Nigeria’s age of retirement from civil service and I believe someone in his or her sixties, can do so many other things but most unlikely to undertake efficiently, the demands of modern leadership of a country like Nigeria. What I am saying is that for the sake of Nigeria’s progress and development, nobody who is above sixty years should run for a public office, whatsoever in Nigeria. The very shocking fact remains that until such massive retirement either by volition or instrumentality of law in Nigeria, Nigeria’s attempt at development will remain a most uphill, if not impossible task comparable to trying to receive file vie Bluetooth into a Nokia 3310. And this, much as the device is strong and unblemished; it is not suitable for the purpose.

This should not in any way be construed as a deliberate insult or an attempt to carelessly undermine the contributions of our heroes past and present, far from it. The point of this thesis is that Nigeria has reached the stage where the need for holistic transformation has become desperate and can no longer be entrusted in the hands of its current crop of leaders.

Again, the world has advanced beyond the capacity of most present Nigerian leaders, majority of who are around seventy years. Yet again, Nigeria has advanced in many ways, therefore more complex and tasking to lead now than it was before. Leading the country at any level requires the sophistication of modern men and women. Of course, it goes without saying that such youths must be capable. Leadership no doubt is about capacity to deliver on the core governance mandate. But even the capacity is usually affected by age and normally follows a generational sphere of achievable possibilities. What this implies is that each generation is bound by time to make its own contribution towards advancing humanity and then exit the stage for the generation after, to make theirs and the cycle continues.

For Youth In Politics And Governance: Our Destiny Is In Our Hands

Without any intention to garbage the older generation’s contributions and abilities, it does appear that perhaps the worst of today’s Nigerian young people are comparable to the best of the yesteryears’ youths and this is why. Today’s responsible youths are more educated, more exposed, more informed and more prepared, even as ironically, they are also far less willing to take their own destiny by their hands after being conditioned to live in a particular way; go to school, graduate, get a job and be alright. I suspect these hinders most Nigerian youth from going all out to take charge of the country’s governance.

Moreover, Nigeria is a country of young people. The 2012 National Bureau of Statistics report has it that out of Nigeria’s 166 million population, about 70 million of that population are between the age of 15 and 35 years. Meanwhile, we can count the number of Nigerian youths in that age bracket that are occupying strategic leadership positions. In most State Houses of Assembly, finding members in their thirties is uncommon. The same goes for Local Governments. The implication is that the past generations have shaped their own time and have moved in to shape the future of these young Nigerians. Whether we accept it or not, our future and life largely depends on what these first-generation leaders did in the past and what they are doing today because of their current occupation of the country’s leadership. Youths in Nigeria do not have much say in the governance of their own country and that is the reality. Young people generally have no part or place in the governance of their country. Worst still, most government policies towards youths are a mere formality and ceremonial with no impact or

Good Governance Not Rocket Science – Prof Moghalu To Nigerians

intention to change the perception of youths to actors and stakeholders, instead of beneficiaries of government’s benevolence. In essence, youths in Nigeria are looking forward to a future they neither planned nor were part of it’s planning. It is indeed a tragedy of no small proportions. In actual fact, do young people really have a future to which they will say, ‘this is ours’? What can be more great a disservice to youths! True. Political power does not come on a platter. I am often surprised at the level of carelessness and indifference exhibited by youths in matters of politics and leadership. That is the height of unpatriotic citizenship! Every Nigerian youth must as a matter of survival begin to pay serious and committed attention to Nigeria’s government and leadership starting from his/her ward and constituency. Young people must rise to the occasion of running governance affairs now so that they may determine the future. There is no better way to secure Nigeria’s present and future. Older politicians and leaders should step aside and offer elderly advice, from experience, when necessary.

All Nigerian youths must be deliberate in all efforts to dismantle the age-long dominance of Nigerian politics and leadership by the same crop of people who have been running the country since 1960. To think about it, what sort of progress can Nigeria possibly now make under the same people, their protégées and allies, which somehow we could not make all along? The narrative that overemphasizes the need for experience or the excuse that today’s youths are worse, are in bad taste and conceivably part of the ploy to keep the youths away from rising up to their responsibility and from insisting on choosing how their future can be better secured.

Nigeria has not made serious progress over the years because of the same dogma, same age-long animosity among these older leaders; their penchant to politicize our identities for their personal gains. Their pretense that for instance APC or PDP is the problem of Nigeria, yet they keep jumping from one to the other when it serves them. We cannot continue in this age-long deceit.

Both older; I mean those above sixty years- and younger Nigerians are an asset to the country. But the state of the nation can better be driven to near the aspiration point of most Nigerians, by the youths who after all cannot afford to fail, for the sake of their present and future, now before them.