“If the young knew better… If the old could.”
Old age is a beautiful thing. Considering we all want to be old, it is worth anticipating. Old age is a time to sit with your children and grandchildren discussing the events of your youth.
More than that, it is a time to play advisory roles, paying attention to one’s health and enjoying the fruit of one’s labors. If there are any regrets, old age is the time to recount them to the younger generation so they can learn from them. As the saying goes, the wisdom of the old is important.
The youth is a time to be visionary. The Bible acknowledges this in Joel 2 vs 28 “…your young men will see visions.”
One of the core ingredients of leadership is envisioning the future one wants and the old age one desires while putting one’s youthful vigor into achieving it.
Anambra State is blessed with people from several generations. These categories raised in different times, seasons, generations, hold different perspectives on views of life, especially as it concerns innovations, administration, methods of governance among others.
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There is a pressing need to bridge the gap, for different generations to understand one another, while each generation plays its roles effectively: The youth stepping in to lead with visions and vigor, the older generation playing the advisory function for an optimized society everyone will benefit from.
That is the purpose of the Smart approach, to bridge the gap between the generations. There are already very many divides in our politics; political parties, gender disparities, senatorial arrangement, alleged political agenda of one section or federal constituency of the state of Anambra south agenda, the list goes on, and the Smart campaign (and subsequent administration) is not going to add ageism to the unending list of the prejudices.
What Smart Nonso Okafor seeks is creating an all-encompassing administration that connects the old and the young and every other perceived divide to achieve a common goal. So, his intention should not be read wrong or misinterpreted.
Furthermore, the youth have been accused of political apathy, this is because they haven’t had anything to believe in. The governance of the last decades has been men in their 50s and above peddling the administration of the state. But presently, chains of events have stirred patriotism in the minds of the youth, and the youth are ready now, more than ever, to take over the leadership strata, counting on their energy and insight that the JET generation has bestowed on them.
The most satisfactory thing about electing credible and innovative young persons a leader be it political, business, religious, and so on is that they come in with a fresh perspective, fresh ideas, and a stronger voice to tackle existing problems. They also bring up new policies suitable for tackling the complex problems occasioned by the dynamic of present economic realities, and really have the vigor and strong will to push those policies.
Another advantage of young blood taking over the position of political leadership and governance, in particular, is evident in the area of health. The stresses of running for a political office, or holding the position of the executive governor can take a toll on even the most healthy person, but the vigor of the youth will cushion the health effects and reduces medical visits, allowing him to focus on delivering the tasks of good governance. The list goes on.
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The usual argument against the youth is that they are “inexperienced”. It’s in this aspect that Hon. Nonso Smart Okafor has distinguished himself and remains the best option, in addition to the physical strengths he possesses as a youth.
His experiences both in leadership positions and in the workings of Anambra State governance span across many sectors. From his early days as a secondary school student to his final days in a higher institution, he had been a student-leader holding the offices of the students’ union director, and later, the Students’ Union Government, SUG, president.
After his days as a student, he has led many youths organization both in secular and in religious circles. He has also received numerous leadership training and courses as far as the United States of America and from other globally acknowledged leadership training institutions. In addition, he is an award winner of good leadership from many institutions such as the Red Cross Society, YALI, and so on.
Presently, his positions as deputy chairman of two most sensitive positions, deputy chairman IGR, and deputy chairman Finance and Appropriation, which are the livewires in the governance of the state, places him in a better position and top in the ladder as a very experienced fellow, thus downplaying whatever one will want to bring up in the manner of argument, as the connection between his youthful age and “experience”.
God’s gift of Smart to Ndi Anambra despite his age is a blessing and a bridge between the younger generation and the old.
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