The quote 'the children of today are the leaders of tomorrow' can be said to be one of the most misplaced and blatant lies when using Nigeria as a case study. How do we qualify the fact that Olusegun Obasanjo ruled Nigeria at the bid of thirty-nine in 1976 during the military era and came back to rule Nigeria during the civilian era at the age of sixty-two(he ruled for eight years).
Gen. Muhammadu Buhari ruled Nigeria at the bid of forty-one in 1983 during the military era and contested for the last elections at the age of sixty-nine. He is even planning to contest coming presidential elections when he will be seventy three!
General Ibrahim Babangida also became the military president of Nigeria at the age of forty-four in 1985 and tried to contest the presidential election in 2007 at the age of sixty-six.
No matter how much these people can proclaim to love this country, there are traces of greediness in their ambition of ruling this country even when it is clear as daylight that opportunity should be given to young ones who are capable and familiar with the trend of the present day politics.
To also acknowledge the fact that they never reformed Nigeria during their first chance(although Buhari-led government was said to be in order) will result into a damning judgement.
We have always heard from wise people:'do not change a winning formula' but obviously theirs is a formula that is not feasible, not solvable, and is always against the rule of nature. In short, theirs was a formula that failed colossally and that should have been changed with alacrity.
Unfortunately, even when it was clear these people(there are other people apart from the three named people) were in government to pursue personal agendas, no one could dare challenge them because of their powerful(but negative) influence.
Their influence means any youth that will be allowed into their 'party' must be ready to be their puppet. Any youth that come into the government always failed people because of the high expectations placed on them.
When Dimeji Bankole became the speaker of the federal house of representatives in 2007 at the age of thirty-seven, people thought a youth we have yearned earnestly for in government is now the number four citizen in the country.
We thought with a youthful vigour, Dimeji Bankole will be able to show Nigeria what we had been missing for a while. We were happy a youth was given a chance at last. However, Dimeji Bankole was an epitome of disappointment as he betrayed every trait we expected him to show when he had his chance.
At the end of Bankole's tenure(when he was probed for embezzlement of public funds), it was easy to think that he got that chance, not because he was a youth, but because he had been hypnotized by the old ones on the sacred path of corruption.
Now the situation has developed into an almost impossible situation; we complain of not having youths in the government but are we even sure the introduction of youths will bring the needed change? That is the ultimate question and there is only one result most progress-minded Nigerians will anticipate.
We want a youth in government who will display the youthful vigour needed as a patriot to fulfil his pledge to this country.
Are the youths strong? Though the old ones may channel their strength to the wrong course, it will be a no contest to compare a youth of today to the old ones when they were young. They were trained in a harder way and that is evident in the way they have managed to keep up.
It is very important that if the youth want more opportunities, we need to create them and not wait for the time it will be served for us in the plate. The youths need to step up. How many big businesses are headed by young people in this country?
Apart from the political realm, have we been able to compete favorably with them in academics, in business administration, in discipline, etc. ?
These are questions we must sit down and answer honestly from our hearts. If we want opportunities, let us show our capabilities.
On Monday(7th of January, 2012) the northern youths decided they will challenge their leaders for more involvement in leadership roles rather than using them as election machines be dropping then off after elections.
The greedy but unambitious youth will collect money in exchange for his opportunity. No one is stopping the youth except that force which is the youth himself.
Gen. Muhammadu Buhari ruled Nigeria at the bid of forty-one in 1983 during the military era and contested for the last elections at the age of sixty-nine. He is even planning to contest coming presidential elections when he will be seventy three!
General Ibrahim Babangida also became the military president of Nigeria at the age of forty-four in 1985 and tried to contest the presidential election in 2007 at the age of sixty-six.
No matter how much these people can proclaim to love this country, there are traces of greediness in their ambition of ruling this country even when it is clear as daylight that opportunity should be given to young ones who are capable and familiar with the trend of the present day politics.
To also acknowledge the fact that they never reformed Nigeria during their first chance(although Buhari-led government was said to be in order) will result into a damning judgement.
We have always heard from wise people:'do not change a winning formula' but obviously theirs is a formula that is not feasible, not solvable, and is always against the rule of nature. In short, theirs was a formula that failed colossally and that should have been changed with alacrity.
Unfortunately, even when it was clear these people(there are other people apart from the three named people) were in government to pursue personal agendas, no one could dare challenge them because of their powerful(but negative) influence.
Their influence means any youth that will be allowed into their 'party' must be ready to be their puppet. Any youth that come into the government always failed people because of the high expectations placed on them.
When Dimeji Bankole became the speaker of the federal house of representatives in 2007 at the age of thirty-seven, people thought a youth we have yearned earnestly for in government is now the number four citizen in the country.
We thought with a youthful vigour, Dimeji Bankole will be able to show Nigeria what we had been missing for a while. We were happy a youth was given a chance at last. However, Dimeji Bankole was an epitome of disappointment as he betrayed every trait we expected him to show when he had his chance.
At the end of Bankole's tenure(when he was probed for embezzlement of public funds), it was easy to think that he got that chance, not because he was a youth, but because he had been hypnotized by the old ones on the sacred path of corruption.
Now the situation has developed into an almost impossible situation; we complain of not having youths in the government but are we even sure the introduction of youths will bring the needed change? That is the ultimate question and there is only one result most progress-minded Nigerians will anticipate.
We want a youth in government who will display the youthful vigour needed as a patriot to fulfil his pledge to this country.
Are the youths strong? Though the old ones may channel their strength to the wrong course, it will be a no contest to compare a youth of today to the old ones when they were young. They were trained in a harder way and that is evident in the way they have managed to keep up.
It is very important that if the youth want more opportunities, we need to create them and not wait for the time it will be served for us in the plate. The youths need to step up. How many big businesses are headed by young people in this country?
Apart from the political realm, have we been able to compete favorably with them in academics, in business administration, in discipline, etc. ?
These are questions we must sit down and answer honestly from our hearts. If we want opportunities, let us show our capabilities.
On Monday(7th of January, 2012) the northern youths decided they will challenge their leaders for more involvement in leadership roles rather than using them as election machines be dropping then off after elections.
The greedy but unambitious youth will collect money in exchange for his opportunity. No one is stopping the youth except that force which is the youth himself.
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Will our leaders ever understand leaving the podium when the ovation is loudest?