He was pretty young, full of vigor and drunk with enviable ambitions. When asked by his teacher what he wants to be in future, his innocent mind wasted no time in opening his voice outlets to mention the very best he could think of.
His Teacher beams happily at him and say, “Bravo….!! To achieve that, what you have to do is study hard and pass all your subjects with good grades”. Of course that’s very true, as studying hard is key to achieving success for every serious student.
After delivering his nice words of encouragement,the young teacher chews on his words secretly, examine his earnings, standard of living and then, asked himself “how true are those words in Nigeria?”, “Didn’t I dream as BIG as that little boy?”, “What happened?”.
O well, after studying very hard, making good grades and scaling through the huddles of JAMB and post UTME examinations, he gets his first bitter taste of his pathetic society. Of course, his results are fantastic and he can’t wait to be a successful university graduate, but admission is not forth coming, as some old rich parents with affluence, literally drag their children (most times unserious and unwilling to school) into his merited position. Hmm….! Then, he asks himself “WHAT CRIME HAVE I COMMITTED TO DESERVE THIS?”
After donkey years of seeking admission into an institution of higher learning, he finally gets one.Now, he gets bullied by some aged men and women tagged Lecturers; “Grade E and F are for average students, C and D for good students, B for Geniuses, while grade A is for God Alone”. Gosh…! You can imagine!! After all, the lecturer in
question schooled during the days when people were begged and persuaded to do so, he had free balanced meals, free laundry, sure job and possibly a car waiting for him on graduation, which is very contrary to the situation of things now.
O well, to provide the poor youth with a glimmer of happiness in the midst of all his society is throwing at him, fate brings the love of his life to his path...hmmm…..finally another reason to love life despite all he is going through. O well, not until he discovered the secret of how the “love of his life” maintained the” grade status” of a “good” student on campus, jumping from one lecturer’s bed to another on request and coercion.
After surviving six years in school instead of four due to series of industrial strikes by some egocentric academic bodies, and scaling through the huddle of one year compulsory service, He finds himself in the labour market where the bitter pills of our pathetic society are given out freely, while the goodies are reserved for a privileged few, who most times are the offsprings of the wealthy and “connected” parents of the past generation.
The poor youth walk into several offices to seek employment, only to find old men and women struggling to read inscriptions on papers and their system despite having thick medicated glasses on, yet claiming to be 10-15 years younger than they really are, in order not to relinquish their position to the younger generation on merit. Even when they finally relinquish the position (most times due to age related illnesses, or kicking of the bucket) their children take over from where their parents stopped, as if it’s a monarchical position. Little wonder, even the world of politics in Nigeria is dominated by a few family names who have been reshuffling positions on the corridor of power. For God’s sake, how could one person serve at different times as minister of education, minister of culture and tourism and finally minister of Aviation? Are there no capable youthful hands that can do the job and be a blessing to people of their own generation too?
With all due respect to all old office holders, how can youths of this generation be gainfully employed when you have refused to leave the seat they should be occupying? How can Nigeria grow when it is been nurtured by old weak hands while capable, energetic and youthful hands lay idle.
Remember, when that young man was 9 years old, you encouraged him by saying “YOU ARE THE LEADER OF TOMORROW”, Now he is 29 years old, and today is the tomorrow you talked about yesterday, but sadly, you are still occupying the leadership position which rightfully belongs to him while you suppress him to ensure he serves you as a slave for as long as you live. WHAT IS THE CRIME OF THAT NIGERIAN YOUTH?
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Nice one!
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