If The Youths Are Really The Leaders Of Tomorrow Then Nigeria Is F**ked!

In a situation like this, the Yorubas will say, "iwaju o se lo, eyin o se pada si" roughly translated, it means, "the future looks gloomy but the past is nothing to write home about either". I know I don't really have to explain why this is the case with Nigeria. We've been ruled over the years by the same set of greedy, inhumane, corrupt, soulless demons (give or take a few variations) and it looks like in the future we're just going to evolve to an upgrade of the versions we already have.  Yes, we all dream of a better Nigeria (some more than others), but there's really nobody ready to do anything about it. We've been told countless times, infact it has been sung to us many a time when we were children that, 'the youths are the leaders of tomorrow". We were so naive back then. We actually believed it. I just keep wondering though. Who do we really have to blame? Our leaders?  The parents? The teachers? Whose fault is it exactly that the youths of this generation turned out the way they did? There are certainly more bad eggs than good eggs. And as always, in situations likes this, it's a little too late to do anything about it. Afterall, you can't teach an old dog new tricks. I guess what bothers me the most is that we are all turning a blind eye to the evil that is slowly taking over everything in it's path. I know right now there are lots of evils plaguing the land and I cannot touch them all. Infact, some are just too sad for me to be able to talk about right now. For categories like that, I just climb inside my bubble and pretend none of it is happening in my country. In a country that I have consciously loved for 12 years.

I always assumed that the solution to all the nation's problem was in the hands of the youths. I always felt like if young blood was given access, change would automatically appear. I know better now. Change can only come to light if we inspire it and right now, we're doing nothing of the sort. The youths that should hold the key to a brighter tomorrow are the very ones smearing mud on the nation's white. They have successfully managed to make Nigerians questionable at home and abroad. Gone are those days when we were known for our skills in football and other amazing stuff (I was quite young then so forgive me if football is all I remember clearly).Now, every Nigerian people meet online is fraudulent and much recently, could be involved in terrorism (the latter isn't even something I ever imagined could be used in the same sentence as a Nigerian). Every body wants to get involved in a get-rich quick scheme. We have the youths taking up so many different vices; cybercrime, political thuggery, armed robbery, cultism, prostitution, money rituals and so much more. My heart constantly bleeds at the rate at which they willingly sell their souls to the devil.For the ones involved in these activities, they find it so incredibly hard to quit. They like making money for  little or no labor (let's face it, going without sleep typing away on your laptop doesn't count as labor). I understand their plight though. Gaining admission into a university is hard (that is if you can actually afford it) not counting the fact that so many have given up on getting quality education. After 4 years of your life is spent getting a certificate (sometimes more than 4 if you have the misfortune of ending up in a public institution), you spend another year serving a country that will not necessarily serve you in return and then you're thrown into the labor market to swim or drown. Very few swim. If you look at it from their point of few, you get that what they really want is to live big without the stress of climbing the very steep and slippery ladder of success. What puzzles me the most is the fact that it is quite obvious to everyone around people like this that they aren't working and yet they are making money and nobody bats an eye. It makes one wonder if the society is finally learning to accept what it cannot change. Or...they don't want to change it. They cannot very well argue and say that they didn't notice, the signs are right there in front of them.

Some might argue that I am not in the best position to talk about this because I have been shielded for most of my life but I guess I can safely say that I have seen a few things myself. I never feared guns. I grew up so close to the former President's house in Abeokuta and it was always tightly guarded. So, just passing by, I have seen my fair share of guns. I only realized how scary they could actually be when I got into the university. I had a family friend quit school because a gun was pointed at him, I heard the story and laughed. Now I know how he felt. It was so frightening and unreal to me. Here I was staring into the barrel of a gun which could very well be used to kill me if I annoyed it's owner. That was the only armed robbery I've ever witnessed and it stuck with me for so long. I had to leave that entire vicinity before I could find some peace and enough strength to keep going. That's nothing? Okay then. I've been in a town where lots of us witnessed a brother kill his older brother brutally and he in return faced jungle justice. Trust me, there isn't much that scars people for life but that is one of it. I always thought the punishment for deliberate murder was death, what makes the people that killed the murderer themselves any different from the murderer himself. They didn't flinch at the thought of killing a man either.  In my opinion, that was cruelty at it's highest order. Do they have that little faith in the justice system? For so long I couldn't even stay at the spot of the act. And yet people carried on with their lives like what happened was nothing at all. I had problems sleeping. I was finally faced with the wickedness of man against man. That shocked me. I could feel the chill seep deep into my bones. If they could do that to one of their own, who they watched grow up, who is a mere stranger?

Away from matters that literally sickens me. I have found that there is a very thin line between cybercrime, cultism, armed robbery, drug trafficking and money rituals. It is now generally believed that if you can get involved in one, at some point if you feel the need to upgrade it's no longer a difficult choice. Why? Anything to keep the money flowing, right?  You can no longer tell who's involved in what as you could be very wrong. Late last year, a couple of guys were apprehended by the police for big time armed robbery and the people closest to them just assumed they were into cybercrime. Turns out they actually tried that first and when it didn't turn out the way they expected, they went into armed robbery. See? Thin line. People have argued again and again over which state has the highest number of youths involved in these social vices. Does it really matter?  I thought what mattered was that we fix it (just so you know, it's not lagos). It's like the authorities deliberately ignore these atrocities even when it is so very obvious. One monday morning in February, I strolled out of my estate to pick a cab at the gate. I got to the junction and what I saw was a sight indeed. Keep in mind that it was a monday morning about 10am or thereabouts. I saw 15 cars moving in a convoy. I actually counted them. No idea where they were coming from or who they were, I just knew they had to be involved in something fishy. The problem with my city is you can never differentiate between cultists and fraudsters because the same people are involved in both. Now I wonder how these people passed by the Mobile Police on their way to wherever they were going without them even raising an eyebrow. I mean, how much more obvious could it get?

It's obvious they didn't work for the money because nobody that actually works for money spends it the way they do (except artistes and celebs). Again, no one that actually works for money will be out on a Monday morning doing absolutely nothing. There's no party big enough to keep them from going to work. People have asked out loud countless times why they feel the incessant need to flaunt their money. Very simple. If they don't flaunt it, how do you know they've got it? One would also wonder why most of them find it so hard to invest this money and do something good with the money. Again, simple. We only really appreciate what we work hard to get. Whatever comes easily with very little work is always taken for granted.

Now I know that we have so much more pressing issues in this country. They are all in need of adequate attention. What baffles me in all this is the rate at which people praise and celebrate their leaders for doing something they are supposed to. How these leaders find a way to turn everything they do into an event. So, you built schools, so? It is part of your job to make sure that the masses are all properly educated isn't it? Everything is all propaganda anyway. I really do not have a side as I am not interested in politics of any form. I am neutral. I plan on touching every one of this pressing matters. Everything is in my opinion and also at the rate at which it hurts. I guess I just felt like since I was a youth as well the least I could do is call the attention of other youths like myself to the wrongs we're committing. It's so sad to describe the future of anything as ' bleak at best'. Nigeria is in that boat. Deep down, we all want what's good for this country. There's really no place like home. At some point, you're coming back. If the older generation has failed us, we do not have to fail ourselves. We can still create a change but only if we are willing to do things the right way. The mindset that nothing good can ever happen in Nigeria again should be removed. We have to be that driving force of good. If we do not come to her aid, no one will.

I cannot do much of anything. I know at most I will only probably ever touch a few people. But, one thing I can do is write. I think it's about time we all stopped keeping quiet. I have a pen and as of right now, I am no longer afraid to put it to paper. Last time I checked, I live in a free country. This will not be the last time I write about something like this. I guess you could say I would feel better with myself if I didn't just keep quiet.

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