If Nigeria’s youths are timid, tractable, and apathetic to economic and political issues affecting their country, the anvil on which they are forged should be blamed. The government, the formative schools, the universities, and the predatory politics all are the forgers of today’s youth. A system, which pushes self agenda and corruption has already ruined the mind of an average Nigerian youth.
There was a time in Nigeria when the youth held the fort. They were unbending to the caprices of the military and to the stimuli of fear and avarice. They stormed Nigerian politics with all strength and bravado of youth, seeking positive results and pushing their agendas with all will power of youth. Africa’s political history is not complete without appreciating the roles that youths played in achieving their countries’ independence. In the years leading to independence, youths were the driving force behind the nationalist activities that led to the dismantling and eventual overthrow of colonialism and the colonial masters.
In Nigeria, the activities of Herbert Macaulay, Nnamdi Azikiwe, Obafemi Awolowo, H.O. Davies, Tafawa Balewa, Ahmadu Bello, and Samuel Akintola among many others in their 20s and 30s are legendary. Some of these youths are reputed for the formation of political parties such as the Nigerian Youth Movement (NYM), which was the first political party in Nigeria, the Nigeria National Democratic Party (NNDP), and the National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons (NCNC). These young Nigerians each used the media to speak against the evils of colonialism and demanded independence. Nnamdi Azikiwe, for instance, was reputed for the use of his newspaper, the West African Pilot.
Through these avenues, they created awareness of the evils that foreign domination posed to the country and, despite various constitutional reforms, these young people demanded independence. Their tenacity and determination eventually saw the country gaining independence from British colonial rule on 1 October 1960.
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In the years after independence, particularly during the military era, young people opposed and fought gallantly against the profligacy and high-handedness of the military regimes of Yakubu Gowon and Olusegun Obasanjo, and during the brutal and inglorious regimes of Ibrahim Babangida and Sani Abacha in the 1980s and 1990s an entire generation of youth and student organisations formed under umbrella organisations such as the National Association of Nigerian Students, the Campaign for Democracy, the Civil Liberties Organisation and the Committee for the Defence of Human Rights. These took the struggle to the streets of major cities across the country.
What is happening today in Nigeria is a sore sight to behold.
Youths have more or less been relegated to positions of Senior Special Assistants and Special Advisers to Governors and other high-end political figures. Even some Senior Special Assistants and Special Advisers in the Nigerian Government also have Senior Special Assistants and Special Advisers of their own! And these are positions that the average Nigerian youth seeking a foray into politics has his or her eyes on.
One may ask, why is the stampede for Senior Special Assistants and Special Advisers so much among Nigerian youths? The answer is simple, Political Jobbery!
Political Jobbery can be defined as the practice of using a public office or position of trust for one’s own gain or advantage.
Using this as a reference point and judging from the happenings in Nigeria of recent, it can be said that the average Nigerian youth seeks more of social validation and monetary gains to actual positive changes in the society.
Only very few actually want to work to effect positive changes in Government, others use the position of Senior Special Assistants and Special Advisers to oppress their fellow youths, pursue personal gains and agendas to the detriment of people under them.
This ugly development started from grassroots politics such as Students Union Government politics in higher institutions. Student leaders no longer represent their constituencies but the school leadership which most times select them. Students are stampeded out of reason and seized the power of independent thought and critical thinking. They are instructed to parrot whatever the lecturer and the school say.
Nigerian youths serving as Senior Special Assistants and Special Advisers have yet to achieve the level of inclusion required to gain positive representation in politics. Personal agendas have overrun positive agendas. Most of these Special Advisers are glorified messengers who run around at the sight of their bosses. They pretend to be very busy while offering no value whatsoever to the quality of governance. No groundbreaking idea or solution to any of our chronic problems in Nigeria has ever emanated from any Special Adviser.
Nigerian youths in the political sector need to reform themselves and re-evaluate their outlook to positive gains because they are more or less the future of politics in Nigeria. Pushing the Political Jobbery agenda would only sink the Nation-state into more ruins.
AFRICA TODAY NEWS, NEW YORK