By Columba O. Omeda
It beats my imagination how the youths who account for about 60 percent of the whole population of the citizenry are so lax and docile politically. They seem to be relaxed rather than striving for a more realistic and evident change in the polity that could usher in their liberation from an apparently oppressive, autocratic and economically inept government glorifying hardship and poverty, to a more promisingly inclusive, progressive and economically informed alternative.
They choose to be apathetic or lackadaisical about how those who manage their collective resources are being elected or appointed into office. Do I say they are being manipulated in mortgaging their future and that of their unborn children into the bloody hands of villains, tyrants or dictators with little or no economic managerial know-how and ingenuity? Mediocrity, inefficiency, ineptitude and incompetence have become the order of the day and are being celebrated because a lack of willpower to challenge and change the status quo.
They prefer to watch as their collective wealth, greatness, personal right and social security are being slaughtered on the table of economic malady, nepotism, religious bigotry, tribalism and a whole lot of other divisive factors that are borne out of regionalistic political agenda. They have been brainwashed into championing regional or ethnic supremacy more than the cause to get the country into the most desired ‘Nation.’
They have allowed themselves to be subjugated politically by the supposed leaders to a state of being moronic and idiotic. How else will one describe their annoying inability to question, participate and determine that justice, fairness and equity prevail in the land? Is this actually democracy as it ought to be? Democracy is meant to be the government of the people, for the people and by the people.
Voter apathy must be discouraged and we must nurture ways to achieve this. I propose electronic voting, which will allow all eligible citizens both home and abroad to vote. I also suggest that the votes are transmitted simultaneously from the polling booths. By doing so, there would be more transparency, reduced encumbrances and less human capital involvement in the election process thereby also reducing cost. We must always ensure that our votes count by speaking up and following the process to a logical conclusion peacefully. If one doesn’t have a voice in the democratic system of government, where else can it be?
The values have been muddled up earnestly. Modest achievements, accomplishments and dedication to one’s work/professional service are no longer being celebrated, rather, they tend to adore and worship ‘money-miss-roads’, whose sources of wealth, most times, are questionable. These misdirected individuals and never-do-wells that got riches through whatever means flaunt their ill-gotten and dishonourable wealth in order to gain influence, to the admiration of the gullible youths or the whole populace. This is why somewhat obscene and depraved programmes like Big Brother and the likes usually record an alarming number of voting from the youths while the electioneering processes that ensure credible and qualified persons are elected into various political posts of importance record low youth participation. It is saddening and pathetic.
The quest for individual wealth acquisition without requisite knowledge of managing or sustaining such wealth has been on the increase in recent times. They are more concerned with selfish pursuit of riches and defending ethnic nuisances than considering the ‘good’ choice of leaders or policymakers whose policies could affect all their endeavours and quality of life. The inordinate or burning desire for wealth through the ‘easy’ way has led a lot of them into various vices and criminal acts like fraud, robbery, ‘Yahoo-Yahoo,’ ‘Yahoo-plus,’ pant stealing or snatching, etc. Most people involved are either young graduates or jobless youths who, if the political and economic situation of the country were good and favourable, could have been gainfully employed or better still assisted by financial institutions with easy access to funds at low interest rates and less cumbersome conditions to start their own businesses and put their entrepreneurial ideas to work, thereby creating more jobs as well as providing employment and further boosting the economy of the country in return.
Honestly speaking, there is a need for an urgent re-orientation of the teeming population of Nigerian youths into imbibing right and correct values, norms and etiquettes in order to alter the socio-political narratives in the country, if we are really concerned about getting it right. We can no longer fold our arms while expecting miracles to happen or hope that the leadership gets it right before we unite in “sincerity of purpose” to achieve the much expected result we want in our country. Yes, we must be part of the process fully. Sing it, chant it, talk it and discuss it in every forum you find yourselves; the need for unalloyed unity, inclusiveness in governance, sound economic policies and infrastructural development that will benefit all citizens, notwithstanding the region of the country you come from.
We must shun all forms of divisive factors like tribalism, nepotism, derogatory comments (our criticisms should be constructively issues-based and not biased) and religious intolerance, which should be shunned, while we come together as ‘true progressives’ in this inevitable alliance, in order to take our country back and see that it gets to the Promised Land. No matter the wrongs of the past, we must earnestly forgive ourselves and forge ahead. No more casting of aspersions and blames on anyone or any ethnic group, if we still and truly believe in this ‘One Nigeria’ project. We must ensure that the government of the day is sincerely inclusive in its administrative policies, and not the “97 percent to 5 percent,” as hitherto witnessed.
The time is now!
•Omeda, a pharmacist, wrote from Lagos
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