From our earliest days in kindergarten, we were repeatedly reminded that we were the leaders of tomorrow. Those reassuring words instilled in us a sense of pride, responsibility, patriotism and an obligation to participate meaningfully in nation-building. We carried that message through secondary school and tertiary education. Interestingly, my daughter, who is on the verge of completing her university education, recently told me that the same message is still being drummed into their ears today: You are the leaders of tomorrow! One is therefore compelled to ask: when exactly will tomorrow arrive?
Today, that supposedly promising generation, particularly millions of unemployed graduates roaming the streets in search of opportunities, has become so economically strangulated that many have constituted themselves into political praise-singing platforms, endorsing the political ambitions of men old enough to be their great-grandfathers. More tragically, some of these political beneficiaries occupied positions of authority when these same youths were still in kindergarten, being taught that they would one day inherit the responsibility of leadership.
They now appear on television, mount political platforms, issue endorsements and pass fanciful votes of confidence on political officeholders whose stewardship has brought the country to its present sorry pass—all for a miserable political handout. That is what hunger, unemployment and economic strangulation can reduce a generation to. The tragedy is that when the electoral circus is over, the hired applause will cease, the political benefactors will retreat into their privileged mansions, and these young people will return to the same poverty from which they temporarily escaped through a loaf of bread. They have sold tomorrow to the very people who mortgaged their today.
But that is only one dimension of our national tragedy. We are equally confronted with an alarming generation that increasingly celebrates, normalises and rewards moral decadence. Permit me a simple illustration: publish a thoughtful, intellectually stimulating and educative article capable of expanding the intellectual horizons of our youths, and you may struggle to attract a fraction of the attention it deserves. But post a young lady virtually unclothed, publicly exhibiting her most intimate attributes in the name of birthday celebration, and watch thousands of unemployed youths troop into the comment section, applauding the spectacle, celebrating the indecency and virtually crowning its subject a role model. What an inversion of values! Apparently, in this new social order, intellectual excellence struggles for attention, while public indecency enjoys a standing ovation. When a society begins to applaud what ought to provoke reflection, its moral compass is already in distress.
The situation is further compounded by the dangerous obsession with instant wealth, popularly exemplified by internet fraud, otherwise known as Yahoo Yahoo, and other fraudulent shortcuts to prosperity. Hard work, integrity, patience and enterprise are increasingly being displaced by the desperate pursuit of wealth without a corresponding investment of character or legitimate effort.
And so, I ask: WHO WILL RESCUE WHOM IN PRESENT-DAY NIGERIA? The youths, who appear to have surrendered their moral compass and political independence, or the political class, which has perfected the art of converting public office into an inheritance, passing political power from one family member to another while leaving the overwhelming majority of young people to scramble for crumbs? Is this the leadership succession we promised them, or merely a sophisticated arrangement for perpetuating political dynasties?
It is, however, important to acknowledge that those still seeking greener pastures beyond our shores are, in many instances, driven by the enduring belief that diligence, discipline, competence and hard work can still translate into a meaningful future. A nation that makes honest labour unrewarding should not be surprised when its most promising hands seek opportunities elsewhere.
Our tertiary institutions must equally undergo fundamental moral and intellectual rehabilitation. Universities should not merely award certificates; they must cultivate character, discipline, critical thinking, civic responsibility and ethical values. In our university days, we were taught the virtues of hard work, integrity, decency and responsible citizenship. How did we travel so far from those ideals?
The uncomfortable truth is that rescuing Nigeria requires more than changing political officeholders; it requires rescuing the Nigerian youth from economic enslavement, intellectual laziness, moral bankruptcy and the dangerous illusion that relevance is measured by wealth, indecency or proximity to political power.
As the elders say, when the foundation is destroyed, the house cannot stand. And when a generation sells its conscience for a loaf of bread, it should not be surprised when tomorrow is taken away from it.
May God help us recover our values, rescue our youths and reclaim the future we have so recklessly endangered. At this rate, it will take more than political promises to save us.
