It is an irony that despite the cry for power shift to the younger generation, the state has always looked back to the older generation for leadership. The last attempt at generational shift ended up in disaster. So, where is the future?
In my opinion, this generation seems more “wasted” considering they cannot rise above divisive politics of the “wasted” generation to give hope that Kogi’s future belongs to its youths. It is sad that this generation seems to have imbibed from the older generation all the traits that have held our state down.
Painfully, I do not see a future for the state even if power is handed over to this generation. Indeed, the cry for a power shift to the new generation is misplaced in my own view. Today’s youths seem contented to queue behind old generation politicians as cheerleaders. Rather than mobilise to form a movement, Kogites youths are being used as enforcers of the old order.
On social media, the educated ones have become internet trolls recruited to spread hate. During the last elections, our youths played a huge role in the toxic manner the campaigns played out. This generation is also not immune to the corrupt tendencies of the older generation. Rather than raise a voice against corruption and impunity, they are contented to feed off the crumbs from the same politicians who have been plundering the state for the past one.
One feels saddened that this generation of Kogites cannot rise above the fault lines that have divided the state . Kogi is a state divided along so many fault lines. Over the years, these fault lines have been the source of ethnic and religious crises. Unfortunately, as seen recently, both in the 2015 elections and other political crises, this generation has become part of a vicious cycle of violence brought about by the fault lines. Today, our youths are used to cause death and destruction as ethnic warriors and hate peddlers.
Some years ago, despotic former military ruler, Ibrahim Babangida, was criticised for saying this generation was not ready for leadership. Looking back now, one can say Babangida was on point. There are many factors stacked against this generation. First is the loss of moral values and failure to imbibe the virtues of hard work, respect and responsibility. Nigeria is a country of quick fixes and the youth are a sad reflection of this malaise.
The few who believe in hard work do not get their due in an environment dominated by charlatans. With the loss of values that was once sacred and guided interaction among the people, Kogi has become an enclave of anything goes. No wonder the youths have no role models and nothing to hope for. Really, where are the role models? Who do the youths of today look up to? When a state is bereft of leaders and mentors, what future does that state have? Individualism has come to define this generation and that is why the older generation has found it easy to divide them at crucial moments in history. It is easy for politicians to play the ethnic and religious cards than to appeal to our sense of patriotism. Unfortunately, our youths often fall to their gimmicks. Our educational system has also contributed to the failure to raise patriotic future leaders. Since the 1980s, public education has suffered a gradual but steady decline. At this period, the state witnessed a massive brain drain that led to the depletion of human resources at the nation’s tertiary institutions.
At the primary and secondary school levels, teachers were owed backlogs of salaries and the school system collapsed due to neglect. Expectedly, the products from the schools were half-baked. How then do we expect a new generation of leaders to emerge from a broken public school system? Now the situation has become worse. Indeed, our state is in dire straits and we can only hope that our youths will learn from the failures of the older generation and get their acts together. The future is now.
– Hon Alfa Tijani, an ardent fan of APC in the last general elections, writes from Ajaka, Igalamela/Odolu LGA of Kogi State.
Contact: hon.tijanialfa@gmail.com
