OURS TO CHANGE

“Transformation”, “Power to the People”, “Change”, “Change the Change”, “Leaders of Tomorrow”.  Do these repertoires of words strike a chord in your faculty of reasoning? Do they in anyway provoke nostalgic and saddening thoughts in your mind? Can you say with a significant degree of certitude that you are comfortable with the pragmatic connotative and denotative meaning of these words? As long as these words are concern, the questions can go on and on in quest of finding constructive, society-oriented and definite answers that will go down history.

Over the years, politics in Nigeria has been clouded by the aforementioned set of words, though right and correct in themselves but wrongly advertised, publicized and used by men and women with good wishes but bad motives and intentions for us as a nation; quite unfortunate, wishes weigh ounces but motives and intentions weigh tons. However, it would be too much an assumption to totally push the blame to the people we now call politicians, as all of us have our fair share of the blame as youths. Thus it is imperative that we redefine democracy and what Nigerian youths have to bring to the table.

Democracy in its real sense as a system of government entails free and equal representation of people, where leaders are elected freely and equally by citizens. With this come different political parties that every election year will in consensus come up with a candidate of their choice to campaign for the votes of the citizens. These political parties often come with slogans or mottos that ought to guide every little detail of their administration. Hence at the moment, Nigeria is in the political ambit of change.

It is no gainsaying that the place of the youths in Nigerian politics since the inception of democracy is very dismal when it comes to participation and engagement; this therefore is the push behind the need to re-echo our indisputable and non-replaceable position in Nigerian politics especially in this era of change. For how long will politicians keep playing politics with us and our future? Do we just give them the green light to carry on with mortgaging our tomorrow today or the time has come for us to beam the red light of “TRUE CHANGE”?

Nigerian politicians with utmost sense of humility and sensibility, I can say have over the years failed Nigerians. I don’t mean to be prejudicial toward politicians here but I intend to open up the wound of our nation that hitherto has been shrewdly closed so that all-embracing and people oriented healings can take place. However, this healing will not take place when you and I as youths do not rise up to take a stand and be responsible as Nigerian youths; it sure begins with us and we sure need to take a stand.

            I can hear posterity shouting to Nigerian youths on top of her voice saying: “enough of political slogans that won’t translate into something meaningful”, “push out political thuggery through the door of no return”, “no more selling of votes for a morsel of bread”, “why die for politicians that know you not”? “Are their political ambitions worth your priceless life”? If given the chance, posterity can shout on and on. What then can Nigerian youths bring to fore? What can we do to play our own quarter in changing this beloved and betrothed nation as her active workforce?

Our problems as a nation do not only consist of poor  leadership, bad structure of governance, bribery and corruption and the rest of the popular ones we all know; it will surprise you to know that our problems go much more deeper than these ones. A popular proverb has it that: “you don’t kill a tree by cutting its leaves or branches but by killing it from its roots”. True, if we must tackle the different problems bedeviling this nation, we have to go back to base, only then can we truly experience an upsurge of change within and without.

Nigerian youths, this nation is not the responsibility of any political party or administration to change, but it is solely ours to change. Change begins with us as individuals; we must come to internalize true change as a way of life, and true change is a transformation by the renewing of the mind which can only be done by God Himself, only then can we become agents that can move for true change in Nigeria starting with our Families, Communities, Wards, Local Government Areas, States and the Nation at large.

Practically, the moral decay in our communities that stem from our families is ours to change. The doctrines of men that is fast beclouding the face of God in our places of worship, is ours to change. The backwardness in our academic institutions that has resulted in producing half-baked graduates is ours to change. The geometrical increase of bribery and corruption in every stratum of our society is ours to change. The rate at which we are having selfish and greedy leaders back to back is ours to change. In fact, as changed people, we can change anything.

How then can we achieve these as Nigerian youths? First, we must be upright ourselves then we can have the conscious moral compass and courage to confront: that little boy that is laying the foundation of looting billions tomorrow by stealing meat from the pot today, those girls/boys that are messing up the sanity and morality of our community by jumping from one bed to another, those couples that cheat on their spouses every day, those students that got their certificates through malpractice, those religious clergies that daily tilt their messages just to empty the accounts of their congregations at the expense of producing righteous and godly congregation, those politicians that promise much but deliver nothing.

Succinctly, it was Fela Durotoye that stated categorically in his speech at “The New Nation Conference” hosted by Pastor Chingtok of the Godlife Assembly Jos that change entails bringing forth a New Nation and this largely rests on Values and Integrity (Paraphrased). In fact, in agreement with Durotoye, we carry in us the power to change almost anything detrimental to our dear nation as youths if we can redefine our values, be youths of integrity in every little detail of our lives and in turn relate same to all irrespective of age, religion and socio-political position in the society.

It is high time we quit whining about our ugly situation as a nation and begin to be the change we want to see in the country. Yes we might not be able to do it all, but if we all will rise to do the right thing even in the most informal little thing, change will ripple throughout this nation. It begins with you in your little personal corner, in your family, your neighbourhood, your place of worship, your working place and your community at large. True change is ours to experience. Remember, what we permit persist.

As a people and a nation, youth in particular, time and space have brought us to a dispensation where we must turn back and look how far we have come. True, the road hasn’t been easy, but it is sure filled with diverse yet equally important and instructive signposts of where we ought to go from here. Why siting here till we die when there is much we can do? Why folding our arms when we carry in our hands the needful tools of rebuilding this nation? Why withdrawing into the cocoon of passive youthfulness when we have the active explorative power, prowess and knowledge of making this nation enviable? Why keep silent when the destiny of this nation lies on our tongues? Congruent with the hymn writer, I will humbly say with deep sense of responsibility that let none hear you idly saying, there is nothing I can do.