Nigeria is home
to a quarter of the African population. After being colonised for over 60 years,
the country gained independence 55 years ago. Young Nigerians of different
generations have contributed to every remarkable milestone the country has
achieved. The young people of 1960s fought hard to secure independent Nigeria.
For instance, young people laid down their lives to preserve the oneness and
unity of Nigeria during the civil war. The young people were brave enough to
endure the military rulers and struggled for a true democratic nation. The
young people are the propellers of the Nigerian economy, which is the largest
in the continent. Young people were instrumental to the success of the recent
historic democratic change of gaurd where for the first time in the history of
Nigeria, a democratic transition from one political party to another at the
centre was made possible. This is a sign of growing maturity of democracy in
the country and sense of patriotism by the young people.
Change in
political party is not the only change the Nigerian youth are seeking, but it
is the gateway to achieve the real change, and that is what has motivated the
Nigerian youth to vote for change in the last election. Nigerian youth didn't
vote for a particular party, they voted for the vehicle that will drive them to
the promised land. A promise land where access to quality education is equal
and affordable to all within the Nigerian borders, a land where success is
determined by how hard one works and how competent one is, a land where access
to basic life requirements, power, health care, and potable water is equal for
all economic classes. The promised land we dreamt of was the one where lives of
young people sleeping in their dormitories or in worship places or in parks or
market places or in their homes are safe and secured.
The road to the
promised land could be steep, but with the same resilience, patriotism and
sense of responsibility from the young people, Nigeria will get to the promised
land. Young people’s role in achieving the real change is therefore inevitable,
and the young people have all what it takes to make the real change happen. As
we celebrate the 55th independence, we should reflect and assess ourselves to
know how far away we are to the promised land. And what, individually, can we
do to push the train a bit forward. Every single push matters, every person’s
hand is needed. It moves faster with more hands, and this call for more
inclusive governance and sense of responsibility.
Responsibility
is what all Nigerian young persons need to have; everyone needs to think that
he/she is responsible for the security of his neighbourhood. If you notice a
suspicious stranger or movement, you have to take the responsibility to notify
the relevant authorities. If you see your neighbour’s child not going to
school, you have to feel responsible and help put the child back to school. If
the waterways of your neighbourhood is dirty, take responsibility and clean it
up or organise a local fund raising to seal off all sewages in your area. If
you engage or allow little corruption, you have to take responsibility to stop
it. If you see someone in difficult circumstance, feel responsible and offer a
helping hand. We have to be our brothers’ keepers. Feeling and acting
responsible are the initial pushes and necessary steps to the promised land.
Whatever we
celebrate today as a nation, it is a celebration of collective individual
success stories of citizens who became and felt responsible. Talking
about the size of the economy, the success of every economy or nation lies on
individual success of the people who felt responsible and became entrepreneurs,
who felt responsible for their unemployment and thought of a business idea to
solve an existing problem. Economies and nations can never prosper when their
teaming young generation think only of government's responsibility for their
unemployment or other plights. People have the power to change government by
changing their collective attitude and instilling an unyielding sense of
responsibility.
This is the
first independence celebration since that historical democratic change, and it
was easy for the young people to make it happen, because they believed it
should be different that time, and they took responsibility to make it happen.
This has taught us that once we collectively believe in something and feel
responsible for it, we can achieve it, and there is no time more important for
the young people to strengthen the spirit of belief and responsibility than
now, because the journey to the promised land just begun, and I have no doubt
in my mind that we as young people will get there.
Most of us here
are Nigerians, and we are here in a foreign land. Many of us are here to pursue
our dream for quality education, and we feel proud and happy for that. For me,
my coming here made me feel guilty and responsible, I always ask myself, what
about my brothers and sisters in my community who could not have the rare
chance of securing a foreign scholarship? Would this mean they will not have it
even if they want it, because they can’t go abroad? Access to quality education
should not be an optional, it is a necessity, and lack of it is the root cause
of Boko Haram, cultism and kidnapping. While providing equal access to quality
education, you are by extension tackling millions of issues. That is why in
every religion, education is the number one priority, and it is through
education that nations prosper. Nigerian educational institutions are not up to
the standards because they are not the first and only option.
Because, the
rich people and people in government always have option of sending their
children abroad to acquire quality education, they will always do that, but if
they don't have that option, everybody will feel responsible and contribute
toward making our educational institutions better. I think it is high time for
Nigerian government to stop feeding foreign institutions. We create jobs for
others at the expense of our people. We can do most of our learning back in our
country. Going abroad to study should be for special courses or programmes only
and when necessary. Let us build our institutions so that British people will
also go to Nigeria to study.
As we celebrate
55th independence anniversary, its been estimated that Nigeria's oil reserves
will dry up in 53 years’ time. So, what are we preparing for our children?
Nigeria must diversify its economy and we should enhance our agricultural and
mineral resource sectors to cure the lingering resource curse. In 1960, one
dollar was purchased at N0.71, and today it is purchased at N199 officially
that is. In 1960, Nigerian external debt stocks was zero, and as at the end of
last year (2014) it was around $44 billion (N7 Trillion). In 1960, inflation
rate in Nigeria was 6%. It has now doubled (12%) and in 1960 tooo,
unemployment rate was barely 3%, and in 2014 it was 25%. So it is time for us
to deeply reflect on why these indicators keep rising, and we can return to
1960 or even better. This is the purpose of this celebration; to reflect on the
labour of our heroes past, and how we can strengthen unity and patriotism to
maintain their legacies.
We are confident
that the President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration will lead us to the
promised land. General Buhari should never assume that the job will be easy. To
make the job easier, Nigerian youth must embrace the spirit of patriotism and
sense of responsibility and work together as a people to build the nation.
However, to build the nation, the youth must be built. A youth-less development
is a useless development.
The political
fight is over. Nigerians must come together irrespective of political
affiliations, ethnic and faith persuasion to fight for the country we all love
and be ready to sacrifice for its success.
I enjoin every
Nigerian to put the country first before any other interest, and let us all be
champions of peace. As we celebrate the country's independence, let us do so
with love, brotherhood and tolerance to enjoy the beauty of this nation.
Finally, I want
to use this opportunity to call on President Buhari to actively engage more
young people in his administration. With the reported first batch of ministers
sent to the senate for confirmation, we look to see a young person, but we have
not seen any young person within the defined youth age bracket. Therefore, we
look forward to the second batch, and the youth must constitute at least 30% of
political appointments at all levels.
Happy
independence anniversary Nigeria! Long live Nigeria!
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