WHO DO NIGERIAN YOUTHS LOOK UP TO?

I grew up in the North. I was born in Sokoto State which probably qualifies as the nethermost part of Northern Nigeria. I attended a Secondary School dominated by children and wards of the Sultan and his ranking cabinet members.

I lived briefly with an Uncle whose house was adjacent the Sultan’s Palace. This afforded me the opportunity to befriend members of the Sultan’s household and earned me visitations at the Sultan’s Palace.

I was equally exposed to the Northern idiosyncrasy, their beliefs and general view of life. I can recite several Quranic passages and I’m quite comfortable around my Muslim friends. The only line I did not cross is becoming a Muslim despite the earnest persuasions of my friends and classmates. Save for the resort to extremism by certain misguided elements in the Islamic faith, the average Northerner is a nice guy. Their word is usually their bond and they take life quite easily.

They are not moved by ostentation and unbridled ambition. The average northerner is not thinking of building ten houses and having ten cars parked in major capitals of Nigerian and foreign countries. His religion has thought him to be Spartan, contented and unobtrusive.

That is why I agree with northern elders who frown at the ‘westernisation’ of core northern norms and values. They fear that the undue embrace of western cultures will erode the core values of the north.

It is for this reason that you see a shoe repairer or your neighbourhood ‘aboki’ who sells sweets and detergents being able to support two wives and several children. They simply cannot be bothered about the aspirations and pressures of the corporate world.

That is why they can sleep soundly and snore to boot because they are a contented lot.
As someone who grew in the North, I was able to inculcate some of those cultures of northerners. I am a full blooded Igboman but I am not moved by what moves my peers. I live and work in Umuahia, Abia State but I sense an underlining difference in values between our people and others. Here, you have to ‘gbuo ozu’ to be reckoned with.

The word itself should have sounded an alarm to those who live by its dictates. The literal meaning of ‘Igbu Ozu’ is killing a corpse! Its figurative meaning is that you have acquired wealth. You have arrived. You have bidden goodbye forever to the shackles of poverty. That is all that matters and however you attain that feat is your problem. Curtis ‘50 Cent’ Jackson must have been talking about us when he sang Get Rich or Die Trying.

Whatever happened to the old order of live honestly, go to school, get a job and rise through the ranks? For instance, I know people who are not necessarily rich but yet, they are icons of society. I know a Bob Ogbuagu, I know an Anagha Ezikpe, I know a Joshua Ogbonnaya, a Bath Nnaji, Earnest Ojukwu and several others who though not rich by worldly reckoning, live a distinguished and honourable life. Why can’t they be our role models?

I am worried, very worried about a trend that has crept into the Nigerian system unnoticed and seemingly unchecked. Our youths no longer have value for hardwork, diligence, contentment and patience. They want it all and they want it now.

Ask the average Nigerian youth who his hero or role model is today and chances are that he will mention the name of the neighbourhood fraud kingpin and the dishonest politician. They are awed by the flashy cars, the bevy of beauties that flock around them and the humongous houses they live in. nobody pauses to ask how the wealth came about because it is all seemingly immaterial.

He more often than not has a retinue of youths hanging around him and aping him. They pimp for him, do errands for him that their parents should never hear of and they hope to be like him some day.
More often than not, he is not educated or at best, ill-educated yet he is a role model to many. As the rave of the moment twins P-Square will say, I dey See Danger, Wahala Dey!

The other day, I was reading in the news about the scandalous mass failure in NECO examinations nationwide. This is Nigeria. We have since moved on and the media that cried blue murder have since latched unto other news. We all can’t be bothered so long as we are not immediately affected.

Every Nigerian is a Local Government unto himself. PHCN does not give us light, no problem, we purchase a generator, no pipe-borne water, we sink a borehole. Our schools are in shambles, we send our children to private schools, no qualified doctors at our public hospitals, we go to private hospitals or for those that can afford it, they go abroad. Nobody is asking questions. If others can’t afford it, it’s their problem. Yet we expect all to be well.

Now the question is, for how long shall we continue like this? Nigerians are the most travelled people. By the Grace of God and the benevolence of my employers, I have been privileged to travel to 10 countries and about 14 States in America.

Each time I want to travel and I get to the airport, I am struck by the mammoth crowd at the airport waiting to ‘check out’. 80% of those who travel do not intend to return until they can ‘show’ that neighbour, aunty, girlfriend, etc who thought they would never be up to any good. How they intend to acquire the means to show these people is anybody’s guess.

On airplanes and at International airports, I see top government officials. Nigerians are the most travelled people on earth. Now the question is why can’t we translate what we see abroad to positive developments back home? Why are we condemned to wallow in mediocrity and backwardness?

I came to Abuja in 1998. I joined the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Desire of Nations Parish and I can say that that was the beginning of the change in my life. I listened to thought provoking messages by my Pastors, Ikenna Okeke, Odun Emeasealu, Kingsley Uluocha, Austin Ekhakheme, etc. I had leaders in Okey Chikwendu, Bona Nwosu, Bankole Okpashi, Rogers Nwoke, Tolu Jinadu, Mudi, Femi Blaize, Okey Uche and the likes.

The church was a conglomeration of young professionals who knew where they were going to. Average age was 32 and everyone was up beat and positive. We stuck together, shared in each other’s joys and pains and watched each other grow. It was very easy to aspire to greatness because you could see greatness all around you. Young professionals who were diligent in what they did and who were all evidently headed for the top of their various callings.

Now why can’t we replicate that spirit nationwide? Am I being idealistic? You decide. Why can’t we uphold diligence, patience, hardwork and perseverance as a means to nation-building? Each and every youth has a chance at being an Oil Company Executive, a Bank Manager, or a top executive somewhere.

I have friends schooling abroad. One is in his final year reading Law and already, he has offers from top Wall Street firms queuing up to sign him up on mouth watering offers once he graduates. He is not thinking of Yahoo, he is not thinking of being a drug courier. He is actually keeping them all waiting while he concentrates on passing his bar exams!

Now we don’t all have to work for firms when we leave school. I was in Paris in February for an African Leadership Conference and the Guest Speaker was Mo Ibrahim of Celtel. He traced Africa’s problem to our mode of education. He advocated a paradigm shift in our University system from the current professional curricula which prepares our graduates for the job market to entrepreneurial approach to education which enables our students aspire to start up a business when they leave school.

Now my head is not in the sky. I know there are impediments to that approach in Nigeria from the seemingly intractable power conundrum to the Olympian climb of getting capital for new businesses but for as long as there are people who have surmounted those challenges, we can make it.

I have an NGO, Caring Heart Foundation, which I am using to pair young students with successful executives and entrepreneurs in the society. I believe we can all do something about this situation in our various stations and together, we can contribute our own quota towards the building of a truly great and forward-looking Nigeria.