The thought that ‘the youth are the future leaders’ still gives me consolation. But to be honest, seeing the kind of youths we are now breeding is beginning to give me goose bumps. Debates nowadays are based on ‘which political party is stronger’, ’who might be a suitable presidential candidate in an election that’s 3years away’ and such. If you hold honest conversations with the youths today, they would loot government resources at the slighted chance they got, so sad. ‘Even if you do not embezzle funds someone else will’ is the new slogan.
Back in high school, I remember, we engaged in very productive debates about everything that affected our country. Listening to ‘us’, it didn’t take a smart person to realize that, that was the kind of leaders we needed, full of content, not politically oriented, hungry for change, and literate above all. In the university as we engaged in productive discussions with my colleagues, it was so hopeful and encouraging to share common views about life. When it came to addressing matters affecting our country it was never about ‘my tribe will support…’ or ‘I come from…’ no, it was sound expressions of how we needed to come together irrespective of our origins, it was shared visions of where we saw ourselves in ten years’ time, where we saw our beloved country in the stretch of 10 years and such things.
Yees, our bleeding Africa can be saved, I am very confident. It all goes back to governance and leadership. In as long as our rulers are not noble and feast in the morning, Africa will continue to bleed. A lion can lead a flock of sheep and they will triumph. But if a sheep leads a pride of lions, they will all never go far. We need parents and teachers to train this young generation as though they were raising the future leaders they are. What passes through the ears of these young ones at their tender age should be carefully filtered. A little true story; growing up my grandma told me the thunder and lightning sliced people into pieces if anyone played in the rain, funny right? But not for me. She went further to give stories and testimonies of the same, of trees and people she knew who had been cut into pieces by thunder and lightning. I was about the age of eight then and up to date I suffer astraphobia. I won’t go out on a stormy day even at gun point. Unknowing to us, what we instill in our children growing up is big contributor to what they become. Let us instill leadership, confidence, patriotism and above all godliness in these future leaders and we will have ourselves to thank in days to come.
Our African systems of education need a dedicated transformation, no doubt. Each passing year we graduate way too many students in History, Philosophy and Sociology. A whole four years studying about colonization of Africa and somewhat outdated philosophies. Not to get me wrong, these courses are well significant, no debate. What am advocating is a lot more impact would be felt if we graduated more of the young people with skills relevant for this era we live in. We need much more youths in STEM.
Our dearest ‘youngstars’ want to work abroad. Well, I don’t blame them, can you? But tell you what, it is very heartbreaking to see our very own youths we have so effortlessly grown and educated in our own African countries using government loans and bursaries get brain washed and disappear never to come back. These are our very finest who we gaze at to come back and reform our systems. But even with that, our governments must endeavor to create an economic environment for us to want to come back to. Why would a job opportunity targeted for the youth then require 30years of experience? I don’t want to go there.
I refuse to throw away all my dreams for my country and Africa, I will not delete my so termed as ‘unrealistic’ hopes and goals. I want to ask our dear youths to not throw it all away too. To keep up their moral standards, keep excelling and keep the faith. And to those doing all these, I want to let you know that you are not alone, there is so many of us, we back you up, we are together in this and together we will do it. Don’t stop dreaming for a better Africa, all we need is to just give time some time.