Nigeria is a nation blessed with abundant resources. We have both human and mineral resources. To build Nigeria to our dream country, we must judiciously utilise every of our resources. Most times, the Nigerian populace regrettably mistakes the true wealth of our nation to the mineral resources we have and this fact itself has reduced our growth to the minimal. The true wealth of Nigeria is her human resource. Our population is our major wealth. Our strength is in our highly gifted, intelligent and creative people. Taking advantage of this human wealth alone will make our country great and self-dependent. Unfortunately, the Nigerian government has not invested much on her citizens. The consequences of the neglect of the Nigerian Citizenry are the present violence, poverty, hardship and strife evidently seen in the Nigerian society.
The youths of Nigeria make up about seventy percent (70%) of the Nigerian population. This ratio means that the wealth of Nigeria is in the hands of the youths. If the youths of Nigeria prosper both in their minds, thoughts, visions and the pursuit of development, Nigeria will ultimately achieve her maximum. Sadly, the ten percent (10%) which happened to be the elite class control both the human and mineral resources of the Nigerian society, and this have ushered in corruption, violence, hunger, anger, hatred, religious intolerance, segregation, secession agitation groups, militancy, terrorism, nepotism, injustice and poverty.
In the midst of the abundance of wealth in the Nigerian society, the youths that are supposed to be the identity and the key players of the socio-political and socio-economic politics of the Nigerian state remain disbanded, disjointed, disintegrated, enslaved, bastardised, cowed, and subjugated to the back seat. They are used as tools to cause social unrest even to the detriment of their own future. Instead of progressing, the Nigerian state is obviously retrogressing in every facet of her existence and it is imperative that Nigerian youths rise to the occasion and rewrite the Nigerian story.
I want to announce to you that the moment and time to reform our dear country Nigeria has come. But we must recognise the fact and take advantage of it. We must not allow the moment to go without taking advantage of it. The moment the youths need to change the battered story of Nigeria is presently before us in the form of “Not-Too-Young-To-Run”.
This is a moment to forget our battered past as a nation and move into the future. Many people, especially the youths of this great country, are living in the past today because they missed the moment to advance. Moments are to be taken advantage of when they come. We are in the cross road to advance our nation in youthful leadership. All it will take for our destiny to manifest is for us to adhere to the demands of the moment.
What are the demands of the moment? The moment demand that we don’t only present ourselves as good young men and women to run for leadership positions but also eligible, qualified and well equipped to lead our country to our envisioned state. If we continuously lament, groan and weep because of the terrible and sorry state of things in the Nigerian society without doing the needful, we have only played the role of accomplices to our own destruction. At what side of the moment are you? As a youth, are you interested in a better Nigeria? If yes, would you wish to be the one to usher in the needed reform? Or, you choose to be on the fence while those familiar faces who have led this country from their youthful age to their present old age continue to lead us?
The greatest mistake we will do is when we (the youths) allow this moment to slip out of our hands. This is the moment to take some risk, to advance, to enforce, to implement visions, and to make manifest our dreams of a better Nigeria for the next generation.
Frankly, it may not be easy to break the crocodile grip of our fathers and grandparents that are still acting as leaders in this computer age of ours; however, with one voice and purpose we will overcome the many odds associated with our present moment. In every moment there are challenges but man must look beyond the present barriers because after the hard surface come the tender aspect of the moment, where dreams are achieved and rewarded. Nigerian youths must be sure to experience set-ups and gang-ups against them because they are set to move into the next phase of impactful life; but an adage says, “Hard times are easy times”. We are at the moment in our nation to change from bad leadership narrative to a glorious moment in qualitative, efficient and productive leadership. Whenever we the youths avoid the places where the odds are against us, we tend to shift away from our destined moments and this will continuously deface, de-market, demean and make us appear irresponsible to our responsibilities.
Students of history have clear records of youthful leadership in this country and the results are yet incomparable. Why not reflect in the future rather than living in the past? The answer is to key into the reformation movement of Nigeria today initiated by our young friend Ahmed Bee and other progressives and stage a war against every of our challenges faced in our country?
Why don’t we denounce our present toy position and queue behind ourselves with one purpose and vision? Nigeria belongs to us. If we fail ourselves today, we have equally failed our future generations. If we fail to unite against our many challenges today, we will have no one to blame because we have been given the opportunity to liberate ourselves and the larger society. It is time for us to produce council chairmen, commissioners, assembly members, governors, National Assembly representatives, ministers, heads of parastatal and presidents. We should be the ones to work while our aged parents sit, watch and pray for us, and certainly not the other way round.
I, Comr. Oweikeye Endoro believe in youth leadership. We are not only “Not Too Young To Run” but also “Not-Too-Young-To-Lead”. We have the opportunity to run now but to lead still largely lie in our arms.
Comr. Ahmed Buhari (Bee) stands with restructuring of our country. By Restructuring, he means complete change of every structure. Our youths must be readily available to take over leadership when our country is eventually restructured by the grace of God.
God bless the Reformation Movement of Nigeria.
Comr. Endoro Oweikeye Path, Delta State Coordinator, Reformation Movement of Nigeria
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