The ‘Lazy’ Nigerian Youths And The Stolen Mace

Just as President Muhammadu Buhari was busy in London denouncig Nigerian youths and calling them “lazy”and “uneducated”, who simply sit idly by and wait for government’s free money,  so also were some daring Nigerian youths, who in a commando style operation, storming the National Aseembly and carting away the mace of the Senate, the symbol of authority of the legislature. 

In the same vein,  while many Nigerians had been expressing their displeasure over the unguarded utterances of our President for calling our youths ”lazy” and ”uneducated”, a lot more other people had equally risen in condemnation of the invasion of the National Assembly by some political thugs and stolen its mace.

But both the categorization of Nigerian youths as lazy and uneducated, as well as the stealing of the mace of the Senate by suspected thugs, products of Nigerian society. 

The Nigerian youth is an orphan. He is an engendered specie. He is born in a very suffocating environment. As soon as he found himself into the world, he is left alone, unattended to, and made to fend for himself.

The Nigerian state has no programme for her youths. In other words, the Nigérian governmment does not care for its youths.  The system does not provide them with any form of social security or welfare programme. There is no health and social insurance scheme for the youths, and these is no free education for them,  etc. He builds his way through the social and economic ladder, unaided.

For some of these youths, who through dint of hardwork,  and through pains and struggles, have managed to acquire some form of basic education or higher, there are no jobs waiting for them. They will begin to pound the streets looking for non-existent jobs. They do all sorts of menial and despicable things in order to make ends meet, like riding tricycle（Keke）or motor cycle （Okada）.  These are the people who our dear President Muhammadu Buhari says are lazy and uneducated. Habaa! 

 Those who occupy various political and economic positions in the country since independence have refused to let go these positions. They want tô perpetuate themseles in ofice.

Take for instance, people like President Muhammadu Buhari. He has been around since 1976, that is, some 42 years ago,  occupying different political positions in the country. He was Military Governor of Borno State, Minister of Petroleum,  Military Head of State,  Chairman of Petroleum Development Trust Fund, and now Civilian President . Buhari who is now nearing 80 years old wants to continue in office since there is no youth who is qualified to occupy that position.

Most of our political leaders, as President Muhammadu Buhari hás now told us,  have no confidence in Nigerian youths. They believe that the youths are not matured enough to hold any responsible position, and that without them, Nigeria will simply collapse. 

But because the system did not permit the Nigerian youths to have a sound and qualitative education as well as good jobs on graduation, these old people only see them as good materials for political thuggry and for cultism, and begin to recruit them as such. That is how they started Boko Haram. Same with all the other cult groups, kidnappers,  militant groups, etc. that maim and butcher people all over the country. 

Those who invaded the National Assembly, a few days ago, beat all the secutity agencies, and snatched away its mace, were simply helpless and jobless Nigerian youths who were recruited by their god fathers to enable them retain their positions. But they will never use their children or wards, because they are studying in various overseas univsersities or are manning lucrative businesses in the country.