A lot has happened since my last post. I launched and grew a new business, been volunteering, and been sniffing around politics a lot. Somewhere along the line, I stumbled on this post which was a task which I had to submit during the "Discovering Young Leaders Program (DYLP2013)" organized by the Commonwealth in 2013. I decided not to edit it because many of the issues I raised in it are still prevalent today. So here!
Being
the most populous black nation, Nigeria’s human resource capabilities is one to
be admired; a fact made even more endearing by the dominance of youths in its
demographic representation. This has created a vibrant economy which is
continually brimming with activities across all sectors. Its diverse human
capital and indeed youth vibrancy is Nigeria’s greatest asset, and this begs
the question; how well has Nigeria tapped into this vast resource? In a country
characterized by short-sighted policies, an undiversified economy, unclear
economic direction, and poor social infrastructure, it is obvious that the
answer to the aforementioned question is ‘no’.
Over
the years, decision making by Nigerian policy makers has gone round in circles;
same rulers, same ideologies, same policy choices, and in a world characterized by change, worse
results. This has left no room for the innovation and dynamism brought aboard
by youths.
That
said, the problems of little/no youth participation in key decision making in
Nigeria is by no means a one sided problem. Having highlighted the corruption
inspired demerits of the current crop of decision makers, it is important to note
that even the so called youths have not done enough to stake their claims in
the decision making processes. The relative timidity undue aggressively, fear
and insecurity, and death of knowledge inspired confidence shown by the most
Nigeria youths leaves a lot to be desired. It is with these in mind that I have
decided to highlight the key barriers to youth participation in key decision
making.
- CORRUPTION:
corruption is the sole issue responsible for most of our problems as a
nation; and having ranked consistently among the top 5 in the corruption
index, Nigeria’s corruption issues are well pronounced. It is the bane of
our economy, it has undermined our democracy, it has slowed our
development, and has undermined our credentials.
It
should be noted that Nigeria’s corruption issues is not limited to the
government [as it is in many other countries], it has eaten deep into the civil
service, the labor force, the youth/student population, and to an extent, the
populace.
As
a result it has become increasingly difficult for youths to participate
national decision making processes as the current crop of decision makers will
do anything to keep their position even when they contribute little. The
injustice being suffered by the average citizen also strike fear into the
hearts of a few daring youths as they do not want to become casualties of a
ruthless and unfair system. Furthermore, a lot of youths have themselves
reverted to undignified means such as terror, militancy, and crime in order to
survive, get their viewpoints across, and ‘take their share of the national
cake’.
This
double edged corruption situation is the singular most responsible barrier to
youth participation in national decision making processes and it is the
responsibility of the government to seek ways of cleansing the entire system,
top to bottom.
SUMMARY:
Problem=Corruption Responsibility=Government
- TOKENISM:
Tokenism has, for a long time, been a major strategy for policy makers in
Nigeria. This act of making a symbolic effort in order to give the feel
that something serious is being done about an issue, when in actual sense,
such an issue is not taken seriously has contributed a great deal to the
lack of meaningful youth participation in national decision making. The
propaganda of Nigerian policy makers on youth related issues has
effectively limited youth involvement in government while also ensuring
that little is said about it. In addition, most of the government
programmes targeted at youths do not create real value and neither are
they sustainable, and these are obstacles that must be surmounted if
youths are going to have a say in policy making.
SUMMARY:
Problem=Tokenism Responsibility=Government
- YOUTH
DECADENCE: While the government is mostly responsible for some of the
barriers to youth involvement in policy making, the youths themselves have
a lot to answer for. Being a youth who has lived, learned and worked in
youth dominated circles, I can say, with a high level of confidence, that
the average Nigerian youth suffers from a ‘shallow knowledgebase
syndrome’. While this is partly attributable to the below-par educational
system, the youths themselves are mostly responsible here. Youths in
Nigeria, despite all our challenges, have access to basic ‘useful’ information
from around the world through different mediums but most have failed to
harness it. This has created a widening knowledge gap between us and the
rest of the world; which makes it almost impossible to influence national
proceedings as the quality of your input is as good as the quality of your
content.
SUMMARY:
Problem=Shallow knowledgebase Responsibility=Youth
- MEDIA
INFLUENCE: If as stated above, the youths have information at their
fingertips, why then haven’t they harnessed it? This is largely due to the
fact that in most cases, it takes
conscious effort to locate useful/workable/knowledge-worthy information.
The Nigerian media (most especially the electronic) which is meant to be a
major platform for the conveyance of an informal education to the youths has mostly neglected its
duties. Its capitalist style of operation has made it focus less on what
is important, and more on what is trending and profitable. The youths are
then preoccupied by music, movies, and sports which are meant to be
pastime activities. This has misdirected the focus of a lot of Nigerian
youths to glitz and glamour instead of knowledge and impact thereby making
them inadequately equipped for national policy inputs.
SUMMARY:
Problem=Misguided focus Responsibility=Media
- CULTURAL
LIMITATIONS: This is one of the lesser known problems but its effects are
there for all to see. In most parts of Nigeria, culture dictates that
youths have utmost respect for elders. In some cadres, youths are not
allowed to sit at gatherings of elders and in some others, youths are not
allowed to speak when an elder is speaking. These cultural norms have
systematically influenced our way of life as a nation. As a result, even
if it may not be admitted, it is seen as outrightly disrespectful for a
youth to suggest ideas when elders are trying to solve a problem. Culture
dictates that ‘our elders are always
right’ and therefore, youths do not have the right to correct them
even when they are wrong. If youths will be actively involved in decision
making processes at national level, this issue must be expressly
addressed.
SUMMARY:
Problem=Respect Responsibility=The
society/older population
- COLLABORATION:
Despite the fact that there exist many youth organisations in Nigeria,
their level of collaboration is paltry; and if we must stake our claim in
the decision/policy making process, we will have to collaborate and
consolidate our collective strengths.
SUMMARY:
Problem=Paltry collaboration Responsibility=Youth
organisations
- EXPOSURE:
As a result of the inherent challenges of our nation, youths in Nigeria
are relatively unexposed to the developments outside Nigeria. Though many
follow foreign developments, they still do not comprehend it completely.
This creates the need for international exposure which will help Nigerian
youths learn from best practices across the ‘youth’ world and thereafter,
apply such knowledge to nation building efforts through policy
contributions. On a personal level, DYLP has helped me to bridge this gap
in no small measure..
SUMMARY:
Problem=Lack of exposure Responsibility=International
community.
