This post was inspired by Justjoxy. We had this “discussion” on twitter and I ended up sending this mail to her. Some parts of the mail has been edited.
When I started this blog it was to talk about issues in Nigeria especially and in the world. Political issues to be precise. Somewhere along the line, the way things were going and all made me stop blogging on issues. I couldn’t really take it any longer and decided, rather than get worked up and get my blood pressure high, I better not think or write about political issues. And just write about life and other things.
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I completely agree with you. We are the leaders. They came out from amongst us. And that is what scares me.
Like I said, my generation isn’t any different from these leaders we have so how that change is gonna happen, I don’t know.
A generation focused on quick money? A generation that never had it easy so all they think of is NOW? A generation that watched those before them ruin the country? They really don’t care about others, all most of us think about is ourselves. A generation that never knew how good things can be and should be? Who never have seen anything work?
A generation quick to point fingers at the others but never thinking what they can do?
My fiance got into an argument with a friend of his during the subsidy issue. What was the problem? The guy kept blaming the government and he (my fiance) was trying to make him realize that yes, the government is bad and we need a change but change starts from us. If the leaders say die (as the revolution proponents are suggesting), there is no proof that those coming behind (my generation) would be any better.
We are basically focused on making it now. Everything must happen in an instant. The SUDDENLY generation. So most of us would get in to such positions and even do worse.
Quick examples. I worked at a Nigerian owned firm before coming here. Fortunately for me, I did an internship at a bank while in school. Now the bank isn’t a perfect organization but at that place I learnt how things should work. That company is run like a proper company. Going in after school to where I worked, I was shocked. They way people there work. No structure. Everybody working on making it quickly. I was talking to the former Chief Accountant who was in her late 30s and she said something that shocked me. She said “I am not ready to leave this position in the next 10 years”. And I thought to myself, do you have an idea where your mates would be in the next 10 years? How much they would have achieved? Of course, she was sitting on top of money and was chopping it well so leaving wasn’t on her mind. To God be the glory some months after, she was removed and moved to a Business Unit where she now has to make money. She hasn’t till date been able to do anything tangible.
I entered as a graduate trainee. I saw colleagues who when they talk, you start to question your sanity. They have no regard for processes, for doing things right. “Common” sending a mail ahead of time to inform people on things, was hard for a lot of them to do. They way they reasoned on some issues, you would be scared. And I kept wondering, these same people would want to contest and be in government.
And if I spoke, I heard things like you are from a privileged family, you don’t know how it is. You are exposed so you don’t know how it feels.
I went to school with children whose parents were in government. I saw how they behaved. One of the elections, while at school, we weren’t allowed to vote but INEC had votes from my school. How did that happen? When children of those in government see how their parents behaved, how do we expect them behave? What have they learnt from their parents? How do we expect them to do things differently if they get into power or even in their offices? So how do we expect the change to come?
I talk to a lot of people in my generation and seriously I don’t see anything different. Truly, there are a lot of us who desire change howbeit our ways of thinking about the change is different. For a lot of young people, yes they want change BUT they are not looking at change starting from us. Our leaders have failed us and like Yorubas would say u can’t break dried fish. So why not start with ourselves? No. Most of us are looking at the leaders as those who should change. We would rather something happens and gets all of them killed. If they all die, would things change? I doubt it.
I see adverts like an Airtel ad which say “Millionaire at 29, 5 years late” and nobody, NOBODY asked that the ad be taken off air. I asked what message they were trying to pass on. We shout yahoo yahoo and all d scams and all yet we are encouraging people to be millionaires at 29. Don’t get me wrong, it isn’t a bad thing to be a millionaire at 29 but if you are saying someone who is a millionaire at that age is 5 years late? Making millions at 24 is the new thing. I get you can look at the ad from the angle of the Mark Zuckerberg and the Sillicon Valley gurus who made it big in their late teens and early 20s but considering the Nigerian mentality, little wonder why people would steal the country blind so as to be rich early. To think that this ad was put together by young people.
Until people get it in their mindsets that the change begins from US, and work to ensure that those who are going to ruin the country blind don’t get into power, the cycle is just gonna continue. Am scared for my children.
It looks very bleak on a serious note. I can go on and on. God help us. We need to start mixing prayers with actions.
Until we realize that the change starts from us; from even as little as when you drive and not leaving one end of the road to another end without using your pointers.
The CHANGE STARTS FROM US.
God help us
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I do sincerely hope the Government would actually probe this crash and all those found culpable would be brought to book. Above all, I hope steps would be taking to avert such. Declaring 10 days or 3 days of mourning isn’t going to change anything. How do we ensure this doesn’t happen again? Truly, accidents and crashes would always happen. Even with new aircrafts. But when accidents that can be avoided do happen, it says a lot about our regulatory agencies. Social media has been awash with all sorts of posts on the age of most aircrafts in Nigeria. I hope the FG looks into it. And start putting the right people in the right positions. Seriously, we need to let go of this federal character/quota ish (I think that is what it is called) and put the right people in the right positions no matter where they are from.
Also, I hope this Dana Air official who says the aircraft was faulty is ready to come out of hiding (and stop hiding behind being anonymous) and face her bosses if a probe panel is constituted with FACTS.
hitnrunmullings 