I was as a student and then a resident in the UK. I
live in Abuja now. One of first things that I
discovered about UK-born, white, English
undergraduates was that all of them did holiday or
weekend job to support themselves – including the
children of millionaires amongst them. It is the
norm over there – regardless of how wealthy their
parents were. And I soon discovered that virtually
all other foreign students did the same, except
status-conscious Nigerians.
I also watched Richard Branson (owner of Virgin
Airline) speaking on the Biography Channel. To my
amazement, he said that his young children travel
in the economy class – even when the parents (he
and his wife) are in upper class. Richard Branson
is a billionaire in Pound sterling. A quick survey
would show you that only children from Nigeria fly
business or upper class to commence their
studies in the UK. Foreign students from other
countries don't do this. There is no aircraft
attached to the office of the Prime Minister in the
UK. He travels on BA. And the same goes for the
Royals. The Queen does not have an aircraft for
her exclusive use.
These practices simply become the culture which
the next generation carries forward. Have you seen
the car that Kate Middleton (the wife of Prince
William) drives? VW Golf or something close to it.
But there’s one core difference between them and
us (generally speaking), they(even the billionaires
among them) work for their money, most, if not all,
of us steal ours.
If we want our children to bring about the desired
changes we have been praying for on behalf of our
dear country, then please, please let’s begin now
and teach them to work hard so they can stand
alone and most importantly be content and not
having to “steal” which seems to be the norm
these days.
We have Nigerian children who have never worked
for 5 minutes in their lives insisting on flying
“only” first or business class and using the latest
cars fully paid for by their “loving “ parents.
I often get calls from anxious parents”my son
graduated 2 years ago and is still looking for a job,
can you please assist!”
“Oh really! So where exactly is “THIS CHILD?” is
my usual question. “Why are you the one making
this call dad/mum and not your child?"
I am yet to get a satisfactory answer, but between
you and me, chances are that the big boy is
cruising around Abuja with a babe dressed to the
nines, in his dad’s spanking new SUV with enough
“pocket money” to put your salary to shame. The
girls are probably trying to shame Paris Hilton in
profligacy. It is not at all strange to hear a 28-year
old who has NEVER worked for a day in his/her life
in Nigeria but “earns” a six-figure “salary” from
parents for doing absolutely nothing apart from
being their child.
I see them in my office once in a while, 26-years
olds with absolutely no skill to sell apart from a
shiny CV, written by his dad’s secretary in the
office. Of course, he has a driver at his beck and
call and is driven to the job interview. We have a
fairly decent conversation and we get to the
inevitable question- so, what salary are you
looking to earn? Answer comes straight out –
N250,000.00. I ask if that is per month or per
annum.
“Of course, it is per month”
“Oh, why do you think you should be earning that
much on your first job?”
“Well, because my current pocket money is
N200,000.00 a month and I feel any employer
should be able to pay me more than my parents.”
No wonder corruption continues to thrive. We have
a society of young people who have been brought
up to expect something or everything for nothing,
as if it were a birthright. Even though the examples
I have given above are from parents of
considerable affluence, similar patterns can be
observed from Abeokuta to Adamawa, Mushin to
Maiduguri.
Wake up mum! Wake up dad! This syndrome –
“my children will not suffer what I suffered" is
destroying your child's tomorrow. You are
practically loving your child to death. A word is
enough for the wise!