pro01:

The fact remains that whatever it is you have 'achieved' today is ENTIRELY due to the high pedestal that your parents relative wealth placed you, from which it was much easier to climb (if one can even call it that) the ladder of success. I don't listen to folks like you because you did not/have not paid your dues. I know a couple of my uneducated Igbo hustler brethren who 'trekked' from some rustic village in Anambra to Lagos, leaving behind dirt-poor parents, and armed with nothing more than N1,000 and a single-minded determination to succeed 'by any means necessary'. A number of them find that success one way or the other and achieve wealth that I can only dream about. Now, such truly self-made individuals are best placed to lecture us on how to prepare ourselves and/or our children for the world, not some dude who was chauffeur-driven to school, lived in his parents London home, and bought his own home from saving lump pocket money given by his parents! You guys whose palm kernels were cracked on your behalf by "benevolent spirits" never cease to amaze me with your smug self-righteousness and fallacious sense of achievement.

Madcow:

What is your definition of Middle class?

darkey:

Dats what i like to know

delaice:

You know the type - Went to a school like A Hall (I said like o, dont crucify me), after that never fought for admission into uni, it was like the admission was just handed to them, to a foreign uni or one of our private ones. Never had to work, infact their parents insisted they do not work while at uni. After that came home, served (obviously in Lagos), their posting already arranged (with an allowance to rival a banks entry level staff). After which a well paying job was already waiting for them without having to even learn the meaning of the acronym CV. I know the type because I would have probably fit into it, but the passing of my dad forced me to sit up.
whatever means with as little effort as possible. And thats because their parents have basically thought them that you do not need to work for money, people will just give it to you whether you deserve it or not. Instead their mentality should be work hard now, the money will come eventually.

Wallie (m):
Middle class kids in the US move out of their parent’s house at age 18 but mostly end up going away to college in a different state. The kids that don’t want to go away to college can find jobs that allow them to survive on their own.

In Nigeria, the same is probably true with the exception that kids that did not get admitted to a University can’t usually find a job that is not degrading. A job has to have a certain level of dignity attached to it and what that dignity is varies per culture.

Rotimi A:

To the poster.

I think you have made some unfair comparisons between our society and that of the UK. In the UK an 18 year old can get a job as a school leaver and earn money which can make him or her become financially independent from his or her parents. The same cannot be said of Nigeria whereby it is an upheaval task for a graduate to get a job not talk of now just having a WAEC certificate which most employers will glady snub any day.

Overparenting is in my opinion the greatest evil handicapping the Nigerian youth. It is at the root of our national malaise. We have a youth population of tens of millions of who are being “breastfed and diapered” well into their 30s.
Even though the examples I have given above are from parents of considerable affluence, similar patterns can be observed from Abeokuta to Adamawa!
Wake up mum! Wake up dad!
You are practically loving your children to death! No wonder corruption continues to thrive. We have a society of young people who have been brought up to expect something for nothing,  as if it were a birth right.

Redman44:

The greatest thing that has happened to me so far is being told my dad to start looking after myself after I completed my youth service.  As soon as I got a job paying me 15,000 Naira [ I was not really paid by my employer until I left the shores of Nigeria ], my dad started asking me if I was making plans to secure my own accomodation . Then I found my way out of Nigeria to Western Europe. Family turned their backs on me after a while. I'm stronger now and my future is bright doing things on my own. Nothing beats being independent and free


www.vibes-extra..com

delaice:

I think some of you are missing the point. Yes I agree the poster should have addressed it to UPPER middle class parents, and by that I dont mean the Dangotes or Otedolas. I mean the oil big boys, Banks Mid-level management to upper management. Entrepreneurs with small thriving businesses. Trust me, there are alot more of these than you think. I know a few of them. Some of them are my friends.

You know the type - Went to a school like A Hall (I said like o, dont crucify me), after that never fought for admission into uni, it was like the admission was just handed to them, to a foreign uni or one of our private ones. Never had to work, infact their parents insisted they do not work while at uni. After that came home, served (obviously in Lagos), their posting already arranged (with an allowance to rival a banks entry level staff). After which a well paying job was already waiting for them without having to even learn the meaning of the acronym CV. I know the type because I would have probably fit into it, but the passing of my dad forced me to sit up.

The poster is not talking about poor families, very valid subject but a subject for another post.

On the work experience factor. I will give you an example. My sis is currently studying in the UK. For this summer she has been working for free (not even expenses, and this is not Naij where you will be getting gara here and there). She is doing that because she wants the experience and knows it will help her in the future. She could have saved her transport fare and used it on shoes, booze and parties. Thats the type of initiative youths should show. Now I know there are alot more opportunities in the UK for students and Nigeria has its peculiar problems, but tbh I think the poster is talking more about the mentality of these youths. The mentality currently is i need money, i need alot of it, i need it now, and i must get it by whatever means with as little effort as possible. And thats because their parents have basically thought them that you do not need to work for money, people will just give it to you whether you deserve it or not. Instead their mentality should be work hard now, the money will come eventually.

Also I should add this is not all parents. Some UPPER middle-class parents do a good job of teaching their kids the value of money and the proper way to go about getting it.

logica:


Oh by the way, the person that said something about kids in Nigeria only having degrading jobs available, fact is kids in the US will take what you call "degrading". That is the difference.

beecrofty:


the jobs regarded as degrading are jobs that don't pay enough to even cater for your daily needs,  please don't compare working at McDonalds with working at Mr Biggs,  abi udondeymadt ni?  when u work at Mc, u get about lets say 2dollars an hour,  so $2 X 10hours a day = $20(N3000),  that is how much you get a month if you work at Mr Biggs my friend,  so wat the bleep do you mean by that statement up there 

SEFAGO:

well all of u your papa and mama shuld have worked had to be rich instead of being jealous of people whose parents worked hard to make their lives comfortable. Yes he/she has the right to lecture people from the social class he comes from. He/She is not talking to the poor/ lower middle class people.

SEFAGO:

Good article and so true. Lots of spoilt rich Nigerians.

SEFAGO:

well all of u your papa and mama shuld have worked had to be rich instead of being jealous of people whose parents worked hard to make their lives comfortable. Yes he/she has the right to lecture people from the social class he comes from. He/She is not talking to the poor/ lower middle class people.

pro01:

So what is the poster feeling like? Self-made or what? Abegi! I don't see a world of difference between you and the "middle class" parents and their spoilt-brat children whom you so impugn.

The fact remains that whatever it is you have 'achieved' today is ENTIRELY due to the high pedestal that your parents relative wealth placed you, from which it was much easier to climb (if one can even call it that) the ladder of success. I don't listen to folks like you because you did not/have not paid your dues. I know a couple of my uneducated Igbo hustler brethren who 'trekked' from some rustic village in Anambra to Lagos, leaving behind dirt-poor parents, and armed with nothing more than N1,000 and a single-minded determination to succeed 'by any means necessary'. A number of them find that success one way or the other and achieve wealth that I can only dream about. Now, such truly self-made individuals are best placed to lecture us on how to prepare ourselves and/or our children for the world, not some dude who was chauffeur-driven to school, lived in his parents London home, and bought his own home from saving lump pocket money given by his parents! You guys whose palm kernels were cracked on your behalf by "benevolent spirits" never cease to amaze me with your smug self-righteousness and fallacious sense of achievement.