"And Simon answering said unto him, Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing:"

One of the most unfortunate variant of mechanical energy is potential energy. Don’t get me wrong, it has useful applications across a wide range of disciplines – think about hydroelectric power (HEP) for instance. However, while so much energy remains at a height and is stationary, it is of no profit. Potential energy needs be converted to dynamic (kinetic) energy before work can be done. Work is the product of force and (useful) distance!

I have started on this note to provide a useful background for the subsequent unfolding of my thoughts this morning. I took a break out of life (nairaland, WhatsApp and YouTube/Netflix) to finalise my thesis. Considering the rapid growth of information especially on energy transition and energy justice, I had so little time to catch up and ensure that my thesis (essentially papers) captured the most up-to-date knowledge. During that span, so much seemed to have occurred in Nigeria and elsewhere.

I will this morning touch on two – Buhari’s gaffe (again) at the Commonwealth meeting in London and Adichie’s interview (with Hilary Clinton) gone bad in New York.

The Nigerian youth currently finds himself at the cusp of a major trilemma – defining who he is, asserting his presence and securing his future.

Defining who he is:
It is not uncommon to see so much irony being perpetuated on the political scene with regards to a definition of who a Nigerian Youth is. While the United Nation defines a youth (without prejudice to the definition offered by member states) as someone between the ages 15-24, the Nigerian national youth policy defines a youth as persons between the ages 18-35. Here-in lies a fundamental problem. As it stands, a 30 years old Nigerian is an adult going by the UN definition but considered a youth in Nigeria. A further peek into the definitions proposed by the UN and Nigeria show that 24 years in Asia, Europe, North America, Australia, South Africa etc. is the average typical upper ceiling for either the completion of professional degrees (Medicine, Pharmacy, Law, Engineering etc.) or other degrees (commerce, arts, economics etc.) with a masters. Generally, such developed economies have a structured economy and safety nets that guarantee graduates some cushion (paid internships, job seeker allowance etc.) in the event that they are unable to immediately secure jobs after graduation. The implication of this is that early in their lives, youths in the developed economy begin to master the art of responsibility. For those who had to take loan to go to school, repaying the loan becomes their priority. There are no hand-outs from dad and mom neither do you see them loitering the streets or neighbourhood begging and trying to eke out a living. These are the folks who get employed at graduate entry levels in companies and dedicate their time and efforts in securing their future. They are the folks who must be appealed to intellectually during elections. They do not get paid to support failures at rallies rather they mobilise themselves into pressure groups and assert their collective agreements on candidates. You do not see them attend spiritual meetings on weekdays (because there is time for everything), neither are they at the commissioning of a church auditorium on a Tuesday morning. No! They are hard at work solving issues confronting the society. On the other hand, Nigeria presents an unfortunate scenario. A graduate at 30 years of age is compelled to go for NYSC. I have wept and cried sore multiple times from seeing folks reduce their age just to go for NYSC. They do it because it offers some form of employment at least for 1 year. In Nigeria, the education sector has lost its sanctity that it gets routinely defiled by strikes and budget cuts without the government paying any attention. Youths get into universities and immediately lose focus (case in point is Unibadan’s routine ‘Tsunami’ list). Since there is no responsibility placed on them, there is no sense of ‘urgency’ on the parts of most Nigerian youths. Why am I here? What is expected of me? How can I solve this problem in society? What resources are available for learning? Never, these questions are rarely asked. These youths make their abode in the temple of Facebook and worship at doorsteps of Twitter. They are the ones who trend #LazyNigerianYouth or #NigeriaJollofrice. They are sports pundits analysing the errors of Arsene Wenger or Mourinho but have never been to Emirates Stadium, Stamford Bridge or Old Trafford. They use the latest phones but have no idea where or how it was produced. They regularly update their profiles on WhatsApp and other social media outlets and yet cannot spend 4 hours reading up on the recent trends in their fields. They are the #slayqueens and #slaykings. They have no idea who they are. They are the folks who collect mobilisation from politicians to attend rallies, they are the ladies who are arranged to whet the appetite of ‘useless’ old men and ‘unfortunate’ young folks. You know them as do I. In failing to define who they are as youths; the Nigerian youth has ended up with no identity. Little wonder our minister for youths and sport is 53 years.

Asserting his presence:
‘When a child knows how to wash his hands well, he eats with the elders’. The Nigerian youth deserves no pity! We have been and are architects of our problems. In the course of my academic sojourn, I have been privileged to collaborate with folks outside Africa who are quite young and are leading thoughts in their fields. That relationship and collaboration has further enabled me access some of the best minds out there in related fields together with whom I am working on different projects. It didn’t start today but from my beginning days as an undergraduate. Long ago as a freshman, I had admonished myself on my do’s and don’ts. I was never going to give an excuse for my failures! When they came, I was at fault. I knew the power of knowledge. I knew how important it was to be a critical thinker. I cannot forget listening over and over again to the motivating words of Bishop Oyedepo! That man isn’t sent to the adults but the youths! I read and studied. I acquired information and began building a research career. I had heard of think tanks and technocrats and experts and though leaders. That was where I wanted to make my playing field. I seemed to have no life as an undergraduate. What was new in my field? What was the trending thought? Who were the historical and emerging thought leaders in my field? I needed to know? Where did they school? Their background? Their publication track record? What was special about them? I started attending conferences (locally) and presenting papers. Feedbacks came and I improved. Then a break and I began publishing (locally). I was in cloud nine. Over the years it has been the same story. Much efforts, pains, sleepless nights, a lot of reading and thinking before outstanding results. My results have opened and are opening doors for me. I am gradually asserting myself in a niche area. I am creating visibility with my works and collaborations! That’s how it works – hard work, networking and God’s mercy. It is shocking to know that while I was stunned at how much resources there were as an undergraduate student in Unibadan, folks there were who made it look like we were in hell. I am yet to see any major difference between Unibadan and leading schools worldwide in terms of opportunities especially for non-medical courses. Labs are now online (open source software). Understand the concept behind an idea and you can model almost any phenomenon. Most journals can now be accessed via ResearchGate, Academia.edu, Sci-hub (illegal in some countries), library genesis and open source journals. There is an avalanche of information out there for the Nigerian youth to stay abreast of modern development trends in their fields. Complaints about lack of materials is now untenable. You cannot stay relevant if you cannot assert yourself. The Nigerian youth has a lot of work to do. Rather than debating ‘nonsensical’ issues on social media, such hours can be spent updating one’s knowledge base. The student should be concerned with aligning their thoughts and research with modern societal issues and transitions – poverty, climate change, sustainability, justice. Materials freely abound on the internet! Conferences and workshops that even allow for subsidized registration fees for students abound. I attended all conferences as an undergraduate without spending a dime on accommodation – Abuja, Ilorin and Imo. The organisers planned for students and I exploited and enjoyed them. Conferences and workshops provide an avenue for students to begin to create visibility for themselves. Make any mistake at this level and you will be graciously pardoned! Networking also happens at such events. Never attend such events without planning to make some presentation. Nigerian youths must begin to assert themselves. Such assertion doesn’t come from Twitter/Facebook movements. They come from a knowledge-based movement.

Securing his future:
To be sincere, there is trouble! Considering the ongoing trend with regards to the choices for elective offices in Nigeria (against 2019) despite the ongoing hardships, it leaves little to be imagined about the fate of the future of Nigerian youths. For Buhari to be so bold as to declare his ambition to context again is not only an insult but a slap on the Nigerian youth. The Nigerian youth gets slapped routinely without apologies – Femi Adesina, Lai Mohammed, Buhari, Atiku, Bola Tinubu, Emir Sanusi, El-Rufai etc. who utilise us in making foolish points. We are labelled lazy/indolent, noisemakers, idiots, jobless, unemployable etc. We are given N-Power jobs and expected to be eternally grateful! They remind us that it is a favour just to keep us in tow. We get sent as adults to villages and other uninhabitable places in the name of national integration and we are glad – after all they will pay us ‘allawee’. We get killed routinely by trigger happy security agents and no one is punished – after all our population is too much. Minimum wage is used as a political tool – of course, our elected officials feel we have not suffered enough. Politicians mobilise us for campaigns and rallies and we are very grateful – after all aren’t we jobless! It isn’t uncommon for a typical Nigerian youth to blame the government for the state he finds himself. You hear statements like, “after going to school and spending years and then graduating, yet the government cannot provide jobs for us” as if he is “employable”. Take that Nigerian youth and try having a 3 hours conversation with him on contemporary issues and you will be shocked! “After graduating with a first class, and yet no job”, as if first class equals intelligence! I do not mock first class graduates (being one myself), but attack the notion that one should be worshipped for being able to ‘la cram’ and ‘la pour’. It is thus not uncommon to find the Nigerian youth still dependent on “sitting allowance” from parents and guardian years after graduation. There is no doubt that the future of such folks may have been set in stone! The Nigerian youth must begin to take active steps to breakout of the cycle of birth-education-struggles-redundancy-failure-death. We are too loaded to be grounded (another of Oyedepo’s). We’ve got so much potential in us and energy and vitality to allow irresponsible and useless old men take us for a ride. As much as I appreciate Oyedepo, Adeboye, Kumuyi and their ministry, I will never be caught attending any religious program on a work day. It just doesn’t make sense. Nigerian youths must realise that these folks have secured the destiny of their ‘lazy’ children. You can’t really hear of the kids of most of them eking out a living outside of their parents’ sphere. It is not wrong, hence the more reason to be wise. The Nigerian youth must begin to raise critical questions – what am I here for? How prepared am I for the future? What are my goals and aspirations? Do I have what it takes to be a local/national/global player? What is lacking in my preparation? If you remember there is time for everything, it makes prioritising everything easy. Seek out the odd ones and non-conformists who are not ‘gay’ and cool and are paying hard prices now and follow them. Ignore those noise makers around you called ‘friends’. Tomorrow, you might end up bailing them for life. Get profitably busy. There is no time! Are you a student – study hard and deep and wide. Read up and acquire as much knowledge as is possible. The pay day is around the corner! The job market is transitioning fast. The concept of job security is lost. You must keep yourself updated to remain relevant. Information overload is becoming a major problem. Begin to learn how to sift through the avalanche of alternatives out there and determinedly build a niche. Continuous training is the only way to remain relevant and have a secured future. Leave BBNaija alone and other stuffs going on for those it is intended for. Fill your brain with CONTENT. Spend your time wisely and profitably. Invest time and efforts so you can buy back time tomorrow.

Buhari’s gaffe:
“It is better to keep silent and be thought a fool, than to speak and remove all doubt”. For the umpteenth time, Buhari has not failed to clear all doubts as to the fact that he is indeed “empty”. However, the reaction of Nigerian youths that has trailed this statement is a testament to the reality that the old man may just have been right. Loading 10 cement bags on the back of a person is not hard work – it is foolishness, neither is street/highway hawking. In societies where things work, heavy loads are carried about using forklifts and other means. Also, hawking stuffs on the highways in working societies is almost an uncommon sight. Hardworking youths do not have the time and energy and neither do they make efforts in responding to someone like Buhari. A better response would be to send him back to Daura come 2019. Go get your PVC.

Chimamanda’s gaffe:
“Sometimes, in trying to out America, America, one might end up being stupid”. I have never in my life so far deceived myself in buying into the culture of my host countries. Whenever, I change location, I do so with a full complement of garri, beans, yam, melon, bitter leaf, maggi, crayfish, roasted river fish etc. Whenever I am forced to make do with what is available around in case I run out of stock, plans are already in top gear for re-supply. Years after, my pidgin English is still solid. My communication in English is still Nigerian standard (although not corrupted with dialect). No “wanna” or “gonna”. I’m a Nigerian and wasn’t brought up with that lexicon. Our sister is setting forth a rather bad example. As a dedicated mother and wife that she is, she is putting forth a wrong persona that ignorant ladies back home might be quick to adopt without much ado. I believe the backlash from her recent gaffe will force her to go back home and lay quiet while being a wife and a mother. “Na international disgrace she give herself so, so make she just comot for limelight for some time, make ground level”.

Conclusion
I have taken time off this morning to express my feelings about the Nigerian youth. No matter how hard I come across, I am quite sympathetic to the plights and sufferings back home and I respond whenever I can. However, we can’t continue to play the blame game for ever. In a while, the boy will become a youth and then a man. How does he raise a family – on handouts? How does he ensure that his kids don’t get to suffer unjustly for no fault of theirs? How does he guarantee a safe future for his family? Let’s put our thinking caps on and begin to make conscious efforts to ameliorate our situation. In independently striving to secure our future with hard work and dedication, we collectively build a great Nigeria.

Happy reading.

Nice

Chukwuka16:
Buhari’s gaffe:
“It is better to keep silent and be thought a fool, than to speak and remove all doubt”. For the umpteenth time, Buhari has not failed to clear all doubts as to the fact that he is indeed “empty”. However, the reaction of Nigerian youths that has trailed this statement is a testament to the reality that the old man may just have been right. Loading 10 cement bags on the back of a person is not hard work – it is foolishness, neither is street/highway hawking. In societies where things work, heavy loads are carried about using forklifts and other means. Also, hawking stuffs on the highways in working societies is almost an uncommon sight. Hardworking youths do not have the time and energy and neither do they make efforts in responding to someone like Buhari. A better response would be to send him back to Daura come 2019. Go get your PVC.

I am still laughing,
What will make an intelligent guy in all facet like op .

What will make an intelligent guy like op to become intellectually lazy like those that does not mean well for the country,

Buhari was referring to those criminals and militant and the lazy idiotic pigs of Biafra,

Not those that hustle on the streets,

And he was not referring to graduates that are looking for job or looking for daily food