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CONTACT The Task Belongs to the Youth
to Save Nigeria Posted: August 13, 2012 at
8:45 am By Rayyan Umar I AM 24 years old; I hold a BSc.
as well as an MSc., from a
reputable business school in
England; I am well on my way
to making the transition from
“student member” of the ACCA (Association of Certified
Chartered Accountants) to full
membership; I am a couple of
months away from finishing up
my Youth Service in a
government agency. In an ideal world, I would be the poster
boy for optimism with regard
to my future, yet I find that this
is not entirely the case. I am Nigerian, you see, and that
tends to mean life for me is
never quite as straightforward
as it is for… say a South African
or Canadian of the same age and
similar academic qualifications. I find that as often as I dream
about my amazingly bright
future, I am equally tortured by
torrid visions of a future devoid
of any brightness. I find this
state of affairs unacceptable; after all, one of the joys of youth
is the ability to dream dreams,
and dream unencumbered. That
is what makes a Youth. I have asked myself on many
occasions how and why my
country finds itself in such a
sorry state today, why I cannot
be boundlessly optimistic about
my future like my Emirati or Canadian counterparts. The
answer is not so much
complicated as it is vast in
nature. Friends, classmates,
colleagues and books have
offered bits and pieces of this answer ranging from the
colonialists and their act of
entrusting Nigeria to the
“Northern feudalists” at
independence to a supposed
gene that all Africans possess that renders our ability to lead
and administer sincerely,
selflessly and effectively
impossible. Some less imaginative people
insist that the devil is to blame…
who am I to disagree with any
of them? I however feel like the
answer is rooted in one phrase,
“moral depravity” i.e. the impairment of virtue and moral
principles. It is worth noting that this
phenomenon is not exclusive to
Nigerians or even Africans, it is
global in nature. From Wall
Street to Onitsha the symptoms
of our diminishing sense of morality is rampant in the
actions of people and
institutions from Bernie Madoff
toying with the hard earned
money of American citizens to
the mechanic in Ojuelegba that would think nothing of charging
N10,000 (Naira) to replace your
worn-out brake pads for an
even worse set, in full
knowledge that they are
endangering your life by doing so. This underlying issue of moral
depravity is ubiquitous in
Nigerian society; the symptoms
differ depending on what area
of society one chooses to
examine, and the justifications are just as varied. “The
government isn’t doing
anything for me, I might as well
take my share of the money
that should be used to provide
the basic amenities for me”, “The money is going to be
misappropriated anyway, what
harm is there in ensuring part of
it is misappropriated in my
direction?” Two out of an endless supply of
justifications one is likely to
come across. One will find that
the concept of “two wrongs
don’t make a right” or “just
because everyone is doing it doesn’t make it acceptable”
hardly registers as good enough
arguments against such
behaviour. But enough about
the problems, where and what
is the solution? The solution for me is quite
simply a change of attitude.
Mind you, not in the obvious
sense, in that only a portion of
Nigerians needs to embark on
this change of attitude. The youths, the TRUE youths of
Nigeria, are the people who
need a change of attitude. We
are young, energetic, brimming
with ideas and exposed like no
other generation of Nigerian youths before us, yet we seem
to have already resigned
ourselves to the fate our current
leaders would have us
entrapped. For the most part, we are
distracted be it by drugs, girls,
living a false life, plotting on
how to fund the said false life,
you name it (some will suggest
that these distractions are necessary as without them, we
would surely go insane as a
result of the endless list of
challenges we face. I agree, but
suggest that there are less
hazardous ways to distract one) . The change of attitude I
advocate is not necessarily in
the moral sense alone like you
would expect. This is so for two
reasons, the first being that we
don’t need to be angels to rule effectively, and the second, it
would be foolhardy to think
that anyone reading this will go
ahead to fight the immense
personal battle that is necessary
to change the course of our diminishing sense of morality. Yes, personal uprightness is a
substantial part of it because
uprightness and dignity are
unstoppable force as
exemplified by Mahatma
Gandhi’s struggle. The change I suggest we make
has to do with one aspect of our
attitude. That is the “sit and
watch” attitude the majority of
Nigerians (most especially the
youths) have adopted in the face of the impending doom our
country faces. We feel helpless, like we can do
nothing to influence the sorry
state of our fortunes, this is
categorically untrue, especially
for the youths. Unlike our
parents, not only do we have the energy and numbers to
make an impact, we have
(generally speaking) fewer
responsibilities, how much
more the great incentive to
ensure that this change occurs. We don’t have children to feed,
clothe and educate, so we are
not putting any dependents at
risk by embarking on the
treacherous task of rising
against the system in the non- violent manner of Gandhi and
Martin Luther King Jnr, nor do
we have jobs with substantial
enough remuneration to
dissuade us from bringing about
change, especially when we look at the fact that should the
change be successful, it will
translate to a better standard of
living for both ourselves as well
as the dependents that will
come down the line. It is imperative that we realize,
sooner rather than later that
this is the only chance we have
to rise up, for if we let this
opportunity pass, we will wake
up one day to find we are too compromised (by the same
system we are unhappy with)
to fight for this change we
need, thus sentencing another
generation to the same
problems we were born into and have watched get
progressively worse. Having spoken at length about
the problem(s) and examined
what we need to change in the
process of embarking on this
process to engender a change of
sorts, it is necessary to present the steps we need to take
within the context of the
impact we need to make. Every single Nigerian that falls
under the designation of
“youth” needs to become
politically active. Politically
active in the sense that we need
to align with and provide our services to the political party
that we believe has the most
promise (with regard to
changing the course that the
country is treading right now)
with a view towards inheriting the machinery of the said
parties within a decade, give or
take. It goes without saying that
being politically active also
means that we all have to go
out, get registered to vote, and
exercise that right when the
time comes. The goal here is to take responsibility for our own
future, as opposed to leaving it
in the hands of the jokers in
charge right now. As I said earlier, we have
nothing to lose, if we succeed,
we find ourselves with the
opportunity to influence our
future as well as that of our
unborn children, if we fail, we can take whatever the future
brings knowing we didn’t sit
back and let it happen. Chances are, if 50 per cent of the
people who read this article
heed my suggestion, we will be
an unstoppable force and failure
will not be an option, let alone a
possibility. Rayyan Umar is an NYSC
member serving in Abuja

onatisi: he killed 1000 bok haram members

DEAD :-D

TrustZee: Its name is quite ok...but dat size can't fill ma stomach yet..lol

hehehe... If dat one pack is not enough 4 u then u need to seek help asap!

tempest01: Abeg this man sef...this one no be communication again...na encryption

Hehehe... I no fit laugh come out sef wen i read am. This guy go kill person one day.

[quote author=ekt_bear]What is wrong with his statement? What is racist about it?[/quote]YOUR PRESIDENT IS A DICTATOR AND CONFIRMS IT WITH THIS STATEMENT.

Super1759: So what's wrong if she stands for a thief?

with you guys (40 laptops) nothing is ever wrong!

[quote author=fankasibe]Trully dis lawyers av got their rights to sue GEJ but he should be respected as president.] Was the Italian president (Berlusconi) not sued? Wake up from your slumber abi na coma sef!

fankasibe: Trully dis lawyers av got their rights to sue GEJ but he should be respected as president.

Was the Italian president (Berlusconi) not sued? Wake up from your slumber abi na coma sef!

ebamma: shattap,do you think mourinho will let them carry any trophy

Hehehe.... I no fit shout.

feelamong: Abeg I don tire for all this una Noise.....JUST PASTE THE WEB SITE ADDRESS make my children fit stay for house borrow book read. Sebi una say na E- library!!

you wan show your self here abi? Go find paperback books buy give your children jare if you really care about their education.

afam4eva: At least he has learned something from Akpabio. Thumbs up Fashola.

very true and Delta Govt is nowhere to be found on this E revolution that is sweeping the south south!

Senator Abe: Time to unbundle
Nigeria
A lorry cannot fly, for the
simple reason that it is not
designed to fly. In the same
vein the Nigeria federation
cannot succeed as a
productive nation because it is
not designed to produce
When an organisation becomes
unwieldy, inefficient, corrupt,
wasteful and incapable of
delivering on its mandate or
bringing value to its stakeholders,
one of the accepted solutions is to
unbundle it. That would mean the
creation of smaller, more efficient
organizations with greater
efficiencies of scale. It would also
imply specializations in the
different organizations so that one
mammoth entity is not saddled
with the responsibility of doing
everything.
In Nigeria, we are already applying
the unbundling principle to some
of our public corporations: the
Power Holding Company of Nigeria
(PHCN) is being unbundled, the
Nigeria National Petroleum
Corporation (NNPC) is facing the
same fate in the Petroleum Industry
Bill (PIB). However, the entity that
is most in need of unbundling is the
Nigerian Federation. It is more
unwieldy than NNPC, more
inefficient than PHCN and more
corrupt than both put together.
The Nigerian federation is not
working and cannot work in its
present form because we have a
sharing federation. A lorry cannot
fly, for the simple reason that it is
not designed to fly. In the same
vein the Nigeria federation cannot
succeed as a productive nation
because it is not designed to
produce. Nigeria needs to be
unbundled to create a productive
federation where all parts can
produce and contribute not equally
but in equal strength.
The argument has been made that
the present structure of Nigeria was
necessary to curb the strength of
the regions, and ensure the stability
of the country. The result has been
an overkill. We now have states
that are clearly incapable of
meeting even the elementary
requirements of organised modern
government, and not to mention
preparing its citizens to compete in
the global economy. Every
federation succeeds on the
strength of its federating units, to
create a federation where the
federating states have no capacity,
authority or freedom to deliver is a
tragedy.
We must never make the mistake
of thinking that Nigeria is more
important than its citizens; the
future of Nigeria as a united
country is meaningless and
unachievable except it guarantees
the safety, security and prosperity
of its people.
The problem is that the federation
in its present structure is designed
as a sharing unit. Every action and
evaluation in the federation is
guided by the philosophy of
sharing. As a sharing structure
Nigeria has actually performed
well. Nigeria has 36 states and a
federal capital territory, 774 local
government areas, hundreds of
useless federal and state ministries,
agencies, committees, parastatals,
commissions etc. spread across the
land. All these bodies are in a fierce
competition to draw resources from
one source. The nature of this
competition is responsible for the
rot that is Nigeria, it promotes
deceit, that is why we lie about
every thing from our census to
school enrollment figures. It
promotes disunity; that is why our
country cannot be united.
In other to justify their share or
demand for a greater share,
politicians and other leaders are
compelled to exploit differences
between peoples to demand for an
increase in the allocation of
resources or positions. All offices
are calculated in the sharing
arrangement, and must be used to
the advantage of whatever interest
was able to capture them.
“Juicy’ offices are regarded as
another legitimate way of sharing
the national cake. Nobody can be
successfully punished for
corruption in this sharing structure
because the idea of eradicating
corruption is a parody in a sharing
federation. People are appointed
primarily to “take”, “collect”, or
“settle” themselves, and “carry
along’ their people, or interest
group. Corruption in office begins
from the day of appointment, when
the villagers abandon their farms to
celebrate their good fortune.
The most important tool in the fight
against corruption is the
disapproval and opprobrium of the
society and your peers. We will
never get that in our sharing
federation because every means
that you employ in getting
something out of the system will
meet the approval of your
community and your peers who are
similarly engaged, in an equally
desperate quest for any advantage
in getting a share of the national
cake.
The sad reality of our situation is
that the population has clearly
overtaken the entirety of available
resources, and everything is now
stretched to breaking point.
This is the end of the road.
Everything that can be shared has
been zoned and shared. With
nothing left to share, and the vast
majority of our population still
mired in hunger, poverty, illiteracy
or half- baked education,
unemployment, and anger, our
natural reaction is to believe that
the reason for this is because there
are corrupt leaders in charge who
are not sharing things equitably
enough, or that if we have our own
state or local government, we will
be able to get our share. The sad
truth is that the poverty index in
Nigeria in 1974, when we had 12
states was less than 40 percent,
today with 36 states poverty is up
by more than 70 percent. More
unproductive states may deliver a
few more dual carriage ways, loads
of government houses,
commissioners quarters, federal
secretariats and other ill
maintained structures of
government presence but it has
clearly not delivered on the
promise of a better life and greater
opportunities for the broad
majority of our citizens.
Solution? Let us unbundle Nigeria,
let us restructure the country to
create more efficient units in the
states with true freedom and the
resources to mobilise their people
and plan for the future. We will
then have a federal government
that will be smaller, more efficient
and more effective in its more
limited functions as a regulator and
enforcer. Taking more resources to
the states creates an immediate
advantage. Contrary to the fears
being expressed in non-oil
producing states, unbundling will
not affect current revenue profiles,
on the contrary, all states will get
more from our oil revenues
because along with the transfer of
several federal functions to states
will also come a massive reduction
in the federal share.
But more important than money, is
that the state will actually be given
freedom to plan. If you then choose
to lie about your population, it will
be your choice, if you prefer to
have a hundred local governments
it will be your choice, if you elect to
pay what the federal government
pays its civil servants it will be your
choice. States can actually
determine their own priorities,
compete, learn and cooperate with
one another.
States should run their own
criminal justice system, build and
operate their own prisons, airports
etc. States should determine their
own system of local government
administration, accredit and brand
their own education, health, and
legal systems, and also license their
own practitioners. The federal
government will remain the
guarantor of our common freedoms
ensuring that no state is allowed to
discriminate against any Nigerian
within the republic. Maintaining our
common defence, providing a more
effective federal police that is
respected as an unbiased umpire in
disputes between states and within
states as it affects the fundamental
rights of citizens under the federal
constitution.
In such a federation, states will get
oil revenue, but they will realise
that they either utilize every kobo
prudently and productively or they
will be left behind. In this race no
one will stand still once the starting
short is fired. This competition and
freedom will convert our sharing
federation into a productive
federation that will bring out all
the hidden strengths and
advantages in every part and every
individual. It will unleash the full
energy of our sleeping giant.
The greatest argument against
giving power to the states is that it
will make the governors too
powerful. The governors already
have power, what this change will
do will be to give them real
responsibility, and transfer to them
the actual burden of governance. It
will humble the governors. The size
of your allocation will cease to
count and the number of your civil
servants will cease to matter. What
will count is the quality of life
under your watch. To crown it, let
us give every chief executive one
single term of five years. Do your
best or do your worst and step
aside so that Nigeria can keep
moving. I rest my case.
This article was first published in
ThisDay.
————————————
About the author: Senator Abe
represents the Rivers South East
Senatorial District in the National
Assembly.

oneuniquemind: I fink it's only dos dt msg was sent to dt can get d bonus.So if u didn't recieve any msg from mtn as regards 200% bonus,don't expect any bonus wen u recharge.

you are so on point! One must receive that sms before you can enjoy that offer.

pendusky: I bet u, 25% of ur 1.5k i.e N375 is 4 kals and remaining 75% i.e N1125 for mtn2mtn text! Try am!
Em no try!

i received same sms two days ago and i bought 5k worth of airtime via VTU.... Guess what? I was credited with 10k bonus to make Mtn to Mtn calls all day for one month. My package is Mtn pulse.

The question you guys should be asking should be...
Did the presidency inform the palace of his visit before time and if yes what was the response of the palace to the presidency. As for me being the president of nigeria does not give you the right to come into my crib unannounced!

Billyonaire: Whats my Business with Oba of Bini, or benin....in which democracy have you seen a President visiting every little communal head when he visits a state...answer me...now...

corn head wake up from your slumber. Democracy or no democracy our traditional rulers are more respected than your retarded presido!

jude33084: I don't think that is true. He is the president of Nigeria and can see whoever he like.

here goes another arrogant one like Mr President!

Imeobong: Ekpankukwo - Efik,Ibibio and Annang (Akwa Ibom & Cross River )

Starch and Ogwo soup - Itsekiri

Owo and Starch is traditional Uhrobo dish without which no traditional marriage can be consummated.

Ukodo..... Owo and Starch..... UHROBO

shymmex: You earn respect, you don't demand it..

GEJ hasn't earned no respect - only pigs, tribalists, and fellow thieving bastards and puppets respect that man..

He stole (Yeah, every kobo they steal from Nigeria is part of my national wealth) from me and my unborn children, and he deserves no respect.

shymmex: You earn respect, you don't demand it..

GEJ hasn't earned no respect - only pigs, tribalists, and fellow thieving bastards and puppets respect that man..

He stole (Yeah, every kobo they steal from Nigeria is part of my national wealth) from me and my unborn children, and he deserves no respect.

shymmex: You earn respect, you don't demand it..

GEJ hasn't earned no respect - only pigs, tribalists, and fellow thieving bastards and puppets respect that man..

He stole (Yeah, every kobo they steal from Nigeria is part of my national wealth) from me and my unborn children, and he deserves no respect.

YOU CAN SAY THAT AGAIN!! We even fair to him because he deserves more than insults!

Beaf: Any ethnic group or section that feels too big to be governed by a man from a minority ethnic group can leave.
It is now in every groups interest to arm up, nobody will take bullshiit from anybody in the name of population or "born to rule."
Simple as 2 + 2.

listen to yourself cunt!

Kobojunkie: The kin educators we get for this country na wa. All their PHD and this na wetin person dey read from this man as reason for the mass failures?

i agree 100% with him because am a victim this maths and english embargo!

Detongue: Thank u gov'nor Uduaghan. Let pessimist hide dir heads.

your dull governor... Why wait till now before fixing the access road to the IPP site? And which other state announced the arrival of turbines for their various projects before they were commissioned.

1025: abeg, who is bamangar tukur and what is the difference between what azazi, okah and buhari have been saying?

no difference my brother... Where are the critics of Buhari on this issue now?

[quote author=Musiwa,,]the ijaw in warri are immigrate like ijaw in new york or london who immigrate.

Do you make abuja ijawland because Jonathan Goodluck lives there. itsekiri own warri. 100% of warriland.. I have an uhrobo friend, who says so too. he was born and breed in warri. But he is Uhrobo, he is a born again , so he did not want to lie to me. unlike the unbelieve who tell lies.[/quote]You are a big fat liar. Your king's palace is on a rented land owned by the Okumagbas and you are here claiming 100% ownership of warri. If you guys truly own warri why was the 25yrs coronation of your king restricted to Ajamogha and big warri alone?

rockafela: from d frontpage u can see the useless looking Governor behind her, with hopeless looking suit.

ROTFLMAOL
not only hopeless but weak also!

Jenams: he shud be arrested. we've had enuf of his violence insightin remarks. he is nt bigger than our country n her constitution. i say arrest buhari n notin will happen.

MUMU..... Did you hala arrest them when the subsidy/pension probe report came?

cindyrella: Ummmm this brings back good old memories.. my mom used to prepare stew early sunday morning and rice after church... So we had pap or tea and bread for breakfast every sunday...

not different from mine.

[quote author=One_Naira]Chei this nation. No source, no verification yet una already condemning the woman. Smh[/quote]BLIND BARTIMAEUS :-D[quote author=One_Naira]Chei this nation. No source, no verification yet una already condemning the woman. Smh[/quote]BLIND BARTIMAEUS :-D[quote author=One_Naira]Chei this nation. No source, no verification yet una already condemning the woman. Smh[/quote]BLIND BARTIMAEUS :-D

feelamong: Anu Mpama!!!!Even after the white man has left you... you still want to remain tied to their apron...colonial mentality of the highest order... I can choose to speak in my native tongue whenever i have my townsmen visiting me and that was exactly what Buhari did......for ur info am a full bred Igbo man. But the fact reains that without Justice there shall be no peace...Yestady we shouted over the south south suffering injustice from tyhe govt and oil coys.. today we are shouting over a northerner being rigged out ,,....whop knows tomorrow it might be my turn being brutalised cos am Igbo.... see until there is equity and fair play in our elections...Buhari has every right to shout !!!

bless you for telling him the truth.

koruji: I have said it before Buhari cannot help Nigeria. This is not how true leaders save a nation.

Always threatening fire and brimstone. How about lead a body of knowledgeable individuals to help INEC identify potential 2015 problems and correct it right now?

Even more urgent - how about helping to save the nation from the disintegration that looms before 2015 if your backyard keeps going boom, boom, boom.

How can Gen. Buhari be talking about a free-and-fair election when anybody with half-a-minds eye can see that no elections will take place in northern Nigeria if BH is not completely put down soon?

what advice do you want him to give than what he gave after the end of the election tribunal? Your president is not listening.

bayooooooo: If this man is not cautioned, Nigeria is set for explosion.

cautioned how? Nigeria is already exploding and you are here talking of future explosion. If those behind the subsidy scam are not brought to book then 2015 will truly be bloody.