₦airaland Forum

Bagehot:
I grew up under millitary rule, and trust me, Nigerians have it much better now. Economically, job opportunities were far and few between - and there certainly was still a lot of man know man. There was a lot of insecurity and (non-political) assassinations were rampant. Social mobility was pretty difficult. The government frequently sponsored cultists to kill and maim student activists on campus. Random people were disappeared, and we couldn't mention Abacha's name out loud on our own front porch. Covol Servants earned bloody peanuts, and we all stood in long queues at NITEL to make phonecalls.

Nigeria's name was bad even back then: the country was a transit hub for drug smuggling (aided by the millitary regime) - google Gloria Okon. If you think Yahoo boys are new, then clearly you are too young to remember the glory days of Goddy Anabor, Anajemba, Ade Bendel etc.

Thank you for your post. Going through the thread, I think folks in their 40s and 50s are envious of the opportunities our generation have. The ease in migrating using your skills and academic abilities and having information to perform these things on one's finger tip. Which is why they exaggerate the negatives of the present generation.

Kaiser20:
When I look at myself today I feel fulfilled in life. But when I see the younger Nigeria generations i weep, I pray for them everyday. (Over hustle too much)
I promise God that I will continue to help in any little ways to lift as many youths as I can out of poverty.
The resources and opportunities available for today's youths are limited, unless you have rich and connected parents

That's just it. The rich and well connected parents makes life easier for their kids. I graduated top of the class 2019, no job nor business. I wanted to futher my education and perhaps becoming a licence surveyor. No money for that. The best bet for me is to get a job and run my masters and whataview concurrently. Yet no job. Those who had a job were underpaid. I'm just in a state of confusion. It's looks as if I'm just useless and got no plan nor ambitious for myself. No doubt, almost average Nigerians youths out there are going through the same thing. Some had long resorted to crime to pay their bills. At the long run, some will definitely join the bandwagon. The government ain't helping matters. No access to loan for business or education. You are just on your own. Now tell me, why won't they resort to crime when they had nothing doing. Their goals, plans all shattered just because they ain't from a rich home or connected. Imagine people buying slots to get a government job in our own father's land. My friend who served in LSDPC told me his boss categorically informed him not to over worked himself because they won't retain him after service. He asked why? The boss responded, you needed to know someone out there before you can be retained or get a job here. A bitter truth! Nonetheless, we're just being hopeful for a better tomorrow.

Offpoint1:
They slept and ruined our present

They couldn't do anything about because if you voiced out you ended up either dead or missing or both

donestk:
I once told my dad: you guys got multiple jobs to choose from, got housing and healthcare but all we got is the INTERNET and nothing else.

Speaking of multipe jobs, a lot of ojr parents got through life with sheer determinstion. Most folks here that their parents are civil servants shoild ask them what their earnings are - barely 200k at the most senior levels yet they managed to build houses and send their kids to school. Most homes had just a 504 (if at all they had any car) and 2 car housegolds were seen as very well off.

The issue is that there is a lot more to consume now than back then - smartphones, DSTV, internet bundles, nicer cars, vacations etc.

hahn:
They couldn't do anything about because if you voiced out you ended up either dead or missing or both

What difference has their lives made

I rather sacrifice my life for the better future of my offspring than live a coward.

Omoluabiii:
I think Nigeria is better now than then, in these aspect...
¤Infrasture
¤Freedom of speech and actions
¤Transportation and road networks
¤Telecommunication
The only thing that was good then, but missing now is
"GOOD EQUAL STANDARD OF LIVING & QUALITY OF LIFE.... All the things we use then were purly original, from food items to wears and shoes etc. But now fake things re much than original....
¤Back then in the 80s
life was boring, no internet, no atm, no media and the rest...
It was boring.

¤There was also no freedom of speach, and action, fear was in everyone cos its military rule, they can do and undo, nobody dare say pim....
The freedom now makes its a bit better now than then,
now people challenge politicians, soldiers and police, back then who born you well...
And now we have better infrastructure, then its very worse, there might just be a road that enters a major town, thats all, but now, we have beautiful roads and bridges,,,
Without no doubt, the country is better now than the 60s, 70s, 80s, and 90s

@ bolded tell them ooo....
Haba! I thought I was the only one that noticed.

Left for me, I feel the reckless devaluation of naira and the reckless knee jerk inflation is strongly responsible for the bolded. Those guys at the echelon, only God go judge them

Then those days... My gawd if I buy perfume, mehn... It used to be so good and flawless. If we buy shoes for the first time, it will just be giving out lovely scent.

But these days? Hmmm... No original again, now we now have Nigeria tokunbo car (this is car that oyibo have used, then Nigerian have flexed for many many years).

VeeVeeMyLuv:
@ bolded tell them ooo....
Haba! I thought I was the only one that noticed.

Left for me, I feel the reckless devaluation of naira and the reckless knee jerk inflation is strongly responsible for the bolded. Those guys at the echelon, only God go judge them

Then those days... My gawd if I buy perfume, mehn... It used to be so good and flawless. If we buy shoes for the first time, it will just be giving out lovely scent.

But these days? Hmmm... No original again, now we now have Nigeria tokunbo car (this is car that oyibo have used, then Nigerian have flexed for many many years).

hmmm, thats true, the quality of things now is porus

tmtech:
My childhood was monotonous and boring cos as a child I was adventurous but ,they was nothing to do back den... No internet , landline was no fun.. when I got a desktop in early 2000, it was mad fun and then MTN came along and how can I forget old r and b and mehn sound sultan was real OG (RIP). Micheal Jackson and other old school blues was really a life saver.

Seems like you had a good time. I can only remember some of those stuff in the early 2000s cos I still be small pikin that time. But I remember how wonderful it was. I rember the first time I discovered Michael Jackson CD in 2005 from my dad's old collection, I play that CD over and over again so tey there beg me make I stop

lanreonplanet:
life in the 80s was that of contentment, those saying it was boring because of lack of internet should realize you don't miss what does not exist .
The programmes on our national TV stations (NTA) kept us entertained- village headmaster, cock crow at dawn, mind your language, some mothers do have them by Frank Spencer, Love boat, Globe trotters, Alaadin, Bill Cosby show, Family matters etc

in education, both the children of the rich and the poor attend public schools with foreign teachers from different African countries, original textbooks from Macmillian, and same text use in best schools of the world from great authors- Stones &Cozen, Micheal West, Lambert, Harwood Clarke, Chinua Achebe, Lamb (books of Shakespeare)

On job opportunities, there were fewer graduates compare with available job, women with ordinary secretarial knowledge trained up children up to university level in this country. No graduate was unemployed for upward of six years as we have now.

the environment was better, lots of playground for children, fewer gates and low fences because you are not afraid of your neighbor.

You guys watched Bill Cosby's show here in the 80s?

twosquare:
If wishes were horses, beggars would ride. I took time to read all. So much lies and lies of people trying to paint the good old days. Idealising the past is sweet; just looking at their head, spurning lies like spiders...

*If you want to know the truth, check the art of that era (literary themes & works); newspapers, memoirs, journals, etc. You will sniff it out. Not people who lived with privileged parents or someone who was fed by his/her parents, only thinking the world revolves around 1% of their experiences.

It is relative.

You should have used this opportunity to talk about your own experience

tensazangetsu20:
I used to abuse the older generation blaming them for completely destroying the country for the younger generation especially Nigerians in the 45 plus age bracket but I have been thinking and I feel that age range of Nigerians actually had it much worst than Nigerians of today.

Nigeria is still an absolute shithole today but at least the internet exist which is enabling young people to make a living online. Something that was impossible or unheard of like 10 years ago.

How did older men survive Nigeria when they were young. I mean let's say you graduated from unilag or unn with a mechanical engineering degree in 1984 when Buhari was head of state. They were no jobs, unemployment was still very rife. There was no internet for freelancing or stuff like that. Bujari destroyed the economy then and a demon IBB entered and became president as if that wasn't worst Abacha came in. By the time Abacha left, a 22 year old man from buhari tenure might have been 35 or close to 40 years. Lived through all this bad governance, poverty and hardship. It's so terrible when I think about it.

Older Nigerians how did you guys do it? I am really curious to hear your experiences.

Nigeria was way better then than now. You can get a full-time role in a bank with a school cert back then. Even a masters degree doesn't guarantee you a contract staff role now. You have companies waiting for you outside your exam hall with official cars while writing your final paper. It was way better then than now. Dollar was even weaker than naira in the 70's and 80's.

crackhaus:
No matter how you look at it, they had it so much better... Waayyy better.
Nothing depressing about it.

Yes they lived through the military era and saw firsthand what that was like, but it was still a better deal than what we have now.

Nigeria/Nigerians didn't have such a bad rep in the eyes of the world back then.

And who told you there were no jobs?

Just having a university degree guaranteed you a job without the need for man-know-man or bribing your way into federal agencies.
My dad with his University of Ibadan 2'2 degree didn't stay without work for up to 3 months after serving – got a really good job for that matter.

Nigerians could travel easier back then and even though the standard of living wasn't all that high, things were affordable in comparison.
Today, the standard of living is low (even lower if we're being honest), yet commodities aren't that affordable.

The internet age, satellite TV, and advent of mobile devices which ushered in the era of remote jobs and internet-based sources of income, also came with the introduction of make-believe lifestyles from watching reality shows like MTV cribs, KUWTK, etc...
Young Nigerians became obsessed with living wealthy lifestyles and acquiring expensive things (even when unnecessary).

Please there's no comparison to be made...

Older Nigerians definitely had a much better Nigeria than we do now. It wasn't heaven then, but it still wasn't as hellish as it is now.
People actually lived in Nigeria back then, but what people are doing now is surviving – there's a big difference.

I can't even take my car to a random mechanic to fix for me because they will bill me like a yahoo boy.
Internet fraudsters who don't mind paying whatever price they're told to pay for anything, have succeeded in contributing to inflation.

All those overpriced estates in places like Lekki built on top of reclaimed land that is just hoping/praying the sea doesn't develop mood swing, do you think if they were not seeing people to buy them, they won't drop the prices?

My brother, the overall mentality of Nigerians is very different now from what it was then.

Although it's not that the country was European-standard for older Nigerians back in the day, but contentment seemed to be more prevalent as people were okay with just having the basics/having just what was necessary.

I have a lot more I could type on this topic, but I've exceeded my social media allocated time for today.

Thank you dear, wonder where this kids are coming from to make such assertion. How can you compare the Nigeria of now and then? The faired better. We think internet is everything, those eighties and early nineties, people still communicate well through those media available.