₦airaland Forum

pseudonomer:
School: FUNAAB

Can you the Nigerian youth make a great president? I will so No.

“Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power.”
― Abraham Lincoln.

Do you really think the Nigerian youth that could not differentiate good governance from good looting, the ones that allow themselves to be used as tools of destruction, hate, division and looting by the professional treasury looters, the ones that kill a petty thief for stealing N20 but praise the “political class” for stealing their future and robbing it in their faces, the ones that are been blinded by religion and ethnicity, the ones whose rights have been denied for a very long time (lack of quality education and impoverished economy) thereby making them to accept anomalies as norms can actually make a great president? Are we the ones to be trusted with a wounded nation? Are we the ones to lead Nigeria, a weeping country, from its knees? No, we are not. And we can't. This isn't to say that we are not important to the healing of this great nation; we are of course important as we will be the leaders of tomorrow. But we cannot lead today, not as we are: myopic, confused, impassioned, and inexperienced.

Though the Nigerian youths are resilient, hard-working, innovative, resourceful and skillful but they are not prepared to take up the challenge. It may be possible for a youth to make a great president in the Europe, or some other part of the developed world but definitely not in Nigeria, Nigeria politics is different, the task of the number one citizen of Nigeria is more daunting, it will take a rugged politician that has been in the government for a while to know how the government can be run effectively, someone that is almost incorruptible(can this be said of the Nigerian youth that will bend at any slight offer or threat), someone that is ready to step on powerful people toes and still able to stand. Can all this be said of our Nigerian youths? Take a look at the other various government positions held by younger Nigerians, the local government chairman, Chancellors, the various community youth leader and so on. Are they different from their older men counterpart? If not even worse or do you want me to start talking about how corrupt the Student Union Government (SUG) presidents at our various universities are, the departmental presidents, National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) president, the list is endless. For instance, my community youth organization was scraped off due to the massive looting and gross misconduct by the youth leader, and this a man in his late 20’s that was loved and known for having a good character, and did a lot of community work before attaining the post of the youth leader. I still always wonder, is it him or the power? Most Nigerian youths want the power; so that they can have their own share of the “national cake”, there is common saying among the youths, “Let me go there and loot, but I will work a little bit, my generations are not meant for poverty”.

Even if we are so lucky to beat the odds and able find a good young man to rule which is almost impossible, a younger president might still lack experience to handle political crises and might be more party-dependent than an older, more confident politician. A Nigerian youth president is more likely to be a “figure head” president, someone that will be pushed around by the party. We live in the part of the world that our culture gives so much respect to the elders; we were brought up in such a way that we dare not counter the elders; we cannot oppose them even when they are blatantly wrong else it will be regarded as a lack of respect. Do you think a president of 28 years old will rule the country effectively with the likes of 50 years old senate president, 60 years old vice president, the house of assembly where the average age is like 55 years old? He will be face with so many difficulties because he will not want to step on the old men toes (We know what happened to Goodluck trying to step on Obasanjo), in a country where we believed if someone actually younger to be our child ruling over us hurts our pride. A younger president will actually be ruled by the party, people that help him there, the same old men will still be ruling, the youth president will only be a camouflage president.

The Nigerian youth cannot actually make a great president as of now, not with a wounded and bleeding nation. We have seen what the youths have done with power, we have seen how weak the Nigerian youths are to make a stance, how corrupt the youths are, and we have seen the youths do not have the required mental strength to rule 170 million Nigerians. We have seen the cases of the likes of Dr. Reuben Abati, a former social activities turned into the system and started defending the same corruption they were fighting against as a youth. If we give power to the old, will it corrupt him? Yes, there is always that possibility, but if we give power to the young, it will definitely consume him.

Good day honourable chairman, inerrant panel of judges, distinguished and assiduous coordinators, fellow Co-debaters and my ever-genial and well-grounded audience. My name is Miracy, a representative of the ever-militant Obafemi Awolowo University and a proponent to the motion which states that, "The Nigerian Youth Can Make a Great President".

Nunushokoto:
School : FUNAAB



‘‘What an elderly man sees while sitting, even if a young man climbs the highest mountain, he will not be able to see it" – Nigerian Proverb.
If you want to know the taste of a pear,you must change the pear by eating it yourself. If you want to know the theory and methods of revolution, you must take part in revolution.


I use this medium to greet the organizers of this debate, the indefatigable judges, my ever-ready co-debaters and every single member of this great forum. The question as to whether the youths can make a good leader is a question in the heart of so many Nigerians. In the current situation of the nation that we found ourselves, we often find ourselves looking in all nooks and corners for the best candidate to ease the nation of its pain. Since the old have failed, we now ask if the young can prevail where the old had failed. The truth is that despite the fact that the young provides the country with so many essentials, we are unfit and incapable of driving this nation to its prime. We are passionate, and we are driven, but we are inexperienced. And the indisputable fact about experience is that it is the best of teachers.


Even science has proven that is it impossible to possess all the necessary qualities of a ruler at tender ages. The prefrontal cortex of the brain that is responsible for decision making, personality expression, moderating social behavior, and planning complex cognitive behavior is not fully developed until the age of 25. All the listed implications are necessary for any individual who is to be in a position of a leader.


I always look back with fondness at the period of my life spent in primary school. I absolutely loved the songs we used to sing in morning assembly. One of those songs was: “Children listen to your parents, we are the leaders of tomorrow… Try to pay our school fees and give us sound education”. We had such fun times in primary school, but we now sing that same song with a reaction different from the reaction we gave it when we were kids. Instead of smiles and legs lifted higher in march like we did in school then, the song is being greeted with snickers and sighs. I wonder, and I am still wondering, are youths really ready to be leaders of tomorrow (or today as the case maybe)?, Are we as lazy as the older Nigerian generation seems to believe we are? Or are we simply not being given a chance to lead.


Young people are fitter to invent than to judge, they are fitter to question than to answer, fitter for execution than to counsel. And it is not to say that we are not fit to rule the nation, but we are unfit to rule a nation likeNigeria. What Nigeria need is a strong experienced and diplomatic leader. That is not a leader we can produce. Most youths are very fond of talking about the things we would love to change about the country, but we do nothing, we just sit behind our laptops and technology, shamelessly menacing the Internet population with our views of revolution and imperialism. We are not revolutionaries or imperialists, we only sing of these notions on social media interface where nothing can be done, but much can be said. All talk and no action.
If we keep acting the way we do, if we keep thinking the way we do, then let me assure you that the reality of that song we all sang when we were in primary school will forever elude us. Thanks

Fynestboi:
JUDGE 2 TOTAL SCORE FOR

FUNAAB ...



68

Fynestboi:
Miscellaneous... You are sighted bro....

Fynestboi:
JUDGE 2FUNAAB...

Nunushokoto

1. Presentation (opening, flow, closing,
response to judges questions,
audience questions and contestants
rebuttals) 7

2. Logic of arguments 5

3. Strenght of facts, examples, cases. 5

4. Persuasiveness 5

5. Demonstration of knowledge and
understanding of the subject 6



TOTAL.... 28

Nunushokoto:
With all due respect sir this is quite unfair. I sense a lot of biasness in this result because these score are way beyond low nd I would like the moderators to loom into this. Even the 2nd speaker for OAU wasn't actively involved in d countering session,isn't that supposed to have a mark attached to it? D judge asked questions from both speakers from funaab and only from one speaker from OAU. I sense a foul play here