OPINION: THE NEED FOR THE OLDER GENERATION IN NIGERIAN GOVERNMENT TO GIVE WAY FOR YOUNGER ONES

BY ZIK GBEMRE

I was fascinated recently when I saw a short video being circulated online, of former President Olusegun Obasanjo in his military young days as Nigeria’s Head of State, with Andrew Young, the American ambassador to Nigeria at that time, and Joe Garba as the Federal Commissioner for foreign Affairs then. This was around 1977, during the preparation for FESTAC ’77, also known as the Second World Black and African Festival of Arts and Culture (the first was in Dakar, 1966), which was a major international festival then held in Lagos, Nigeria, from 15 January 1977 to 12 February 1977. The hosting of the festival led to the establishment of the Nigerian National Council of Arts and Culture, Festac Village, and the National Theatre, Iganmu, Lagos.

What intrigued me more was the fact that these guys were all young men then. Though Joe Garba is no more. However, it is rather surprising to note that to date, all of them in the military Government then, except those that are no more, are still very much around the corridors of power. And they still play a major factor in influencing the direction of certain events in the country’s politics today. Apparently, they may have done well then because they were young and vibrant Nigerian leaders, but one is also troubled by the fact that the present generation of young, intelligent, and vibrant Nigerian youths do not get the same opportunities as these older generations did in their time, in Nigerian politics and economic bearings.

Considering the fact that the Youths are regarded as ‘the building blocks of a nation, and the role of the youths in ‘nation-building’ occupies the central place; for the country which utilizes its youth in the right direction are more developed, then we would not be mincing words when we say that many of us are fed up with the saturation of the Nigerian political and leadership space by the ‘country’s elders/older generation’ whose ideas have become senile in today’s world – thereby retarding growth and development. Also, the energy, agility, and brightness of the minds of the youth act as a torchbearer for a nation, on the contrary, the country which fails to realize the importance of the youth lags behind in every department of life.

While I am aware that there are indeed ‘few’ Nigerian youths who have been given good opportunities in Nigerian politics, which they have grossly abused, however, I still believe that there still the enlightened youths of this country with the right attitude that should be given the opportunity to be on the driver’s seat and actively participate in government at all levels. If civil servants can be made to retire at a certain age or by a certain number of years in service, it will not be out of place for politicians/political leaders to also quit the scene at some point in time to give the younger ones a chance. If we look at it very closely, we will observe that some of those personalities who were at the helm of affairs either at independence in 1960 or after the Nigerian civil war between 1970 and 1985, are still around today calling the shots in various positions of political leadership at all levels of government across the country.

Recently, the President Muhammadu Buhari-led Federal Government extended the retirement age for teachers in the country from the current 60 years to 65 years. But in my own opinion, 35 years of service is enough for teachers. Nigeria has surplus manpower. The old ones should quit for the younger generation of trained teachers who have nowhere to work. Unemployment is very high in Nigeria as a result of the huge number of qualified graduates roaming the streets. A man of 60 years should quit the civil service for the younger ones to take over. Do they even think at all before embarking on some of these new policies?

The truth is that the first generation of political leaders of this country were very young and vibrant, and the political space of the country back then gave them the chance and opportunity to serve, in spite of their young age. The Nnamdi Azikiwe, Obafemi Awolowo, Tafawa Balewa, Anthony Enahoro, and others were young, strong, and vibrant when they were very active in government. And they had great visions and dreams for this country. Even Aguiyi Ironsi, Yakubu Gowon, Adekunle Fajuyi, Odumegwu Ojukwu, Murtala Mohammed, Olusegun Obasanjo, David Ejoor, Usman Katsina, and their military junta were equally young and well-disciplined men then. We can psychoanalyze that era, and indeed the eras after it, to understand how these young political leaders who fought for Nigeria’s independence, were truly remarkable and if you like, a lucky bunch. They were first among so many of their equals, as they started quite young.

If in this country one can no longer vouch for any political process, we believe it is because of those ‘old guys’ that have refused to leave the political scene. A public affairs analyst, economist and entrepreneur, Tope Fasua, noted this fact in one of his articles: “They abhor transparency. We can imagine this, of all the registered political parties in Nigeria presently, very few have (active) websites, simply because they do not want the public to see or know what they do. These are the ideas of old politicians who lived in a lucky era. They think electronic voting or any such innovation will lead to rigging. We can recall how Prof. Jega spent hours tallying the Presidential votes in 2015, using a calculator, wasting hours on a job that could be done in seconds on Microsoft Excel? The same thing happened with the 2019 elections. It is not a sin to be old; the problem is the age of their ideas. Prof. Jega even tried his best. Many of Nigeria’s archaic politicians took him to court for introducing biometric card-readers into the political process. Such ‘leaders’/politicians will NEVER agree for votes to be tallied with Microsoft Excel! They are scared of technology and the transparency it brings.”

Having said that, the younger generation must also be careful and start bracing up to take-up the challenges ahead. They must exhibit the ‘maturity’ and develop the ability to defer gratification and not react to years of deprivation by selling their loftiest dreams for a mess of pottage – a few dollars. They should not be too taken by material things still. It is no surprise when a former Nigeria’s military head of state describes them as unfit and unprepared for leadership. A senator once said that all an average Nigerian youth cares about is watching foreign league football. So, he simply used part of the huge constituency allowance, given to him for tangible projects that could benefit people, to build a football-viewing center. The sad part is that the youths praised him for that. The reason this country is moving a step forward then four steps backward is that we lack vibrant and informed youth. The youth are supposed to be the center of gravity of any society. The youth should be the ‘life’ of a society. The youth should be the hope for a better and brighter future for any society. And we believe that, despite the above noted prevailing circumstances with our youth, they can create the change we all so desire, if given the opportunity to do so. So, while there is the need for the younger generation to inspire the older generation the ample confidence in them to lead this country above the 21st century, there is the need for the older generation to honourably quit the stage for these young ones to be given the benefit of doubt.


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