Thread by @nwaoma007

1./ Nigeria is at a dangerous and vulnerable place. Political leaders have failed the people. The jury is out on the quality of our spiritual leaders across the board, and it’s not looking good except for a few. The family unit is buffeted from all sides.

2./ Parents are under pressure to earn a living to sustain their families. The business of earning a living translates to long days for many parents often leaving them too exhausted at the end of the day to have proper oversight of their young wards.

3./ These young people are often guided more by the standards of pop culture than any values which parents may pass down (assuming the parents have a solid moral compass).

In other cases, despite working long and hard, people see little or no returns,

4./ yet see others who seem to be getting away with the rewards of crime. For those with weak moral fibre or greed, they actively urge their children to follow the path of “easy” money.

We under-acknowledge the impact of the reality of many young people.

5./ They see parents who have spent a lifetime working hard with little or nothing to show for it, and they wonder if the same cycle awaits them. Unemployment, under-employment and overwhelming odds against the one who desires to earn an honest living.

6./ In this same society, they see politicians and others who do not seem to work particularly hard living in wealth. They see that on one hand society complains about these people and derides their source of wealth, yet, the same society which complains,

7./celebrates those they complain about.

The so-called corrupt ones are honoured & revered by society. The message the youth get is only one thing; Money stops nonsense. Get rich or die trying.

The man who wants to lift you out of poverty gives you 10k, says go & make a life.

8./ Yet 10k cannot buy him a snack and that 10k is meant to change your life, will you accept it?

The same man tells you he will pay you 30k and expects you to jump for joy, will you?

The verbal message is at odds with the reality. People say take your time,

9./work & grow, trust the process. Your time will come. Yet, everyday images & experiences abound to show that in Nigeria, it’s a toss-up whether the process will align to favour you or not.

The music and the movies all make it clear that “if you no get money, hide your face.”

10./ These are the songs the youth have on replay and this has been proven to be true in their experience time and again.

We give examples with “our parents” and the standards they upheld. But we must pause and wonder; the parents many of us give as examples of moral rectitude

11./ were products of a different society. Who knows if in a different set of circumstances, that generation of parents might be different? As it is, many parents in the world of today bend the rules to make ends meet. Not necessarily “big” crimes,

12./ but it usually starts small and it grows. So parents sef get their own for body. (Not an excuse just laying out the facts).

We are all products of our environment. Sadly, as bad as it looks, the worst is yet to come. We are sitting on a ticking time bomb.

13./ The number of out of school children and youth who are ill-equipped to do anything else but beg or commit crime should alarm us all.

The time to look inwards and take responsibility is now.

Now.

Not because we absolve government,

14./ but because whether we leave it for government or not, the results will not leave any of us unscathed.

We each have to actively create the society we want. Deliberate actions within our sphere of influence.

Are your driver’s children in school?

15./ Is your housekeeper’s child in school?

Can you adopt a family in church? Around you?

Can you gainfully employ someone?

Maybe it’s too little. But the alternative of doing nothing is scarier.