Youth is not the solution
By: Tim Ojo-Ibukun
Tags: Nigéria, Nigeria, Nigerian Politics, Endsars, 2023 Elections

Don’t fight forces, use them. — Buckminster Fuller.

Photo by Ayoola Salako on Unsplash

I have a question for you. Did you join the END SARS protests, either online or on-ground just because it was what every other person was doing or you joined because you genuinely sought a change in the Nigerian polity?

It has been over a month since we witnessed the carnage that happened at Lekki, Lagos, that event that happened on 20/10/20 was the hallmark of the protests. One thing we must avoid is collapsing the entire movement into that god-awful event.

Judicial panels of inquiry have since been operating all over the country, and in Lagos state, we have seen the Lagos state government and the Nigerian army going back and forth, I just laugh whenever I see them in the headlines.

The Nigerian police have asked a court to stop the activities of the panel but later withdrew the case, the attitude of the government and various organs of government, ipso facto, make the efforts of those panels futile, just like the ones the country has had in the past.

What was your answer to the ask that opened this piece? Peradventure you were genuinely interested in the cause, this is the time you avail yourself with the necessary knowledge you need to play your part and make sure that we collectively create change and get justice for those that deserve it. Justice isn’t just getting some culprits behind bars but understanding and appropriately tackling the system that allows impunity to reign.

Che Guevara, an Argentine revolutionary said that the first duty of a revolutionary is to be educated. You most certainly do not see yourself as a revolutionary, but what you are part of is a massive and complicated process that will change the Nigerian polity for good, for the rule of law to reign supreme. You must take serious your duty of understanding the situation.

This country would be a lot better if we all knew a little more. In this process, we must avoid overthinking the situation, we must not be too hasty to draft solutions too, this would mean underthinking the situation and show incomprehension of the system. Saying the situation is not complicated or easy to solve will be blatant deceit of ourselves, nonetheless, miracles happen, they happen only when we do terrific work to get them.

The youth is not the solution; the youth is only a reflection of the problems that plague our country. Regrettably, what many of us took away from the END SARS protests was that we just needed to replace the old leaders with Youths, as much as I want this to be true, it is not. Complex problems require a diversity of perspectives, no age group is immune to corruption and other ills in our country. We have seen young people do the noblest things, and old people commit crimes against humanity, and vice versa.

This fight is not a fight of the youths; it is a fight of all Nigerians. Come to think of it, what fight are we talking about? “Don’t fight forces, use them” - Buckminster Fuller. Nigerians have long been fighting forces they see as opposed to the prosperity of the country, every time it looks like they were about to win the fight they always faced a defeat, this is because those they fight are the masters in the fight, they designed the system and they are very artful when they use it to achieve their aims. The time for a rethink of this fight is long overdue, and we must now start looking for ways we can use these forces to get what we want for Nigeria. We need to start looking at these issues within the frame of the Nigerian constitution and start exploring ways provided therein to get what we want.

We need to stop looking at the political and economic system of the country as an oppressor vs oppressed situation. The reality is the all of us are oppressors to some other person, we are all oppressors in our rights. The only villains are the ones we created for ourselves, as much as we love our heroes we must try to understand the villains. We must avoid acquiring moral power, it is useless, over time. It does not do any work.