By James Sunday, FCAI, MNIIA
Nigerian youths are increasingly becoming rented voices and opportunists, tools in the hands of those who thrive on upheaval, disruption of public peace, thuggery, protests, chaos, and counter-protests.
From student union governments to trade groups and allied services, many youths have turned themselves into contractors for violence and protests, gradually reducing their relevance to nothing more than hired voices for or against anyone who can pay them to protest, attack, or blackmail.
Too many youths have become opportunists in the hands of selfish members of the political class. Many of those appointed as special aides end up acting not as representatives of young people and their aspirations but as antagonists, protesters, blackmailers, and anarchists.
There is a dire need for Nigerian youths to remain resolute and focused in the pursuit of their rights and heritage as lawful citizens, citizens who deserve the best and must be given what rightfully belongs to them.
Nigerian youths make up 45 percent of the country’s population and productive force. They are therefore a formidable group to leverage and reckon with. Like young people everywhere in the world, they expect the best from their government. But they also have a duty to be patriotic, nationalistic, and hardworking, rather than seeking shortcuts through yahoo-yahoo, ritual killings, kidnapping, thuggery, rented protests, or anarchism.
Government, on its part, must take the responsibility of good governance seriously. This includes the provision of jobs and opportunities, discouraging “use-and-dump” jobs such as election thuggery, and putting an end to the culture of rented protests and voices that disrupt public peace, threaten safety, and create insecurity through clandestine acts.
Above all, Nigerian youths must embrace hard work and legitimate engagements to avoid being exploited by selfish and self-centered individuals in society.