Machos and leadership

Are the Nigerian youth Ready For Leadership?

John W. Gardner, an American activist and recipient of the 1964 Presidential Medal of Freedom defined leadership as the process of persuasion by which an individual induces a group to pursue objectives held by the leader and the followers. Kevin Kruse, an American Professor of History defined leadership as a process of social influence, which maximizes the efforts of others, towards achieving a goal. With these definitions, the question 'Are Nigerian Youths Ready For Leadership?' can thus be broken down, reconstructed and put as 'Are Nigerian youths ready to accomplish tasks through social influence? Are Nigerian youths ready to pursue and bring about the realization of political goals in the country?' My answer is yes, they are ready.

In recent times, Nigerian youths have demonstrated great influence in various sectors of the country, ranging from agriculture to technology to industry and to even commerce. In technology, they have come up with amazing and useful innovations that are known locally and internationally. The visit of Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO and Co-founder of Facebook to the Technology Hub in Nigeria in 2016 shows that the sterling efforts, intellect and potentials of our youths have caught the interest of people around the world.

In commerce, Nigerian youths are known to have creative business skills and a strong entreprenurial spirit. According to an article released by Forbes Africa on June 4, 2018, Forbes published its list of '30 Most Promising Young Entrepreneurs in Africa' on the same day President Muhammadu Buhari gave the controversial statement that Nigerian youths were lazy. Nine Nigerians made it to the list. A large percentage of thriving businesses in the country today are owned by youths.

I could go on and on about how Nigerian youths have exercised social influence and displayed amazing leadership skills. They possess multidimensional talents, which if harnessed properly in an enabling environment, can translate and contribute to the accomplishments of political goals and objectives in the country. These decision-making, goal-setting and problem-solving skills can be put to good use if the youths are placed in political offices.

Also, the popular definition of democracy given by Abraham Lincoln which says that 'Democracy is government of the people, by the people and for the people' emphasizes the fact that a democratic government like ours should give room for rule of law, freedom, inclusion and representation for all interest groups, both young and old.

Some people might say that the youths of today do not possess leadership qualities. They may even say that the youths are only good in engaging themselves in social vices such as political thuggery, get rich-quick schemes et cetera, but I ask, are the present rulers any better? Godfatherism has eaten deep into the political structure set up by our old rulers. The stench of corruption has polluted the economy and filled the whole country with nausea. These vices have nothing to do with the age of a person.

Some people might also argue that youths are inexperienced and unprofessionals. The view that age determines experience is retrogressive and serves the interest of only a minor segment of the society. Age does not determine the competence of an individual. What determines competence is commitment to self-growth and exposure to capacity building opportunities.

Esteemed readers, Nigerian youths have played formidable roles in politics in the pre-independence era. They are capable of performing those roles now, with even greater efficiency. Let us not give up on them. Thank you.