An Uninformed Generation
-By Douglas Ogbankwa Esq.
A vast majority of Nigerian Youth ,are caught in the bandwagon of the get rich quick syndrome. Stories are rife ,of the many obnoxious deeds attributable to them, to keep up with the Joneses. We hear of yahoo boys and yahoo plus, of runs and runs girls! All of which will end in perdition, in one way or the other! The Youth, who follow the natural course of life ,have been captured by inanities -Zee World, Telemundo, Sound City ,et al! This even makes opportunities pass them by,with out they knowing about them! Why many of them are crying for jobs, they are not even away of the job placements currently taking place in different firms , but public and private , simply because they do not follow news.
Information is power.A man with information, is always ahead of his peers. There lies the dilemma of the Nigerian Youth. They don’t read.In Nigeria, if you want to hide something from people, put it in a book or a newspaper.
If an average Nigerian Youth, comes across a newspaper, most guys will go straight to the back page -sports, while most girls will go straight to the centre page -fashion and cartoons.You like going to know more , under English better and have more opportunities , if you read newspapers
,, magazines and watch local and international news on television.Those things you watch on Rok TV and African Magic , do not matter much , you place them side by side , by the information at your disposal if you watch and read news.My efforts in life would not have produced the desired results , but for my predilection to information , which makes me to stand to be counted , when the chips are down. My peers some times wonder why I am different , it is my access to information that makes the difference and nothing else.
Nigerian Youth have to develop a paradigm shift.Ask many people talking about Peter Obi , they do not really understand the issues .In Nigeria , it is called “any where belle face ” or in English ” following the bandwagon effect”.They are only following the popular narrative , with out understanding the specifics.
So we are breeding largely a generation of uninformed and unprepared Youth, who know next to nothing, about current affairs and issues around them. Even, when they go for interviews, their ignorance is on display, sometimes in a comic way.The other day, a young lady was asked,”What is your discipline”and she answered, “I will discipline my children! “.And another was asked “Are you Mobile “, and she answered ,” Yes, I use Glo”.About a decade and half ago, I was teaching Government in a UTME Class , and I asked the students, “Who is a Jew”,a boy answered “A Jew is someone that does not know what’s up”.
As funny as they seem , we are breeding largely, a generation of ignoramus.I fear for our future.There must be a deliberate policy to drive the Youth access to information , by imbibing the habit in them as children in school.I remember I read my first newspaper , while I was in Primary three , I bought my first news paper , while I was in Primary 6 , for the past 25 years , I have been buying two newspapers every day , the other I read about myself on the front page of the Nigerian Guardian Newspaper.Life is a series .You have to follow the plot , from the prologue to the epilogue.Have a blessed Sunday and blissful week ahead .
About the Author:
Douglas Ogbankwa Esq., a Benin Based Lawyer is the President of the Benin Writers’ Society. @ [email protected]
