Towards A Better Nigeria III: Recruiting Them Young

By Femi G. Oguntoyinbo

The inspiration for writing this article was drawn from a statement, which I credit to the Abia-born lady, who made the submission about focusing on the teenagers, in addition to President Goodluck Jonathan’s Transformation Agenda, focus on youth development, empowerment and involvement in politics.

The submission was made by the lady, whose name I was not able to register in my memory, during the President/youth interactive session at this year’s Democracy Day (May 29, 2014) celebration, shown on AIT (Africa Independent Television).

Out of all the questions asked and the ideas put forward during the brief, interactive session, the idea offered by this young lady from Abia really touched me. Her submission brought back to memory, my experience in primary school in the 1980s. Though the standard of education had been compromised before then, the type of moral instructions we received then could not be compared to that of this spoon-fed generation of young learners that we now have in both our public and private schools.

During our time in the 80s, the cleaning/beautification of school premises, hand crafts, school farming and other extra-curricular activities were carried out by the students under the supervision of the teachers and senior students, to whom such functions were delegated. Then, teachers were seen as in loco parentis and learning was fun, interactive, instructive, demonstrative and more practical. The moral instructions and practical lessons to which I was exposed in primary school still live with me to date.

My point is, there is need for us to revisit our educational system and reintegrate those cherished, academically relevant cultural beliefs into our curriculum. I remember, during one of our social studies class, our teacher, Mrs. Ojo, asked us to come out, one after the other, to demonstrate how we greet our parents at home. Those who went through this instructive, educative learning process would appreciate what I am saying here.

I want to state that, I am not an old school man without a rich blend of modernity. I acknowledge that the society is not stagnant water, it is dynamic and idealistic, but there is every need for us to protect our cultural values/heritage against the negative effects of globalization. What our young lads are exposed to, in terms of modern music, movies, fashion shows, unguarded and unethical utterances/practices both at home and in schools are clear evidences of deviation from acceptable social norms.

The family as the basic foundation unit of every society has a greater role to play in this. This was also corroborated by Mr. President in his response to the question posed by the Abia lady. What I find so disturbing about our society these days, is the extent of neglect of their primary duties in child care/rearing by our so-called parents. This is compounded by the fact that many a parent, who received high moral training are the ones who now fail to inculcate same in their children.  Apart from parents, government should equally show a reasonable degree of interest and responsiveness to the issue of teenage (Childhood) development, as a means to nation building. It is now openly proclaimed by the present administration that youths are not leaders of tomorrow, but leaders of today. This proclamation should be followed up with actions, and it should not leave out the teenagers.

My various articles, as well as the present one on ‘Towards a Better Nigeria’ are my candid opinions on how to move Nigeria forward. And in this article, I wish to align myself with the Abia lady and other advocates of Recruiting Them Young. I also recommend that Recruiting Them Young should be a popular slogan in President Jonathan’s ongoing Transformation Agenda.

God Bless Nigeria!

•Oguntoyinbo, author of A Log of Wood: An X-ray of Security of Network in Nigeria, wrote from Lagos.  E-mail: [email protected]