Hello Everyone,
Great nations of the past and present are built on
legacies of their forefathers and the pride of the entire nation. I was spurred
to write this piece based on history; and the experience of being born and
raised in a beautiful country called Nigeria. Nigeria has always been, to me, a country full
of promises. But as I grew older my joy and anticipation grew bleak
and I wondered if that great future that I was looking forward to ever
existed in the first place.
As a grown man I came to the understanding that we make life
what we want it by our daily choices. These will become our legacies. Like
George Washington, JF Kennedy and Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa who have
lived and died leaving legacies behind and leaders like Nelson
Mandela and Margaret Thatcher who are still an epitome of right choices and
good leadership.
In the present day Nigeria the story seems to be different. We
draw comparison between our collective experience and the stories of how
our fathers had free education, meal tickets at universities, jobs and car
loans readily available at the point of graduation. In these
contemporary times those same men who had those privileges
while growing up are now taking away those same privileges that they
owe, if not their birth children, the children of the nation, due to their
desire for money, power and respect. The leaders of tomorrow are left to
scramble for the crumbs that fall off from their fathers' table - unemployment, low standard of living, bad
leadership and lack of infrastructural maintenance, lack of access to quality
education and health care.
This scenario has left the future of the next
generation bleak with no legacy to leave behind.
The sins of our fathers leave us with grave consequences; collapsed
institutions our forefathers had created.
How, then, can we be surprised that we've created a
breed of youths thrown into violence, armed robbery, prostitution, fraud;
a generation brought up under the notion that corruption is the only way to
make it out of poverty.
Motivation and creativity have been replaced with "the
easy way out".
The story of King David's sin against God with Bathsheba (2Sam.
12: 1-14) ought to teach our leaders some lessons. 'For every action there is a
reaction' and for Nigeria to survive we need to start making the right choices
and decisions in order to leave a lasting legacy for the next generation.
The youth don't want to worry about the consequences of their
fathers' sins.
Enjoy!!!
