Looking critically at the two political rallies held over the weekend in Calabar, you will see one rally organized by a political generation that has remained in power since 1999 enjoying the splendor and aura of power.
Today, young people who are eligible to vote in the next general election were not even born when these men shared power amongst themselves in 1999. They say the youths are the leaders of tomorrow, yet they were in leadership yesterday, are there today, and want to remain there in the future; as such, how much of a tomorrow, as leaders, do the Nigerian youths have? Could this be a tomorrow that was used up yesterday?
On the other hand, there was a second political rally organized 100% by young people for young people between the ages of 18 and 40 years. If anything, it is clear that the youths of Nigeria are intent on no longer being bystanders in the fare of governance and how their country is being run, particularly within the purview of the sustained failure of an older power elite that has been described as a “Wasted Generation” by Prof. Wole Soyinka in 1986. Contrary to the earlier aphorism, the youths no longer want to be leaders of tomorrow, but those of today.
The youths on Saturday made a very clear statement in their understanding of the fact that being ready means they must rally around themselves by pooling resources together to ensure that they produce youth political representations in 2023.
Politics is fate, as shown in the fairly disparate advocacy of the two generations. Yet, the two show different possibilities.
Mr. Hope Obeten is the Co-Founder of Calabar Blog and the Press Secretary to the Speaker of the Cross River State House of Assembly.
NB: Opinions expressed in this article are strictly attributable to the author, Hope Obeten, and do not represent the opinion of CrossRiverWatch or any other organization the author works for/with.