Unequal equalities.
Racial discrimination, apartheid, gender inequality are all pointers to uneven basis of assessment. To a victim of any of the forms of discrimination, life could be depressing. However, various governments as well as the United Nations have in place one law or the other against different forms of discrimination. For instance, the United Nations has charters and conventions against gender inequality, racial discrimination, discrimination against disabled people.
The 1999 Constitution of The Federal Republic of Nigeria in its Chapter IV employed the use of the phrase “every individual”
Provisions of this nature cut across nations. However, it is painful to note that its aim has not been achieved.
Ordinarily, at the mention of discrimination, what comes to ones mind is the kind of discrimination you face because you are a foreigner in a particular part of the world but it is rather unfortunate to note that discrimination has gone beyond that level. Discrimination and inequality transcend colour and language; they have established themselves amidst people of the same colour, tribe, language and nation. They have successfully manoeuvred their way through all machinery put in place to check them by governments globally.
It is rather unfortunate that despite all that has been put in place by various governments against discrimination for the promotion of equality, there has been a next- to- nothing accomplishment. In some parts of the world, it is impossible for you to get a job because of your colour. At the same time, your accent also serves as a barrier to your getting a job, despite the United Nations International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. How do we describe the recent outburst in the United Kingdom that British jobs should be for Britons? This is an indirect way of saying that foreigners should leave Britain. And as such, one is forced to query the reasoning behind such an outburst in a global economy.
The Welsh Assembly Government is professing minority equality yet, according to unconfirmed information, the only black person working in the Welsh Assembly is a security guard; what an irony! It not out of place to think that all these are common knowledge, but, how about situations in which discrimination and inequality stares at one in the face in one’s home country.
In Nigeria, Higher National Diploma graduates are not considered for employment in some companies despite the fact that they are better qualified than the so called B.sc holders. Also, once you are not from a particular tribe, your chances of getting a job in some companies are low if it exists at all. At the same time, it does not matter how qualified and experienced you are for a particular job or position, in as much as you are not the candidate of the big guns you would never be shortlisted for the job.
How do we explain the fact that in most banks in Nigeria, any member of staff that has spent 25years and above is automatically considered a non performer even when such a person is really performing; or the fact that before a staff could be considered for a position such a staff must know someone who could bring millions of naira to the Bank’s coffers.
Most cruel is the yard stick used in assessing you once you pronounce your faith in public. It is saddening to see that what one would have done or said without being noticed before pronouncing one’s faith now becomes an issue for deliberation once your faith is known. And such could attract sanctions.
It is heartbreaking when the effect of discrimination and inequality is considered in societies professing them. Discrimination and inequality are cankerworms that have eaten deep into the fabric of nations across the globe. They have found their way into every facet of life and have found their comfort zone amidst us. We watch dismayed at the level of decadence in societies as a result of the unaddressed discrimination and inequality pervading the society. It is not a thing of joy that governments pay lip service to this issue only by rolling out statutes that have over time gone unimplemented.
Societies are in bondage of inequality and discrimination because they have dwarfed merit and creativity. They have relegated patriotism to the background. Merit based recommendation and commendation are no longer in our dictionaries rather we have recommendations and commendations that are based on favouritism and affiliations.
What we are saying is that we should all wake up to the bitter truth that discrimination and inequality are issues that have gone beyond colour and languages, it is a vice that dines with us, we live, eat and drink it. It cuts across the globe. Governments should put aside their hypocritical approach to it and tackle it with sincerity. Stringent measures and sanctions should be put in place. Public policy that encourages reporting issues of such nature should be put in place.
However, the citizenry of various nations have roles to play as well. It is pertinent that we all realise that equality starts from us; from our minds, our ability to put ourselves in other people’s shoes will go a long way in solving the problem. We want the statement “ALL ANIMALS ARE EQUAL BUT SOME ARE MORE EQUAL THAN OTHERS” to remain with Animal farm and not a statement of fact amongst us human beings.
Mayowa Awosika
2009
Tuesday, 30 June 2009
Thursday, 25 June 2009
ATTENTION PLEASE !!!
ATTENTION PLEASE!!!
A smile is said not to be a function of anxiety but that of joy and happiness. However, one is not sure whether the smile on the faces of Nigerian graduates and those in their penultimate could be regarded as a symbol of happiness and joy. This might be linked to the situation they have found themselves; an uncertain future because of unemployment.
There is a new anthem amongst employers in recent times. It is called “the unemployability of Nigerian graduates”. It is amazing that despite the fact that this statement has become an anthem amidst employers, they are yet to deem it fit to address the cause of this ill plaguing our graduates. In developed countries, once a problem has been identified, as a matter of principle, the next step is to find the cause of problem(s) and deal with it once and for all. It is saddening that the reverse is the case in our polity. We will dwell on the problem, sleep it, eat it, and even turn it to a slogan without making any tangible attempt to find the cause and solve the problem. Yet, we have leaders that have traversed the world and are well acquainted with what obtains in other parts of the world. The government of the United kingdom has come to realise that presently, it is the youths that are mostly unemployed and as a result of this, has put in place machinery to curb such occurrences because it realised how restless and susceptible the younger generation can be( an idle hand is the devil’s workshop), considering their antecedents. Hence, efforts are being put in place to create 150 000 jobs for them by the end of 2010. Unfortunately, the reverse is the case in Nigeria.
Nigerian graduates are victim of this non-challant attitude of our leaders and their contemporaries in the private sector. Graduates are at the receiving end and they bear the brunt of the ineptitude of the so called leaders.
One tends to wonder why there is so much fuss over the trained incapacity of our graduates from different quarters; is it the fault of the students that the educational system is at the brink of collapse? Or is it their fault that the corruption plaguing our society has finally found its way into the educational system, thus making the degrees awarded suspect and compromised? Or the fact the curricular has not been reviewed in decades? Or that the mode of teaching and assessment does not encourage creative thinking?
The future of a nation lies in good management of her human resources. In the case of Nigeria, the bulk of her human resources being the younger generation are suffering from neglect. The persistent failure of the government to invest in the future of this country implies that we are all sitting on a keg of gun powder which might explode anytime.
There are so many things that could be done to arrest the situation before it becomes totally irredeemable. There is an urgent need for the total overhaul of the entire system. For instance, in other parts of the world, down tooling by lecturers or as known by us “strikes” are non-existent. In the last decade, we have had one strike too many. The constant break in transmission in academic calendar is one of the major factors responsible for the trained incapacity suffered by graduates. A semester that should ordinarily span through one stretch of 13weeks is broken into piecemeal of over 4 months; the whole essence of education has , therefore, been ultimately defeated. They should “sincerely” attend to the demands of ASUU so that there would be an end to the incessant strikes plaguing the higher institutions.
The torch should be pointed in the direction of the mode of teaching and assessment in our various higher institutions of learning. The essence of teaching and assessment is to impact and bring out the best in the student. There is a question mark on whether this aim is being achieved in Nigerian schools. The reason is that our mode of teaching and assessment encourages garbage in and garbage out. It does not encourage creative thinking.
It is rather unfortunate that the private sector spends a huge amount to “import” expatriates because of the so called trained incapacity of Nigerian graduates. They are the ones mostly affected by the situation and as such their voice is loudest amidst those crying foul. However, one is forced to ask whether they have done anything to help arrest the situation? I am not too sure about that. Nonetheless, it is not out of place to remind them that they owe the society corperate and social responsibilities. They are the ones that are profit driven; the governments are not. They should give back to the society part of what the society has given to them.
There are many ways through which they can help mitigate the harshness inflicted by the neglect of the government. I must be quick to add that whatever they do is done for their benefit as well. Reason is that it reduces the cost they have to expend on the “importation” of expatriates.
What we are clamouring for is that the private sector should lend a helping hand. This could be done by helping to stock libraries, equipping laboratories, helping to organise refresher courses or seminars for lectures. They could draw up a list of subjects or topics that if inserted in the curricular would make a difference. It is also being recommended that they give opportunities to the student to work in their organisations as part-time staff both during term time and holiday as this would have prepared the graduates for the future and hence, make them employable.
It is also important that organisations should loosen up on the requirement on class of degree, because, this has caused much havoc to the educational system. The popular demand for a particular class of degree by employers has assisted corruption in infiltrating the corridors of our educational system. Hence, we are faced with reality; our degrees have been compromised. We have seen first class degree holders who could not construct a sentence correctly, second class upper degree holders who could not spell “atmosphere” correctly. What we are saying in essence is that they should stop looking at the container, rather, they should start looking at the content. There are many graduates on the street with lower classes of degree that are more employable than the so called “best students”.
This is a clarion call to our leaders and the private sector to do something urgently and make a detour from the normal way of doing things. You can not expect graduates to perform if the foundation is not properly laid. You can not put something on nothing, it will definitely fall. If the various governments would not wake up to their responsibilities, corporate organisations should intervene and bail the future of Nigeria from imminent catastrophe. We do not want it to be a case of “abandoned by the state” and “casted out by the society”. Many are already living on the fringes of the society. Many are already frustrated and depressed. Many have taken up arms in the Niger-Delta. The joy of existence should be in adding value to the lives of the helpless and vulnerable in the society. Graduates are now scavenging dustbins, but there is nothing in the bins, because nobody is leaving any leftover from their tables. Instead of embarking on frivolous foreign trips and self aggrandising projects, government should allocate funds to the education sector to keep the restive youths adequately busy and free from mischief, allocate funds for science, research and development. If given the enabling environment, Nigerian graduates can compete favourably with their counterparts from any part of the world. Little wonder Nigerian graduates who could hardly pass comfortably in Nigeria, gets to another country and “shines”. This is food for thought for all concerned. Until the government and the corporate organisations have done their part, Nigerian graduates should not be labelled as unemployable.
There is uncertainty. We wonder where we are headed for. We thought we would be moving forward. It is however very clear now that we are not sure how we are moving. Our destination is unknown. Future?... Probably short.
The smile is more of a grin than an actual smile. Suffering and smiling…will it ever end?
Mayowa Awosika
2009
A smile is said not to be a function of anxiety but that of joy and happiness. However, one is not sure whether the smile on the faces of Nigerian graduates and those in their penultimate could be regarded as a symbol of happiness and joy. This might be linked to the situation they have found themselves; an uncertain future because of unemployment.
There is a new anthem amongst employers in recent times. It is called “the unemployability of Nigerian graduates”. It is amazing that despite the fact that this statement has become an anthem amidst employers, they are yet to deem it fit to address the cause of this ill plaguing our graduates. In developed countries, once a problem has been identified, as a matter of principle, the next step is to find the cause of problem(s) and deal with it once and for all. It is saddening that the reverse is the case in our polity. We will dwell on the problem, sleep it, eat it, and even turn it to a slogan without making any tangible attempt to find the cause and solve the problem. Yet, we have leaders that have traversed the world and are well acquainted with what obtains in other parts of the world. The government of the United kingdom has come to realise that presently, it is the youths that are mostly unemployed and as a result of this, has put in place machinery to curb such occurrences because it realised how restless and susceptible the younger generation can be( an idle hand is the devil’s workshop), considering their antecedents. Hence, efforts are being put in place to create 150 000 jobs for them by the end of 2010. Unfortunately, the reverse is the case in Nigeria.
Nigerian graduates are victim of this non-challant attitude of our leaders and their contemporaries in the private sector. Graduates are at the receiving end and they bear the brunt of the ineptitude of the so called leaders.
One tends to wonder why there is so much fuss over the trained incapacity of our graduates from different quarters; is it the fault of the students that the educational system is at the brink of collapse? Or is it their fault that the corruption plaguing our society has finally found its way into the educational system, thus making the degrees awarded suspect and compromised? Or the fact the curricular has not been reviewed in decades? Or that the mode of teaching and assessment does not encourage creative thinking?
The future of a nation lies in good management of her human resources. In the case of Nigeria, the bulk of her human resources being the younger generation are suffering from neglect. The persistent failure of the government to invest in the future of this country implies that we are all sitting on a keg of gun powder which might explode anytime.
There are so many things that could be done to arrest the situation before it becomes totally irredeemable. There is an urgent need for the total overhaul of the entire system. For instance, in other parts of the world, down tooling by lecturers or as known by us “strikes” are non-existent. In the last decade, we have had one strike too many. The constant break in transmission in academic calendar is one of the major factors responsible for the trained incapacity suffered by graduates. A semester that should ordinarily span through one stretch of 13weeks is broken into piecemeal of over 4 months; the whole essence of education has , therefore, been ultimately defeated. They should “sincerely” attend to the demands of ASUU so that there would be an end to the incessant strikes plaguing the higher institutions.
The torch should be pointed in the direction of the mode of teaching and assessment in our various higher institutions of learning. The essence of teaching and assessment is to impact and bring out the best in the student. There is a question mark on whether this aim is being achieved in Nigerian schools. The reason is that our mode of teaching and assessment encourages garbage in and garbage out. It does not encourage creative thinking.
It is rather unfortunate that the private sector spends a huge amount to “import” expatriates because of the so called trained incapacity of Nigerian graduates. They are the ones mostly affected by the situation and as such their voice is loudest amidst those crying foul. However, one is forced to ask whether they have done anything to help arrest the situation? I am not too sure about that. Nonetheless, it is not out of place to remind them that they owe the society corperate and social responsibilities. They are the ones that are profit driven; the governments are not. They should give back to the society part of what the society has given to them.
There are many ways through which they can help mitigate the harshness inflicted by the neglect of the government. I must be quick to add that whatever they do is done for their benefit as well. Reason is that it reduces the cost they have to expend on the “importation” of expatriates.
What we are clamouring for is that the private sector should lend a helping hand. This could be done by helping to stock libraries, equipping laboratories, helping to organise refresher courses or seminars for lectures. They could draw up a list of subjects or topics that if inserted in the curricular would make a difference. It is also being recommended that they give opportunities to the student to work in their organisations as part-time staff both during term time and holiday as this would have prepared the graduates for the future and hence, make them employable.
It is also important that organisations should loosen up on the requirement on class of degree, because, this has caused much havoc to the educational system. The popular demand for a particular class of degree by employers has assisted corruption in infiltrating the corridors of our educational system. Hence, we are faced with reality; our degrees have been compromised. We have seen first class degree holders who could not construct a sentence correctly, second class upper degree holders who could not spell “atmosphere” correctly. What we are saying in essence is that they should stop looking at the container, rather, they should start looking at the content. There are many graduates on the street with lower classes of degree that are more employable than the so called “best students”.
This is a clarion call to our leaders and the private sector to do something urgently and make a detour from the normal way of doing things. You can not expect graduates to perform if the foundation is not properly laid. You can not put something on nothing, it will definitely fall. If the various governments would not wake up to their responsibilities, corporate organisations should intervene and bail the future of Nigeria from imminent catastrophe. We do not want it to be a case of “abandoned by the state” and “casted out by the society”. Many are already living on the fringes of the society. Many are already frustrated and depressed. Many have taken up arms in the Niger-Delta. The joy of existence should be in adding value to the lives of the helpless and vulnerable in the society. Graduates are now scavenging dustbins, but there is nothing in the bins, because nobody is leaving any leftover from their tables. Instead of embarking on frivolous foreign trips and self aggrandising projects, government should allocate funds to the education sector to keep the restive youths adequately busy and free from mischief, allocate funds for science, research and development. If given the enabling environment, Nigerian graduates can compete favourably with their counterparts from any part of the world. Little wonder Nigerian graduates who could hardly pass comfortably in Nigeria, gets to another country and “shines”. This is food for thought for all concerned. Until the government and the corporate organisations have done their part, Nigerian graduates should not be labelled as unemployable.
There is uncertainty. We wonder where we are headed for. We thought we would be moving forward. It is however very clear now that we are not sure how we are moving. Our destination is unknown. Future?... Probably short.
The smile is more of a grin than an actual smile. Suffering and smiling…will it ever end?
Mayowa Awosika
2009
Tuesday, 26 May 2009
THE DISINHERITED
THE DISINHERITED
In the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, imagining what tomorrow would be like for a youth was fun. It was filled with hope and optimism. Alas, gradually, the hope, fun and optimism started disappearing and today, it is non-existence amongst youths. The reason is not far fetched. It is because growing up in a depressed economy can be traumatic. Growing up in a country where the future is uncertain can be tragic. This used to be the plight of the African youth alone but with the global economic meltdown, it is now a global trend. Demographic indices indicate that youths i.e. those within the age bracket of 10 years to 24 years form a very high percentage of the world’s population. The youths are estimated to constitute 39 per cent of the world’s population, with 80 per cent of this in the developing, emerging and transition economies. This places a very high responsibility on the shoulders of educational, health and developmental planners worldwide.
The United Nations General Assembly in 1984, recognised "the profound importance of direct participation of youth in shaping the future of mankind and the valuable contribution(s) that youths can make in the implementation of the new international economic order based on equity and justice," and, convinced "of the imperative need to harness the energies, enthusiasm and creative abilities of youth to the tasks of nation building..." emphasised that the United Nations should "pay more attention to the role of young people in the world today and to their demands for the world of tomorrow." Many countries have taken the cue and taken steps to chart a development course for their youths, with emphasis on the enhancement and actualisation of their intellectual, social, emotional, moral/ethical, physical and cognitive potentialities. In short, their sense of self.
For example, Barbados' division of Youth Affairs, with the motto 'building tomorrow today," set up the Youth Entrepreneurship Scheme in 1991, to:
1. "harness the energies of the youth into the process of nation building; (2) provide harmonious relations between its citizens and develop a more caring society; (4) create an environment which will promote confidence in... culture, and (5) redirect the lives of young people who manifest negative attitudes and dysfunctional social, emotional and behavioural trends."
America enacted The Younger American Act (YAA) to fully prepare its youths to become adults and effective citizens. The YAA is an instrument establishing a national youth policy for America, and identifies "five core needs" that need to be addressed to achieve the objectives. These are (1) Ongoing relations with caring adults, (2) Safe places with structured activities; (3) Access to services that promote healthy life-styles, including those designed to improve physical and mental health; (4) Opportunities to acquire marketable skills and competencies; and (5) Opportunities for community service and civic participation.
These examples are to show that no government leaves the flower of its youth to waste away. Unfortunately, despite all the aforementioned, youths globally are victims of economic and moral decays that have characterised the world in the last 10 years. As governments become less willing to spend more money on education and youth development, as a result of squander-mania (bail outs) and corruption, later worsened by IMF imposed conditionalities(especially in developing countries), youths are exposed daily to a variety of events that attack their psyche and affect their personalities. From crime to cultism, sexual and labour exploitation, generational gap anxieties, unemployment, sexually transmitted diseases, and escalating drug and alcohol abuse. Concomitantly, as household incomes reduce, due to debilitating poverty, parents spend less time attending to the needs of the youth, at the crucial turning point in their lives; the period when they are most impressionistic and susceptible to external influences from role models, peer groups and significant others. Community based youth activities are decayed if not extinct. Where they still exist, they are hijacked by undesirables to perpetrate anti social acts. The tragedy lies in the sacrifices and deprivations youths have to contend with. Abandoned by the state, exploited by society, they become increasingly alienated from society. They live on the fringe of society and decency, suffer cultural dislocation, and adopt the ruffian mode of dressing, languages and intonation. Today, the youths are growing up in a milieu of contradictions.
We watch dismayed the despondency of youths. Education, the assumed instrument of escape from poverty, and backwardness is failing to yield the desired results. United States has the highest number of high school drop-outs, teachers in Nigeria are on strike most of the time, hence, academic calendars are distorted. Most libraries in Africa lack books, and laboratories lack equipment and chemicals. Students spend double the required time to acquire education. Even then, the quality of such education, received is suspect. They cannot compete internationally. They suffer "trained incapacity." Increasingly, they are being left behind.
Universally, curricular lack both moral and spiritual flavour. It was reported that youths in the united Kingdom are amongst the worst behaved in Europe as they are on every indication of bad behaviour and vices; the order of the day amongst students and youths in the UK is stabbing... abortion rate is rising fastest among the youngest girls, official figures show. Each week in 2007, 84 children under age 16 in England and Wales had abortions; three were under age 14, a large proportion of the under fifteens in the UK are usually drunk, 38% of British 15-year-olds in 2003 had tried cannabis, youngsters were learning how to behave from one another instead of from adults. We believe the country's record can be explained by a collapse in family and community life in the UK, plus the absence of the “rich” moral and spiritual content in schools’ curricular. This year, Mexican teenagers as young as 15, were killing rivals for a few hundred dollars in a brutal drug war. In year 2007, the head of Britain's intelligence services warned that children as young as 15 are becoming involved in terrorist-related activity.
The advantage of youth is the burst of energy and ideas, which have formed the nucleus of innovations world wide, but it is gradually fading away. Worse is the emasculation of youth participation, except as political henchmen and hirelings in some jurisdictions. The plight of the out-of-school, out-of-work youth is a major concern for researchers in the field of youth development. Where government has failed, the youth turn to religious organisations for survival in health, job provision, recreation, creativity, welfare and the like. Others take refuge in violence, alcohol, gang memberships, drugs and prostitution and died in it. They lose their inheritance as members of the heaven state; they lose their inheritance of benefiting from the resources God has put at our beck and call. They are disinherited as their sense of identity is eroded forever. It is not too late to reverse the ugly trends, make the youths belong, encourage them to contribute to global development. If each country allows the present socio-economic situation frustrate its youths, the disaster that will follow in the wake will be of monumental dimensions.
Arguments have been put forward for the establishment of credible youth development policies, to re-integrate youths from the bank of disinheritance to regain their status as veritable heirs to the assets of nations. However, we make bold to say that the various policies have not in their entirety achieved their aims. Hence, we are suggesting that leaders of various countries should stop paying lip service to youth development policies rather, they should pursue the policies with all sincerity. Policies that failed in the past should be abolished, amended or new ones should be made.
The challenges are much, overwhelming and growing. They include, among others, provision of secure environment in which to grow, access to adequate learning and health, and economic opportunities (the present government in the United States is now pursuing these things with all vigor). We need to change the ways we see and take care of our youths. We need to see them as assets with long-term implications for nation building, instead of seeing them as unavoidable inconveniences. The lives, of the young people, their needs, their potentials, levels of satiation or deprivation will shape the future of various countries. The vast resources of various countries should normally guarantee satisfaction of these requirements, as their legitimate rights, because the most fundamental duty of any government is the protection and promotion of the well-being as well as guaranteeing the future of its children.
It is easy to chastise various governments for their insincerity in pursuing the policies. How about the youths themselves; are they prepared not to be disinherited? It is trite to note that there is little the various governments can do if the youths themselves are not ready for a change. The youths should take a bold step towards rejuvenation and embrace change. Let it be known that if the various governments see the passion for change amongst the youths, they will wake up from their slumber and give the required backing and support. We have to take the bull by the horn and say without fear that we demand for a future. A future that is free from war, poverty, oppression, terrorism, discrimination, hunger, trained incapacity, corruption. A demand which if not made now, might elude us forever and posterity might not forgive us.
However, the religious sect has a role to play. The church/mosque should find means of harnessing the strength of the youths, and redirect it to something more productive. It is instructive to note that getting results is really beyond the capability of the various governments except God is involved. And God, can only be involved through the Church/mosque. They should help by giving directions and moral supports. It should be a public private partnership between them and various governments. The church/mosque should not fear to tread where others have failed, for it is backed up by an ultimate power that overseers every other thing. Should this Generation of youths be totally disinherited by perishing or dying in their present state, every believer that was ever in a position to make changes would be questioned and queried by God on the Day of Judgment.
A UNESCO poster on Development and care of the children shows a child being asked what he would like to be when he grows up. "ALIVE" was the child's answer. This summarises the agony of the present generation of youths. The fear is real that he might not be alive when he grows up. Alive as a living being, as a member of the society, as a human being, and with a future. The value of being alive lies in hopes and aspirations. Instead of seeing youths as problems, a positive youth development approach should be articulated, to help them build their confidence and competencies in addition to empowering them to become successful adults. Parents, governments and societies have very important roles to play in enabling youths see themselves as assets to their countries, communities and societies, not the negative feeling of frustration, abandonment and disinheritance.
MAYOWA AWOSIKA
2009.
In the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, imagining what tomorrow would be like for a youth was fun. It was filled with hope and optimism. Alas, gradually, the hope, fun and optimism started disappearing and today, it is non-existence amongst youths. The reason is not far fetched. It is because growing up in a depressed economy can be traumatic. Growing up in a country where the future is uncertain can be tragic. This used to be the plight of the African youth alone but with the global economic meltdown, it is now a global trend. Demographic indices indicate that youths i.e. those within the age bracket of 10 years to 24 years form a very high percentage of the world’s population. The youths are estimated to constitute 39 per cent of the world’s population, with 80 per cent of this in the developing, emerging and transition economies. This places a very high responsibility on the shoulders of educational, health and developmental planners worldwide.
The United Nations General Assembly in 1984, recognised "the profound importance of direct participation of youth in shaping the future of mankind and the valuable contribution(s) that youths can make in the implementation of the new international economic order based on equity and justice," and, convinced "of the imperative need to harness the energies, enthusiasm and creative abilities of youth to the tasks of nation building..." emphasised that the United Nations should "pay more attention to the role of young people in the world today and to their demands for the world of tomorrow." Many countries have taken the cue and taken steps to chart a development course for their youths, with emphasis on the enhancement and actualisation of their intellectual, social, emotional, moral/ethical, physical and cognitive potentialities. In short, their sense of self.
For example, Barbados' division of Youth Affairs, with the motto 'building tomorrow today," set up the Youth Entrepreneurship Scheme in 1991, to:
1. "harness the energies of the youth into the process of nation building; (2) provide harmonious relations between its citizens and develop a more caring society; (4) create an environment which will promote confidence in... culture, and (5) redirect the lives of young people who manifest negative attitudes and dysfunctional social, emotional and behavioural trends."
America enacted The Younger American Act (YAA) to fully prepare its youths to become adults and effective citizens. The YAA is an instrument establishing a national youth policy for America, and identifies "five core needs" that need to be addressed to achieve the objectives. These are (1) Ongoing relations with caring adults, (2) Safe places with structured activities; (3) Access to services that promote healthy life-styles, including those designed to improve physical and mental health; (4) Opportunities to acquire marketable skills and competencies; and (5) Opportunities for community service and civic participation.
These examples are to show that no government leaves the flower of its youth to waste away. Unfortunately, despite all the aforementioned, youths globally are victims of economic and moral decays that have characterised the world in the last 10 years. As governments become less willing to spend more money on education and youth development, as a result of squander-mania (bail outs) and corruption, later worsened by IMF imposed conditionalities(especially in developing countries), youths are exposed daily to a variety of events that attack their psyche and affect their personalities. From crime to cultism, sexual and labour exploitation, generational gap anxieties, unemployment, sexually transmitted diseases, and escalating drug and alcohol abuse. Concomitantly, as household incomes reduce, due to debilitating poverty, parents spend less time attending to the needs of the youth, at the crucial turning point in their lives; the period when they are most impressionistic and susceptible to external influences from role models, peer groups and significant others. Community based youth activities are decayed if not extinct. Where they still exist, they are hijacked by undesirables to perpetrate anti social acts. The tragedy lies in the sacrifices and deprivations youths have to contend with. Abandoned by the state, exploited by society, they become increasingly alienated from society. They live on the fringe of society and decency, suffer cultural dislocation, and adopt the ruffian mode of dressing, languages and intonation. Today, the youths are growing up in a milieu of contradictions.
We watch dismayed the despondency of youths. Education, the assumed instrument of escape from poverty, and backwardness is failing to yield the desired results. United States has the highest number of high school drop-outs, teachers in Nigeria are on strike most of the time, hence, academic calendars are distorted. Most libraries in Africa lack books, and laboratories lack equipment and chemicals. Students spend double the required time to acquire education. Even then, the quality of such education, received is suspect. They cannot compete internationally. They suffer "trained incapacity." Increasingly, they are being left behind.
Universally, curricular lack both moral and spiritual flavour. It was reported that youths in the united Kingdom are amongst the worst behaved in Europe as they are on every indication of bad behaviour and vices; the order of the day amongst students and youths in the UK is stabbing... abortion rate is rising fastest among the youngest girls, official figures show. Each week in 2007, 84 children under age 16 in England and Wales had abortions; three were under age 14, a large proportion of the under fifteens in the UK are usually drunk, 38% of British 15-year-olds in 2003 had tried cannabis, youngsters were learning how to behave from one another instead of from adults. We believe the country's record can be explained by a collapse in family and community life in the UK, plus the absence of the “rich” moral and spiritual content in schools’ curricular. This year, Mexican teenagers as young as 15, were killing rivals for a few hundred dollars in a brutal drug war. In year 2007, the head of Britain's intelligence services warned that children as young as 15 are becoming involved in terrorist-related activity.
The advantage of youth is the burst of energy and ideas, which have formed the nucleus of innovations world wide, but it is gradually fading away. Worse is the emasculation of youth participation, except as political henchmen and hirelings in some jurisdictions. The plight of the out-of-school, out-of-work youth is a major concern for researchers in the field of youth development. Where government has failed, the youth turn to religious organisations for survival in health, job provision, recreation, creativity, welfare and the like. Others take refuge in violence, alcohol, gang memberships, drugs and prostitution and died in it. They lose their inheritance as members of the heaven state; they lose their inheritance of benefiting from the resources God has put at our beck and call. They are disinherited as their sense of identity is eroded forever. It is not too late to reverse the ugly trends, make the youths belong, encourage them to contribute to global development. If each country allows the present socio-economic situation frustrate its youths, the disaster that will follow in the wake will be of monumental dimensions.
Arguments have been put forward for the establishment of credible youth development policies, to re-integrate youths from the bank of disinheritance to regain their status as veritable heirs to the assets of nations. However, we make bold to say that the various policies have not in their entirety achieved their aims. Hence, we are suggesting that leaders of various countries should stop paying lip service to youth development policies rather, they should pursue the policies with all sincerity. Policies that failed in the past should be abolished, amended or new ones should be made.
The challenges are much, overwhelming and growing. They include, among others, provision of secure environment in which to grow, access to adequate learning and health, and economic opportunities (the present government in the United States is now pursuing these things with all vigor). We need to change the ways we see and take care of our youths. We need to see them as assets with long-term implications for nation building, instead of seeing them as unavoidable inconveniences. The lives, of the young people, their needs, their potentials, levels of satiation or deprivation will shape the future of various countries. The vast resources of various countries should normally guarantee satisfaction of these requirements, as their legitimate rights, because the most fundamental duty of any government is the protection and promotion of the well-being as well as guaranteeing the future of its children.
It is easy to chastise various governments for their insincerity in pursuing the policies. How about the youths themselves; are they prepared not to be disinherited? It is trite to note that there is little the various governments can do if the youths themselves are not ready for a change. The youths should take a bold step towards rejuvenation and embrace change. Let it be known that if the various governments see the passion for change amongst the youths, they will wake up from their slumber and give the required backing and support. We have to take the bull by the horn and say without fear that we demand for a future. A future that is free from war, poverty, oppression, terrorism, discrimination, hunger, trained incapacity, corruption. A demand which if not made now, might elude us forever and posterity might not forgive us.
However, the religious sect has a role to play. The church/mosque should find means of harnessing the strength of the youths, and redirect it to something more productive. It is instructive to note that getting results is really beyond the capability of the various governments except God is involved. And God, can only be involved through the Church/mosque. They should help by giving directions and moral supports. It should be a public private partnership between them and various governments. The church/mosque should not fear to tread where others have failed, for it is backed up by an ultimate power that overseers every other thing. Should this Generation of youths be totally disinherited by perishing or dying in their present state, every believer that was ever in a position to make changes would be questioned and queried by God on the Day of Judgment.
A UNESCO poster on Development and care of the children shows a child being asked what he would like to be when he grows up. "ALIVE" was the child's answer. This summarises the agony of the present generation of youths. The fear is real that he might not be alive when he grows up. Alive as a living being, as a member of the society, as a human being, and with a future. The value of being alive lies in hopes and aspirations. Instead of seeing youths as problems, a positive youth development approach should be articulated, to help them build their confidence and competencies in addition to empowering them to become successful adults. Parents, governments and societies have very important roles to play in enabling youths see themselves as assets to their countries, communities and societies, not the negative feeling of frustration, abandonment and disinheritance.
MAYOWA AWOSIKA
2009.
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