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.