The victimisation of the Nigerian youth within Nigeria can make up an entire thesis in itself. From the profiling of any young person confident enough to be expressive to the absence of young people in positions of power, to high levels of unemployment in the country, young Nigerians can’t seem to catch a break.
To put it explicitly, the President of the country, Muhammadu Buhari, suggested that Nigerian youth only wanted to eat out of the national cake without doing much to add to the GDP; despite his own inadequacies in doing his job.
In another instance, the representative of Amuwo Odofin constituency 1, Lagos, insisted that all youth are high on drugs, and thus the reason for the socio-economic problems faced by young Nigerians.
And, there’s also the fact that it was only until recently that young Nigerians were permitted to run for presidency or governorship in Nigeria.
With so many issues facing the youth in Nigeria, it’s easy to see why young Nigerians are quick to lash out on social media, seeing as social media is the only outlet a young Nigerian has. The twisted irony is that the government is doing everything in its power to regulate this outlet, which if achieved would finally render the Nigerian youth voiceless.
Today, in what should have been a wonderful turn of events, young Nigerians were reminded of how miserable the government system in Nigeria is.
Esther Agbaje, a 35-year-old Nigerian woman, born in Minnesota USA, became the State Representative for District 59B Minneapolis Minnesota. Her impressive resume asides being a US congresswoman also spots a law degree in Harvard and securing a Masters degree in Public Administration from the University of Pennsylvania.
She has worked as a lawyer and in local government offices to develop their performance management systems. She studied Political Science at The George Washington University and was active in mentoring incoming students and advocating for labour rights in different internships.
Her career so far is synonymous with these sort of accomplishments, but her crowning achievement no doubt is winning a seat in the highly coveted United States congress.
The governor of Ekiti, Fayemi Kayode, having gotten word of this young lady’s achievement took to Twitter to congratulate her on her new position, stating also that he has spoken with her parents and they are proud.
However, young Nigerians were not having it. A lot of Nigerians on Twitter spoke of how these opportunities would have been stolen from her if she were born in Nigeria.
Their squabble with the governor’s statement was that he has no right or say on the matter, and he should be more concerned with creating the same type of conditions that afforded Agbaje the opportunity she had to eventually become the woman she is today.
Among the listed grievances young people had with the governor’s statement were poor educational system, unfavourable conditions for young entrepreneurs, young people looking to participate in politics, police brutality, severance of the rights of young people in Nigeria, and a system laced with all sorts of adversities.
It’s clear from these tweets that Nigerians are hyper-aware of their potential under the right circumstances. The reality remains that Esther Agbaje is every bit a Nigerian as they are, the only catalysts to her success are the conditions she grew up under.
For Chinedu Okafor, its all about making an impact with words, creating a profound impression on the audience with the intended narrative.
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