by Eseoghene Odiete

I was definitely tempted to curse and complain; to make loud noise about how bad our government has become but John Kennedy words flashes through my mind: ‘the problems of the world cannot possibly be solved by skeptics or cynics, whose horizons are limited by the obvious realities. We need men who can dream of things that never were, and ask why not.’

I never talk about happenings in the society in public. But this case really got me sad especially when I heard about 6people lost their lives.

I witnessed the Lagos drama first hand.  No, I wasn’t there as an applicant.  I live close to the National stadium. The traffic, noise, transportation issues, mad crowd and so many youths on white was enough to tell me something unsual was happening.

Unlike many, I am not here to demand an explanation from the immigration. I am not here to ask why must a Nigerian should pay the government to get a job in his own country. I am yet to complain about how security agents used tear gas as their crowd management tool. No, I am not here to ask what will the government do with the billions received as proceeds from my fellow young Nigerians.

I was definitely tempted to curse and complain; to make loud noise about how bad our government has become but John Kennedy words flashes through my mind: ‘the problems of the world cannot possibly be solved by skeptics or cynics, whose horizons are limited by the obvious realities. We need men who can dream of things that never were, and ask why not.

So I  am wide awake at 2am in the morning simply mourning the dreams of seven young job seekers in Abuja whose lives have been cut short. I am awake thinking of that idea that could change my society.

As my mind painted pictures of the Nigeria I long for, I realised that we really should stop asking what our government can do for us (the immigration case has shown us that they indeed have our best interest).

As young people we can do more than write CV and apply for jobs. We have great potentials in us that is waiting to be harnessed. We can build great businesses that will one day have 3,000 job slots to be filled.

What are you doing about that idea that can generate employment for 5  people? 5 may seem a small number today; a small impact. But imagine 1 million youths doing the same thing. You may complain about funds but there are several grants for SMEs that you didn’t hear of because you didn’t bother to check.

This is my personal call to action. Let’s stop expecting a lot from our government.  Let’s grow that small idea; that small business and against all odds, we will survive.

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Eseoghene Odiete is the creative director of Hesey designs.  She is also a Public relations consultant and a lover of everything art.