THE ROLE OF NIGERIAN STUDENTS IN SHAPING THE FUTURE OF NIGERIA.

The wall is undoubtedly fractured, having a semblance of a long deserted castle, getting to fall apart, brutally. Thus, in a country where nothing seems right; that beasts now mimic the immediate humankind, in a view to ridiculing our footprints. 

What then do humankind like ours need to do to restore sanity? I think... No, I do not need to “think!” I believe safer routes are needed to be trod upon. And that is the gospel truth behind creation and existence, that is, there are reasons for solution[s] when adversity comes knocking.

 However, in finding solution[s] to silence great adversity and to filter the weed out of the wheat, humankind has got to join arm in arm to fight the alien. And when we talk of fighting the aliens, we are talking of the youth who are in schools, colleges, and universities. The students. For as a matter of course, both great and small wars are fought by the citizens whose sap are full of life, the young bloods who still have home agility. Proven several times that Nigerian students have the highest number of population, from range 1 to 10—approximately, they have had seven.

Therefore, to have the mind, firstly—that there is something wrong with the state and that, it needs a radical change, is the utmost that will help alleviate the problems. For in the mind of a man comes a million thoughts: that those who are life changers today, from all walks of life did not just wake up one day and began to carry out wonderful experiments. It first came to their mind as a vision, peradventure in form of molecule, then they had to spring up to get their dreams actualized. 

Grew it and stuck to it until it yielded “a dream accomplished”. And to stick to this dream of shaping and reshaping, takes a patriotic minds who are so passionate about the development of the country. A mind of Mahatma Gandhi. A bulbous mind of William, who harnessed the wind in his home town in Malawi to save his people from horrorsome famine.

To further my stance, preparedness is not readiness. One may get prepared—have been getting prepared—have got prepared. But, yet not ready. A lot of factors might be responsible for this, in which fear, not just fear—but fear of the unexpected; the unknown, may creep into one's heart, letting one have the thought of “what might come off me over the course of embarkation?”. The reason why people who are prepared are quite different from people who are ready, is determination.

 Determination, that if anything comes blocking my path in this journey, I will break them down; that if challenges come, I will overcome them outstandingly. Thus, readiness is a state whereby you determinedly say: “Yes! I will go for this race, and I will win it. I can do it!”. And that's more of the reason for you to see a brilliant political science student who had gone through drilling in the university, but cannot meet up with the society. It is not that he is not prepared, but the reverse is the case. He may not be ready for the journey, but apparently prepared. Lack of faith and belief in oneself is also a factor responsible for this unreadiness.

 By extension, the students must be fully ready to densely join the political arena and together sanitize and evacuate the old urchins in politics, beginning from the school they study in, graduating to their community thereafter schools, and then, finally to end the journey in the state and federal level with a density of force.

As to further extend the submission in the foregoing, in a view of changing the status quo, of which is the federal character—a gerontocracy government; government by the old, we the students have had to channel much of our focus into the system in order to balance it up. 

And how can this be done? This can not be simply done, when we have only five out of hundred of students go into politics: for of course, the power of a warlord is sharpened and reinvigorated through the dense roar and motivation of his warriors. Therefore, it is strongly advised that we motivate many more people into the system, for those few who have had the patriotic revolutionary zeal—like Odenigbo in Adichie’s Half of a Yellow Sun—not to blend in and later become an object of catapult to the citizens of the nation. In other words, the change should begin with and from us.

 It is not by founding our own alliance party; but it is by wearing the clothes of a monkey in order to claim one’s possession from it. This is no doubt needed to be done so as to unestablish the fixed and unpalatable protocols that are bereft of healthy ethics.

It should be noted that every student needs to contribute to their nation, either in one way or the other. By this, you're joining in the struggles of shaping the nation into a beautiful castle and making it a tourist attraction. In essence, selflessness should be taught and held in high-esteem. Stand by all means to augment the country in your own little way, because this also is another way of garnering people to channel their focus into helping the nation grow—the unflinching power of education.

To cap it all, strategy and movement—instead of agitation—are much more to be embraced.

 Chimamanda Adichie talked about “anger” in her book, We should all be Feminists thus: “We should all be angry. Anger has a long history of bringing about positive change.” Unarguably, it is good to show anger through agitation, but it needs to be done in a wiser way, in essence, strategizing, and it is not every demonstration of anger that improves situations, but most of the time worsens them. 

But it is advisable in a healthy democratic nation. However, Adichie said: “I am also hopeful, because I believe deeply in the ability of human beings to remake themselves for the better.” To remake the common humanity or society for the better, is to understand the nature of that human race or community first, so as to simply find a pathway into the spine of that community or humanity, yielding gradual results, if not speedy.

© FELIX Ayodele Mojisoluwa, 2021.

Full Name: FELIX Ayodele Mojisoluwa. 2nd Runner-up, NASELS Southwest Essay Competition

Email Address: wizardmoji1@gmail.com

Phone Number: 09039436649

Level: 200L

Chapter: Adeyemi College of Education Chapter, Ondo.