The old politicians and their acolytes had taken everything from Nigerian youths, their future and their lives, and they were talking about respect on social media?
By Achike Chude
The elders and adults once upon a time conspired against their younger generation – the hope of the future. The purpose was to keep them out of power while they plundered the common patrimony. So they set their anger on the little children and youths and without mercy, beat them silly, using sticks and cudgels and just about anything they could find, just so that they could inflict maximum pain on their helpless and hapless victims. They took everything from them – their dreams, good education, jobs, proper healthcare etc., and left them frustrated and in despair.
It was not just the physical torture alone. It was also verbal. The abuses came in torrents. They were demeaning, and disempowering abuses. The leader of the elders even called them lazy youths when he went abroad to visit a foreign leader who was known for the interest he showed to the youths of his own country.
The humiliations and assaults were not just a one day thing. Oh no! It was done on a daily basis. It was a group thing. Everyone of the older generation participated in the humiliation of the younger ones directly and indirectly. Some, who were in positions of authority, participated, while the vast majority of the elders who did not like the mistreatment kept quiet and did nothing to help them. They were either afraid or compromised.
In frustration, some of the youths decided to take matters into their hands. They went to war against society, joining the terrorist group, Boko-Haram, Niger Delta militants, IPOB, bandits, and kidnappers. Some even became known as unknown gunmen. In a matter of time, no one, including the elders was safe.
And because it is said that there must always be a remnant who will not bow down to Baal, there were those Nigerian youths who refused to be pushed into crime. Instead, they opted to flee the land. They decided in droves to join the japa train in search of greener pastures to other lands.
And then one day, everything changed.
Without really thinking, Nigerian youths rose against the oppression and humiliation, united in their belief that they also had a dignity to protect, a future to secure, and a country to save. They suddenly realized that with 60% of the population of the land, they had the numbers to make a difference. They had emerged as a social and political force.
Baptised in the revolutionary waters of #EndSars, the young ones who emerged in the context of the struggle and agitation for social justice were in control of cyber space. They owned it and dominated it. It was the one real thing that the elders could not take away from them. But the old guards were having none of this. Propaganda, disinformation, misinformation, outright lies, and intimidation for electoral purposes were essential and they needed social media because of the forthcoming election. They had dominated it in the past through their social media hirelings and mercenaries and felt that they could wrest it away from the youths.
They were sadly mistaken, as Nigerian youths out-maneuvered them, out-foxed them, and out-debated them every step of the way. They were then accused by the elders of being unruly, discourteous, threatening, bullies, and anarchical on social media. They forgot the first rule of respect – that respect is reciprocal. They forgot that those who live by the sword will die by the sword. And they forgot that there is always a day of judgement even here on earth.
The old politicians and their acolytes had taken everything from Nigerian youths, their future and their lives, and they were talking about respect on social media?
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In frustration, the wily and corrupt politicians, who were vast and versed in the political debauchery and democratic perversion of the past laughed at the foolish youths and their feeble attempts to overthrow them in an election. They called them “three-people-in-a-room Twitter warriors who will be taught a bitter lesson in real politics and dared them to meet them at the battle field at the polling units. Their confidence was sky high and understandable. The youths had no money, had no political experience, and had no structure of governance under their control. They would beat them silly.
Undeterred by the taunts and derision from the politicians and their acolytes, the youths, who had beaten and routed them and their hirelings on social media took up the challenge to show that they also had presence not only on social media, but in the real world.
The elections came, and the impossible happened. David once more became Goliath. The old guards were caught off guard by the sheer organizational brilliance of the younger generation, their grit, their resilience and their commitment to the nation state. They came out in their numbers at the polling units, and in a move that defied ethnic, religious, and geo-political stereotypes, they trounced those who had played politics for decades black and blue, teaching them a very hard lesson in political mobilization and execution consistent with proper democratic ideals. From Enugu, to Uyo, Lagos, Minna, and Abuja, they gave a black eye to the politicians in a signal that demonstrated that they have come of age and that this country is also theirs.
Facing outright political annihilation and condemnation to the dust heap of history, the humiliated, despicable, and supposedly powerful politicians resorted to the use of dubious and corrupt INEC officials, compromised security institutions and personnel as well as thugs and criminal deviants to physically and violently assault and intimidate the voters. It was the only way they could ‘win’. It is the only they have always ‘won’ – by cheating.
But what was ironic and tragic about this was that in order to win, the supposed masters stole from their pupils and the parents were embarrassed by their ‘children – for the good of society.
The children had become adults, and the adults, babies.
Since then, the center has not held and “mere anarchy has been let loosed upon the earth.”
And now that the lion has tasted blood and will not be confined to the den, so will the bee’s fascination with honey remain intact. Having tasted and tested just a bit of their latent potentials and capability in the national elections and seen the mind-numbing impact they made, Nigerian youths must not hold back and pull back. They must complete the job that they have started to rescue their country. History beckons on them. They have put their hands on the ploughshare and must not look back.
We all know that those who deliberately put us and our country in the hole cannot get us out of it.
Some of us older generation have a duty to lend them a helping hand, to go with them all the way, pushing them, encouraging them, supporting them, come rain or shine, despite all obstacles, imagined or contrived, until victory is secured.
They must finish what they started.
It is doable.
Victoria Acerta.
