“Older men declare war. But it is the youth who must fight and die,” so said Herbert Clark Hoover, the 31st president of the United States at the Republican convention in Chicago on June 27, 1944.
By Emma Nzeaka
My entire family was terrified as I was getting ready to leave on a trip to my homeland in the eastern region of Nigeria early this year. They made me think of the unrest in that region of Nigeria. Given how the media has depicted the eastern part of the country as a scene of bloodshed, the concern was not unwarranted. I was able to get away. They repeatedly called me while I was there to inquire as to why I had not been shot or taken hostage. At one point, I became irritated since I was enjoying the rest in the tranquility of my own countryside, surrounded by lush, natural vegetation. It was as quiet as a churchyard. I held them blameless for their concern though at times it borders on overreaction associated with human nature in times of social crisis by the youth as we are experiencing in Nigeria presently.
The unguided youth in our rural communities have a difficult time establishing good governance since the old political class has left them with a repulsive culture of incompetence, crime, and corruption. Because of the social and political landscape being shattered by the unfulfilled expectations of the past, today’s youth in Nigeria accept these societal disadvantages as a regular way of life and existence, they act out in impunity. Therefore, the practice and skill of good administration is the greatest problem facing the unfortunate youth of Nigeria today. Since nothing of the type was left to them by the community’s elders, they perceive this as a complex mirage that is too confusing for them to comprehend. As a result, they consider vices to be a way of life.
Consequently, the general query at this stage is: What is good governance, and how does it relate to youth and community development? This question has gained attention since it appears that the idea has been misunderstood by some individuals because they have not personally experienced it because of the disruption of our social and political environment caused by colonialism, military interregnum, and poor governance. Is good governance characterized by cynicism, murder, kidnapping, armed robberies, political bravado, thuggery, hapless praise of politicians, systemic poverty brought on by the government, the distribution of T-shirts, bags of rice, salt to the needy, the organization of Christmas football tournaments and dance carnivals? These are a temporary handout with a transient financial end, they are not related to social growth or good governance.
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My understanding of good governance is that it now extends beyond the construction of roads, bridges, town halls, and the payment of workers’ salaries to the level of creativity that includes helping individuals fully realize their inner potential and start living as a viable entity, by creating value to combat poverty and human quirks and start living as a productive individual in society. Any notion that the government hinders human advancement is a subterfuge by the pseudo-leaders to sabotage the community’s future and plunge society into a life of social hallucination, a form of trick to deflect attention from the reality of the situation and impose dictatorship on society. Because the fate of a community depends on excellent administration, the organized youth’s role should be to constantly demand good governance from the administrators. Sadly, this has not been the case, since young people have discovered the systemic cause and now regard it as a way of life.
If young people act logically, without fear or intimidation from the leaders, and become the vanguard to usher in that illusive good government when they learn to say no and overcome the primal negative remnants of our not-so-proud past, the answers to these social conundrums are straightforward, they should insist on and enact excellent governance through gentle persuasion of the elders of the community.
The youth should assume a leadership position and refuse to be used by politicians and community leaders as official thugs in the pursuit of exorbitant personal and political aims. However, they must stay away from corruption and retain their moral standards despite pressure from outside sources if they are to complete this task successfully, as their initiative will usher in stability and progress because of the young’s vitality in both areas. Therefore, it is their responsibility to bring about stability, which will eventually lead to peace and development in our communities. They can keep doing this by limiting and ultimately getting rid of underdeveloped parts to start structural and social improvement by not allowing community leaders in their pursuit of excessive personal and political goals.
The youth initiative will usher in stability and progress because of the young’s vitality in both areas. Therefore, it is their responsibility to bring about stability, which will eventually lead to peace and development in our communities. Additionally, young people need to prevent social conflict by channeling their excess energy into ways to find workable solutions before it gets out of hand and leads to social vices. Any significant progress can only be made in an atmosphere of fairness and peace. Therefore, youth have a proactive role to play in this area in the community.
Lack of openness and accountability in matters of governance is another sign of crisis in our communities. The youth should hold the leaders accountable for their stewardship since they seized control of the communities. When this is ignored, it becomes a failure on their part to let the leaders maintain their distance and only consult them at times of social unrest and election-related violence as thugs, assassins, and kidnappers. To keep the kids on alert and help them learn from experience, the leaders should be required to provide feedback on the state of the community and the initiatives they are overseeing on a regular basis. It would be difficult for the leaders to be more accountable to the people with this type of symbiotic development. In addition to this, the trained youngsters should insist on it and make sure that justice is served in the community at large. People should not be frightened out of their homes or lands, denied the right to protection, or made to feel uneasy by someone who has gained new social and political standing in the neighborhood and is now making use of it. The youth should stop these bad trends from happening by not adopting that culture.
The youth, in their dynamism, should step in and demand arbitration and justice in any community where there is a lack of vitality, a social quagmire, and a violation of human dignity. This action comes close to being good. The future seems grim, and tyrants will emerge to submerge the community since some people have been permitted to approach authority with impunity. A prominent illustration of the youth’s incapacity to control the excesses of the elders of the communities is the balkanization of towns into smaller, unprofitable hamlets in the guise of autonomous communities. If the youth do not change their behavior and play a visible role in community development, the current social disaster may not be over yet.
- Dr. Nzeaka is the President General of Ishiala Umuozu Community in Nwangele LGA in Imo State