Our educational train should be brought back on track. This is the only legacy this generation can bequeath to us youths and generations yet unborn. The independence of this country was not fought or won from the barrels or canons of gun but from the concerted efforts of informed, educated and articulate minds. Minds like the Awolowos, the Azikwes, the Balewas, the Enahoros, the Ahmadu Bellos and the likes.

Those who fought with their lives without firing a gun shot. Our universities must be properly funded and the laboratories and libraries well equipped. Research works should be well funded, the lecturers must be adequately taken care of and the youths encouraged to see education as the way out.

Our cultural values must be recultivated. There is need to train our youths to see dignity in labour, to have respect for elders, to respect the laws of the land and to have value for our norms, traditions and belief systems that are of eternal values. It is by this that we can build a virile society that will be conducive for all to live, and prosper.

Above all, it is time to retrace our faulty steps and go back to our God. No nation or people can prosper, least know peace without the fear of God. If our leaders have the fear of God they will not rule as if they are unaccountable. If people in positions of authority fear God, they will know that power is transient. If people in administrative positions have the fear of God, they will have value for human dignity and will rather than loot the resources of state in their custody, deploy same to the development of the nation and the citizenry.

The time for change has come and it must be in all facets of our life endeavours. What the nation needs is a complete rebirth. Our thinking must change. Our attitude must change. Our perception must change. Our belief system must change. Our focus must change. Our vision must change. Our orientation must change. Our approach must change. Our hope and aspiration must change. Our behavior must change. And of course, our resolution must change. Otherwise there may not be an end to the cries for a nation that is daily stabbed and made to bleed profusely by her very own.

We must collectively resolve that the time to get it right is now. And we must not delay further as the inaction of today will render tomorrow’s action useless. We have cried for too long. It is time to laugh again. A time to appreciate God for His love, kindness and divine involvement in the affairs of Nigeria. A time to commend our leaders for a job well done. A time to acknowledge the followers for a good support and a time to thank ALL for efforts rendered.

Together we must do it again and together we shall enjoy the dividend of our labour and those of our heroes past. God bless Nigeria.
CONCLUDED
Kayode-Afolayan is an undergraduate in the Mass Communication Department, Covenant University, Otta, Ogun State
Tel: 08100544690 (Home), 07010149884 (School)
Email: [email protected]