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Nigeria youth, corrupt practices and government

By Fatai A. Ademuyiwa
16 June 2017   |   4:14 am
Our legislators are now Mohammed Ali, Samuel Peter in their prime, fighting and punching each other’s face like bag over the money that belong to the people. This act is not done out of love for the people but for their own selfish interest.

Judges and lawyers are now being bribed and truth is far from the verdict the courts are now giving, there is no natural justice, equity and good conscience anymore. Gone are the days of Gani Fawehinmi, Niki Tobi JSC and others.

One of the problems facing Nigeria politics is unbridled embezzlement of public funds by people elected to safeguard the interest of the electorate. The money embezzled is used by the leaders to purchase newly produced goods like vehicles (bulletproof), cloths, jewelry to mention but a few, that are not only produced out of the country but also very expensive and unnecessary. The youth seeing their leaders living such flamboyant life also dream of the same. They (youth) also want wardrobe allowances, vacation allowances and even sleeping allowances, after all, good things aren’t meant for the old corrupt politicians done.

The families who gave birth to more than one child are finding it hard to train them properly. It’s not that they are careless to give birthday to more children they can’t cater for but the income of these parents is too low to provide the basic things that the children need. What has government done in respect of this? Farmers and traders receive no help in form of loans from the government. And the little they get from their harvest, the unstable economy of the country is taking it from them. How many of civil servants receive their salaries on time? The salaries they are collecting, how much of their needs can they cover? The government rather than provide for these people will divert the loans to their private pockets, keep spending money to import goods that can be produced here in the country.

They keep on constructing new roads instead of shaping the lives of the students and the future of the youths, our dear schools are neglected and we are forced to study under unfavorable conditions. Some schools are closed for months without being on holidays because of the failure of the government to provide adequate funds to finance the growth of the institution and yet these institution are generating revenue for the government. I thought there is a saying that if a tree gives you money, you should keep its surroundings clean.

Just like the recent happenings in Olabisi Onabanjo University, where the state government has refused to give adequate support to the school in terms of funds, the school completed up to 30 projects in five years without adequate help from the government that generates revenue on a yearly basis from the school. Instead, the current Amosun administration decided to add another institution to the existing ones in the state by making the beloved Moshood Abiola Polytechnic, University of Technology and a new Polytechnic will be built in Ipokia with the bills already passed into law. But there is no consideration as to how the existing institutions are been run.

What about our dear brother Oyo State under the second tenure of a democratic tyrant, Abiola Ajimobi, calling himself a constituted authority when confronted by the students of Ladoke Akintola University of Technology? I remember when he visited the polo field close to my secondary school during his first tenure with the like of Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, Olusegun Obasanjo. I’m sure he won’t know the amount of money they spent that day as I was able to get myself inside his tent and saw how his wife was busy spending money on King Sunny Ade on the stage while I was standing under the sun and later the rain waiting for his corrupt ass as instructed by the then principal of my secondary school on an empty stomach.

What do we write about the leaders who should have retired but refused to do so? They keep editing their files in order not to vacate the seat that should have been occupied by their grandchildren. For example, the present president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria became the president on his fourth attempt when he first contested in 2003. And let’s not forget he was once a military head of state in 1983-1985. If my equation is right then it means from 1983-2015 Buhari has been in the driving force of politics and he has even exceeded the retirement age of 60. What about the two term president of the nation who still want to amend the constitution so as to enable him run for the third term after eight years as president and three years as military head of state? The youths are called the future leaders and yet, that tomorrow is a fantasy.

Our legislators are now Mohammed Ali, Samuel Peter in their prime, fighting and punching each other’s face like bag over the money that belong to the people. This act is not done out of love for the people but for their own selfish interest.

One of the primary functions of the government is the creation of job opportunity for the youth and fresh graduate, which they have failed miserably about and they are not bothered by it, even with the fact that most youths now engage themselves in illegal acts to get themselves money, mostly cybercrimes, frauds and so on. The future of the youths is destroyed when these leaders use them as pawns to win elections. And some of these youths have aged parent(s) they need to cater for, it is these same innocent youths who need money that the leaders give guns, cutlass and other offensive weapons to during elections.

The rate of nepotism in the government is another way in which it has corruption in the youth. The favoritism shown by these leaders to relatives and friends in appointing them into good position even though they are not qualified make the more qualified youth to look for alternatives, legally or illegally.

These leaders in government are the godfather and role model to many youths. The youths look up to them, worship them, and envy their achievement. So their corrupt ways serve as a precedent for the youth coming into the game of politics and are also ready to do anything to equal or surpass the achievement of their role model or godfather. ‘‘Do or die’’ becomes the word watch and the national cake must be eaten once you have the chance.

However, the parents do have their own fault also. But theirs can only be classified as a minor fault, if you think a man who gave birth to more children than he can cater for and for this, the children will be made to suffer and such children tend to become corrupt, you are not far from the truth. But what of those without parent(s), the orphans on our streets? Is it their parents fault that they died in an auto-crash with no relative(s) to take them in? Nobody is asking the government to put food on the table for anyone. We are asking the government to stop thinking about themselves all the time and do something about the poverty in the country, create enough jobs for the youth and let our tomorrow start. It’s been long we have been waiting for that tomorrow.

It is not just the executive or legislative arms that have the teeth of corruption on their neck like a vampire sulking life out of its victim. It’s not just these two arms of government that are under the attack of corruption. But also what tends to be the last hope of a common man, the last hope of the people, it’s clear that there is no hope in the government. None has the intention to serve the people but for the people to serve them. Corruption is now inside the justice system and is spreading so fast like a virus. Judges and lawyers are now being bribed and truth is far from the verdict the courts are now giving, there is no natural justice, equity and good conscience anymore. Gone are the days of Gani Fawehinmi, Niki Tobi JSC and others.

How can the youths or even anyone survive in such a system without risking being affected by the virus? The whole arms of government have been victims of corruption and it’s been passed down to the innocent youths. The unemployed youth were promised a certain amount monthly in 2015, I wonder how many have received the money by the government.

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