A lot of times, I hear my friends – young babes and dudes – say that they do not have the facilities to ascend the challenges that confront them. Sorry, but this is a lie from the pit of self-deceit. The story of men like Omojuwa who started out from a keyboard and a will to effect positive transformation of our society puts an immutable disgrace to that deceit. Our generation is empowered already – with the internet, an innate will and a constant flux of information. The question is this then, what have we used these tools to do for ourselves and our generation? Sadly most only use these tools for the satisfaction of their hedonistic desires – and nothing more. These tools are there quite alright for our pleasures, but yet-still we can put them to deft and worthy uses. This brings me adventitiously to participatory democracy. I need not spell out what democracy is, and what participatory democracy is all about. I believe we all have an idea on those concepts. Permit me however to briefly spell out a historical viewpoint from Abraham Lincoln’s definition of democracy. In Abe’s Gettysburg speech, he portrayed democracy as a new birth of freedom … as … ‘that government of the people, by the people, for the people’. The history of this speech is founded on the American Civil War, where Abe had to make use of Black Negroes to fight the war against a seceding Southern Confederation. There came the issue of integrating the now conquered South and the now liberated Negroes into the American society – the Union. Mr. Lincoln new that the only way this could be achieved was a situation where all Americans, Black, Hispanic, the Southern Secessionist, the Northern Abolitionist, or Irish, formed the government, decided who partook of governance and were the beneficiaries of government without recourse to their ethnic, racial or secessionist identity. This was Lincoln’s background to what a participatory democracy ought to look like. And it worked for America. Let me bring this back home. Today my generation is very much interested in only one and a half of Lincoln’s democracy – we want, in full, to be beneficiaries of the government; we want, in part, to select those politicians who we will directly or indirectly benefit from – sentimentally and or financially – if they were to get into power, but we do not want to be in power. Neither are we ready to offer unbiased and objective criticism to our leaders because of our selfish dispositions. We fail to understand that for democracy to work and work manifestly, its features of ‘government for’, ‘government by’ and ‘government of’ – the people – must flow concomitantly.
The internet has given us the greatest tool for seasoned and unfettered government engagement, criticism and appraisal. Thus a first step in government participation already sits on our finger tips. It is nothing but a joke to say that young people are distant from participatory democracy.
But now that the global tech world of Google, Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, Snapchat, Instagram and a host of others have brought us into the affairs of government – beyond even the role of our fourth estate – it is necessary that we must re-model our thinking and value system to provide only constructive contributions to the affairs of government. Or else these tools of innovations which are a two-way street would only assist us to kick the chair while we hang roped to the ceiling of criticism.
A friend of mine told me he was not a Nigerian anymore, and he was now an Israeli. I do not think even an American born Israeli would dare say he is not American. Not to talk more of a Kenyan migrant, who would say he is a Black-American first before he discloses – reticently – that he is a migrant from Africa. Patriotism is key to fostering a development that would surpass the cumulative achievements of our forefathers. If we must give constructive appraisals of our government, we must do so as patriots. Not as tribalists or ethinicists. We must begin to see Nigeria’s problems as our problems. We must begin to see the problems of the North Eastern Nigeria as our problems. We must begin to see the plight of the Niger Delta as ours. We must begin to see the woes of the Middle Belt as our woes. We must take up the plight and cries of any Nigerian as a plight that deserves a palliative, and an immediate one. Not because they are our brothers by tribe or religion, but because they are our brothers – as Nigerians. I have been opportune to grow up in the Northern and Southern parts of Nigeria yet I am Yoruba by my paternal genetic. This has afforded me the understanding that we are one nation under God, and as young people interacting with each other from different zones of our great nation, we must sheathe the sword of ethnic and religious discord if we must create national consciousness for national development.
Leaders are made. Only few who are born with traits of leadership eventually make it to the pinnacle to offer themselves for service. And those who do are those who fight through the sun, the rain, the snow, and the fog to be made leaders. That is why I always advocate that young people take up leadership positions at their fledgling ages. Like the adage goes, the hen that lays the golden egg is known when it is a chick. As young people, it is imperative to take advantage of opportunities to lead. Yes, there may be fears, doubts, discouragements and even initial failures, but passing though all these prepare you for tougher challenges that bigger leadership roles would avail you as you climb up the ladder – in symbolic terms, it is the fire that toughens the clay pot.
On a final note; Leadership is the bedrock of development. Leadership is everything. But concomitantly followership is likewise the foundation of leadership. With a pinch of due respect to Nigeria’s outgoing government, it was a followership that said NO to bad governance, impunity and corruption as they took up their will, the internet, a hunger for good governance and their voters cards and proved that followers have the power too. We – the followers – who have this much power must use it for good. And thus, while we pang for good governance, we must first of all start the jihad from within. We must embrace selfless service in all that we are called to do; integrity must be our watchword – in pain or in gain; and finally we must strive for excellence; getting experience, exposure, learning, reading on vast and extrinsic topics – excellence is that one distinguisher that gives the person who exudes it a meritorious rise through the ranks without any hindrances.
What do you think?