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subject: Celebrating Nigerian Youths as the Country Marks 50 [print this page]

The fireworks is in the air and the funfare continues. Nigeria is 50

and though many feel there is little or nothing to celebrate, some

quite few believe that for the fact that we are alive and our nation

is still existent despite the challenges it has undergone, there is a

reason to jubilate as Nigeria celerates her independence anniversary

50 years after it ceased being a British colony on 1st October, 1960.

The exploits of Nigerians in various parts of the globe is one of the

things that often brings joy to many Nigerians. For this reason, many

say we could celebrate but most of these high achievers were able to

make their mark on individual platforms. But let us not forget, that

in one way or the other, many of them passed through the Nigerian

system.

A closer look at many of these Nigerians of class shows that they were

young when they reached the heights they attained, of which has

brought great prestige to Nigeria.

Chinua Achebe, who is known as the father of modern African literature

is known world over for his literary prowess. His most popular work

which has been translated to over 40 languages, 'Things Fall Apart,'

was written when he was just 28!

In recent times, after several years of retrogression in Nigerian

literary circles, there is a sudden bounce back and ressurgence of

Nigerian literature in the international scene. The new faces of

Nigerian literature; multiple award wining Helon Habila, Chimamanda

Adiichie, Chika Unigwe, Uwem Akpan, Adaobi Tricia Nwaubani and others

are mostly young people.Adichie's second novel,'Half of a Yellow Sun',

named after the flag of the short-lived Biafran nation, is set before

and during the Nigerian Civil War. It was awarded the 2007 Orange

Prize for Fiction. Chimamanda is also a 2008 MacArthur Fellow.

Emmanuel Ifeajuna a young millitary officer brought great joy to the

nation when he clinched the first gold medal in an international

competition.Before he joined the army, Ifeajuna, then a medical

student at the University College Ibadan, earned for himself the

honour of being the first black African to win a gold medal when he

won the high jump in Canada at the Commonwealth Games in 1954. He also

set a record. Many years after, Chioma Ajunwa, a young police officer

brought the first Olympic Gold medal to Nigeria in the long jump event

at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America.

Nojim Maiyegun, a boxer was the first Nigerian to win a medal at the

Olympics. He won the bronze medal in the light middle weight category

in Tokyo'64 Olympics.

Richard Ihetu, popularly known as Dick Tiger a renowned Nigerian boxer

became the first man in the world to win the Middle weight Category on

23rd October, 1962 and the Light Heavy weight category in 1967.

Kanu Nwankwo at 20, captained the Under 23 team, pioneering them to

also pick the gold medal in the Atlanta Olympic Games. The team showed

a lot of promise that it was tagged the Dream Team by the Nigerian

press.Kanu who is the most decorated Nigerian footballer, won the

African Footballer of the Year in 1996 and 1999 becoming the first and

yet the only Nigerian to win it twice.

Before then, the Under 17 team and the Under 16 team had emmerged

winners in the then World Youth Soccer Championships staged in Japan

in 1993 and China in 1985 respectively. The 1985 youth team captained

by Nduka Ugbade showcased Nigeria's soccer prowess to the world. The

golden eaglets, again in 2007 won the Under 17 world cup. The senior

national team won the African Nations Cup in 1980 and 1994. The Super

Eagles were in the world cup for the first time in 1994 where they had

an amazing display but crashed out in the second round.

Samson Siasia, a young Nigerian coach who led the Flying Eagles to the

second place in Holland 2005 Under 20 World Cup as well as the Under

23 team to pick the silver medal in the Beinjing 2008 Olympics was

rated the 15th best coach in the world and the 2nd in Africa in 2008

by the Federation of International Football Association(FIFA) and

Confederation of African Football(CAF).

In the Nigerian music industry that had the old and the young,

Innocent Idibia popularly known as Tuface brought a new dimension to

inductry when he won the inaugral MTV Europe Awards African Act award

in 2005 at 29. His feat seemed to open doors in the industry as it was

followed by a boom and explosion of talents in the music scene. Today,

Nigerian musicians are known all over Africa and the world at large

churning out technically sound videos.`Most of these videos are

produced and directed by very young Nigerians.

Before then, Nigeria's Agbani Darego became Miss World in 2001. Her

emmergence also brought an upsurge in beauty pageants and fashion

shows in the country. Thesame could be said s regards reality shows

after Bayo Adetomiwa's involventment in Big Brother Africa 1 in

2003.In 2009 Nigeria's Kevin Pam Chuwang emmerged tops in the 4th

edition of the reality show winning a whopping $200,000.Dare Art Alade

had earlier been part of the first Project Fame academy(before Project

Fame west Africa).

Nollywood, which is Nigeria's movie, rated the 2nd in the world in

terms of volume of films produced, by the United Nations Educational

Scientific and Cultural Organization(UNESCO) in 2009 is majorly what

it is today because of many talented young Nigerian actors and

actresses. The production of Living In Bondage, the first contemporary

Nigerian home video by young Kenneth Nnebue, an entrepreneur is said

to be what kick-started Nigeria's multi billion naira movie industry,

nollywood which is one of the highest employers of Nigerias' youth.

Interestingly, Chineze Anyaene, the producer of Ije the journey- a

nollywood and hollywood movie collaboration which is currently making

waves in Nigerian cinemas is just 26.Another nollywood sensation The

Figurine, a movie that clinched most of the awards at the 2010 African

Movie Academy Awards was directed by another young Nigerian, Kunle

Afolayan.

Notable young actors and actresses in the Nigerian film industry such

as Genevieve Nnaji, Omotola Jalade Ekeinde, Ramsey Nouah, Desmond

Eliot, Stephnie Okereke, Ini Edo have become house hold names in

Africa, the Carribean and among Nigerians in diaspora. Only recently

Oprah Winfrey described Genevieve Nnaji as the Julia Roberts of

Africa.

Phillip Emeagwali, the ineternet wizard won the 1989 Gordon Bell Prize

at 35 for his use of a Connection Machine supercomputer to help

analyze petroleum fields. Jelani Aliyu of General Motors(GM) in the

United States of America, one of the worlds top ten car designers lead

the Team that designed Chevrolet Volt, a car that is seen as the

future of GM. Fiften year old Kimberly Anyadike became the youngest

African American female to fly coast to coast in a private airline.She

made history piloting a single-engine red-tail four-seater Cessna 172

airplane from Compton, California to Newport in 2009. Today, in

Nigeria and in the diaspora there are many young Nigerians who have

perfected in the art of website designing and hosting.

Many young people have also risen to become an inspiration to their

generation through advocacy, motivational messages and laudable

projects aimed making life better for their peers. Worthy of note is

Fela Durotoye, a youth sensation who is immensely popular among young

Nigerians. In his 'Mushin Make Over' project, held in December, 2009,

he was able to galvanise 800 professional painters and about 5000

volunteers who painted buildings, and cleaned drainages, painted

culverts and roundabouts in the slum.

Nigerian youths have also been victims of manipulation by the elites

and political class. The field work durring the rigging of elections

and thuggery are perpertuated mainly by young people.The arson,

maiming and looting that are mostly involved durring ethnic and

religious clashes are often carried out by youths. One would also not

deny the menace of various campus cult groups over the years.

However, Nigerian youths have had causes to get involved in mass

protests which turned violent in some instances as a result of clashes

with security operatives durring the millitary junta. The Ali Must Go

riots in 1977 when University undergraduates protested the hike in

their school feesled to the closure of Universities for months. Sme

students lost their lives in the process. The SAP(Structural

Adjustment Programme) riots of 1990 and the June 12 riots of 1993

which came after the annulment of the freeest abd fairest election in

the history of Nigeria; are also instances where Nigerian youths stood

up against oppressive policies and decisions. It came with a price-the

loss of many innocent lives from the gunshots of ruthless millitary

men.

Nigeria's darkest time in its history is the civil war which lasted

from 1967 to 1970. The prominent elements in the war, the Nigerian

head of state, General Yakubu Gowon and the Military Gorvernor of

Eastern Nigeria, General Odumegwu Ojukwu were 33 and 34 years

respectively when the war broke out. Maybe the war could have been

averted if these leaders were older and more experienced.But it was

obvious that at their age, both leaders were men of purpose who were

leading very vibrant people who looked up to them and beieved in them.

While Nigeria and its youths are celebrated and their misadventures

are pointed out, a lot of empathy needs to be shown to the legion of

unemployed Nigerian youths especially the graduates, roaming the

streets and stuck in cyber cafes applying for advertised jobs that

have already been taken.The presence of only few job openings has made

the Nigerian labour market over saturated, yet several thousand youths

will still graduate yearly to join the market.

At, 50, Nigeria can boast of many internet savvy young Nigerians while

at the same time there are still many ignorant without formal

education or not privilleged enough to be in tune with the modern

times. As Nigeria steps into the begining of the march to another

golden jubilee or rather, a march to centenary of its existence, would

the future be better for Nigerian youths? Or would they continue to

suffer from the abuse meted out by a failed older generation?

Many foreigners with close ties to Nigeria often wonder how Nigerians

manage to take life easy even in a myriad of poor infrastructure and

bad leadership. A walk along the parks and streets would testify this.

You would see a bus conductor calling out the names of the rickety

bus's destinations in a very melodious manner. The truck pusher

working under the hot sun would still give you a smile even though he

has not had a meal. School children trekking long distances to and fro

school would still not fail to greet their elders who walk past them.

For these reasons, Nigerians were once rated the happiest people in

the world. Perharps, it is because of the kind of resilience that

Nigerians, especially the young ones have shown in their quest to make

it in life against all odds.Nigerian youths are capable of doing big

things and tackling big challeneges.

As 2011 election approaches,it is interesting to know that a coalition

of various Nigerian groups pioneered by youths have decided to rise up

and educate their peers on the need to vote and vote wisely. They

maintain that if the young people do not stand up now to make a

statement then the polity would be so depleted by the time the

leadership of the country would come into their hands.It is such that

their being conversant with the internet vis-a-vis the various social

networking sites would be an asset to bring this to pass. It would be

exciting to see video clips of attempts to rig elections and some of

the misdemeanours of the law enforcement agencies on CNN I-report,

facebook and twitter!

With such an awareness, Nigeria's young people would not only secure a

better leadership for themselves in future but would also make many

individual breakthroughs in various spheres of life.

Celebrating Nigerian Youths as the Country Marks 50

By: Okey Egboluche

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