I was in my forties when Nigeria returned to civil rule in 1999. Around those early years of the Fourth Republic, I was invited to a roundtable convened to dissect the state of the nation and unearth the trouble with Nigeria. The meeting had in attendance young, brilliant Nigerians, mostly professionals and business leaders then in their 30’s and 40’s. As the participants made contributions, there seemed to be a consensus that the trouble with Nigeria was encapsulated in one word – gerontocracy – the rule of a much older generation of leaders.
I kept quiet for much of that discourse as I observed keenly the critical tone of these energetic and reform-minded young leaders. Eventually, when my perspective was sought, I warned them that they would do worse than those they were castigating if given the opportunity. Incidentally, true to my predictions, some of these young Nigerians were soon offered appointments by the government in various capacities, some as ministers and others as special advisers. Unfortunately, some of these hitherto messianic young Nigerians left public office with scandalous indictments. Others simply learned to see things in a different light.
About a decade after this incident, as I convened leaders from civil society on the aegis of Save Nigeria Group (SNG), I engaged some exceptionally brilliant young Nigerians, some of whom have now become some of the most influential young people in the country, contributing significantly to the cause of good governance. As we dialogued on the best approach to structure the reawakened social mobilization among the Nigerian people, the question of “Generational Shift” – the necessity for a change in leadership from an older to a younger generation – was brought to the fore. However, I introduced into the narrative a concept which I still believe is imperative to addressing the intergenerational divide in the polity – the concept of Generational Integration.
Generational Integration is built on the notion that our quest for the Nigeria of our dreams is a collective responsibility requiring such intergenerational collaboration in which the hindsight of the older generation propels the foresight of the younger generation; where the dreams of fathers and mothers become the backdrop of the visions of sons and daughters; and where the wisdom of the elders enriches the knowledge of the youth who constitute the lifeblood of the emerging knowledge-driven economy. Historically, it took such intergenerational collaboration to lay the foundations of the Nigerian nation, such intergenerational relationships as the kind that existed between Herbert Macaulay and his young protegee, Nnamdi Azikiwe who, in turn, would inspire a younger generation of nationalists.
That kind of intergenerational collaboration also existed between Ahmadu Bello and the likes of Maitama Sule and between Chief Obafemi Awolowo and his protegees, the likes of Rotimi Williams and Anthony Enahoro. Decades later, as a young student at the University of Lagos alongside my friend and co-debater in our secondary school days – Otunba Gbanga Daniel who later became the Governor of Ogun State, I would later benefit from a legal-cum political mentoring relationship with Chief Gani Fawehinmi & Chief Obafemi Awolowo.Otunba Gbenga Daniel sent me a congratulatory note recently after my State of the Nation Address on October 25, 2020 that reminded me of those days.
He wrote and I quote: “You remind me of the evolution of the American Southern Baptist Political Preachers of the black emancipation era and as I listened through, good memories of our earlier days in student activism keep reverberating in my mind; the visits to Gani Fawehinmi’s old office at 28, Sabiu Ajose in Surulere, our visits to 31, Park lane in Apapa to see Chief Awolowo and how we jointly formed the DYNA Club (which was actually, the then Unity Party of Nigeria Students wing disguised), how that club was the first to host Chief Obafemi Awolowo in his first political outing (when OBJ lifted the ban on political activities in 1978) at the University of Lagos Education Lecture Theatre… memories galore. My brother, my friend, and my Pastor, we have not just come a long way but have paid our dues”.
Furthermore, the recent End-SARS protests brought to the fore cogent issues pertaining to the Nigerian youth. Aside from the core issues of the protests which revolved around ending the brutal and inhumane treatment of the Nigerian youth by law enforcement agents, the protests highlighted the imperatives of a broader context of youth development and the inclusion of young people in the mainstream of leadership and governance. Mainstreaming youth development mandates a reassessment of a cocktail of sectoral policies within the basket of the National Youth Policy. It entails evaluating the national policies on Education and Human Capital Development, Employment, Entrepreneurship and Job Creation, Information and Communication Technology, as well as the Creative Industries.
The goal of such policy redesign should be to empower and harness the diverse potential of the Nigerian youth in an increasingly interconnected and highly competitive global economy. However, such policy reassessment must not be done for the youth but by the youth and with the youth. It calls for an inclusive approach to governance which I may call “Youthilitarian”. “Youthilitarian Democracy” is characterized by the government of the youth, by the youth, and with the youth. Such governance is “of” the youth because it is youth-friendly and mainstreams youth development in policymaking. It is “by” the youth because it involves young people in strategic governance roles at all levels of government. It is “with” the youth because it is collaborative and intergenerational, integrating the older and younger generations in a mutually enriching drive towards the nation of our dreams.
The practical modalities of Youthilitarian Democracy would entail such policies as having young student representatives in the governing councils of universities and other tertiary institutions; allotting seats to young professionals in the governing councils of professional bodies; having young “Understudy Directors” on the boards of corporations, having young “Understudy Directors and Junior Ministers in public sector Ministries, Departments and Agencies, the establishment of Political Campaign Grants accessible to young Nigerians to actualize the Not-Too-Young-To-Run thrust especially at the local government level, and so on.
On their part, the youth must self-organize and embark on vigorous advocacy towards these and similar policy developments. In addition, youth groups must recognize and harness the power of the Permanent Voters Card (PVC) and, as such, must creatively mobilize fellow youth towards continuous voter registration while advocating against every form of disenfranchisement of young Nigerians. Finally, to avoid the pitfalls encountered by an older generation of nation builders, the youth must be open to mentorship and guidance from the older generation. Such openness to mentoring will place young nation builders on the shoulders of giants and facilitate continuous advancement from one generation to another until the Nigeria of our dreams becomes the Nigeria of our reality.
Pastor Tunde Bakare ,Serving Overseer, Citadel Global Community Church (CGCC), Convener, Save Nigeria Group.
