Hey YOUth, yes you! You can become President now

Hello dear readers! Hope you are having a good week so far. So, guess what! The Nigerian Senate just passed a bill to reduce the age for election! Boy oh boy, my oh my...who would have thought?! We are making some itty bitty progress. Sadly though, the Nigerian government is notorious for all talk but no action and I've already seen some comments online like 'Na so! (meaning 'Yeah right!') I'm sure they will make things difficult for us to even buy the forms talk-less of running for office'. And this might be correct because, simply put, corruption! Also, with the other bills passed that seemed to aim at giving more power to the legislative arm, it looked more like they just added the age reduction bill just to be on the good side of the youth, more like a consolation prize, as Nigerians would say 'Just manage this one'. But then again, let's give them the benefit of the doubt. They just might be for real this time.

My reason for writing this article is to challenge the average Nigerian youth and work our minds a little bit. We are not certain that the bill will be passed into law just yet (that's how it works, right? It's a process?), and even when it is, the distrust for the system would somehow come into play. But putting all that aside, we need to start getting ready to take up those roles. I have always had a personal dream to become the President of Nigeria in the future (how cool would that be 😲??). For some of you, that future is about to become a reality, and my million dollar question is: Are you ready?

The other day, I was having a discussion with some of my friends and the question came up, what would you do (differently) if you were President? There are literally a million and one things wrong with Nigeria as we speak but, I believe that one leader can't solve all the problems. So, while I give you a list of areas we talked about, how about you make a list of what you would focus on or promote if you were given the opportunity.

First of all, if you are one of those young people who still have the mindset of "I want to go into politics to steal money", all I have to say to you is, 'Diarris God Oh!" (judging you 😒). Just in case you are reading this post and you think that way, please I beg you to think about your children and the kind of society you would like for them to live in. Thanks in anticipation! 

To the list:

1. TRANSPARENCY: This is the biggest issue we have! Transparency, integrity, accountability, you name it. Truth is, if leaders exhibit these qualities, then a majority of the citizens would follow suit naturally. It's all about influence. This would gradually build the trust of the people. Don't be greedy, because there's a reward for that and it will be ugly. Don't quote me though, quote life.
2. SERVICE: If you go into with a mindset to serve and actually serve, the people will love and respect you. Leading with fear hasn't gotten the country anywhere and doesn't bring true respect. Don't be power hungry, or at least try not to be. Nigerians love a humble leader, I mean...who wouldn't?

Well, there you have it. The list isn't very long because as we went on and on, we realized that those were some of the most important things needed to form a good foundation upon which other problems could be solved. With these, you'd be able to select like-minded people in your cabinet, manage resources appropriately and provide the basic needs for the people, or don't you think?

So, my fellow youths, what would you focus on if you became the President of Nigeria? Your time is now. Start planning, start thinking, start educating yourself on what it takes to run a country, be open-minded, be willing to learn, be equipped. You can leave a comment below, you never know who would read this.

Let's discuss on how to make our country great, period!