NIGERIAN YOUTH, THE PIMP OF THE MOTHERLAND

By Akin Ojumu

Yesterday, Nigeria engaged in illicit and ill-advised sexual intercourse with an unfaithful paramour without using any type of protection. In yet another presidential election, the motherland has willingly opened up herself to men who see in her a mere object of inordinate pleasure. Without coercion, Nigeria has once again surrendered to chastity defilers and thrill seekers, giving them consent to take advantage of her. For the 11^th time in the nation’s history, the matriarch of our destiny has been ravaged by savages who would debase her like a woman of no virtue.

It is the morning after. And like a whore who, at the climax of her fertility period, has had yet another unprotected sexual encounter the previous night, mother Nigeria is overwhelmed with guilt. For jettisoning her dignity so easily and cheaply, she is consumed with regret. Fear envelopes her soul because she can feel the product of her promiscuity as it forms in the depth of her womb.

Unlike the other times in the past, when she had allowed herself to be molested without much of any resistance, the latest episode stings more greatly. The shame of her actions, like a ton of bricks, weighs heavily on her guilty soul.

What’s so different about this encounter that makes it more painful than the others in the past, is that three of her children witnessed the entire tragedy as it unfolds and yet they could not save her from her degrading predicament.

Perhaps consumed with their selfish ambition, the young children of mother Nigeria - represented by Omoyele Sowore (AAC), Fela Durotoye (ANN) and Kingsley Moghalu (YPP) - stood there and watched as their motherland was ravaged again and again and again. Intoxicated by the beguiling taste of their egos, these young children of Nigeria – who, hitherto, were considered the hope of nation – allowed their mother to be desecrated.

Now, it wasn’t that the Nigerian youth didn’t do anything to help their motherland. To their credit, they did put up somewhat of a fight. But their effort fell far short of what was needed to save mother Nigeria. Their rescue attempt, a misguided sorry excuse, was not enough to deliver her from those who disrespectfully use her. Unwilling and unable to team up and join hands, the youth of Nigeria could not mount a pushback strong enough to repel the abusers of their motherland.

For some inexplicable reasons, the magnitude of the moment in the nation’s history seemed lost on these young sons of Nigeria. As political neophytes, just being in the fight appeared to suffice. Blinded by the klieg light of attention, they could not see that the battle was much bigger than their individual ambitions. Not used to the limelight, the race became a farce. 

Their campaign looked like a gimmick, and their race, some kind of a joke. They each were content to be regarded as “Presidential Candidates,” and they seemed to derive enormous pleasure in being called “Presidential Aspirants.” From the outside looking in, these young sons of Nigeria appeared to have embarked upon an adventure to pad their curriculum vitae.

It may well be that they didn’t start out with the intention of merely creating a buzz around their candidacies, to get them noticed and perhaps considered for some future crumbs of power. Deep down, and considering their antecedents, these young Nigerians may have been motivated by a genuine desire to save the motherland from those who have consistently pillaged, and taken advantage of, her all these years. They may have come to the fight willing to do all that was necessary to protect the motherland, including burying all their priggish and narcissistic tendencies. 

Nevertheless, somewhere along the journey, their good intentions became corrupted. The sense of duty to the nation, they had entering the race, must have been hijacked by the sense of self gratification. The thought of, “Only I can fix it,” became a judgement clouding veil that prevented them from seeing the enormity of the task at hand, until it became too late.

Suddenly, they came to the realization that their solo endeavor is futile and would not yield the desired results. Yet, instead of swallowing their pride and making a strategic adjustment, they decided to plow ahead alone and make the best out of a no-win situation. Seeing their name on the ballot box became their single source of thrill and elixir of vindication of having arrived in the league of big boys...it seems.

For all the reasons heretofore enumerated, the sons and daughters of Nigeria couldn’t agree on a merger to present a formidable opposition to meaningfully engage in battle with the powerful forces that have repeatedly raped their motherland. For reasons of self-absorption and lack of self-realization, the Nigerian youths failed to unite behind one viable consensus presidential candidate that had the chance to win.

Unable and incapable of seeing the bigger picture, the young Nigerian aspirants must have reasoned that forming a solidarity of young Nigerians to take on the ruling class that keeps on defiling their motherland serves no useful purpose – at least not their own personal purpose.

And in that, they were wrong. And for that, Nigeria lost…again.

Unless there is a rethink, and a re-examination, of the failures of the youth in this election cycle, the footnote of history will be too prominent of a place for the three young Nigerian presidential aspirants to be remembered. 

Except these Nigerian youths conduct a serious postmortem of their political faux pas – as some still hold out hope that they are capable of doing – they’ll soon be completely forgotten. Their names will forever be stricken from memory because of their egregious political malfeasance.

Failing to embark on these critical self assessment measures, the Nigerian youths will assume the reputation as the pimp of the motherland. Their missteps will serve as the most consequential setback for a comeback for our nation in this election cycle. 

The consequences of the defeat Nigeria suffered in the presidential election will reverberate far into the distant future. And there’s a good chance a lasting damage has already been done to their country from which it may never recover.