Idle and Unengaged Young People Everywhere: We should be afraid!

By Hon Chibuzor Obiakor

For over 10 years, whenever I came home from the United States, as often as I did then, my mind was troubled by the number of unemployed and unengaged young people in Nigeria. They would be everywhere; in every state, city, town and village as one went around on my business during those visits.

The only thing that has changed since then is that their numbers have increased and is continuing to increase. There were boys and girls of all ages, sizes, shapes, and of different socioeconomic, education, regional and religious backgrounds.

I always thought, and I still do, that this was a huge waste of Human Capital Resources for Nigeria to have these many young people along with their energies and talents idle.

As I watched this through the years, I started to become alarmed. My fear, and it is a real fear that we should all be concerned about, was based on one question: "How long would these young and energetic persons stay idle without bad consequences for Nigeria?"

I was concerned, and I still am, of the consequences when these energetic young people decide to take matters into their own hands? To me, it was a matter of time, and a needed spark before they react to their idleness.

Nigeria would be in for a quagmire of indeterminable consequences because the "Chain Reactions, and Heat" that would be produced from such uncontrollable reactions would be of nuclear proportions. Unless, their time, talents and energies are harnessed and channeled usefully. Then Nigeria would become an economic power reckoned with in the world.

It was a cross road, and the country needed a Leadership with Vision and the Will to take the right path. We failed. And the number of unemployed and unengaged young people have continued to increase, especially with the Faith Communities preaching and encouraging uncontrolled procreation without planning and adequate structures to accommodate the ever-increasing population of our country.

We are in deeper trouble than we realize with all these energetic and young people idle. Their frustrations, propelled by their enormous energy is at tipping point, and there is no clear policy directions that signifies recognition of this danger, not to talk of proffering suitable solutions to it.

The Saturday July 29, 2017, unwarranted and unnecessary attack and disruption of the "Nwafor Ogidi" festival reception that I organized in my hometown of Ogidi to allow my friends and members of my political party, the APC, to peacefully assemble, witness, enjoy and facilitate with my Ogidi people on the occasion of our annual Nwafor Ogidi festival, and the reported attack on the Governor of Anambra State, His Excellency, Chief Willie Obiano, at a Church in Ekwulobia yesterday by members of IPOB are worrisome. With both coming back-to-back in less than 24 hours, with shouts and chants of "No election! No election!".

These are in the background of the so called "Quit Notice" issued to Igbos by a coalition of youths organizations in Northern Nigeria; the continuing restiveness by the Niger Delta youths, and agitations by Southwest youths groups are pointers that the chickens may have come home to roost.

My hopes are that these agitating youths do not coalesce to take on the Nigerian State or decide to go after each other. Some of us with vision went into politics to help point the way and proffer solutions to issues such as youths' unemployment, but one is finding out that "The Establishment in Nigeria" is not really very interested in solving Nigeria's problems and putting her on the path of greatness. Rather, the "Nigeria Establishment" is peopled by persons who are only interested in lining and stuffing their pockets and polishing their fragile egos. In the process, these young people are neglected and kept idle. But, the late Bob Marley warned us that "when the rain comes, it would not fall on one man's house".

Disrupting a private Nwafor Ogidi festival event is at one end. Attacking a sitting Governor of a State is at the other end.
What would be next? Attacking the President and Vice President, or invasion of the National and State Assemblies, and Government Houses? Then, the anarchy would have begun!