The Nigerian Youth and their Abuja Jamboree of National Prayer, By Tobenna Obiano

The National Youth Council of Nigeria, a supposed umbrella union that should act in the capacity of representing the entire Nigerian youth populace had chosen a date to gather and pray for Nigeria.

The Eagles square became the venue where these league of young persons gathered for their supposed prayers for the nation and her leaders. They came out in their numbers, with leaders and delegates or representatives drawn from all parts of Nigeria, led by their State executives for their jamboree codenamed National prayers.

It is important to write or speak with utmost decency and respect when we talk of Holy acts and Holy gathering. We should respect God and speak or write with reverence. This is what it should be when true Holiness, Purity and Sincerity in acts, words and works becomes true, but on the other hand, it's okay to ridicule and shame the gathering if it was aimed at making a mockery of God and to ridicule the sensitivity of the Nigerian youth populace.


I'm one Nigeria who honestly do not care to succumb to the endless maradonaic drama of our "misleaders". Our political class have continued to take the populace for granted, worse is the level of ignorance of the youth populace. The Abuja prayer gathering is a jamboree, a joke and perhaps a grave insult landed upon the faces of every serious-minded Nigerian. What was that for? Are we even thinking?

I'm angry. I have every right to be. It's sad that these guys, fellow young people decided to leave their homes, States and zones journeying all the way to Abuja to go and round in prayers for Nigeria and her leaders. How shameless! Even the good book reminds us that God is everywhere and He hears us from anywhere, even from the comfort of our rooms. The Abuja trip is therefore, simply  and clearly a cheap stunt pulled by her organizers.

I can beat my chest and say unapologetically, that this must have been an undertone played by the powers-that-be, the Abuja power-brokers. These guys are mean and heartless. They must have sponsored this so-called 3-days of National prayers for Nigeria and her leaders. It's all aimed to divert the current state of hopelessness, hunger and devastation in the land.

What haven't we seen or heard from our misleaders? They announced in euphoria just last week or so that Nigeria is out of recession. For heaven's sake, the people are those who feel it, if things get better, Nigerians would feel it, but till now, the struggle is real and the suffering is unchanged, infact, it might have even gotten worse.

Nigeria is in ruins. A nation in total collapse, built by a failed elderly class and now, the supposed leaders of tomorrow aren't even promising one beat, a case of a people even more than determined to fail all the more. This is very sad. When are we gonna get serious in this nation?

In Nigeria today, virtually nothing works. Not a damn thing works. We have a failed education system. As I write, university teachers are striking and students held back at their homes. What of our medical system, one of the worse in the world, our Doctors in sympathy had joined varsity lecturers in the industrial action and ofcourse, pregnant mothers who are due would now resort to maybe, primitive ways of child delivery.

What works in Nigeria? What of electricity supply? That's the worse of all. The Minister of power as Governor was once quoted to have said that any serious-minded Government should be able to fix the electricity problem of this nation in six months or less. Today, even after two years and nearly three, the epileptic power supply has even gone worse. Fashola needs to be pinned down to the floor and flogged 36 lashes of the cane every morning and night for 72 straight days non-stop.

What of, as little as water supply? In Nigeria, every privileged family have to sink their own family boreholes or well for means of water supply, where untreated water leads to hike in typhoid fever which often may lead to death. Does the Government even care? Ofcourse not! Why should they?

What of our means of transportation? Our roads are death traps, our waterways are clearly unsecured where we even hear stories of pirates and ofcourse no proper aquatic life. What of our air travels, most Nigerians resident abroad whenever they touch down in Nigeria do not trust the system because the nation cares less about what happens on air. The aviation ministry, just as their partners of the Nigerian customs, those are corrupt havens. Even common rail travel in Nigeria is taking the country ages to put in place, because politics must be played always.

What of our security system? The world knows that Nigeria isn't serious as far as the nation's security is concerned. Serious nations warn their Nationals to be weary of Nigeria, as it is marked on red as an unsafe nation. In the North, Boko Haram is still having a free for all. In the middle belt, Fulani herdsmen are still maiming, looting, raping and murdering where they can. In the South, militants have since returned to the creeks and have resumed their bombing of oil facilities. In the West, ritual killings are now in vogue with the dreaded Badoo boys posing a big threat. In the East, kidnappers are still doing their thing. Nigeria is simply unsafe.

In the last three years, about 3.5million gainfully employed Nigerians lost their jobs because of the carelessness, inadequacies and fear brought about by the APC led Government upon investors and business owners in Nigeria. Every year, young employable Nigerians are graduating in floods from various institutions, yet there are no jobs. The Government isn't worried, because even their own kids have a waiting job already upon their graduation.

What works? What exactly works in our nation? Nothing, absolutely nothing works in this nation.

The most saddening of them all is the ongoing industrial action which while it's ongoing, universities are under lock and keys, as lecturers choose to stay away compelling students to remain home too, yet shamelessly, a group of persons, who their major job should be to serve, unite and protect the common interest of young Nigerians fail to do so. These guys ordinarily should be intelligible, but sadly, what do we get, a class of individuals who chose to come and ridicule the entire Nigerian youth populace without thinking twice.

What the heck was the prayer for? Aimed for a better Nigerian society and for her leaders. What nonsense! To hell with the leaders. Which leaders? Do they even give a damn about the Nigerian youth populace? Ofcourse they don't care.

While Nigerian students are away from school because of the insensibility of those in positions of power, same young people unite to pray for these guys in power. For heaven's sake, quite the endless prayers already, act! Prayers without good work is as good as dead, it's nonsense and a waste of time. While we pray for them in Abuja, their own kids are in safe havens abroad built by true patriots of those nations, where the system works, where they have virtually everything working for them.

We pray in Abuja and their kids are being trained in British system, in American system, in European system and because even China and co have gotten their acts together, the children of the Nigerian political leaders who we are praying for in Abuja laugh at us, while being trained in Asian education system. It's sad.

In the past week, certain photos were shared online about powerful and privileged Nigerians, majorly public officials attending to the graduation ceremonies of their kids in universities abroad. Their kids wouldn't attend Nigerian universities because they don't trust the Nigerian education system. They politicize and assure us of free education, which ofcourse is often  and obviously free of everything and yes, free of knowledge too.

Nigerian youth populace gathered in Abuja to pray for Nigeria and her leaders. This is even as we have a land bountifully endowed in abundance of natural and human resources, yet we have our first best from behind leading  a class of brilliant class or else, how did we arrive at a President who has a missing or maybe, no High School certificate.

It is in Nigeria that Government after another, unapologetically only focuses on looting as more as they ever can. Till this day, we still hear of millions of dollars of monies looted by former Nigerian dictator being returned to Nigeria. They are endless.

The amount stolen by the Obansanjo administration under the guise to fix power is heartbreaking. What of the corrupt deal popularly known as Halliburton scandal where their accomplice in America have since been jailed yet their cotravelers in Nigeria are still walking free receiving National honours, political appointments, community chieftaincy titles and installed elders or Knights of the church.

The Jonathan administration had a Government where the nation's oil was handled like a private business. The level of Jonathan's incompetence is next to none. Else, how would one explain that his Petroleum Minister stole so much that her accomplice in the States, a young Nigeria was able to purchase over 52 personal cars, owned mansions in America and two private jets.

The Allison Mmadueke properties are countless. It was so bad that she even owned a USD17million mansion well fitted with bullet proof gym in Nigeria's Federal capital of Abuja. What of the Nigeria human ATM machine, Sambo Dasuki where monies meant to fight the dreaded Boko Haram terrorist group were siphoned or stolen, yet our patriotic soldiers were dying in battle died.

The Buhari and APC administration is a worse it's kind. Nothing ever equates incompetence followed by lies and corruption all at once. The Nation's forex till this day is being shared like a family business. Monies allegedly returned maybe restolen by the powerful Abuja cabal, a makeup of the Daura dynasty. Everything has fallen apart and their is simply no hope in sight. The kidnap of school girls from their hostel under the cover of the dark in Chibok as many alleged is slowly turning to be a masterminded act aimed solely for political gains. What of the exchange rate? Nothing is good, nothing at all.

In Nigeria, minimum wage stays unchanged at a pitiful N18,000 yet most Governors are owing salaries even after the bailout funds. What of the security votes which often aren't audited or accounted for. What of the choice of most political office holders to habitually and wickedly triple and where they can, quadruple the cost for doing a job, where even some receive the monies and fail to do the job or where they do, they carry out works of less quality.

Fashola of Lagos claimed to set up a website at N85 million. Amaechi collected monies to build a hospital in Rivers State, yet didn't even put a block on ground. Gen. Burutai was in-charge of Army Procurement under the Jonathan administration, he owns two mansions in Dubai yet he isn't corrupt. The Secretary to the Federal Government had the impetus to award himself the contract for millions of naira to cut grass. The Senate President is now suddenly a Saint. The President is sickly and clearly incapacitated, yet it doesn't matter.

In the last three weeks, various natural disasters have been taking place sweeping through the Caribbean and swings upwards towards the east coast of America. Aside various nations on the island that were near totally wiped out, particularly Berbuda neighboring Antigua, Hoston Texas was badly flooded. As I write, Florida following hurricane Irma's late arrival has been flooded as well. The Miami airport has been flooded too. In Nigeria, we don't usually have natural disasters, infact, we cause our own disasters artificially.

Unfortunately, the Nigerian youth populace seem not to know the power they have. A youth populace of every nation are those who have the wit and power to decide their faith and what becomes of them and their nation. It is in Nigeria that a serving Governor gifted wheel barrows to the youth of his state in this 21st century as a form of empowerment and Benue youth populace didn't push that he steps down. Today, Markurdi and neighboring towns have been flooded and neither the Governor nor the Federal Government has done enough for the people.

I stand for the truth always. I have no reason whatsoever at all to support these guys who went to Abuja for the jamboree to "play" claiming they went to "pray". Stomach infrastructure is a big problem in Nigeria and the youth of Nigeria that are bent on picking up crumbs fallen from the tables of our misleaders are Nigeria's biggest problem.

In Syria, High school students having been fed up with the mess they have in leadership, began by writing inscriptions on school walls and that was how it escalated to a full blown war. School students in South Africa stood their ground to join Mandela's lead to fight the apartheid regime. All over the world, innovations, science and technology is the 21st century wonder that now breaks bounds and breaks barriers, but in Nigeria, all eyes, even that if young people remains on our oil. ICT is the in-thing. It is the new world-order.

Singapores has the busiest seaport, yet they have no oil. China has a quaking population yet they are promising. America has led the world for ages, yet they don't rely on their oil deposit under their ground. Britain and many other nations in Europe don't care about oil, infact by 2030, they are planning that all vehicles powered by petrol will be put out of market. Everyone is going green, also to manage the rising concern of climate change, but no, Nigeria and the rest of Africa don't care. Infact, we are drawing the rest of the world backwards.

It is very sad to read or watch the jamboree these guys went for in Abuja. The APC led Government can deceive a lot of people at once, but never all at same time. The saying that if you deceive me once, it's ignorance, but deceive me again, then it's foolishness is so true. All Nigerians can't be foolish at thesame time.

The "NotTooYoungToRun" bill may have been passed from the National Assembly. The various state assemblies and the executive still has a role to play, as to accepting it before it comes into fruition and perhaps, most young people don't even know it's most likely a Greek gift, aimed at  a channel to which the youth populace will fight themselves all the way.

The leadership of the Youth Council of Nigeria, right from top to the last, running from National to State executives owe the Nigerian youth populace a serious apology for this show of ignorance, foolishness and shame. This is the mother of all jamborees in recent time.

The saying that the youth are leaders of tomorrow is now becoming worrisome. It's either our teachers lied to us or that tomorrow hasn't and may never come.

Fellow Nigerian youth populace, are we even thinking?