THE ROLE OF YOUTH INTELLIGENTSIA IN NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

THE ROLE OF YOUTH INTELLIGENTSIA IN NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

The presence of a teeming population of youths in any society is an indication of her labour force, but maximizing the output of that population is a different bargain. Maximizing their output is highly dependent on the level of their intellectual capacity, access to opportunities and policy inertia directed at positioning them as agents of societal change. Arguably, it is predicated on the availability of Youths who are conscious of their political, economic and socio-cultural environment. Nigeria is no doubt blessed with rich human and material resources, but in recent times, her teeming population of intelligent Youth continue to make giant strides in virtually various spheres of human endeavour, ranging from technological discoveries to sports that continues to place the country on the global map for greater achievements. Some of these include amongst many others Maya Horgan Famodu of Ingressive Capital, she is the youngest Black woman to launch a tech fund, and the youngest person to launch a tech fund in Sub-Saharan Africa. Shola Akinlade & Ezra Olubi are developers of Paystack which was acquired in 2020 by Stripe for a reported 200 Million USD.

From the foregoing, it is noteworthy to state unequivocally that despite the adverse effects of the well documented illegal activities of some Nigerian Youths, many have been able to through the ingenuity of their intelligentsia, made giant strides and brought greater fortune to the nation.

The focus of the lecture will be on the role of intelligentsia amongst Youths in National development.

Conceptual Clarification

1. Who is a Youth?

Youthful age is the time of life when one is young, and often means the time between childhood and adulthood. We’re talking about the ages of 18 — 40 years (Wikipedia). Some of the characteristics of one who is young include the appearance, freshness, vigour, strength, spirit, etc., For biblical citing see (Proverbs 20:29)

2. Intelligentsia

By intelligentsia, we mean intellectuals who form an artistic, social, or political vanguard or what the political class refer to as “elites” or the ruling class. This is to say that Nigerian Youths of today, differ from the previous generation in the fact that we have been blessed with the advantage of technological advancement, and access to information, thereby we are better equipped with both the ideological balance which sets us apart, intellectual sagacity and as well the modernity to implement positive change.

3. National Development

National development is a comprehensive term which includes improvement in the living standard of the people, an increase in per capita income, and providing social amenities like education, medical care, social services, etc. to the citizens of the country. Duruji, Joshua, Olanrewaju, Ajayi & Loromeke (2014) would argue that at the base of national development is an advancement in education; specifically, university education but the Nigerian case reveals that the system of education is at the mercy of the state’s internal intricacies.

ROLES OF YOUTHS IN NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

1. Leadership Transition

It is pertinent to note that it is the responsibility of our Youth to ensure rapid and a seamless leadership transition in the country. By this, I imply that it rests on the Youths to be well-positioned to capture the position of authority when the opportunity arises.

The truth is, whether by omission or happenstance, we are the future leaders of this nation, a question that begs for answer is how passionate are we about the future of our dear country?, how are we positioning ourselves?, what are we doing to ensure that when the mantle eventually rests on us, what are we prepared to do as a people?.

It is no gainsay that we are not satisfied with the current state of affairs of the nation and we have clamoured for change. WHAT CHANGES ARE WE MAKING OURSELVES?

2. Economic Transformation via Digital economy

The 21st-century development has been driven by rapid development in Digital Economy, and at the heart of this is the drive for an unregulated economy. We have seen a massive evolution of the means of trade and the evolution of the global system of exchange championed by Cryptocurrency. You would agree with me that these are developing strategies that the developed economies have leveraged upon.

Fortunately, Nigerian Youths are not left behind in his new global world. We have seen a rise in new digital economists who have leverage on this to extricate themselves from the clutches of austerity and now portrays a new array of hope to a dying economy. Nigeria must leverage on this.

3. Social integration through ICT (Social-Media)

Despite the lack of total reliability of the information on the social media, these media have presented an avenue for social integration of Nigeria and the globe at large. HOW?

The advent of globalization is championed by its drive for Information and communications technology (ICT) to erode national boundaries and creates a new lease on life and spread information without restrictions. Social media has been able to galvanize change in the society, a classical example remains the “#EndSARS” Protest.

Beyond this, social media has created massive employment in the country, providing avenues for employment which cushion the unemployment in the country. Social media has served as a further Avenue to source solutions to many problems that have bedevilled the nation from time immemorial ranging from restrictions on the flow of information to exposing violators, rape victims are head and offenders brought to book, amongst many others.

4. Repositioning the nation for global re-integration and reincorporation

Africa suffers from an unequal global relationship in the distribution of power; Nigeria is no different from this. Nigeria like other third world countries suffers from her incorporation into the periphery of the global economy. The adverse effect of this is that the resources of the periphery flows directly to the economies of the core countries (Using the core peripheral theory).

On this note, the role of Youths in the repositioning of Africa is that the new global order championed by the unrestricted economy, of which Nigerian Youths have gladly taken advantage, erodes if not all but many of the encumbrances placed on trade and services by the developed economies of the west, via its mechanism of the operation (euro-dollar hegemony). How?

The digital economy (crypto) portends to disrupt the natural order of global trade which requires you to convert your national currency to one of the hegemonies to be able to engage in international trade. Now you don’t necessarily have to source for Dollars to engage in your trade.

5. Embrace Ujamaa (Brotherhood)

Please permit me at this juncture to borrow from the works of one of Africa’s foremost nationalists, Julius Nyerere of Tanganyika (Tanzania).

For the youth to fully position themselves for greater exploits and possibly champion a cause for a greater future for the country, we must first recognize ourselves as one and brothers. To be clear, let us consider:

Hebrews 13:1: “Let brotherly love continue”

Permit me to also pay a visit to the book of Ecclesiastes 4:10–12:

For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up! Again, if two lie together, they keep warm, but how can one keep warm alone? And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him — a threefold cord is not quickly broken.

Conclusion

The paper concludes that the Nigerian youths can no longer be left in the background of decision making in the country if Nigeria wishes to compete favourably with her contemporaries in the world. We have shown beyond reasonable doubts that we are ready and available to step into the gap and champion the affairs of this nation to greater heights.

It is no gainsaying that no nation can fully harness its potential without fully integrating the youthful population and maximizing its strengths to its advantage. No wonder in the developed world, leadership are gradually being relinquished to the younger generation and Nigeria cannot afford to lose another decade in the dark by neglecting her youths.

Recommendtions

The study hence recommends;

1. The youths must be alert to opportunities around them, these opportunities abound and are there for the taking, we must maximize our advantage and access to information with a minimum of fuss and make informed decisions.
2. The average Nigerian youth has to be ready to take up the mantle of leadership in any you deem fit. We must take responsibility and see to the seamless generational transition of power, and note, that power is never given but taken.
3. We must continue to embrace the spirit of ujamaa, and recognize ourselves as one indivisible unit. We must identify and negate all divisive means of the enemies of the nation and as well shun all social vices in the society and look after one another. We must realize that we are stronger together than standing alone in the fight for social justice. We must never forget that the number one tool of an oppressor is the mind of the oppressed.
4. We must as well take responsibility for rebuilding the global image of our country and set a new standard of leadership ingenuity, only then can we favourably reintegrate the nation into the global economy.
5. Finally, we must take advantage of the digital space, acquire a skill and master the art of learning new things, the world is not static hence we shouldn’t be. Do not be limited to your certificate, explore the plethora of opportunities that abound.

Presented by

Osuji Bruno Bright

President, Young People Assembly,

The Redeemed Evangelical Mission.

On the Occasion of the 2021 Annual Youth Convention of The Redeemed Evangelical Mission (TREM) Ado-Ekiti.

September 26th, 2021.

Further readings: Julius Nyerere’s Ujamaa

https://ethics.utoronto.ca/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Nyerere-UjamaaThe-Basis-of-African-Socialism-1962.pdf