Remember To Be Scared

"The test of the morality of a society is what it does for its children."    Dietrich Bonhoeffer    

How many times have you been told to live for the moment? I think we focus so much on forgetting the past and living in the moment that we actually forget the future – the future of our kids, of our brothers and sisters, our future. Seemingly negative emotions can be beneficial when used to kick start positive actions; the trick is to not let the emotions rule you. 

Let’s talk about FEAR!

Anybody that is truly afraid of failure in the future would sit tight and plan now. I think we lack fear. Family is the bedrock of the society so I would like to start with it. 

Do parents remember that they would not be aged 30 to 50 forever and that soon enough, they would have to depend on their children for basic needs, like food, shelter, money, healthcare etc.? To the ones that are too busy to help their children with homework, the ones that allow society and their televisions raise their children – if they could picture themselves in some years hungry and alone with no responsible child to care about their needs, would their priorities change? 

The society women in our streets who can afford to wear at least 3 aso-egbes in a month while their children are in public or even private schools without books – if they could remember that they would not always be able to work to earn their living and that soon enough, their new wears will go out of fashion, would their priorities change? Should anything suddenly happen to them, are their children’s futures secured or would they only have tons of used clothes and shoes to stare at? 

The fathers spending their hard earned money on drinks and mistresses while their families live on almost nothing, the ones whose sole interests are in their cars and other material possessions, the ones who are not showing their children what real men are like – if they could picture having daughters in miserable relationships that deplete them mentally, financially, morally etc., if they could picture sons who know nothing about character or commitment, sons who cannot keep jobs, would their priorities change?

To the youths who have let go of their dreams and continually choose to ignore their conscience, the ones who think they would be in their 20s forever – if they could picture bringing their children into the kind of world they are creating, would their priorities change?

Do government officials remember power shifts? Do they realise that there would be a time when they would retire and be at the mercy of ignored youths? Do they remember that their seeds would always be Nigerians? Are all politicians’ and civil servants’ children abroad and for how long will the rich ones in Nigeria be able to pay their way through? Can the fear of tomorrow force them to change the state of our educational system?

Increasing numbers of youths are leaving Nigeria in search of better education and greener pastures. Sadly, not all return with the same connection to their roots. Most obtain certificates that are more valued than the Nigerian ones. They get in power and start making policies that only work on paper and cause heartaches for the masses. If the standard of education in Nigeria is improved, there will be a good BALANCE between policy-making leaders who grew up in Nigeria and the ones raised abroad. This way, whenever policies are being made, we will have well-educated leaders from both ends involved and we would not end up being saddled with policies that are unrealistic for the citizens’ daily lives.

There is hope for Nigeria if we can get our priorities right. Focus on the children before they are formed and fixed with certain ways of life. Our parents, youths and government need to stop being so short-sighted.

Please be scared of tomorrow!!!

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Image courtesy of nickshell1983