OSCA WOVEN WORDS COMPETITION – SHEHU DORCAS

“Imagination gives birth to things unknown but the writer’s pen turns them into shapes and gives to them living breaths.”

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The 2018 OSCA WOVEN WORDS COMPETITION was organized by My Woven Words  and it was only for undergraduates of tertiary institutions in Osun State as approved by the ministry of education, Osun state. There were Terms and Conditions for contestants.

OSCA Woven Words Competition remains the “first-of-its-kind” and “one-of-its-kind” in Osun state, Nigeria. To avoid Conflicts of Interest, we reached out to a number of unbiased scholars in a university outside Osun State to assess the submitted manuscripts and select the best contestants. All the contestant got a certificate of participation and some of the submitted manuscripts were selected for online publication.

TOPIC: The Tenacity of Nigerian Youths in National Development and Leadership Roles.

Youths are said to be the leaders of tomorrow, but that tomorrow never comes we are stuck in the past with no hope of moving forward. The leadership hierarchy of Nigeria is filled with aged leaders who think that such political position is their right and theirs alone.

This story of falsehood has been embedded in the mind of Nigerians therefore leading to the unsuccessful leadership pattern in Nigeria. The mentality has created a lackadaisical attitude in youths to make them unwilling to participate in national activities that we move the nation forward.

In the 1999 Constitution of the Federal of Nigeria, chapter 6, section 137 which deals with the qualification for the position of the president of Nigeria, it says “ he has attained the age of forty years”, which surpasses the standard age of being a youth which is  from 18 years to 35 years. So how can youths be given the privilege to lead when the constitution which is the grundnorm severe such opportunity. Youths are said to be vivacious, spry, sprightly, with the capacity to live and develop, the ability to push through tough and difficult situations and a mindset that can achieve they determine to do.

Some people ask why we are where we are, we are here because the youth have not been given quality education which builds and strengthens their mind and voice to give us a better country instead we engage in redundant and mundane activities which renders our voices inconspicuous and our impact not felt in the society. We retroflex our moral value and standard and present leaders are not remedying these problems instead they involve in acts like corruption and embezzlement which the youth look up to and want to imitate and when you turn to judiciary for justice the system is an embodiment of corruption. We needquality education and adequate employment opportunities to broaden our horizon and put our knowledge to work.

The military era had more to offer us concerning youth leaders, let’s take a typical example of our former Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon and he attained this position at the age of 31 and made a positive impact in the nation. He created National Youth Service Corp (NYSC) programme and created more state and so on. He did this as a youth, he even accomplished more than some leaders who were older than him. Leadership in not a matter of age but a matter of mentality and maturity.

Moreover, the youths have internalized a wrong perspective to life, we have idolized corrupt practices and violence instead of peace and tranquillity, and we choose to stay in our comfort zone instead of making sacrifices and going the extra mile to develop the country by having innovative ideas. We get involved in thuggery during election, robbery and so on.

Rene Desecartes, a French Philosopher, said “I think therefore I am”. So a man is what he thinks, it all starts with your mentality. If you have a positive mentality you can affect lives positively. The onus of nation building does not only lie on the youths but the government, the little children and old ones, we need to unite together toward a positive direction.

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Provision of jobs is an opportunity for youth to redirect their energy and talent for national development. The spirit of patriotism should be our watchword, so when we get to the position of leadership we will be ready to serve this great nation. The change we desire in others must start from us; we must use our abilities to impact people positively and serve our nation. We must get involved in legal political activities, we must have sound association and partnership with ourselves so we can speak in unison so our voice can be heard putting aside our differences.

In a nut shell, in my opinion the song “This is Nigeria” by a Nigerian artist Folarin Falana also known as Falzis a satire calling out the societal wrongs and vices but was forbidden from being aired in any radio or television station. In any area of life we find ourselves as youths we should use our voice. We should be resilient and persevere in any circumstances and we will attain national development. GOD BLESS NIGERIA.

READ MORE: OSCA WRITE-UPS

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