Mfonobong Inyang: Young Nigerians and The Cost Of Patriotism

Writing to young people can be very difficult because we tend to unite around unimportant stuff but split hairs over the most important issues. How do you tell somebody that there is fire on the mountain when the person has no frame of reference for the existential threats confronting him or her? I remember when I used to do budget analysis on public platforms until one day when a story broke about how the budget of a particular fiscal year was allegedly padded with trillions of naira, but when I came on social media, instead of the outrage and drive for accountability from public officials, what I saw trending was the adventures of a married man and his side chick. Then I asked myself: are most Nigerian youths really interested in having a great country, or do we just enjoy the theatrics of complaining about bad governance?

For those who claim to be among the number who desire a functioning country, I’m here to tell you that your patriotism will come at a cost. We say we want a better country, but in reality most young people are waiting for others to lead the way or, even worse, do the work while they wait to enjoy the benefits. Real patriotism is an expensive business; it’s not a catchphrase. Those who threatened to start a civil war when fuel was less than N100 and claimed you were living a fake life when you bought a bag of rice for N7,500 will call you toxic today for growing a pair to demand better governance. So if you think those who are benefiting from the dysfunction of Nigeria would stand by and let you take back your country from their grip without putting up a fight, then you’re either naïve or being disingenuous.

YCee spoke about the olodo uprising and rightly so, but, as usual, it was reduced to certain demography and personalities. The fact is that we’re olodos at different…