*International Youth Day: Our Youths; Our Greatest Embarrassment & Impediment?*
_"There is a cult of ignorance among our youths and there has always been even among the political class. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, with heroe worship and uncultured praise-singing to political office holders even to the so called leaders whose failure are very obvious and this is no doubt nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that 'my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge''_
On 17 December 1999, in its resolution 54/120 , the United Nations General Assembly endorsed the recommendation made by the World Conference of Ministers Responsible for Youth that 12 August be declared International Youth Day. The Day which is commemorated every year on 12th August, bringing youth issues to the attention of the international community and celebrating the potentials of youth as partners in today’s global society.
Just few days ago, the world marked The International Youth Day for the year 2021 with a lot of funfair and exhibitions, truly and genuinely sending strong messages to their leaders while registering their dissatisfactions where they think their governments need improvement but here and other African countries, we have a different stage, a stage purely set to worship politicians and sing praises for the same set of people who impoverish and keep impoverishing them.
Personally i have no problem praising anyone, not even clueless leaders whose greatest understanding of politics is purely self profiteering instead of promoting the welfare of the masses but i have issues with those political spectators who lack simple knowledge of politics and governance. I mean those youths whose only reason for supporting political actors is simply for money making and not the person's ideology or antecedents; praising, dancing and worshiping any government in power even to the most naive and insensitive administration, i mean those whose leadership obviously constitute immense disaster to the people they lead. These set of youth who keep positioning themselves as activists or firebrand political figures, parading fake personality are really the ones standing in opposition to our progress and development as a society.
This is because I'm of the view that politicians all over the world especially here in African society where we have worst leaders, should not have fans. Because there is a difference between being a supporter of a party, an agenda or even a candidate, and being part of their fan base. Frankly speaking, blindly supporting a politician and sticking with them no matter what is an unhealthy, unproductive dynamic and a shameful practice that we need to stop. And we see symptoms of fan culture permeating politics constantly in our society and is not helping anyone. And is very important to note here that when you’re considering who you’re going to support or vote for, you don’t have to be in love with a candidate. Worshiping the ground they walk on doesn’t do us any good and not even you who think you are reaping from the administration because directly or indirectly you will surely get the result of your actions. And Even if you do admire a politician or their work, there should be a level of separation
that shouldn't exist in other forms of fan culture because being a fan of a politician means automatically being blinded from the realities and whether their policies are good or bad, you will still find that a reason to hate those criticizing the policy.
Furthermore, the worst side effect of heroes-worshiping of politicians is when it leads to attacking the other side or treating them like they’re immoral for supporting someone you do not like, this is where every criticism means hatred or opposition. This is a dangerous side of our youth in today's politics that need to be tackled and there is no better way to do this than striving for self empowerment. Because politics ordinarily shouldn't be a career because is only when all our hope and life aspiration is dependent on either singing praises or worshipping politician or any government in power that we loose out sense of independent. What do we make of when youth organisations here are mainly formed for the sole reason of making money for themselves or bargaining for political appointment. To them, is all about how much one can make from any given administration, the higher your make - the more smarter you are. And at the end you will see their shoulder swelling up like soaked bread for ignorantly contributing to the mess and rots in the society.
Finally, to the leaders of our today society, is important you understand that there is need for genuine inclusive support mechanisms for youth so that they can amplify their efforts collectively and individually for self advancement which will in turn impart positively for the good of all.
To our fellow youths, having a skill or gaining some level of financial independent will not only give ground for genuine activism which will sure push the government at all level to sit up to their responsibilities because when praise and heroe- worship ceases or highly reduced our society will sure be a better place.
https://mediagangnetwork.com/2021/08/15/international-youth-day-our-youths-our-greatest-embarrassment-impediment/
Johnmartinsworldonline@gmail.com
Vice - President Africa/Middle East: Global Investment And Asset Management Council
No comments:
Post a Comment