Hypothetically speaking, if the Nigerian youth were to write a Letter of Intent to lead the country, the appropriate sign-off line would be ‘Yours Cavalierly’.
To be cavalier is to behave in a careless, dismissive or non-chalant manner about an issue. To put it more crudely and to better depict the local context of how the vast majority of Nigerians typically behave, it’s the ‘Anyhowness’ of doing things, common to both educated and uneducated Nigerians. Unfortuately, this has come to the fore strongly during this pandemic.
This attitude is so pervasive that it’s been dubbed the “Nigerian Way” – boasting of a flawed sense of smartness or unfounded and illogical sense of confidence, when in fact it’s a stark reflection of the breakdown in our value-system over time. The same attitude underscores a lot of the ills our society is inundated with making one question the readiness of the youth as better leaders in the future.
My friend Uti, during the pandemic attempted to hire a replacement child minder and proceeded to conduct the preliminary tests including COVID-19; below is the message she received from the young lady that tested positive to the virus:
“Good morning Ma, How Is The Family And How Is Your Son, Hope They Are Fine, Ma I Waited For Your Call To Come And Start Working All This While But You Didnt Call, Only To Hear From Mr Kunle Yesterday That The Result Has Been Out And That They Said Am Covid Positive After Waiting And Been Patient For More Than A Mouth Now, Is Not Even That I Travelled Out Of The Country Or I Came From The Village, When Someone Just Have Little Malaria, Fever Or Even Headache Maybe Out Of Stress Or Something They Will Declare The Person Covid 19 Positive And Add To Their Number.”
Clearly the young lady perhaps has gone through just primary level of education, or at best, secondary level – however, you will be shocked to know how many well-educated individuals share similar if not exact views with the young lady. If you ask me, it stems from our anyhowness culture which we sometimes support with religious affirmations like – “God won’t let it happen to me” while acting carelessly.
It is this attitude of Nigerians, including the youths, that led me to ask Dr. Sam Adeyemi during an interview on the TV Show -WAYS (What are You Saying), where he was sharing his views about Leadership in Africa – (Watch interview on YouTube @plustvafrica).
I asked if he still believed in the statement below, which he made in a 2017 World Economic Forum article about leadership issues in Africa:
“Africa’s large youth population presents a great opportunity to influence the emergence of a new generation of leaders.”
While I want to share Dr. Sam Adeyemi’s positive view of the African Youth, more specifically the Nigerian Youth, I’m conflicted in my mind to do so. The combination of their sense of entitlement and anyhowness just don’t ring to me as the trappings of transformative leaders. That said, I share Dr. Adeyemi’s views that they do possess great potential if harnessed and channeled positively through a major mind re-orientation.
Afterall, if character is one of the the hallmarks of successful and great leaders, then ‘Anyhowness’ is a deep character flaw that needs to be extirpated for the Nigerian youth to emerge as a generation of new and transformative leaders.
I look forward to a time when a hypothetical Letter of Intent to lead is written and the appropriate sign-off line will not be ‘Yours Cavalierly’.
Author: Chinasa Ken-Ugwuh
