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SURVIVAL AND PAROCHIAL INTEREST OVER COLLECTIVE INTEREST

*SURVIVAL AND PAROCHIAL INTEREST OVER COLLECTIVE INTEREST*

Heart pierce horribly, soul bruised, and hope dashed. These are the final summation from the engagement of President Muhammadu Buhari and the shameless parody parading themselves as the 'face' and 'voice' of the teeming Nigerian Students'.

We have been spoonfed by many tales that we (The Youths) are the future and hope of this country. Many fables had been forced and pushed down our throats to believe that only we can salvage hope for this country. Nigeria as a state is face with plethora of problems, and out of this problem one menance rear it's ugly head to affect every facet of our lives. This menance has eaten deep into every fabrics of our existence as a state and people. This same menance has been allowed to dominate us ahead of rationality and reason.

The just of recent unholy alliance between the Nigeria President and the hooligans parading themselves as NANS is not only condemned, but also portray as the evil that resides in the mind of man. This meeting is coming when Academic staff union of the universities (ASUU) are on strike to press home their demands and also to influence the government on adequate funding of the tertiary education in the country. Many Youths and student have been home due to this industrial action of the varsity teachers. And the best our NANS can come up with is to staged a shameful solidarity visit to the state house and promised the President 20million votes. Gone are the evergreen and conscious days of 'Gani Fawehinmi, 'Femi Falana, Ken Saro-Wiwa when they would lead and be at the front burner of national issues to protest the interest of the common man. The days that these men and women of valor are regarded as 'conscience of the nation'. Where's our conscience today?

The decadence in our society today is as a result of lack of value and strong institution to enforce discipline and stability in our system. Our system has paved way for nepotism and favouritism over merits, interest of the masses, and a just society where everyone will have a fair share of the government. The days we were refer to as the leaders of tomorrow and hope to this country will forever be a mirage if our interest lies in materialism. The beautiful ones amongst us would forever not born if we continue to elude values and allows our appetitive part to dominate us.

We needs to encourage ourselves and discourage every tendencies of corruption. The insult rub in the face of the Nigerian Students' by the utterance of President Buhari is condemnable and a collective rape on our intelligence. For a President to have said that he should not be disturbed with ASUU and education, but to be allowed to focus on infrastructure. This shows the level of value and priorities of our leaders. This singular statements further open up and confirmed the gap between the elites and the masses in our society.

We must all rise above pettiness and our appetitive tendencies and salvage hope for our country. The shenanigans played out by our Youths and leaders must stop. We can't continue to live our lives in this manner. It has come to the fore that when you decide to live a modest life you're being seen as a 'hypocrite' or a 'mumu'.

I believe we can affect our society positively and live up to expectations. A little drop of a water form an ocean. There's enough love to go round. There's much strength and courage to deposit to the cause and struggle towards a better country.

We must rise
We will survive
Stronger Together 💪

Martin-Rita Adebayo
+2347035647985
Martinritaadebayo@yahoo.com

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