Sitting sluggishly participating in class activities I still remember the piercing sound of my class teacher’s voice ‘sit up and pay attention leaders of tomorrow’.
Smiling to myself as I sit back to reflect thou can’t help but wonder why! When is tomorrow? A good number of us still remember the popular song we sang back in the days
“Parents listen to your children……..for we are the leaders of tomorrow…. Try and pay our school fees and give us good education…. “We sang this song till we got soaked in the euphoria of it.

Well, they listened and paid. Some even paid to an extreme.
They did not only seek to give us good education, They gave us the best. They sent us to great secondary schools, wonderful universities, colleges and polytechnics; some even went to the extent of sponsoring us in masters programs and philosophical qualifications. Kudus to our parents!

Judging by the pictures our class teachers painted back then, we were not just trained to be leaders of tomorrow in fact with the heights we intend to attain we are tomorrow itself.

So, what happened? Isn’t it tomorrow yet? Are we still leaving with our thoughts? Is this life a mirage? At least a lot of suppositions come to mind.

Statistic has shown that 7 out of 10 average Nigerians die before the ages of sixty. Are we supposed to lead in our sick beds or in our graves? Quite worrisome in our days where our dreams are still nurtured in a society where we live basically as day dreamers.

It sickens me how hundreds of youths wander the streets with qualifications in hand yet not gainfully employed; many of these youths are later swallowed by the challenges of life which they themselves have no cure to, simply because life at times avail us unequal chances. In most cases opportunities opened to thousands are that of police and other paramilitary offices while jobs with more class are left for the children of the elites while they are assured of our sound protection. In essence, we protect the keepers of our sovereign wealth even with so much injustice to bear. What we see and feel in the atmosphere produces discord and deceit, our life line is leaping on the crumps we get from guarding the keepers of our sovereign wealth.

When is our tomorrow coming? When social vices are on the increase and the youths are the most active participants, INFACT not just the youths, BUT the youths living in the slums with half-baked breakfast, with no hope for lunch, and a dinner in form of a roasted corn; quite a pity! This scenario depicts the necessity to do violence even with a little pay.

When is our tomorrow? When a lot of us fold our hands doing nothing waiting for manner from heaven. When we can actually be employers of our own labour. INFACT, part of the reality we are faced with as a people, and as youths; however we can make our country employed with fusion of our ideas as youths; we are poor monitory but our ideas stand out for sure.

When is our tomorrow? When we chose to follow politicians and political offices holders behind like watch dogs instead of getting involved in participatory government. We need to do more in this regard.

When is our tomorrow? When we chose to be party freaks and social event participants instead of intellectuals with plans for a rewarding future. But on a lighter note, I may also rationalize on behalf of the youths; we have been living in so many pains hence, this is likely to be the outcome. We are likely to be seeking for opium in form of events as this. We may risk our movements in some instances but THEN we need to do more. Our negative thoughts cannot save us, our positivity gives us hope.

When is our tomorrow? When we only chose to hope and cope rather than work and pop. In an expansionary sense, the reward for labour comes with the pains; let’s not fail to toil for our OIL.

When is our tomorrow? If we cannot admit that our tomorrow is now.
* say no to a postponed tomorrow!
* say no to redundancy!
* say no to exploitation of labour!
* say no to mediocrity!
* join the movement in making our teachers words credible because our tomorrow starts today!

Palang Faith_Mallo

Social Rights Activist/ Economist/ and Child Crusader.
Gmail: [email protected]
Phone no: 08132308465

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Reminiscing Through Childhood And Still Not Making Progress – Palang Faith Mallo