So since our meeting with the president on Tuesday May 24, some of the youths who attended, myself included, have been insulted, made fun of and belittled in the most unfair manner, on FB, twitter, blogs and many online forums.
Thankfully I have a platform through which I can get my voice heard, and if some of the youths that attended don’t talk, it’s as if we have something to hide... so here goes.
Please continue to read...
Saharareporters and co, how is it an offence for the youths of this nation to have lunch with their president? We were invited to sit with the president and have serious discussions on how we can move this nation forward. It was an opportunity for the youths of this country to get involved in the governance process under this present dispensation, which is something we have never really had before. This meeting was an opportunity to be heard; an opportunity to let the president know that we are watching; we demanded for change and made it known that we were not afraid to start a revolution if things don’t get better! We all voice our opinions on social network forums and blogs about the hardships we face in our day to day lives; this was our opportunity to say it to the face of the man who has the power to effect change; and the speakers who spoke on behalf the youths of this nation did a great job of this. A lot of issues were raised and I’d never been more proud than when Chude Jideonwo said - We will be watching sir. But we won’t just watch, we will demand it, and we will work to make sure that we get it.
Who picked these speakers to represent the rest of us? Well, check out the groups they represent.
*Speech by the National President of Nigerian Youths
*Speech by the President of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS)
*Speech by Rita Dominic for Nollywood.
*Speech by Audu Maikori for the Nigerian entertainment/Music industry.
*Speech by Chude Jideonwo for youth activist groups.
*Speech by a random lady picked from the crowd who spoke on behalf of the young women of Nigeria.
And all speakers were very articulate and made the rest of us in the room proud to be young Nigerians.
But what we have been hearing from all quarters since this meeting was that we were bribed. Bribed with money and food. What exactly is bribe? You bribe someone because you expect a favour in return. So, what exactly was the President bribing us for in this case? This is a man who has already won an election...by a landslide if I may add, voted for mostly by the youths and female folk of this country; so what exactly would the bribe have been about?
I didn’t get any brown envelope and I didn’t see any youth with one...I’m not saying no one got any envelopes; I just didn’t receive or see anyone who did. But let me state here, that I have absolutely nothing against those who did. In fact if I’d been offered, I would have collected, because the fuel I bought on my way to this event cost me 52k. If I’d been given 50grand, I would have demanded for an extra 2k. The envelopes were not bribes, in my books that’s called remuneration or you can call it an honorarium, which is a standard part of any political or business event worldwide.
If I Linda Ikeji call someone on the phone and say; please come to my office or my house I need to speak with you; when they show up, the first thing I ask is; do you want something to drink? If they say yes, I buy them a drink. And if I know I will keep them with me for a while, I ask them; do you want something to eat? If they say yes, I get them food. And when they are leaving, I offer them money for transport/inconvenience. That’s what most of us would do, especially if we have more money than them, right? So what’s the big deal about reimbursement?
Sahara reporters and co said we sold our conscience for a plate of eba and rice? If we were in our respective business places, wouldn’t we have had lunch between 12:30 and 3pm? So I ask again, what exactly is our offence?
If President Jonathan had been seeking re-election, then it’s a different case. Then you all can say we went to the meeting to get bribes...but he has won, whether we like it or not. The only thing we can do now is to make the best of the situation and never ever stop making our voices heard. We must take advantage of every opportunity to dialogue with our elected reps; that is the best way forward.
I don’t know what the president’s true intentions were for asking for this meeting with the youths, all I know, like Chude said, is that we are watching, and whether they like it or not, this country must get better, even if we have to go the route of the North African revolution. We must remind the president that he made a pledge to Nigerians to be faithful and honest to us and we will hold him to that promise. So whether they give us envelopes or not, we will demand for change and they only have so much time before there’s a revolution in this country. You think the youths of this nation aren’t capable? Then you under-estimate the strength, passion determination and desperation of the young people of this country...who by the way, make up more than 70% of the population.
I ride hard on this president, and I and the youths of this great nation will not stop until there’s improvement in the lives of the common Nigerian man. Let them continue...we are watching!
I wrote this while sitting at Enugu airport for two hours, so pardon the wrong grammar and et al. God bless.
Linda
