Immigration recruitment saga : A call to action – Eseoghene Odiete

I never publicly talk about happenings in the society. But this case really got me sad especially when I heard that  six people lost their lives.

I witnessed the Lagos drama first hand.  No, I wasn’t there as an applicant.  I live close to the National stadium. The traffic, noise, transportation issues, mad crowd and so many youths on white was enough to tell me something unsual was happening.

Unlike many, am not here to demand an explanation from the immigration head. I’m not here to ask why must a Nigerian youth pay the government to get a job in his own country. I’m not here to complain about how security agents used tear gas as their crowd management tool. No, I’m not here to ask what will the government do with the billions gotten from my fellow young nigerians.

I was definitely tempted to curse and complain; to make loud noise about how bad our government has become but John Kennedy words flashes through my mind: ‘the problems of the world cannot possibly be solved by skeptics or cynics, whose horizons are limited by the obvious realities. We need men who can dream of things that never were, and ask why not.’

So am wide awake at 2am in the morning simply mourning the dreams of six youths that have been caught short. I am awake thinking of that idea that could change my society.

As my mind painted pictures of the Nigeria I long for, I realised that we really should stop asking what our government can do for us ( the immigration case has shown us that they indeed have our best interest).

As young people we can do more than write CV and apply for jobs. We have great potentials in us that is waiting to be harnessed. We can build great businesses that will one day have 3000 job slots to be filled.

What are you doing about that idea that can generate employment for 5  people. Five may seem a small number today; a small impact. But imagine one million youths doing the same thing. You may complain about funds but there are several grants for SMEs that you didnt hear of because you didnt bother to check.

This is my personal call to action. Lets stop expecting a lot from our government.  Let’s grow that small idea; that small business and against all odds, we will survive.

Eseoghene Odiete is the creative director of Hesey designs.  She is also a Public relations consultant and a lover of everything art.

The views expressed in this article are solely that of the Author's and not of Ese's Blog