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Government in Nigeria seems to do more to divide Nigerians along ethnic and religious lines. This divide spreads from the federal to the local level. And it becomes more pronounced with every election, especially the transition election. At the core of this division is the quest for power. This quest has, however, brought out the beats in Nigeria’s youths who deploy social media to negative ends. Many people believe that social media is a vital instrument for building societies. In so many cultures, people use social media to inform about developments that build their societies. Many use them to announce innovative developments that build the man. However, when one takes a cursory review of the use of social media in Nigeria by Nigeria’s youths, one is forced to ask several questions. One such question is whether social media is a tool for building Nigeria or destroying it.
This question has become imperative given that the majority of those in Nigeria who use social media to express themselves are youths. A content analysis of the majority of materials shared on social media by young Nigerians are materials that have the potential to further polarize the country and even balkanize it. There is hardly intellectual engagement with most youths on social media. Intelligent discussions on developmental issues are rare. Most youths give the impression that their mission on social media is to stalk senior citizens and abuse the hell out of them. The bitterness and hate are more pronounced when disagreeing with senior citizens or even youths of different ethnic groups and religions. This is worrisome because it suggests that Nigerian youths are using social media to expand ethnic and religious hate instead of turning it into a tool for building viable relationships.
Sad enough, the majority of youths who use social media to expand these negative traits, are graduates of institutions of higher learning in Nigeria and elsewhere, who also, may have served in the mandatory one-year national youth service scheme. This makes one begin to wonder if the NYSC is actually serving the purpose for which it was created in 1973. Or, has its objectives, like most other programmes created to unite Nigerian more, been eroded by parochialism and corruption? These questions need to be asked because, despite its 47 years of operation, there seems to be more visible evidence of division among Nigerian youths than there is of unity. This is also more visible among Nigeria’s millennial and Gen-Z youths.
A look at the establishment philosophy of NYSC will leave no one in doubt about the fact that the scheme may have lost its verve in achieving the task set out for it. For instance, it was stated in May 1973 that NYSC was being established “with a view to the proper encouragement and development of common ties among the youths of Nigeria and the promotion of national unity”. It was also stated, on the NYSC website, that “the purpose of the scheme is primarily to inculcate in Nigerian Youths the spirit of selfless service to the community, and to emphasize the spirit of oneness and brotherhood of all Nigerians, irrespective of cultural or social background. The history of our country since independence has clearly indicated the need for unity amongst all our people, and demonstrated the fact that no cultural or geographical entity can exist in isolation.”
The intendment was that Nigeria’s youths would serve Nigeria mandatorily for one year. The supposition was that such service would be performed in states other than their home states. This was to expose the Nigerian youth to cultures other than his. Such exposure would enable him to appreciate the country’s diversity and also make him see the opportunities that exist in the diversity. The youth was expected to also appreciate the country’s march toward “a united, strong and self-reliant nation”; “a great and dynamic economy”; as well as “a land of bright and full opportunities for all citizens”.
While it is true that youths who started the NYSC scheme integrated more and appreciated the value added to their lives through exposure to Nigeria’s national diversity, there is however a growing trend that questions the objective of the scheme. This trend suggests that the objective has been defeated because it does seem that youths go through the scheme more divided and with more hatred than before they were called up. To a larger degree, most youths now create the impression that the only meaningful purpose of the scheme is to wear the uniform and own a discharge certificate. For this, many begin the service year with an eye on the exit date without any interest in the life and culture of the place of service. One hardly reads from youth corpers about the developmental challenges of their places of service. This is one major reason many people argue that Nigerian youths are not ready for leadership. And true to fact, no one who is disinterested in developmental issues can make a good leader. It is not enough to demand that power be ceded to youths. Youth must first show the ability to understand what the issues are.
Guess this is the reason NYSC further stated on its website that “the government and people of Nigeria are not (un)aware that sound and patriotic leadership is a precondition for the rapid social and economic development of the country. As a nation, Nigeria has been less fortunate in the kind of leadership that emerge to govern the affairs of the country in the period immediately after independence, a leadership whose achievements notwithstanding, was nonetheless ill-prepared and, generally not properly motivated to tackle the problems of socioeconomic underdevelopment, in the interest of the country as a whole.”
The expectation was that Nigerian youths would go through the NYSC better prepared to lead haven been exposed to appreciate the country’s diversity as well as have a better understanding of the ethnic and religious configuration of the country, and also be more sensitive to the sensibilities of the other. But what is daily gleaned from social media coming from Nigerian youths is a testament to intolerance. It suggests that Nigeria’s destruction could come more quickly from social media platforms than from banditry and terrorism. This is where Nigerians must watch it. However, this call is without prejudice to the constitutional guarantee for freedom of speech and expression. Somehow, it is the inability to understand the difference between freedom of expression/speech and cyberbullying and stalking that is making some youths fall victim to the Cybercrime Law of 2015.
As NYSC further stated on the website, it said, “There is no gain saying the fact that the future of any country depends on the youths. The youths of Nigeria acknowledge this fact and have consistently laid claim to the nation’s leadership. While one may give credence to the saying that leaders are born, not made, one must also concede to the fact that leadership in a modem society requires a certain degree of preparation and orientation before the assumption of that role.” Youths who go through the NYSC scheme must show indeed that they received proper guidance and orientation relevant to the needs of the country.
