Change Begins with Every Nigerian.

My dear Nigerian youths, I am very angry and that is why I am addressing you. You are the source of my anger and I want to vent my spleen- maybe not at you directly- but at the arrogance of your ignorance. 

You sit in front of a computer and rant all day through social media but with every click, you make money - not for yourself - but for Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook). With every megabyte of data you spend complaining and maligning, you make stupendous bucks for Etisalat, Glo and Airtel. Over the next two years, the number of Nigerian millionaires will jump by 47% but most likely you will not be among because you are too busy whining and complaining. And yet about 60% of Nigeria’s 170m population are below 35 years. Oh, what a waste! By the way, Mark Zuckerberg was 19 when he started Facebook. 

Africa’s youngest billionaire, Ashish Thakkar, is 31. He escaped from the Rwandan genocide and relocated to Uganda where he started an IT business. Collin Thornton, who made his millions by fixing bad computers and setting up Dial-a-Nerd, is 35. Adam Horowitz, an 18-year-old entrepreneur, started 30 websites in 3 years before he became successful.

The only thing YOU have ever started is an online petition. Have you heard of Jason Njoku? He’s 33 and the founder of Iroko TV. He received $8m investment into his company just a few years ago. What he does? Sharing the same Nollywood films that you spend hours to watch online. He didn’t just hang around waiting for President Buhari to make something happen or blaming Jonathan for not making anything happen. Kamal Budhabhatti was deported from Kenya but while on the flight, he thought of the opportunities in Kenya. He found his way back after 6 months and today his company is valued at $30m. He’s 36. Have you heard of Chinedu Echeruo? Apple just paid $1b for his app. He’s a Nigerian like you and all he did was attempt to fix a problem. But for you, the only thing you attempt to fix are your nails- and your hairdo! Chinedu moved to New York in 1995 and found it difficult to navigate the city with ease so he developed HopStop to fix the problem.

Stop listing all the problems - we know them already but what are you doing about them?

Awolowo (former premier of Western Region) was 37, Akintola (Awolowo’s Deputy) was 36, Ahmadu Bello (Premier of Northern Region) was 36, Tafawa Balewa (Nigeria’s first Prime Minister) was 34, Okotie-Eboh (Former Finance Minister) was 27 and Enahoro (Former Minister of Information) was 27 at the time of independence of Nigeria. 

In 1966, the first coup was led by Major Kaduna Nzeogwu (29) and stopped by Major Murtala Mohammed (28), Captain TY Danjuma (28), Lt. IBB (25), Lt. Sanni Abacha (23) and Lt. Shehu Yar'adua (23). It brought in Gen. Yakubu Gowon as Head of State at 32 and Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo at 29. 

You are in your 40s and you still sag your trousers. The word CHANGE belongs to the masses not to selected few. Someone sent this to me and I couldn't resist the urge not to share it. 

Courtesy Prof. Isa in a widely-circulated “letter” to the Nigerian youths.