Ageism is a fairly recent coinage on the analogy of ‘racism’ and ‘sexism.’ The definition of ageism – treating a person less favorably than others because of his or her chronological age – gives an indication of its meaning, but in fact its implications are more complex than this approximate definition suggests.
The term refers only to wrongful or unjustifiable adverse discrimination on the grounds of age. It can be applied to discrimination against both the old and the young; but this article deals with the advantage of mixture of both old and young.
There is no gainsaying that ageism, which is hatred for and discrimination against the elderly, is seemingly looming in our fledgling democracy. It gets a bigger bite when the woes of Nigerian leadership form the kernel of any debate/conversation. “The ‘old men’ need to be tossed in the kister for the country to grow”, many young persons would, unabashedly, reprise with so much chutzpah!
Statements like this comes fettered with this implausible, inadmissible notion that old people are, predictably, incompetent and deficient. Little wonder, conversations about old people are easily furnished with such adjectives as ‘senile’ ‘old’ ‘demented’ etc. They don’t skimp on the details. Very sad!
Currently in Nigeria, there is the quest for generational shift in political power configuration. This explains why one of the key issues thrown up by the #EndSARS protest is the quest for the leadership of the country to fall on the youths. This demand is spurred by the belief of the youths that, they have been held hostage by hopelessness and helplessness because of their exclusion from critical public institutions by the elders.
Consequently, the youths, during the #EndSARS protest, had to resort to pouring venom, abuses, invectives and disdain on the elders, whom they perceived as the sources of their frustrations, to drive home their demand.
Even as a man in-between the two, I humbly disagree that the leadership of the country should be left entirely for the young ones to run. The examples of some of the so-called “Youths” currently superintending over States and other public positions, are a clear pointer to the fact that, it could just be an attempt to blackmail the older generation to submission. A particular state in the Northern region of NIgeria is a very bad example of such, where a presumed youth in his forties have completely run the state aground.
I was asked, in a Vox Populi a year and a half ago, what kind of leadership I would want at the helms: An amalgam of the young or an assortment of the old? Without breaking a stride, I told them, “I’d want an old leader surrounded by young people.” I will continue to maintain my stand in line with the above submission.
It’s a no-brainer; a young mind can harness the power in the present, an old mind can shape it with the pitfalls of the past. Both are needed for the future. Our beloved country Nigeria deserves a better version of the current dispensation.
As preparation for the 2023 General Election picks up pace, and the presidential election slated for February 18, 2023, Nigerians will head to the polls to elect a new President. Africa’s most populous country, Nigeria will be the focus of the global world.
Although, 2023 seems far off, political activities have started gathering momentum. Analysts predict multiple political storms, especially between the old and young, and how Nigeria navigates this turbulence will determine its political trajectory.
The process of injecting the youths into governance should not be pursued via hatred for the elderly, hasty actions, cacophonic agitations, among others but rather, through concerted efforts of the young and the old.
NiGERIA NEEDS A NEW NATIONAL MODEL….. ARISE ‘O COMPATRIOTS.
Richard Odusanya is a Social Reform Crusader and the convener of AFRICA COVENANT RESCUE INITIATIVE ACRI
