Why youth must grab their empowerment – and run for the hills

By Felix Mango

All developed countries are alike; all underdeveloped countries are underdeveloped in their own way. That is probably what one Leo Tolstoy might have said were we to ask him why Kenya is still a third world country almost half a century after attaining independence. Sadly, I couldn’t agree more. Here is why: every underdeveloped country has its own unique set of circumstances and situations that stymied its emergence as a fully developed country. Kenya has definitely come a long way and still has an even longer way to go to call itself a developed nation by any standards. Years of misrule and erroneous eras have continually conspired to rob the people of Kenya, especially its youth, the fruits of true development and nationalism. But that is a dead horse I’m not about to start flogging.If Kenya was not able to develop at par with countries like South Korea and Singapore, it is because we went wrong somewhere along the way; somewhere in the race to becoming a developed country, a tempest hit us and we started running back towards the starting line-up instead of romping home to victory. But what really happened? Where did the rain start beating us?

Well, the thing is that our leaders suddenly contracted the terrible twin diseases of tribalism and corruption. And slowly, it filtered into our national psyche and became an unquestionable way of life. Suddenly, every community wanted one of their own at the top so that the national goodies could fall not too far away from the tree. Tribalism and corruption have brought this great nation of ours to its knees. And the greatest casualty is the youth. But why do I bother to explain the obvious, you might ask. You won’t get any marks for guessing that these two insidious diseases have not only robbed the people of Kenya the holistic development they so deserve, but the youth of this country have been denied numerous opportunities to advance themselves in life and improve their lot.This problem is not made any easier by the fact that some positions in government seem to be reserved almost exclusively for retirees who are already enjoying their fat pensions from previous jobs.

Granted, we are part of the wider African society that reveres its elderly folk and gives it credit where it is due. But it is naïve to think that the youth of Kenya will always look on like curious bystanders as old folk are recycled into positions of leadership and influence while there are thousands of young Kenyans being churned out of our universities each year armed with various degrees.

It is certainly not realistic to absorb all of them into government. But there are definitely hundreds of retirees still serving in government who should be made to make way for our energetic youth. What most people in government probably know but don’t fully appreciate is that there is a direct correlation between youth empowerment and security, or lack of it. Everyone is always harping on about the importance of maintaining peace and order. Brilliant! That I have no problem with. In fact I do concur absolutely. My beef, however, is the lethargic and casual manner in which affairs of the youth are treated in this country. It is lost on government bureaucrats that the much sought-after peace becomes almost untenable without it doing what is right and just by the youth; without youth empowerment there can be no justice, and without justice, peace and security is a mirage. Well over half of the population of this country is composed of the youth, and a good percentage of these are jobless. In other words, they are hungry. This is a time bomb waiting to go off. A very disturbing prospect indeed. And I’m afraid we don’t have much time. Any day, I would rather deal with any other type of person than with a hungry man.

In close connection to this is something that is so close to my heart: the question of the leadership of football in Kenya. It galls me to see a bunch of old fellows who have been in the management of football federations for eons, yet have nothing to show for it, shoving and jostling with the youth for the leadership of football today. These are the same fellows who have ensured that we are consistently ranked behind countries we should be well ahead of. Last time I checked we were at number 133, slowly inching towards 150. They loot funds meant for youth development programmes to launch their careers in politics, sitting pretty and smiling sheepishly before the cameras to tell us a bunch of baloney about how they are going to bring about change in football management in Kenya. Change my big toe! This is nothing short of an insult to the intelligence of the youth of this country. Surely, what can such people offer the youth of Kenya, a good number of whom nurse dreams to play in top-flight leagues in Europe? It is not only immoral but also a heinous crime against the youth of this country.

By the way, I wouldn’t have any problem if those playing football were the elderly. Unfortunately though, they are not – in fact those playing football are young people trying to make a decent living out of it. This tragedy is akin to the old fellows leaving their deep end of the pool to come and cram into the shallow baby end and expect to be applauded for it, not realizing that they end up sticking out like a sore thumb. Please, give us a break! We know our problems well enough and how to solve them.

The youths are the single most important resource that any country can have –they are the drivers of transformation and change in any society. It is true that the government cannot solve all the numerous challenges and problems afflicting the youth of Kenya. It is also true that there are only so many openings in government for the youth to fill. But it is not true that the government cannot create an environment that will have foreign investors moving into the country like moths to light and injecting capital into new ventures that will generate jobs for hundreds of thousands of our unemployed youth. And the beauty here is that it will not take the reinvention of the wheel for it to realize the steps it needs to take to make this dream a reality; Malaysia did it, Thailand did it, so did Taiwan, Singapore and South Korea. What is so special about these countries that we don’t have? Not much, I believe. In fact I suspect we have people with brains as good as can be found anywhere in the world. If only we could put them to great use.But government alone is not to blame in the stagnation of youth development and empowerment. The youths are as guilty in this as is the government.

For far too long, the youth have held onto this fallacious notion that once they are through with studies, everything else will fall into place: they’ll get a good job, earn a handsome salary, live in a beautiful neighbourhood, drive a fancy car, blah blah blah. But when they complete their studies and come out of colleges and universities, they are met with a harsh reality that makes them climb down from their fine horse and onto the ground so fast they wonder what hit them. Some are quickly absorbed into the job market. But these are negligible. Most are left holding onto certificates that they cannot eat. A good number are by this time on their own, left to fend for themselves in a cruel world with no one to take care of them. The ones who don’t find something to do soon become disillusioned and can’t reconcile the fact that they are learned yet can’t find jobs. An old song exhorting the youth to work hard in school, after which they would get very good jobs, comes to mind. The theme of the song was “someni vijana”. That might have been the gospel truth immediately after independence and, probably, a decade later. Not anymore, though. Those nostalgic years are gone with the wind.

The youth should stop behaving like passengers in a matatu who say nothing even when the driver is speeding and driving recklessly; they should stamp their feet on the ground and say no because they are the masters of their own destinies.It is time we the youth of Kenya went to school not just to acquire certificates that will enable us get jobs, but to truly learn whatever trade it is we are being taught so that when we eventually graduate, we do not bother looking for jobs – we create them! This is this kind of mentality that will ultimately enable our youth to become empowered. It is time we came out of the universities and created new ideas that will propel this country to the next level.

Think about it: you graduate, get a job in a firm that was once the brainchild of a young person like yourself, get paid at the end of every month, consume your salary, wait for the next paycheck, and the circle rages on; a rat race seemingly with no end in sight. What if you created something from scratch yourself? What if you innovated something? You could paint, write, sing, rap, play a certain sport…. I don’t know, the list is endless.

This mentality is, of course, based on the presumption that not everyone can create something. There are those of us who are in heaven in an eight-five o’clock job. But there are thousands of youth out there who are so gifted in various areas of art, yet are insecure about giving it a try. They would rather practice these talents, if they do get to practice them at all, as hobbies, tragically ignorant of the fact that they could change the world with their ideas that they take for granted. So today if you are a youth out there, stop for a minute and take a break from your work. Look around you. Is there something you are really good at that you can develop further in yet are hesitant to take the plunge? If there is, then you owe it to yourself to take it up seriously and see where it takes you. Look for a way, find a way.

There is no silver bullet that will empower our youth overnight and solve all their problems. Nor will there be a leader who will wave a magic wand to empower the youth and deliver them from challenges affecting them, nor even will the trite argument that “the government has not done this or the other to develop the youth” be tenable anymore as an excuse for our youth to continue wallowing in self-misery and poverty. The youths of this country have to empower themselves by yanking away their rights and going out there to grab opportunities. And if there are no opportunities, they should create them. Instead of ambling down the well-trodden path, the youth should go out there and create their own trail. This is the only way that the clogged wheels of youth empowerment will start moving again; this is the only way that the youth of Kenya will be taken seriously. Is anyone listening?