AFRICA: A STRUGGLE FOR POWER BETWEEN THE YOUNG AND OLD

I believe African governance is sitting on a time bomb that is yet to explode if not handled properly due to the difference in ideologies between the youths and the elders born before independence.             

Most African youths want a complete new form of governance that has a sense of touch of the 21^st century eliminating any concept of independence struggle motive, but they elders on the other hand want to hold on power with a colonialism styled form of dictatorship as governance. This has led to crushes between the young and old, because they seem to represent two different times in history that lack a bridge to link them hence widening the gap.
             

African elders want youths to stay rooted to the dogmas of the foundering fathers at all expenses, which most youths seem not to be comfortable with because they feel the dogmas of the foundering fathers limits development and enslaves people to live in poverty while a few enjoy the wealth of the country. The elders don’t see a functioning Africa without them making it hard for youths who aspire for public office to succeed.

The youths on the other hand accuse the government and elders of ignorance on a number of issues such as technology, freedom of speech, which the latter has ignored or laid a deaf hear to, therefore leading to no reforms or amendments but recycled ideas. And however, most governments have attributed the lack of youth empowerment to poor organization among the youths, but I personally despise this response because I believe the government has to create a youth forums to provide guidance and empower they youths first before something positive is expected from them. This can be done through a pragmatic way of getting the youths to not only listen to ideas but also act on issues that affect both the youths and community at large.

Besides all, a modern African youth differs from a typical African youth though, they both possess the same quality which is daydreaming and complaining on social media, a platform where most of the leaders are absent from, funny as it may seem, but very true. And this has affected growth, because the government and elders associate social media as a platform of fun and daydreaming and hence issues presented there are not to be taken seriously.

Furthermore, most youths disagree against the notions of ‘laziness’ but they associate laziness due to over congestion in youthful events or organizations by elders who seem to be were passed they youth hood and never seem to connect with the youths they represent. And a perfect example that can be given is the Ministry of sports and youth development which is headed by elders that are unable to attend or participate in events due to overage. I believe at this point, the situation stated above most serve as an alert notice, on how many people are not in-support of youth empowerment even though, they once advocated for it when they were jobless.

Most youths consider most African leaders a disgrace to democracy and a mockery to the power of the vote they claim to represent because the only reforms that they have done is the widening of the gap between the rich and poor and selling out their own people without giving thought to Africans suffering from poverty and other leaders made syndromes such as corruption, nepotism and tribalism.  I strongly believe a transparent transition has to be reached in order to maintain stability and a perfect balance of power.

In a nutshell, Africa’s potential has never been in the hands of the politicians or freedom fighters, but on every ambitions and dreams that the new generation has and therefore, youth empowerment cannot be avoided if Africa is to move forward.