The Role Of Acceptance In National Development

The Role Of Acceptance In National Development

Development is vital for any nation’s growth, and the most important people who have the greatest role in a nation’s development are the youths. Youths become dynamic in their actions and play distinct roles in the growth and development of any nation. They must possess the ability to make choices that align with the pursuit of educational goals and develop life skills, which are paramount for national and local leadership positions.   Indeed, youths are like the backbone of institutions and have the propensity and strength to change the dynamic for a new paradigm shift in society. Youths are the nation’s strength; their individual characteristics, energy, and capabilities support the body politic. They also form a sensitive age group that harbours dreams for necessary social changes. The development of Nations is fully dependent on the abilities of the youths. This power of the youths needs to be positively utilized across all sectors like health, education, technology, business, trade, banking, transportation, etc. and integrated with moral value education to spread love, peace and welfare throughout the nation. Ignoring youths’ maximum commitment and engagement in national development today will have dire consequences. To better understand how to move the youth’s future towards national growth and development, there must be a careful examination of the rationale for expanding the youth’s frontier for active participation in national development. If youths are greatly involved in national development, it clearly shows that their potential as change agents in mostly civil society is being highly recognized. Youths have a greater space in national development that they must consciously occupy, for national development does not only involve the implementation of political and economic policies and action programs that will improve the lives of the ordinary citizenry, but also must recognize the values and other aspects of the state that would act as a national catalyst to unite the people. Having an open mind of how we intend to contribute to the economic growth and development of the state is something that has been thought of overtime even before a popular administration took over. Our education is one of the important factors discussed by the old and young folks in our society. We have seen that education is a way to bring youths to the national theater. The primary role of education is positioning and providing youths with access to effective engagement in national development, which is also a way of incorporating them in the decision-making process of the nation’s government and nation-building activities where they are welcomed, with accurate and comprehensive information will empower them to make healthy decisions. However, the current prevailing circumstances in our country have extenuated the potential of youths as agents of social change and future leaders. We have understood that these problems range from economic, social and cultural activities. The sensitivity of the youths has been greatly challenged due to their entrapment into the treacherous circle of unemployment, poverty and illiteracy. Those who studied sociology referred to this as “attitude of fatalism, resignation and acceptance of the situation.” The persistence of these social problems has resulted in an environment where youths are now cheaply available for manipulation by self-seeking politicians who engage them to satisfy their wants, such as voter intimidation, unnecessary protest, election vandalism etc. Poverty, illiteracy, sexism and unemployment are interrelated circumstances that generate human needs and, therefore, constitute a state of deprivation. As the youth continue to remain in this state, there a pent-up emotions and untapped energies. They provide cheap labour to execute the design of political gladiators and ethnic champions. There is an urgent need to look into these situations and signal society to reconsider its decision on the participation of youths in nation-building. Youths are critical thinkers in society. They are the firebrand tools that paddle the wheel of a Nation to its great path of development. Youths must be highly engaged and incorporated into entire national development as a whole. We are aware that the essence of youth participation in national development is to promote ownership and sustainability of change of interventions, strengthen their abilities to meet their own subsistence needs and wants, prevent and reduce vulnerabilities to an economic, political and socially unstable environment, also to reduce illegal activities such as kidnapping, theft, online scam, oil vandalism etc. to help gain entry into target communities and build up trust and social capital.      

Love And Unity

Love And Unity

Without love and unity, a lot will be left unresolved, deteriorated and issues will always get complicated. The assertion “No man is an Island” as thought by Mr. John Donne over a couple of centuries ago has not ceased to gain prominence. “No man is an island entire of itself; all man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main; if a clod be washed away by the sea; Europe is the less, as well as if promontory were, as well as any manor of thy friends or of thine own were; any man’s death diminishes me because I am involved in mankind. Therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee”. Without love and unity, a lot will be left unresolved. In light of the above-quoted words of John Donne, it is evident that no single being is entirely independent and it is human nature to rely on others as a basic art of survival. Indeed, every human needs food to survive and in this regard, every human that feeds on food invariably depends on the farmer and such is like the connection of humans in all other endeavors. No soul is self-sufficient, but with love and unity, we can reach a greater height. Love and unity undoubtedly, is an indispensable tool for nation building. Unity cannot be divorced from the description of a nation. An example of this is the meaning given to a nation by Wikipedia: “A nation is a stable community of people, formed based on a common language, history, ethnicity, or psychological make-up manifested in a common culture.” The mentality that an Igbo man is generally treacherous, a Hausa man is intolerant, and a Yoruba man does not even accommodate his fellow Yoruba is indeed a threat to national prosperity. Tribalism is a nation destroyer. Cultures and indigenous values must evolve bottom-up policies and approaches to oneness, growth, and development in the country. Every culture in Nigeria has different unique foods, modes of dressing, modes of production, language, greetings, marriage, mode of socialization, and political systems that could be annexed for development. Even values like love, hard work, honesty, bravery, care, extended brotherhood, and filiations are now negatively rationalized as individualism and profit concerns take center stage as imported through globalization. Aside from culture, another unifying factor is sports. Sports is more than ever before commanding global attention to all nations. Sports influences world peace, the economy, and the development of social relationships. Also, recent research suggests that sport-based programs focused on children and youth in areas of conflict. It also offer a means of both resolution and in turn, reconciliation and reintegration of communities. Successful nations in the world have one thing in common: love and unity. The list of prosperous nations on earth is incomplete without the mention of theĀ  United States of America (USA) and China, with much consideration of what the USA and China have achieved as a country. Although both countries are not crisis-free, but their citizens are united more than they are uncooperative. This informs us of why “God bless America” which was a song composed by Irvin Berlin in 1981 during the first world war, has been widely adopted by Americans as their national slogan of patriotism. Therefore, the slogan becomes the symbol of unity of the Americans. James Dobbins, Seth G. Jones et al., in their book: “A Guide to Nation Building” observed that the primary objective of nation-building is to make a violent society peaceful. This is only after the attainment of this economic and political objective be pursued. The view of James Dobbins et al., poses a question, how can a society be peaceful? The answer to this is not far-fetched as peace is only attainable in a society where love and unity prevail amongst its constituents. This implies that lack of cooperation between people, cultures and ethnic groups at large is a threat to the peace of a nation. Therefore, it is known that without peace, the primary objective of nation-building cannot be achieved. Also, the attainment of peace in its entirety is impossible without the spirit of love and unity. It is only with the spirit of love and unity can people of different cultures peacefully co-exist in a country and its only upon realization of this a government can achieve its economic and political objectives. Love and unity indeed is a vibrant tool for nation building. ALSO READ: We Can Make the World Better With Love