This calls for a very sober reflection!
LETTER TO NIGERIAN PARENTSHELLOI HAVE NO IDEA WHO WROTE THIS BUT IT MAKES INTERESTING READING & FOOD FOR THOUGHT
Friends, Let me add the benefit of my time as a student and then
resident in the UK - and I live in Lagos now. The first thing that I
discovered about UK-born, white, English
undergraduates was that all of them did holiday or weekend job to
support themselves - including the children of millionaires amongst
them. It is the norm over there - regardless how wealthy their parents
are. And I soon discovered that virtually all other foreign students did
the same - the exception being those of us status-conscious Nigerians.I
also watched Richard Branson (owner of Virgin Airline)speaking on the
Biography Channel and, to my amazement, he said that his young children
travel in the economy class -even when the parents (he and his wife) are
in upper class. Richard Branson is a billionaire in Pound Sterling. A
quick survey would show you that only children from Nigeria fly business
or upper class to commence their studies in the UK . No other foreign
students do this. There is no aircraft attached to the office of the
prime minister in the UK - he travels on BA. And the same goes for the
Royals. The Queen does not have an aircraft for
her exclusive use. These practices simply become the culture which the
next generation carries forward. Have you seen the car that Kate
Middleton(the wife of Prince William) drives? VW Golf or something close
to it. But there's one core difference them and us(generally speaking).
They (even the billionaires among them) work for their money, we steal
ours! If we want our children to bring about the desired change we have
been praying for on behalf of our dear country, then please, please
let's begin now and teach them to work hard so they can stand alone and
most importantly be content, and not having to "steal", which seem to be
the norm these days."30 is the new 18", which seem to be the new age
for testing out the world in Nigeria now. That seems to be an unspoken
but widely accepted mindset among the last 2 generations of parents in
Nigeria . At age 18 years, a typical young adult in the UK leaves the
clutches of his/her parents for the University,
chances are, that's the last time those parents will ever play
"landlord" to their son or daughter except of course the occasional home
visits during the academic year.At 21 years and above or below, the now
fully grown and independent minded adult graduates from University,
searches for employment, gets a job and shares a flat with other young
people on a journey into becoming fully fledged adults.I can hear the
echo of parents saying, well, that is because the UK economy is
thriving, safe, well structured and jobs are everywhere? I beg to differ
and I ask that you kindly hear me out. I am UK trained Recruitment
Consultant and I have been practicing for the past 10 years in Nigeria .
I have a broad range of experience from recruiting graduates to
executive director level of large corporations. In addition, I talk from
the point of view of someone with relatively privileged upbringing.
Driven to school every day, had my clothes washed for me, was barred
from taking any part-time job during my A-levels so that I could
concentrate on studying for my exams?! BUT, I got the opportunity to
live apart from my parents from age 18 and the only time I came back
home to stay was for 3 months before I got married!Am I saying that
every parent should wash their hands off their children at age 18? No,
not at all, of course, I enjoyed the savings that I made from living on
and off at my parent's house in London - indeed that is the primary
reason for my being able to buy myself a 3 bedroom flat in London at age
25 with absolutely no direct financial help from my parents!For me,
pocket money stopped at age 22, not that it was ever enough for my
lifestyle to compete with Paris Hilton's or Victoria Beckham's.
Meanwhile today, we have Nigerian children who have never worked for 5
minutes in their lives insisting on flying "only" first or business
class, carrying the latest Louis Vuitton ensemble, Victoria 's Secret
underwear and wearing Jimmy Choo's, fully paid for by their "loving"
parents.I often get calls from anxious parents, my son graduated 2 years
ago and is still looking for a job, can you please assist! Oh really!
So where exactly is this "child" is my usual question. Why are you the
one making this call dad/mum?I am yet to get a satisfactory answer, but
between you and me, chances are that big boy is cruising around Lagos
with a babe dressed to the nines, in his dad's spanking new SUV with
enough "pocket money" to put your salary to shame. It is not at all
strange to have a 28 year old who has NEVER worked for a day in his or
her life in Nigeria but "earns" a six figure "salary" from parents for
doing absolutely nothing. I see them in my office once in a while, 26
years old with absolutely no skills to sell, apart from a shiny CV,
written by his dad's secretary in the office. Of course, he has a driver
at his beck and call and he is driven to the job
interview. We have a fairly decent conversation and we get to the
inevitable question - so, what salary are you looking to earn? Answer
comes straight out - N250,000.00. I ask if that is per month or per
annum.Of course it is per month. Oh, why do you think you should be
earning that much on your first job? Well, because my current pocket
money is N200,000.00 and I feel that an employer should be able to pay
me more than my parents. I try very hard to compose myself, over
parenting is in my opinion the greatest evil handicapping the Nigerian
youth. It is at the root of our national malaise. We have a youth
population of tens of millions of who are being "breastfed and diapered"
well into their 30s. Even though the examples I have given above are
rom parents of considerable affluence, similar patterns can be observed
from Abeokuta to Adamawa! Wake up mum! Wake up dad! You are practically
loving your children to death! No wonder corruption continues to
thrive. We have a society of young people who have been brought up to
expect something for nothing, as if it were a birth right.I want to
encourage you to send your young men and women (anyone over 20 can
hardly be called a child!) out into the world, maybe even consider
reducing or stopping the pocket money to encourage them to think,
explore and strive. Let them know that it is possible for them to
succeed without your "help".Take a moment to think back to your own time
as a young man/woman, what if someone had kept spoon feeding you, would
you be where you are today? No tree grows well under another tree,
children that are not exposed to challenges, don't cook well. That is
why you see adults complaining, "my parents didn't buy clothes for me
this christmas", ask him/her how old-30+. Because of the challenges we
faced in our youth, we are where and what we are today, this syndrome-my
children will not suffer what I suffered is destroying our
tomorrow. Deliberately reduce their allowance or mum-don't cook on
Saturday till late afternoon or evening-do as occasion deserve.I learnt
the children of a former Nigerian head of state with all the stolen
(billions) monies in their custody, still go about with security escort
as wrecks. They are on drugs, several times because of the drug, they
collapse in public places. The escort will quickly pack them and off
they go, what a life. No one wants to marry them. Anyone who stops
learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty. Anyone who keeps learning
stays young. The greatest thing in life is to keep your mind young.-
Henry Ford. Hard work does not kill, everything in Nigeria is going
down, including family settings. It is time to cook our children,
preparing them for tomorrow. We are approaching the season in Nigeria
where only the RUGGED, will survive. How will your ward fare? If the
present generation of Nigerian pilots retire, will you fly a plane
flown by a young Nigerian pilot, If trained in Nigeria ? People now
have first class, who cannot spell GRADUATE or read an article without
bomb blast! Which Way Nigeria !, Which Way Nigerians!! Is this how we
will ALL sit and watch this country SINK?Pls forward to as many Nigerian
parents as you know.