The Young Change Makers
All over the world, the youths have always been the strength of every nation both in times of peace or war, they define the fate of nations, directly or indirectly, for good or bad either by their actions or inaction.
History, across all classifications clearly shows that the strength or weakness of the young and energetic population of every nation and people defines her success or failure. Africans as a people have experienced tremendous change through the strength of her youths, and her freedom from colonization was largely engineered by her young population.
Kwame Nkrumah started the movement to liberate Ghana before his 30th birthday, Thomas Sankara liberated the Upper Volta from the French colonial, renamed her Burkina Faso (“Land of Upright Men”) and launched one of the most ambitious programmes for social and economic change ever attempted on the African continent at the age of 33. Mandella’s long walk to freedom started in his youth at the age of 19 in 1937, while Martin Luther King, Jr. started leading the Civil Right Movement at the age of 25.
In business, John D. Rockefeller started at the age of 20 and rose to become the first billionaire in the history of America, and at the age of 21, J.P. Morgan introduced a process of taking over troubled businesses to reorganize them, and the process was renowned and dubbed “Morganization”. Bill Gate started Microsoft at the age of 20, Steve Jobs started Apple at 21 and Mark Zuckerberg founded Facebook at 20. Throughout history, the greatest achievements of man that has changed the way we live were initiated by young people who reached beyond the limits of the norms.
To be young is to be without limits in thoughts and in action, to innovate and to create, to build and sustain and not otherwise in all things and at all times. It is a wrong ideology to see the strength in youthfulness as a ready catalyst for political violence and siege, and if the vitality of the youth were to be used in a siege, it must be a siege for positive change and not selfish political conquest as it is currently experience in some parts of Africa and other developing countries. This destructive design, craftily masterminded by the unthinking political elites, most of whom started their political careers in their youth, in their bid to hold onto power instead paving the way for the creative energy of the youths to come to bare and rule. As youths, we must eschew this vices, become conscious of our strength and realise our potentials. We must synergize our essence which is of good and growth, and use it to neutralize the hold of the old, feeble, frail few who are working to change the purpose of youthfulness from good to evil.
To be young is to be a tool for positive change, a problem solver, an elixir of hope and a catalyst for a better today and tomorrow.
NB: I am joining Leadership Board of World Youth Movement for Democracy and I need your support to make it a reality. visit www.wymdonline.org to register and be eligible to vote.
Voting starts from 7th, Feb. 2014 — 11th, Feb. 2014. Winners will be announced 12th, Feb. 2014.
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