Nigerian youths told to quit whining for nobody owe them anything

Nigeria's Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, has urged Nigerian youths to ‘quit whining’ and that nobody owe them anything.

Fayemi made this known in a lecture titled ‘The Successor-Generation: Reflections on Values and Knowledge in Nation Building’ at the 2017 University of Lagos (UNILAG) Convocation Lecture in Lagos, Monday.

Fayemi who went on memory lane, told the graduating students of his Alma Mater that as a UNILAG graduate and a post-graduate student in the United Kingdom, he drove taxis and worked as a security guard, amongst several other menial jobs for him to survive.

He said "the last lesson I want to talk about is the debilitating entitlement mentality that is commonplace among young people today. The earlier we realise that no one owes us anything, the better for us, and the more prepared we would be to face life’s challenges.

"Don’t think you are entitled to a job, just because of your parents’ influence or what they have. Don’t think things would be all rosy because you graduated from UNILAG with good grades. Be prepared for surprises and disappointments because life is bound to hand you a couple. The only guarantees you have in this life is what you do for yourself with the grace God has bestowed on us all.

"We need to get off our high horses, quit whining and start doing — for ourselves and for our country. If something angers you so much, instead of whining, think hard about possible solutions and do something about it. Doers have a way of finding each other out, and before you know it, you are in good company with progressive minded people that exude positive energy — comrades with whom you can challenge the status quo, fight together, and succeed together. Some of the closest friendships I have kept to this day are from my UNILAG days — people I can actually trust to surmount challenges and get things done. So also, complainers have a way of finding each other out, to indulge in very depressing rhetoric about why things can’t work and who is at fault. From their comfort zones they criticise without offering any solutions and always end up frustrated — run away from such people.”

Read Fayemi's full address at this link.