“If you can dream it…you can achieve it!!!”

But come to think of it… What’s the dream? What’s the dream of almost all Nigerian youth out there? I bet you know what it is. I probably would want to get my international passport and fly to a land of milk and honey (that’s if I can afford it). After all, “who no like better thing.”

In the 1980s and 1990s, most middle-class Nigerian parents had 2 goals: good education for their kids and building a house(s). Presently, many of those kids are scattered all over the world and the houses are quiet. The kids can’t just “drop by, on my way to church”. Now grandparents travel hundreds of miles to a foreign place merely to visit their offspring.

As they get older, they will rely on other people's kids to take care of their physical needs. They are aware that they most likely represent the "last of their names" to occupy their homes. Consider all the family lines that have been altered or disturbed in Nigeria as you consider the cost of poor governance. 

Grandparents: Nigerian

Children: Nigerian-American

Grandchildren: American

That's the New Nigerian Dream!

But dreams may be modified. I'm not saying you should abandon your "JAPA" dream. If you must, Japa! But kindly don't keep quiet about the upcoming elections. Let's participate in the process of choosing capable and deserving leaders. Let's create a nation where we can always be glad to visit without worrying about getting abducted or killed. Let's establish a peaceful, vibrant nation free from terrorism.

We cannot afford to be silent. As Martin Luther King Jr. once said, “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.”

Author: Udogu-Obia Onyebuchi