Preparing to enter the complex world
By Fassy Yusuf
The truth now is that the world is getting more complex and for our youths to survive, they must be adequately prepared to enter a world where survival is dependent on many variables.
For a starter, let us recall what one of our youths, Alao Abiodun writing from University of Ibadan said some time ago in TheCable online newspaper, ‘Being a young Nigerian who fully knows what young graduates pass through in this country, the statistics are sobering, worrisome, disturbing and heart-breaking.
With the rule of thumb, 60% of Nigeria’s population is made up of the youth and youth unemployment in Nigeria is put at about 60%. Invariably, this gives one an insight into the terrible circumstances in which young Nigerians have found themselves.’
The foregoing lamentation is general in the country. Therefore, success in today’s world depends on relevant and adaptive skills and which must go beyond classroom pedagogy.
We cannot continue to teach centuries’ old ways of organising the world through traditional disciplines, just as we cannot completely throw them out in favour of innovation and creativity.
The truth is innovation requires the creative transfer of the fundamental and powerful concepts of the traditional disciplines. Our youths require real-world challenges for them to succeed based on what humanity has already discovered and will continue to discover.
The dictum is that innovators stand on the shoulders of past chroniclers, scientists, entrepreneurs, and other pacesetters in order to innovate. Our youths can only invent and succeed when they have a thorough understanding of how the world works.
According to Wikipedia, the meaning of life as we perceive it is derived from philosophical and religious contemplation of and scientific inquiries about existence, social ties, consciousness, and happiness.
Life after graduation (from the tertiary institution or vocational centre) can be exciting, frightening, and stressful depending on many factors. No doubt, it is challenging and only those who love challenges can navigate our complex world.
It is normal for a youth to dream that the world would be his oyster after graduating from the university or a vocational centre; but sooner than later it will be discovered that the world is not a bed of roses. The world out there is complex!
The world is currently a huge social, informational, political, cultural, and technical complexity and learning to cope with, adapt to, and work productively with such complexity is one of the great challenges in our education.
As youths, we must go beyond what is taught, interrogate, and change the narratives. Inquisitiveness, analytical mind, futuristic perspectives, and the minds of discovery are needed by our youths.
We live in an era of globalisation – a world of interdependence. Key competencies that have practical global applications are needed. The values, attitudes, skills, and behaviour must not fall below the benchmark set by our operating environment.
In this era, we must cultivate global competence and be aware about operating and surviving in a multi-cultural setting and appreciating different perspectives to issues and acceptable minimum standard of behaviour with universal standard.
It is imperative for our youths to adopt a life wide approach to education. No institution can offer it all. As our youths journey towards life, they need a more complete and relevant education to their future life.
Different spaces to develop relationships, encounter and resolve different types of challenges, seize opportunities, aspire to live a purposeful, productive, and fulfilled life, and seek to achieve their ambitions are to be pursued with vigour, vision, and mission.
Our youths must appreciate the desirability to get out of illusion or utopian life. The days of wrong or misinterpreted perception of issues, mirage, hallucination, phantasm, phantom, fantasy, figment of imagination, etc. should disappear as they prepare to enter today’s complex world.
They should realise the impossibility of demanding for ideal conditions of life or for them to be advocating or proposing impractically ideal social and economic schemes. The realities are there for our youths to face.
It is a must for our youths to develop positive passion in everything they do. A strong feeling is needed for vision, mission, and core values. They must be pursued with energy, doggedness, ethical standards, and sincerity.
It should be realised that beyond certificate, success in life is hinged on discovering one’s passion. It is suicidal for any youth to compare himself with the other person as background can never be the same, nor can the DNA be the same. Parents may be rich, affluent, or poor.
It ends there. As you enter the complex world, circumstances, and situations will be different. Aliko Dangote, Mike Adenuga, Rabiu, Tony Elumelu, Otedola, Folorunso Alakija, Olusegun Obasanjo, MKO Abiola, Afe Babalola, Wole Soyinka, Oba Sikiru Adetona, etc. had classmates and childhood friends.
However, their circumstances are now different. As youths, I am sure no one was able to predict the heights these people have now attained!
It is important for our youths to know their worth. They must determine early in life how they want to be valued or rated.
They must be prepared to take risks as ‘no ventures, no gain.’ Lives of great men should remind us that successful people took calculated risks that enabled them to attain their enviable heights. Learning how to cope with pressure is a desideratum.
We cannot deny it. Every pressure being exerted must be critically analysed. Our youths must remember what they stand for and eschew unethical conduct like the plague.
As a corollary, our youths must have and maintain impeccable character as the greatest asset anybody can parade in this complex world is character. Without transparency, accountability, probity, equity, justice, and good conscience our youths can hardly achieve sustainable success in life.
As our youths prepare to enter today’s complex world, they must constantly update and hone their skills as the possession of a certificate is only the beginning of life’s journey.
Our world is knowledge driven and no youth can afford to become a dinosaur to the extent of being archaic or out of touch with the environment.
It is desirable that our youths discern the company they keep. The old saying, ‘show me the company you keep, and I will tell who you are’, is still relevant.
Our youths must actualise their dreams as they represent the future of the society. They should not be afraid to dream big. However, they should believe in themselves, show optimism, exhibit clarity of vision and mission, trust their intuition, tackle obstacles, and should be ahead of their peers.
Our youths must be prepared to learn from their mistakes. Those who do not make mistakes are unsuccessful people. ‘Rome was not built in a day.’ If you fail today, try again tomorrow. You are more likely to succeed.
According to the late sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, ‘It is not how many times you fall that matters, but your ability to rise each time you fall.’ Our youths must continuously embark on a voyage of discoveries.
They should check out how many times all great names and inventors failed before they achieved every success recorded. Muhammadu Buhari tried to be President of this country. Thrice he failed! However, he succeeded the fourth time. Mike Adenuga failed in his first attempt to procure a GSM licence.
The second time, he succeeded. He is now a success story. President Biden of the United States of America is another case study in resilience. Consequently, our youths must be ready to fall and rise.
Indeed, we live in a complex world, and only the fittest can succeed and be relevant. Our youths hold the ace. The future belongs to them. However, they must be prepared to pay their dues. Life cannot be a bed of roses.
I therefore, admonish our youths to cultivate the saying of the late educationist and humanist, Tai Solarin, ‘May your road be rough’ as they strive to conquer the world and ‘. . . leave foot prints on the sands of time. . . . (Henry Wadsworth Longfellow).’
The old generation may not be getting everything right, our youths must learn from their mistakes, and be prepared to take their generation to the Promised Land. Their world is complex, but there is no excuse for failure.
