If I may wager a few thoughts on the leadership discourse, especially as it concerns youth, I would be bold say that what we really need aren’t youth-friendly constitutions and rhetorics alone. The truth is that most youth-friendly discourses are theorized, drafted and handed down with limited contribution from the demographic population for which they are crafted.

Sincerely, that is worrisome. Why do I say this?

I write this with every sense of responsibility that we must first look inward and identify what are our comparative advantage(s), develop it/them and bring the same to the table. I say this because a significant chunk of intending positional leaders engage in a disturbing amount of entertaining grand visions and dreams of things they desire to see externally without backing the same up with a workable concrete plan. One would argue that that’s not exactly accurate, but abundant cases show otherwise. There is yet more work of strategic re-orientation and re-alignment to properly position us to do that which fate, time and process has indeed thrust upon us. If we fail to match the expectation of this trust, I submit that we will in a sense be like agitators clamoring for seats at the dinner table, not realizing that there are several ways one can be at the dinner table, viz – as diners, as waiters or as the food to be eaten.

I therefore, make a sincere call to all compatriot youth across all divides to rise and be counted not as ‘waiters or dinner, but as diners’, for therein lies the advantage.

I rest my case.

Ikenna Anyadike (C36)