Beyond Greed, We are Great Ronald Bills Agaba 40/40 Team Leader Esther Karenzi AUGUST 12th was International Youth Day, as the world commemorated; one question from a student leader of Jinja SSS lingered on my mind and has refused to go away. He wondered, “With R. Nile just a few meters from here and all the other fresh water bodies, how come we still have people in this country who can’t access clean water for house hold use? This student, speaking innocently was asking a profound question to our leadership. His question is an embodiment of a generation that is willing to imagine a better Uganda. The optimism of this young man differs with a host of other commentators who have written off our generation as one with acute appetite acquiring a “tycoon status” in the first year of work. As the country grapples with all time high youth unemployment challenges, There is a sharp discourse whether or not the current lot of Uganda’s young people can be the linchpin of that cliché “Today’s young people are the leaders of tomorrow” After the publication of my book titled “Secrets Of Effective Student Leaders” and subsequent engagements of leadership capacity building sessions for young people from Gulu to Kisoro, I have developed a firm belief that we can count on today’s young people for a bright future. I argued before that, young people are the glue that is holding together the functionality of many institutions. The case in point is our mighty UPDF where the men and women on the frontline waking up in unfamiliar mountains and deserts of South Sudan, Somalia and Central African Republic to risk their lives for the pride of our country, the bulk of them are young. If you have entered any Bank or Telecom company, it’s the young people sweating away to satisfy the customer on the backdrop of less pay and less sleep. We have a host of other young Ugandans who have ventured into private business vis-à-vis the stereotypes and rejection by families with the attitude of “you can’t do this or that with a university degree” As you ridicule us for failure to greet you in a taxi or at a public function as we glue away on our smart phones, read the story of Ester Kalenzi, the 24 year old team leader,40 days over 40 smiles Foundation, that supports orphans and vulnerable children by promoting education.. Through youth fundraising events brought together purely by use of social media. Most recently, they raised funds and constructed a dormitory for 210 children in Luweero District. Just this month, I joined a group of Mbarara High School old students to bid farewell to Mr. Cosmas Mwikirize an ordinary young man from Bushenyi whom the country remembers as the best 2003 O’ level student but this time, is in the US after winning a scholarship as the first Ugandan to pursue a PhD program in Biomedical Engineering at Rutgers. According to data from the HYPERLINK “prb.org/pdf12/status-report-youth-subsaharan-Africa.pdf” Population Reference Bureau status report by 2020- About 10 million young Africans will be joining the labour market every year, so the future progress of the continent is closely linked to the wellbeing of its young people. It’s therefore my conviction that with a right leadership, the young people of Uganda need an environment that supports exploitation of God given talents and optimization of School acquired skills. We need the assurance that society acknowledges that when we make mistakes, we can still recover, learn from them and be a better generation. The greatest service our old generation can offer to us is mentorship. People with experience to nurture the less experienced just the like Babylonian Arkad, a character in my all-time best book by George Samuel Clason “The Richest man in Babylon” offered to share his wisdom of acquiring wealth with the rest of the city dwellers. To boldly guide us to shun mediocrity, embrace honesty and be confident enough to change the world. The reductionists who think beyond greed we are doomed will be wrong to find out that Today’s young people in sub-Saharan Africa are the best-educated generation ever, dreaming big, working hard, studying a lot and imagining a better future than never before.
Posted on: Sat, 23 Aug 2014 16:24:04 +0000
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