Mfonobong Inyang: The Rise of A Generation They Never Saw Coming

This quote by Chinua Achebe ages well: “Being a Nigerian is abysmally frustrating and unbelievably exciting.” For some people, Nigeria is a metaphor for an abusive relationship – loving a country that doesn’t seem to love you back. You pay taxes but don’t enjoy the perks of a social contract. You’re perpetually told to tighten your belt only to see people in public offices live ostensibly, loot the treasury mindlessly and spend the commonwealth rather recklessly. Baba Fryo never see shege, e dey complain say fuel na N20. E be like say senior man go do remix because that kain wey e dey sing about that year don full ground now.

Nigeria is a country of contradictions: some of those who enjoyed this country’s best are now committed to making it a living hell for others. We have the highest-paid public officials in one of the poverty capitals of the world. Politicians claimed to have fought for democracy only to become tyrants when they found themselves in the corridors of power. In all their junketing, it never crossed their minds to replicate similar infrastructure, investment or institutions they enjoyed abroad. In their prime, they were already leading the country but today they loath youth inclusion in governance – effectively ensuring that a country that has an average age of 18 is riddled by gerontocracy in its political leadership.

Rebel Culture

The response to the systemic failure of governance from young Nigerians has been three-fold. The first stage was political apathy. We stopped being bothered about politics and became concerned about our favourite football clubs and reality TV stars rather than watching the news or analysing a budget. The establishment loved this because it was business as usual, low turnout in elections typically meant the more enlightened folks stayed at home while the less educated came out to vote. The second stage was political resistance. It was largely defined by protests and anti-establishment movements. Typical of dinosaurs, they reverted to the old playbook: state-sanctioned violence – thinking that such brute force will kill off any resistance but it ended up galvanising guardian groups into a gestalt. We are at stage three, active participation. You can see for yourself the shift in a political culture where young people are now interested in party primaries, campaigns, elections and even election tribunals.

The coconut head generation is a counter-culture that loathes abominable governance. The Sóró Sóké philosophy represents a direct threat to feudalistic leadership, which, in the words of Carmen de Monteflores, understands that “oppression can only survive through silence”. So it’s not that they hate Twitter (or whatever Elon calls it these days), it was an effective tool when they wanted power – it was banned because it makes us powerful. Same for crypto, ride-hailing, fintech businesses and other youth-driven ventures. Some people don’t like it when you’re empowered economically or organised politically. They rather you kiss the ring before you eat – no surprise that illiteracy and poverty are being heavily weaponised. They threw curveballs at us not knowing we’ve got our gloves fitted.

Doings Dey Our Résumé

I’m super proud to be a young Nigerian because we used to pray for times like these. In the music universe, we’re internationally known on the microphone. From record sales to sold-out concerts, who you know wey dey more talented than us?

Big Rema is that one blud that won’t take his own advice; his smash-hit song, Calm Down, is doing anything but calming down. Peaking at number one on Billboard, the remix with Selena Gomez got her writing paragraphs to her 426 million followers on Instagram, talking about how her link-up with the Rave Lordé was divine.

Hilda Baci breaking the Guinness World Record for longest cook-a-thon didn’t prove to us that she could cook, we already knew that – rather her archetype highlights the power of discipline. Discipline to follow the rules, stay in shape and get her ducks in a row. Never disrespect the importance of a backstory.

I used to think that I loved slapstick comedy until I started watching Layi’s videos which always leave me in stitches. The intelligence behind his cosplays is criminally underrated. His current character arc, ‘The Law’ is goated – you will like it.

Chigozie Okeke (Ojazzy Igbonile) is the 18-year-old uber-talented flautist who played the Oja in Kcee’s hit smash hit tune, Ojapiano. Doing it for the culture; the ingenuity of blending our indigenous sounds, spirituality and vocal dexterity to create such a powerful rendition is absolutely brilliant.

Jerry Mallo, CEO of Bennie Technologies, is a young Nigerian Engineer who started out with locally assembling tractors in 2016 when he was only 22 years old. Three years later, he designed and built a sports car. Jerry is a metaphor for the future of fabrication engineering in a rapidly evolving world.

Jadesola Osiberu is one of those directors who actually understands storytelling and communicating ideas in the most picturesque way possible. It takes a lot to get me to sit down and watch a movie from beginning to end, my brain doesn’t have the tolerance for unintelligent cinematography. JO has all hits, no misses.

Enioluwa Adeoluwa is a true example of a multi-hyphenate. Whether it’s high fashion, brand ambassadorship, food connoisseur or event hosting – Eni has got his game on lock. The devil works hard but Eni works harder.

After leading Napoli to their first Scudetto in 33 years with 26 goals in the 2022/2023 Campaign, Victor Osimhen has been crowned by fans of the city as The Prince of Naples – earning himself the moniker, el primo. Agba baller!

Cassandra Akinde’s work through The Neo Child Initiative for Africa, a cause committed to improving the health outcomes of children is well-documented. She enjoys facilitating Interpersonal Communication (IPC) training for healthcare workers, especially on how to communicate key Maternal, Infant and Young Child Nutrition (MIYCN).

Kamsiyochukwu Nkechinyere Umeh emerged with the UTME 2023 top score with 360 and straight As in her WASSCE. She is truly representative of our collective genius and proof that we are not what a few accidental public servants have projected to the world.

Rena Wakama became the first female coach to win the Afrobasket title since its inception in 1966. The overall best in shooting hoops, D’Tigress have been wavy since 2020 – winning four championships on the trot since then. The ball is in their court.

When your song is used by one of the biggest football clubs in the world to unveil the most expensive British footballer ever, you can say Odumodublvck is in the big league. One thing is sure about Big Kala, yesterday’s price is not today’s price!

Respectful FC

Selwyn Duke submits, “The further a society drifts from the truth, the more it will hate those that speak it.” We have a country where some politicians brazenly rig elections but turn around and demand veneration from young people whom they should be leading in truth. The one that made me livid was referring to the most hardworking demography on God’s green earth as “lazy”. Quite the irony especially coming from leaders who get crude oil but won’t refine it, get tax revenue but won’t transmute it into democratic dividends or get a youthful population but end up increasing their unemployment rate to almost 55%. Define laziness again.

Although the European Election Observation Mission basically told us that water is wet, you must credit it for the detailed nature of its report which is another scathing indictment on a far-from-credible election. I found this phrase particularly instructive, “Nigerian youths were expected to decide the 2023 elections, but political parties’ exploitation and INEC’s lack of transparency failed them.”

To those it may concern; we aren’t like our parents. Unfortunately for the ‘move on’ merchants, their propaganda no fit shake our seven. We pin for here and our eyes dey shine for judiciary like halogen light. We rather the right thing be done through the rule of law than for things to descend into full-fledged anarchy. My message to young Nigerians is simple: your labour of love will not be in vain. Again, I celebrate your restraint in the face of such wanton provocation. I know the stillness of the river doesn’t in any way suggest that crocodiles aren’t inside it. Not many moons from now, we’ll have a high priest who is sincerely touched by the feelings of our infirmities and that’s on God.

I will close with Rob Siltanen‘s words, “Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels. The troublemakers. The round pegs in the square holes. The ones who see things differently. They’re not fond of rules and they have no respect for the status quo. You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them – the only thing you can’t do is ignore them because they change things. They push the human race forward. And while some may see them as crazy ones, we see genius. Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.”