I’m going through Adesua Etomi Wellington’s( Nollywood actress) Instagram and I notice a picture of her in a pant suit, and automatically I pause to look at the picture more closely because I love seeing women in pant suits; to me it speaks power. I’m studying this blue Mai Atafo (Nigerian designer) suit when something else catches my eye. I notice she’s written a long caption encapsulating her experience at the Goalkeepers Report Event, which was held on September 26th in NYC, as part of the activities for Global Goals Week. You have no idea what I’m on about? That was me when I was reading her caption. I check the link in her bio, and I enter a whole new world filled with inspiration. In 2015, 193 world leaders agreed to 17 Global Goals which include ending global poverty, seeing through quality education, and ensuring gender equality; just to mention a few. In 2017, Bill and Melinda Gates founded “Goalkeepers” to mobilise action towards achieving these goals. As aptly put by this Nigerian actress, “People are thinking. People are doing”.

Fast forward to two nights ago, and I am watching Episode 7 of “On the Couch with Falz and Laila”; a show on Youtube which involves two young and well spoken Nigerians interviewing aspirants for the 2019 Nigerian elections. Laila asks the aspirant ‘on the couch’, Omoyele Sowere of Sahara Reporters, about minimum wage pointing out that it’s currently the paltry sum of 19,800 naira. She proceeds to ask about education and highlights shocking statistics. She says that in 2000, 3 million children were out of school in Nigeria, and now in 2018, 12.5 million children are out of school, according to the Guardian. Simply put, Nigeria is a far cry from where it should be. “This is Nigeria” by Falz already got some young people talking about Nigeria’s dire situation, and this show has got even more young people talking about politics in Nigeria.

But as “The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari” writer, Robin Sharma, says “Talk is cheap. Actions Speak”. I said this in my last write up but I think it’s worth repeating. Our generation has been blessed with so much talent that we would be doing our world (and in this context, our Country!!) a disservice if we do not put it to use. If you have some fire in you to create real change in Nigeria, don’t ever let that fire die. We are intelligent, we have leadership qualities, we have compassion, and we have resilience. We are capable of creating change in Nigeria rather than just talking about it. Don’t get me wrong, conversations are necessary. But we can’t just talk; we are Nigeria’s saving grace; we need to think and most importantly, we need to do.

QUOTES
“Progress is possible, but if only we invest in young people’s potential”-Gates Foundation

“Talk is still cheap”-Lil Wayne

“The duty of youth is to challenge corruption”-Kurt Cobain

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