If you are a very active Nigerian Netizen you would have come across the slang or trend "Olodo Uprising", but before we delve deep into the issue let's look at the root word "Olodo."
In Yoruba language, the word olodo is synonymous with the words oponu, apoda and so on. In the academic sense, it is used to refer to a person with little to no cognitive and reasoning skills and abilities, who is unable to fit into the larger civilized society.
When the phrase is broken down in proper Yoruba, it amounts to:
Oni = Owner
Odo = Zero
Meaning such an individual possesses zero intellectual or academic abilities.
The whole Olodo Uprising thing began on a Podcast, where Nigerian artiste Ycee defined it as a movement or modern cultural shift where Social Media has displaced and replaced the value for education. A very soft and calm opinion right? Yes, but in the modern reality, no!
In those days, our parents except those born to the ultra-rich would trek kilometers to school, hawk to support their families because at the time, most parents back then had limited and meagre incomes with many mouths to feed, cut a lot of playing time, washed and prepared for other days of school and still found time to burn the midnight candle.
Gen Zs despite having limitations , no reason to fail, competition whatsoever still has little to no academic and innovative outlook.
If we examine UTME results of the past ten years we see it gets worse by the moment instead of secondary schools to enforce more discipline and universities to increase their cut-off marks for each discipline—or course, they rather give them a slap on the wrist and give them a nod to continue. I mean in Gen Z, we have AI tools that those in the 80s couldn't fathom of, search engines of high capacity, virtual libraries and scholarship opportunities.
The African youth of my generation would rather spend hours watching TikTok, engaging in frivolities and neglecting their growth to beauty and sourcing for a brighter future.
The rate of psychiatric patients, teenage pregnancies, ex-convicts, prostitutes or call girls, fraudsters, drug and substance addicts and the likes have also increased. Why? If you may ask? They are as a result of the mistakes made by the Government, Universities, Parents, older siblings, celebrities and even the Gen Zs themselves. Instead of us to produce more Wole Soyinkas, Chmanadas, Kanus, Okochas, Dangotes and Okoyas, Marcus Garveys, Nkrumahs, Mandelas and the likes, we keep on producing nonsense and we keep letting every golden generation slip away.
The Government is killing the intellectual dreams and capacities of the Nigerian youth. In the 80s, which was Nigeria's golden age, once you're done with university, you would have a long line of opportunities waiting for you—Nowadays, an average graduate without connections in the right places remain stagnant, unemployed and are frustrated to doing unthinkable things for money, like internet fraud, wire fraud, prostitution, gambling, organ trafficking, drug trafficking, kidnapping and human trafficking, money rituals and so on, just to pay the bills and live a good life. The massive rate of brain drain and huge migration rate to other countries is really killing the Nation and the Continent in the long run. Instead of the governments to empower the youths with serious loans and grants, they decide to embezzle borrowed money and keep on putting the country and continents in financial perjury.
The Secondary Schools, Universities and other institutions of learning have failed the youth, instead of being more helpful by providing more opportunities, seminars, collaborations with firms for professional development, workshops, etc., instead they are busy increasing tuition fees like parents of wards are plucking money from trees, they offer meagre and complex theoretical teachings to the fact that students in most disciplines learn more online than In a class room but at the secondary and tertiary levels
Parents really messed up big time! The African parents fell off in the 21st century. The little high-handed discipline our parents of today was nothing compared to parents back then! Parents back then according to my mom can beat you up for just starting an opinion or taking a thing that belongs to you, kept in their care, without their permission. African parents then were more dangerous than Gattuso in AC Milan's midfield, that discipline actually saved a generation but it brought a sense of responsibility, integrity and fear of God. They were less teenage pregnancies, ex-convicts, addicts and other vices because discipline was not just a virtue, it was a culture which was innately imbibed in an African child.
Parents nowadays just batter children without imbuing discipline, give them freedom without boundaries, sent them to school without checking their output. Parents that have little to no control of their children's spiritual life, relationship with the opposite gender, etc.
Some children were even introduced to serious sexual activities through close family members due to their parents negligence,
According to my mom, parents of then would gather young men to burndown strip clubs which would expose their sons and daughters to sexual perversions, but nowadays even men take their daughters age mates to those some clubs and hotels to do the unthinkable for a father.
Celebrities on the other hand who ought to serve as a voice for the youth would rather post and generate dirty and rather controversial contents, the likes of Kelly, Carter Efe, Blessing CEO, and others influence the mentality of most youths, rather than allowing them embrace reality.
Some creators like Saida Boj have wrongly interpreted the reality of love and has motivated young women to adopt such unrealistic expectations and has also seen men as banks or wells to draw money from rather than to see men their life partners.
The solution to this pandemic is a total restructuring of the system particularly for my wise society and educationally.
The Government should be more accountable to its citizens, and live up to their functions.
Family wise, parents must be gentle but strict to their children to avoid moral decadence and raising citizens that will amount to non-entities in the society. Then also parents need to educate their children that social media should be a tool and a means so relief from anxiety and not an addiction, too much of everything is bad.
Social content creators should make content that resonates with sensible and realistic concerns of life as an African and how to succeed educationally, more STEM programs should be introduced.
The University and educational system need to implement more practical learning experiences for the youth instead of the usual old boring theories.
Then the youths can also help themselves by changing their habits and do more intellectual things, instead of scrolling away on Tiktok they should read more articles on substack or Medium. Instead of fornication they should exercise, instead of alchol they should read their bible amd know their God. Little changes of habits in the long term make a large difference
The only advocate they need for themselves to deliver them is also them. If they don't no on is coming to save them and their future lies in the hands, especially those from poor homes with little to no financial support.
We need to stop the uprising before it stops our future in Africa.
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