Are Some Really Qualified To Tell Youths To Stay And Develop The Country? Ask Bakary Badgie

Bakary Badgie Programme Officer CPA and Voice of the Young

Are Some Really Qualified To Tell Youths To Stay And Develop The Country When All Or Most Of Their Children Are In The Diaspora? Or it’s an issue of ‘Do as I Say but Not as I Do’?

So we say ‘Rome was not built in a day’. Very factual as no nation was developed in a short period! Most young people and their parents argue the grass is greener at the other side. To counter that, we are told ‘we should endeavor and make our grass green too’; I agreed for indeed it’s possible!

Then we are told ‘Young people are the backbone of any country and so should stay and work for their country’. We can’t dispute; even the statistics indicates we are the majority everywhere.
AND NELSON MANDELA said “My dear young people: I see the light in your eyes, the energies in your bodies and the hope that is your spirit. I know it is you, not I, who will make the future. It is you, not I, who will fix our wrongs and carry forward all that is right in the world.”


So yes, young people lets brace ourselves for the mammoth task of national development, correcting the wrongs of our parents and building a better future. That’s an obligation, not a favor, we all have.

However, the situation in our country and Africa is unfortunate because most of those people making remarks about staying to work for our country are, in my opinion not credible enough to preach.

Consider this:- What positions do they occupy in our governance and social systems?
Where are the children of most of them?
Why don’t they enroll their children in public school or public university?

My contention is why would some of these officials make all efforts to take their youngsters to European and US colleges and they graduates with required knowledge, expertise, and technical know how thus placing them in better advantage in the technical and scientific job market compared to those home university graduates? Even if it’s not Schooling, why would they just ensure their children relocate and live in the supposedly ‘green’ zones with hopes of a better life, while they want the other young people to stay and ‘develop the country’?

I am not pro or anti migration of any kind and for whatever reason. I believe the choice is that of the person concern. People have the right to move as long as they have the MEANS, PURPOSE AND REQUIREMENTS to migrate. So we can continue to advise the youths to first have the reason and means to travel rather than risk the perilous illegal journey in efforts to enter Europe, only to end up in concentrated camps and rely on weekly ‘hand outs’. But in order to register success in this anti-illegal migration campaign and the call for young people to stay and work for our country, some people should just excuse themselves from campaigner’s camp.

As a country, we need to stop trumpeting of non-sustainable projects and initiatives that were never evaluated to know if we achieved our set goals, move away from media propaganda, reflect and come up with clear, more logical and sustained strategies to empower young people.

We need to support – technically, financial and morally and protect laudable initiatives of our young people as well as buy their products as a means of encouragement; otherwise, we should be prepared to fail in youth empowerment and advancement and by extension our anti-illegal migration crusade.