I heard you saying that it is none of your business whether youth get empowered or not. Which society can live without young people?
Do you forget that the population of young people is bigger than the population of the elderly? I don’t think you mean it. Young people are the source of defence. Young people bring unity to every nation. We can easily fight poverty in our nation if we see the glory in young people. If there is a tree to be cut down, it needs a young person. If there are cattle to be grazed, it needs strong young people. Do you think we need peace; the contribution of young people is greater than any.
Are you honest in your words that you care less whether young people die or not? Is it the reason why you don’t want peace in the country? Isn’t it enough that they died in 2013? Can the number of young people who died in 2016 be counted? Where is our culture which encourages the death of elders than the death of young people? You plan every war just because you know young people are there? I can’t regret the young people who died during the liberation. But is there any reason that you kill them now? They die in the cattle camps. Doesn’t it pain you? They died of sicknesses. Is it your good news that you can celebrate? Many of them die of hunger. Do you think it sounds nice to our neighbours? Enough is enough! Young people must not die again. I am not God. But I pray that the Lord hears my prayer for my young People. The Land is tired of drinking their blood. The blood must cease bleeding. Hear my prayer oh Lord.
You can’t deny it. You said the young have become a burden in the society. Your justification is the fact that many of them depend on you. But if I can argue this, what can they do when you have occupied all the positions of governance? They try joining politics you block them. They try doing business. You can’t give them away. They try working for NGOs; it is you who burn their papers. You are jealous because they are coming up to transform the nation. You can’t allow them to apply the knowledge they have acquired from school. Your fear is that they are very competent. They have acquired many skills. If you go to computer literacy, young people are closer to God. The time you manage to type one word per minute, a young person has already typed fifty words per minute. You know they can change our working system. In the universities’ offices, you don’t want them. In the parliament, you don’t even want to see any one of them. Even in the churches, you faint when you see them developing their skills. Do you think you are right? Think twice.
Note this also. Remember your meeting that day. You were trying to find out why many young youth don’t want to study. You concluded that it is because they are careless. I should remind you that it is not because they are careless. There are many reasons attached it.
First, they lack inspiration. Young people should be inspired. You must not deny that it is you to inspire them. Why should you blame them when you don’t even understand your role? God is bigger than us. He is our source of inspiration. He inspires us through his creation. His great words of inspiration are His words in the Holy Book or Quran. What do you do to inspire the young people?
Secondly, do you forget that you should mentor the young people? What is your mentorship role? At least those years, elders could gather the young ones and mentor them about real-life issues. Young people could be taught many survival skills. There was no competition between elders and young people as largely exists today. The natural curriculum was there for young people to learn how they can be responsible individuals. I can’t see your mentorship. I only see your jealousy. But that is not what you should do. You should instead mentor them. They won’t drop out of school when they are mentored. Do you think I have accused you? Start your mentorship programs today. You will see many young people graduating.
You should even know that young people drop out of school because they are frustrated. They don’t see any hope for the future. They think you will rule forever. They don’t believe one day we will have a great South Sudan. They can never see South Sudan when there will be freedom of speech. They lose hope to see South Sudan when the oil money will be shared equally. They are failing to see also this nation being a paradise of peace one day.
Be conceived that young people have the right to lose hope. You are the great source of their frustration. Why can’t I be frustrated when I see my fellow young person having no job after college? The worse are the teachers. You will see a teacher with university degree but earns less than a hundred dollar per month. They work for eight hours a day but receive each month what is worth a day expenses. A young person will curse you if you wish him/her a teacher. They know the sad story about teachers in our nation. Many who are male are grey-headed but without a woman and children. They live in the city but without a house. Many drive their cars, but my teachers will be wishing to drive their cars in heaven. It will be a great disappointment if cars aren’t be there in heaven. Have you seen why young people don’t wish to continue with education?
You must sit for your meeting again. Young people don’t leave schools for nothing. You contribute much to their failures. I am a teacher. I know what it means to inspire others. I can honestly confess that it has been through inspiration that I write for the nation today. Many teachers have impacted my life. I can remember Mr Elle Bidal. He made me love English. My college tutors (Solidarity Teachers Training College), I salute you. My university lecturers (Catholic University of South Sudan), I am so happy for you. Prof Deng Deng Hoc, my Applied Linguistics lecturer (University of Juba), I like your humility, Sir. Many and many who have inspired me and who continue to inspire me, thank you very much.
If you think you can win the argument, who are you inspiring now? Does any young person wish to be like you? Are you a model somewhere? Are they saying they should be great politicians like so and so? Do young kids nickname themselves with your name? Do they talk like you? Do they walk like you? Do they play like you? Are they writing like you? Do they imitate your English or Arabic? Can you reflect on it today? Young people only need inspiration.
I must not end this article without reminding you of your accusation that most crimes in the country are made by the young people. Bags are being grabbed. It is young people. People are being robbed at night. It is young people. Money is picked from the pocket. It must be a young person. Cattle are raided. Only young can people do that. You hear of any murder anywhere, it won’t be any other person than a young person. Women are rapped. Young youth have done it. Doors are broken in. Some young men did it no doubt. The law is violated days and nights. Those are the young people breaking the law. Count it any crime, young people are the culprits.
You may be right somehow. But where did they learn it? Who taught them such things? If a child goes the other way around, who is to blame? Can you blame the child or the parents? Isn’t it the responsibility of the elders to direct the youth? I hope I have talked about it already. Youth are the implementers. They implement what they see from the elders. They are great imitators. Whatever they do today comes through imitation. If you don’t like what they are doing, please, first correct yourself and correct them.
If you think I didn’t hear you correctly, that will be my great news. It will mean you have a plan to empower the young people. I won’t hear of any fighting in our states. There will be nothing like young people dropping out of school. You will today begin to inspire young people and mentor them. I believe you will allow young people to also hold big positions in the government and our national institutions. Young people won’t be accused as the cause of crimes in the city. People must know the success of the nation lies in the hand of the elders. If elders go wrong, the youth must also go wrong. What do you think? BE KIND TO THE NATION.