Parental Guidance

There is no typical Nigerian profession. It depends on where you find yourself, what ethnic group you hail from and particularly the people who brought you into this world. Nigerians have struggled in the past. We just obtained our independence long after the structure of DNA was determined (not that that has anything to do with the topic). And so Nigerians do what ever it is they can to eschew struggles. Some may lie, cheat, steal, and yet others tell their children that they must be engineers, "doctors" and the occasional businessman with 'containers on the high seas.' Do not get me wrong I have nothing against the world of science and business as I myself am a full fledged science addict. Nigerian parents all have minds of their own and forget that their children, being Nigerian offspring, also have minds of their own. I cannot recall the time when my parents told me to be what I want to be. "Go out and take as long as you with this thing called self-discovery and we will support you no matter what", they never said (verbatim anyway).

This all makes sense because they find it hard to believe that being something called a political scientist puts food on the table, pays the bills, sends their grandchildren to school. These are all justifiable reasons but nearly if not all the members of my ASA are either pre-med or human development and pre-med, or engineers of some sort all with the aspirations of being doctors and engineers and the occasional pharmacist. Where are the journalists who will run The Guardian? Where are the public relation officers who will tell the country lies or the truth about how oil companies are exploiting the Niger Delta people? Where are the lovers of art, the musicians. Will we still listen to Femi Kuti and Lagbaja over and over again at Gbedu parties? C'mon now, we can do better than that. Maybe I should not be one to talk but if we all become something that we are not , something that our parents have forced upon us , all because we want to put food on the table and drive a big car then what is left for love, music, art, and culture. What else is left for essence of humanity?

I am not sure I did this topic justice but I am sure either Mellowyel or Sugarbelly can help me out.