LETTER TO NIGERIAN PARENTS
LETTER TO NIGERIAN PARENTS
By: Ugochukwu Oranuba.
Dear All- Let's be real.
I wish to start by adding the benefit of my time
as a student and then resident in the UK. Living
in Abuja now. The first thing that I discovered
about UK-born, white, English undergraduates
was that all of them did holiday or weekend job
to support themselves – including the children of
millionaires amongst them. It is the norm over
there – regardless of how wealthy their parents
are. And I soon discovered that virtually all other
foreign students did the same – except status –
conscious Nigerians.
I also watched Richard Branson (owner of Virgin
Airline) speaking on the Biography Channel. To
my amazement, he said that his young children
travel in the economy class – even when the
parents (he and his wife) are in upper class.
Richard Branson is a billionaire in Pound sterling.
A quick survey would show you that only children
from Nigeria fly business or upper class to
commence their studies in the UK. No other
foreign students do this. There is no aircraft
attached to the office of the Prime Minister in
the UK. He travels on BA. And the same goes for
the Royals. The Queen does not have an aircraft
for her exclusive use.
These practices simply become the culture
which the next generation carries forward. Have
you seen the car that Kate Middleton (the wife
of Prince William) drives? VW Golf or something
close to it. But there’s one core difference
between them and us (generally speaking), they
(even the billionaires among them) work for their
money, most of us steal ours
If we want our children to bring about the
desired change we have been praying for on
behalf of our dear country, then please, please
let’s begin now and teach them to work hard so
they can stand alone and most importantly be
content and not having to “steal” which seems
to be the norm these days.
We have Nigerian Children who have never
worked for 5 minutes in their lives insisting on
flying “only” first or business class and using the
latest cars fully paid for by their “loving “
parents.
I often get calls from anxious parents”my son
graduated 2 years ago and is still looking for a
job, can you please assist!”
“Oh really! So where exactly is “THIS CHILD?” is
my usual question. “Why are you the one making
this call dad/mum?
I am yet to get a satisfactory answer, but
between you and me, chances are that the big
boy is cruising around Abuja with a babe dresses
to the nines, in his dad’s spanking new SUV with
enough “pocket money” to put your salary to
shame. It is not at all strange to hear a 28 year
old who has NEVER worked for a day in his or
her life in Nigeria but “earns” a six figure “salary”
from parents for doing absolutely nothing
I see them in my office once in a while, 26 years
old with absolutely no skill to sell apart from a
shiny CV, written by his dad’s secretary in the
office. Of course, he has a driver at his beck and
call and he is driven to the job interview. We
have a fairly decent conversation and we get to
the inevitable question- so, what salary are you
looking to earn? Answer comes straight out –
N250,000.00. I ask if that is per month or per
annum.
“Of course, it is per month”
“Oh, why do you think you should be earning that
much on your first job?”
“Well, because my current pocket money is
N200,000.00 and I feel any employer should be
able to pay me more than my parents.”
No wonder corruption continues to thrive. We
have a society of young people who have been
brought up to expect something for nothing, as if
it were a birthright. Even though the examples I
have given above are from parents of
considerable affluence, similar patterns can be
observed from Abeokuta to Adamawa.
Wake up mum! Wake up dad! This syndrome –
“my children will not suffer what I suffered is
destroying your tomorrow. You are practically
loving your child to death.
I learnt the children of a former Nigeria Head of
State with all the stolen (billions) monies in their
custody, still go about with security escort as
wrecks. They are on drugs, several time because
of the drug, they collapse in public places. The
escort will quickly pack them and off they go.
What a life! No one wants to marry them.
Henry Ford said “hard work does not kill.” We are
getting everything wrong in Nigeria now,
including family setting. It is time to prepare
your children for tomorrow, the way the world is
going, only those that are rugged, hard working
and smart working that will survive. How will your
ward fare?
Please forward this to all parents you know.
By: Ugochukwu Oranuba.
Dear All- Let's be real.
I wish to start by adding the benefit of my time
as a student and then resident in the UK. Living
in Abuja now. The first thing that I discovered
about UK-born, white, English undergraduates
was that all of them did holiday or weekend job
to support themselves – including the children of
millionaires amongst them. It is the norm over
there – regardless of how wealthy their parents
are. And I soon discovered that virtually all other
foreign students did the same – except status –
conscious Nigerians.
I also watched Richard Branson (owner of Virgin
Airline) speaking on the Biography Channel. To
my amazement, he said that his young children
travel in the economy class – even when the
parents (he and his wife) are in upper class.
Richard Branson is a billionaire in Pound sterling.
A quick survey would show you that only children
from Nigeria fly business or upper class to
commence their studies in the UK. No other
foreign students do this. There is no aircraft
attached to the office of the Prime Minister in
the UK. He travels on BA. And the same goes for
the Royals. The Queen does not have an aircraft
for her exclusive use.
These practices simply become the culture
which the next generation carries forward. Have
you seen the car that Kate Middleton (the wife
of Prince William) drives? VW Golf or something
close to it. But there’s one core difference
between them and us (generally speaking), they
(even the billionaires among them) work for their
money, most of us steal ours
If we want our children to bring about the
desired change we have been praying for on
behalf of our dear country, then please, please
let’s begin now and teach them to work hard so
they can stand alone and most importantly be
content and not having to “steal” which seems
to be the norm these days.
We have Nigerian Children who have never
worked for 5 minutes in their lives insisting on
flying “only” first or business class and using the
latest cars fully paid for by their “loving “
parents.
I often get calls from anxious parents”my son
graduated 2 years ago and is still looking for a
job, can you please assist!”
“Oh really! So where exactly is “THIS CHILD?” is
my usual question. “Why are you the one making
this call dad/mum?
I am yet to get a satisfactory answer, but
between you and me, chances are that the big
boy is cruising around Abuja with a babe dresses
to the nines, in his dad’s spanking new SUV with
enough “pocket money” to put your salary to
shame. It is not at all strange to hear a 28 year
old who has NEVER worked for a day in his or
her life in Nigeria but “earns” a six figure “salary”
from parents for doing absolutely nothing
I see them in my office once in a while, 26 years
old with absolutely no skill to sell apart from a
shiny CV, written by his dad’s secretary in the
office. Of course, he has a driver at his beck and
call and he is driven to the job interview. We
have a fairly decent conversation and we get to
the inevitable question- so, what salary are you
looking to earn? Answer comes straight out –
N250,000.00. I ask if that is per month or per
annum.
“Of course, it is per month”
“Oh, why do you think you should be earning that
much on your first job?”
“Well, because my current pocket money is
N200,000.00 and I feel any employer should be
able to pay me more than my parents.”
No wonder corruption continues to thrive. We
have a society of young people who have been
brought up to expect something for nothing, as if
it were a birthright. Even though the examples I
have given above are from parents of
considerable affluence, similar patterns can be
observed from Abeokuta to Adamawa.
Wake up mum! Wake up dad! This syndrome –
“my children will not suffer what I suffered is
destroying your tomorrow. You are practically
loving your child to death.
I learnt the children of a former Nigeria Head of
State with all the stolen (billions) monies in their
custody, still go about with security escort as
wrecks. They are on drugs, several time because
of the drug, they collapse in public places. The
escort will quickly pack them and off they go.
What a life! No one wants to marry them.
Henry Ford said “hard work does not kill.” We are
getting everything wrong in Nigeria now,
including family setting. It is time to prepare
your children for tomorrow, the way the world is
going, only those that are rugged, hard working
and smart working that will survive. How will your
ward fare?
Please forward this to all parents you know.
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