Our parents want us to succeed. Just not now!

When will tomorrow ever come?

If we are the leaders of tomorrow, when will tomorrow come? In the 80’s and 90’s, our parents told us that we indeed were and we believed them. We studied and prepared hard. Fast forward to 2019, we are still the leaders of tomorrow. Are we not growing? Could 2019 be a code name for 1980?

For some strange reason, we cannot seem to get jobs. When we do, we never get promoted. It is true experience is required. However, it must be acquired. It can not really be bought. This then begs the question; how do we acquire it from outside? Dear parents, tell us. Internships are also no longer free.

My undergraduate classes were filled with Generation X (Gen X) managers and senior officers. After years of ‘on the job training’, they were then pursuing their first degrees. Why can we not be given the same level of trust? After all, we already even have the degrees.

Worse still, at home here in Kenya, every job application requires original certificates from various government agencies. None of which are free.

I sometimes wonder like most, why can’t one get the job then contract signing be dependent on them providing those certificates? Then, one will be sure that they are either spending or borrowing money to acquire certificates for a job they already have. Also, before we move on, in applying for government positions, does the government really need me to confirm my civil uprightness for them from them?

Recently, our parents told us to make our own jobs. “Go into business,” they said. However, even there, we are not the ones making the big deals. Of the little deals we make, most of the returns are taken as kickbacks. The remainder is just not enough to build the next Safaricom or Equity Bank.

Some of our businesses require seed funding to grow. A fact that our parents want to hear nothing about. This is especially when the business ideas have to do with ICT. They mostly prefer the traditional investment options such as real-estate. Surprisingly however, they are more open to funding non-local ICT innovators. They forget that their charity should start at home.

Beginning 2013, the main message was “go and innovate. We need you to solve our current problems”. They even built us innovation hubs around the country, and various supportive government programmes to suit. We innovated and continue to do so. We even piloted the solutions successfully. Unfortunately, our parents buy European solutions for double the price, when we ask them for money to implement ours.

Come election time, we are expected to vote, but our parents never want to return the favor. They always want us to listen but never want to hear us. We are always very popular during elections. Aspiring parents take every opportunity to show how well connected they are with us. Some even dress like us, while others attempt to dance the moves of our time. Somehow, everyone deserts us immediately after, forcing us into hide and seek games.

The age of selfies

Interestingly, almost everything these days revolves around us. You name it; from politics all the way to economics. For example, most products on the shelves these days are youth-oriented. In part, we influenced the addition of the front camera. As if not enough, we further made them invent the selfie-stick. In Kenya, we even have an entire government ministry ‘dedicated’ to youth affairs.

You would think that by now we would have an almost if not equal share of leadership positions. Unfortunately, even the boards of these youth facing companies have very little or no youth representation.

The only simple way to understand all this is that our parents want us to succeed. Just not now!

I strongly believe that millennials will change the world. We are currently the only generation equipped to do so. We grew up knowing that we were born to make an impact in society. We were made to believe that we were special. All we need is a fully supportive environment. If we do not make an impact, we will die trying. We have many ideas. We just need them channeled appropriately. In any case, is it not the youth that brought dictators to heal in the Arab spring?

Countries that have created such environments for their youth have greatly benefited. For example, according to the ‘Fortune Ventures’ website, there are over a dozen tax-paying businesses started by 18-year-olds and below in America. These are new companies already contributing to the country’s national income. Given that the founders are 18-year-olds, these companies have the rest of their founders’ lives to keep contributing.

A common factor in all these companies is that there was moral support from parents, including biological ones, as well as easy access to seed funding. These are some of the things we should have here in Kenya.

Our parents need to understand that our time is now. Kudos to various constituencies in Kenya for electing young parliamentarians such as John Paul Mwirigi and the rest. Other constituencies and institutions should soon follow suit. The youth also need to wake up and realize this is their time. No more waiting, no more begging.

Aaron Ochieng Ogunde.