We are not lazy.

**She's building a career, she's a wife and a mother. She wakes up between 3 to 3:30 am everyday, 4am on some really bad days. She gets the baby ready, they sprint through each routine and rush out before 5. They take the 3months old to the creche in the neighborhood. She's already on the bus to Lekki by 5:am, she takes a short nap on the bus. At work, she shakes off the pain of leaving a 3month old at 5 in the morning.She assumes her role and delivers effectively. She closes from work, rushes to the b/s, fights for a space and seats in traffic for the next 3 to 4 hours, usually worse on rainy days. They have plans, she's still pushing.
We call her FF, she's a Nigerian youth.
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He's a medical doctor, a consultant in a state hospital. He has a family. Two kids who can no longer attend classes, they are still in elementary school. He can't afford the fees. The wife's salary is not enough to feed for a whole month. The state is owing him 7 months salary. He is not deterred in his pursuit of happiness.
His name is Dayo, he's a Nigerian youth.
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We met in Abia, she is one of the most positive minds I've met. She's completely blind but that didn't stop her from bagging a degree in Mass Communication. She was posted to Yobe and she went all by her self and was on camp for three weeks. She redeployed to Abia and was never absent at her post. She's a poet, an inspiration to me. She has been with Radio Nigeria for the past 5years but they only pay her stipend which comes once in a blue moon. They have refused to staff her permanently. Could it be because she's blind? She sends out applications, her first book would be ready in weeks. Sometimes she doesn't know what to do again, but she finds a way out.She has never used her disability as an excuse or let it stop her from aspiring for more. If I could, she'd never worry about a thing again in this life. But we are all pushing against the tide.
Her name is Mercy, she's a Nigerian youth.
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She's a farmer, she's toiling day and night. She didn't have access to agric loan. She has done well for herself, still pushing to rise above the bullshit. She has come a long way, a lone army who has fought for everything she has. She's making efforts to help others, many who have never had anything handed to them.
Her name is Desola, She's a Nigerian youth.
...................................................................................................He served a man for 5yrs, got some funds and started a small retail business. He slept in the stall for several months. His business grew from a stall to two shops. He rented an apartment, got a space bus to move his goods around. He started a family, he kept expanding his business, adding new products and ideas. The state came one day and demolished the shops, he managed to save some goods. He sold the remaining goods from his car, then he left. Back to zero point.
We call him Obina, he's a Nigerian youth.
...................................................................................................He's a naval officer, he's a writer, a musician and a photographer. he's still pushing to rise above the bullshit. He fought his way here and still fighting.
I know him as Kola Onifoto, He's a Nigerian youth.
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He was my course mate and neighbor in school. We both majored in broadcasting. He would have lost count of the applications he sent out. He make's really good shoes, he is a baker, a caterer and a decorator. He is a fighter.
His name his Mese Bankole, he's a Nigerian youth.
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She's a masters degree holder, a teacher, a tailor and runs a mobile boutique. She carries her goods from house to house. No, she doesn't have a car. She has seen worse days trying to rise alone in a country that offers nothing. She is not there yet, but she has come along way from where she started from.
Her name is Funmi, she's a Nigerian youth.
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I could go on with this list.
I am a Nigerian youth, a fine breed out of the rocks.
My gentle stalk has pushed through the slab, I've been asked who referred me at the final stage of interviews. I've been turned down from an opportunity because there was no letter from a politician. I've been asked to pay in cash or in kind just for a chance to prove my worth. Everything I have, I've had to fight for. I wake up beaming with dreams, I cast my breads upon the waters and keep plotting to beat this system. When I feel my back is against the wall, I get down on my kneels and pray. It's my opium.

We are the Nigerian youths, lazy is what we are not**