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In his book, Africa
Unchained, Ghanaian Economist, George Ayittey writes about Africa’s
Cheetah Generation; a term he describes as a new generation of young
African professionals and graduates who analyse and view the
continent’s problems with a unique and refreshing perspective.

Though restless, he
describes these young people as dynamic, intellectually agile and
pragmatic. According to him, these young people are aware of the
crippling effects of corruption on their countries and eschew trite and
obsolete arguments that blame the continent’s failures on the legacies
of slave trade and western imperialism.

In contrast, he
differentiates them from the Hippo Generation, a class he says is near
sighted, lacking in vision and intellectually astigmatic. Unlike the
Cheetah Generation, which he describes as seeing mainly opportunities
on the continent, the Hippo Generation constantly sees problems and
serves as impediments to the realization of the aspirations of the
Cheetahs.

The late Nigerian
nationalist, Nnamdi Azikiwe explores this same theme in his book,
Renascent Africa. Though written for a different era and a different
struggle, some of his central messages remain strikingly similar and
relevant. In Renascent Africa, Zik tells a tale of two citizens; the
Nigerian youth who was thirsty for political emancipation and members
of the old guard who were sympathetic to colonial interests. At the
time, (as is the case in present day Nigeria), the political leadership
was bankrupt, ineffective and uninspiring and an ideological friction
(as again is the case today) existed between members of the new guard
and the old guard.

In Zik’s case, to
achieve his aim of attaining independence for Nigeria, members of the
new guard rallied around him, espousing his ideals (and in part those
itemized by Nigerian Statesman, Nwafor Orizu in his book, Without
Bitterness) and dubbed them Zikism. Refusing to succumb to the demands
and predilections of the old guard, they championed the ideology all
the way to independence; and they won.

Nigeria’s present
day Cheetah Generation can and should do the same. As was the case
during Azikiwe’s generation, the divergent ideologies of the young and
the old needed to engage in a battle for supremacy. If the old won,
independence would not have been attained. Likewise, in the case of
Nigerian youths, if the Hippo Generation wins, there will be no
socio-economic emancipation for Nigerians. The future of Nigeria
depends on which generation prevails over the other and on which
perspective emerges victorious. The pessimists or the optimists? The
myopic or the future seekers? The old or the new?

Nigeria currently
stands at the cusp of one of the greatest youth transformations in its
history with seventy percent of its population under the age of 35.
According to a recent report on Nigeria’s young generation commissioned
by the British Council titled Next Generation Nigeria, “youth, not oil
will be the country’s most valuable resource in the twenty first
century.”

Nigeria’s young
people (her Cheetah Generation) are currently at odds with the nation’s
Hippos. During the struggle for independence, the Hippo Generation was
reluctant to relinquish power and grant the young Nigerian nationalists
independence. Similarly, Nigeria’s present day Hippo Generation is
reluctant to hand over the mantle of leadership to the Cheetahs. This
is why like the Hippo Generation did in the 1950s, former 2011
presidential aspirant, General Ibrahim Babangida, a member of the Hippo
Generation in an interview with the BBC earlier this year emphasized
that he did not think the younger generation could effectively lead the
country.

President Babangida’s recent resignation from the 2011 presidential
race is a sign of perhaps positive things to come for Nigerian
Cheetahs. Prior to independence in the 1960s, Zikists were ridiculed
for being naïve and overly headstrong in the face of the colonialists
but their resolve eventually won them independence. In the same vein,
if Nigerian youths are able to tap into the Pan-African consciousness
that drove Nigeria’s founding fathers to struggle against British rule,
and continue to demand for free and fair elections and a competent,
forward looking leadership in 2011, then success awaits them.