Inventor charges youths against entitlement mentality, to seek self-development

The Managing Director of Valec Technologies Limited, Mr. Dili Ogbuenyi, has blamed the low productivity among young Nigerians on the growing culture of entitlement mentality from years of hearing political leaders call them leaders of tomorrow.

While advising them to invest their energy in talent development and entrepreneurship, Ogbuenyi insisted that they owed the society the debt of deploying their creative energy into the advancement of the environment.

Speaking during his conferment as Nigerian Youth Ambassador by the National Youth Council of Nigeria in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, in recognition of his inventions in the area of electrical engineering, he lamented the years of political sloganeering on youth empowerment and said the time had come for youths to take practical steps towards empowering themselves through knowledge-based self-improvement.

According to him, “we have been hearing about youths being the leaders of tomorrow since we were children. But my analyses show that even those who were youths at the time this insincere political rhetoric began have grown into adulthood without a change of guard. If those that should hand the reigns of leadership to our fathers failed to do so and are still telling is that we are the leaders of tomorrow, it would be foolhardy for us to continue to believe this insincerity.”

While advising youths to assert their economic independence from politicians and become agents of Nigeria’s economic diversification, he said, “I sincerely believe the vision of a diversified Nigerian economy rests with youths. We have the travel and urban experience to deliver on this. The only thing we need do is stop believing that anyone else other than ourselves will do it for us. The future of Nigeria is not oil. If you follow the developments in clean energy, you would realize that oil as a resource is imperilled already. The future of Nigeria is not politics; no matter how much they deceive you, please pay no heed to the brand of politics played in Nigeria. The future of Nigeria is you. You are the resources the country will need in the future.”

Ogbuenyi ascribed the high crime rate in Nigeria to the entitlement mentality of many youths but insisted that only the young people can reorder the society by channelling their energy to more positive, value-adding enterprises for the common good.

Also, Secretary-General of the National Youth Council of Nigeria, Comrade Suleiman Abubakar, commended the awardee for distinguishing himself not only in the field of engineering and entrepreneurial development but also in philanthropy.

Suleiman said the NYCN was attracted by reports of the free training programmes organised by Valec Technologies for Nigerian youths as well as the scholarship opportunities granted to young Nigerians by Ogbuenyi and called on other gifted youths in the country to emulate these kind gestures in the effort to create an economically empowered youth population.

He said, “amongst the few who hold this award, you have distinguished yourself as more deserving, not only by the wonderful welfarism you have exhibited but also by your readiness to transfer knowledge to younger generations as well as your undying commitment to continue your humanitarian services especially towards indigent Nigerian youths.”