If you’re staying up-to-date with Nigeria and its affairs, you should’ve heard a lot about change recently. Basically, you risk getting thrown off a balcony if you mention the word “change” in a positive way that supports our current government. Because this administration has not proffered anything significant so far, its campaign slogan of ‘Change!’ has been twisted into a joke by many. My use of the word, however, is unlike that of our current leaders and should be received as such.

“Be the change you want to see” is a popular quote and I thought about it in the context of myself as a Nigerian youth. If I want to be the change, I should never be what I’m fighting against. If I hate corruption, I should never find myself in a compromising situation – it’s simple as ABC. But most times, I see Nigerians waiting for others to be the change they want to see. I hear a lot of, “I won’t stop doing it until everyone stops.” But then that’s what the next person is saying about you, and so on, then nothing changes.

The heavy propaganda of change from the old government to a new one offers something – dependence. For change to happen, according to the All Progressive Congress, Nigeria must put its hope in them. They can and will fix it all. Well, I say that being the change we want to see is first of all an individual thing. As Nigerian youth that are already so far pushed out of the general scheme of national matters, we should be the change and the change should be us. Change is not Baba, change is not Jona; change is me. How are our operations in our schools, workplaces, and religious communities? Do they confirm the beliefs we say we have? If they don't, does that mean we are actually hopeless and political parties are our only saviors?

Another dreadful feature of this APC change is the notion of us versus them. We’re bad, they’re good. If we can’t be there, no one can. If we can’t do it, no one can. Together we fall, divided we stand? False.

Tribalism and nepotism are chief hindrances in the progress of Nigeria and no one seems to be learning. From hiring in the workforce to marriage, tribes, religion, and such identities play a big part in dividing and maltreating people. It is 2016 – differences should not be feared but embraced. The racial issue in America is a larger scale of tribalism but they are all caused by fear of the unknown and unfamiliar. Change should happen with inclusion of everyone, regardless of our differences, quirks, strengths and weaknesses. If progress is made, everyone wins. Nigerian youth can be the change we want to see by being inclusive and welcoming of ourselves and the mannerisms we did not grow up knowing.

As Nigerians, we can all agree nowadays the word “change” has been abused so much we can’t even recognize its face anymore. It used to look like growth, difference and newness. As persons and as a whole, I strongly believe we can still be these things.