History X

"Hate is baggage" one of the characters in the movie American history X describes. I am a staunch believer that people are generally of good heart, and that a lot of people live lives of hate due to the legacies they have inherited. Regardless of the environment or back ground we grow up in, we often are left with legacies of our predecessors. These legacies shape our lives and determine some choices we make. There are different races, ethnicities, and tribes blamed for promoting various vices. People of a same race are usually stereotyped to fit a certain vice. There are the aboriginals here in Canada that make up a huge percentage of those living in poverty, even with all the benefits that comes with being Aboriginal. I believe they are living under unproductive legacies set by their predecessors. I spoke to someone, considering the state of aboriginals in Canada, and he claimed that a huge percentage of these people are lazy and expect the government to do everything. There was a certain truth to what he said, but I still believe that most of the aboriginal youths, I saw roaming downtown winnipeg were living under legacies set by their parents and elderly ones. They have learnt attitudes and cultures that do not promote their personal growth. Imagine waking up to see your parents depending on welfare, and demanding for benefits. Most people will grow up, and simply inherit such unhealthy attitudes. This is one of the reasons why I do not support that unnecessary benefits and welfare be granted to people in the Niger Delta. Yes! they deserve a whole lot from the corporations making blillions in their land, because these corprations have to compensate the damage done to their land. Still, I do not agree with the exploitation of this right.

Back to the title History X, even if a huge number of us (which I am included in) don't have a deep understanding of our Nigerian history. it is still undeniable that we have a history of a whole lotta bad things. Even after our independence as a nation, legacies have being passed down from generation to another. Unarguably, these legacies are filled with the very infamous and sly corruption, bad leadership, poor and unproductive mentalities and so on. If you go down through our political, social and religious history, the legacies that have been passed down are just terrible. Change can not just occur, we have to enforce it and transfer it from one generation to another. My generation will provide leaders of our country, and imagine these same future leaders claiming that when they get to power, they are going to steal enough money. And these future leaders sugar coat their plans by saying they'll steal but still help. Yeah yeah!! we all know money is intoxicating, once they start, it's the end. The main reason why such mentality is in the minds of young people (which I belong to), is because we have inherited legacies our elders have given to us. We cannot blame our elders for all our problems, because we as individuals that belong to families, we as individuals that are brothers, sisters, cousins have the responsiblity to set examples for our young ones watching us closely and ever hungry to learn something from us. I used to think, that as an individual, I could do and say anything I wanted even with my siblings watching. But the truth is that they learn a lot from what I do. Though, I cannot be perfect, but at least, I could be responsible.