'Leaders of Tomorrow'

"Uncle, I am going to be a leader tomorrow. My teacher told us in my class that we are the leaders of tomorrow" said my nephew. I smiled, knowing fully well that those are just empty words of a teacher who hope to raise the next President, Governor, Prime Minister, etc of tomorrow but in order to keep his (my nephew) hope alive, make him feel like a future leader and also not turn myself into a 'liar' that my teachers turned themselves into just by telling me these exact words back then. I wasted no time to make him see things not from the angle I saw it back then, but from the angle life has taught me to see things, so I replied him saying 'Yes! Your teacher is right! You are the leader of tomorrow. you are a man and first of all, you will need to lead yourself. Look at your dad for example, you will have to lead your own home someday just like your dad is the leader of his own family. Remember, your life might be the only bible someone else reads'. I made reference to the pilot who is the leader in the plane and also the captain of a ship who is the leader of the ship and everything that finds its way into it. I also used the referee on the football pitch as an example, he rules the game, he controls the players and his decisions on the pitch of play are final and binding but I guess these aint the kind of leaders they talked about in class.

In my mind, my reply was 'which kain leader? My own generation is yet to take the mantle of leadership and here we are, you are talking about yours'.
But seriously, I think the generations before mine have failed us in Nigeria, we have moved from the colonial era to the civilian era, down to the military era and back to the civilian era, yet things aint getting any better. We still have same set of people that ruled while my parents where in their youthful days contesting elections, why?
I think the words of our teachers back then somehow found its way into our heart and 'we' maybe consciously or unconsciously have decided to wait for 'Tomorrow'. We somehow believed that once 'Tomorrow' is here, the mantle of leadership will be passed down to us, so we decided to remain silent and patiently wait for tomorrow (our time).
Someone once said, "Our teachers told us that 'We are the leaders of tomorrow'. Its either our teachers lied to us or tomorrow is yet to come"
Words are very strong, especially the ones planted in a kid while growing up. These words 'You are the Leaders of tomorrow' made me join the school of thought that believed that once tomorrow is here, the leadership baton will be handed over to us (my generation) but as I grew older, I have learnt that things will never be available today, you have to wait for tomorrow and this made me realised that tomorrow does not exist, today is the only chance you've got.
In all, I have been made to understand that we need to fight our way up the ladder but the battle is not to be fought with Guns, bows, bombs and arrow but with wisdom, actions, courage, transparency and a God fearing heart.
Remember that a Good Leader is known not by his position but by his actions and influence on his subordinates and those around him.