INSTANT EXPECTATIONS : ARE THEY KILLING UGANDA'S YOUTHS?

 I met a youth who wanted to become wealthy. I went ahead to ask him whether he had set clear plans to become wealthy and he had no immediate answer. We are living in a generation of instant expectations. A youth sees a good car and wants to buy it in a month. This is worsened by globalization  where the youths compare themselves with others in developed countries such as the United States of America and it leads to frustrations. How come there is an increase in insecurity of late? The talk that is dominant among residents of Kampala is whether they will survive kicks by gangs on the street. The population is living in fear. This was unheard of in the past where there was relative security and morals among young people.


The instant expectations are making youths to by pass the natural roots to success. Brian Tracy in his books the 100 Absolutely Unbreakable Laws of Business Success notes that successful people think long term. This was further clarified by Harv Eker in his book Secrets of A Millionaire Mind. In his book Think And Grow Rich : A Black Choice, Dr. Dennis Kimbro gave examples of very many black Americans such as Dr. Ben Carson and Oprah Winfrey who were born in poor families but due to mentorship and discipline they were able to achieve their ultimate desires. Iam not saying that all youths are short term thinkers .What Iam advocating for is reorienting the dominant belief among the youths that every thing should be got overnight. we need to build a generation of youths who put their country first. 

There are many youths who have missed great opportunities for capacity building simply because they prefer handouts to life long learning. A number of them have been invited for financial literacy trainings and have not turned up. Many have refused to upgrade their skills . Many have shunned agriculture and opted for gambling as an alternative source of income. In 2023 there was a story on television where a group of youths wanted to beat up staff of  a sports betting company for the failure to pay their money. There is a story of a youth who pledged their house to a casino and he lost it to gambling.

HOW TO EMPOWER UGANDA'S YOUTHS

1.Values based education

2.Family mentorship

3.Community projects 

4. Community libraries

5.Promoting entrepreneurship education

6. Promoting vocational education

7.Promoting talent development

8.Financial literacy training.


We live in a world that is skewed to instant gratification. Unfortunately the youths who form the majority in the country have not been spared. They are at a crossroads and something needs to be done as discussed above.

Phillip Kiryowa

Finance and Leadership Coach

+256752615916

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