The good book says: Children, obey your parents in the Lord. It adds: Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.
In his autobiographical book entitled Dreams from My Father, Barack Obama denotes how he wishes to be different from his father. He presents his father as an overly egoistic African man, a philanderer and imbiber with little or no concern about his family’s welfare. Just like Obi Okonwo in Things Fall Apart who describes his father as lazybones, Barack Obama swears that he never inherited anything worthwhile from his father, Barack Obama Senior, save for the surname and genetic composition.
In May this year, I attended a launch for Rehema Kiteto’s book. Appointed at a tender age of 24, Rehema is the youngest Assistant County Commissioner, stationed at Bomet Central Sub-county. In the book, which she entitled Daring, she narrates how she endured economic depravity despite her father being a public servant. She points out an undoing of her father – siring a total nine children which is too big a number, hence scramble for providence. In a one-on-one conversation with her, Rehema vehemently stated to me that she will, by all means, have a leaner family, unlike her father. She has recently been awarded by Africapitol as among the Fifty Most Influential and Inspirational Women in Kenya in the 2023/2024 period.
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These are just a few among the innumerable instances where the young directly or indirectly express dissent to their seniors.
You see, when the young genuinely point out a mistake in their preceding generation and work on it diligently, success is sired. This is the power of dedication and being goal oriented. All of us know what Barack Obama became after working on the mistakes of his father — he eventually rose to become the president of the most powerful country on earth. This is the case with Okonkwo and Kiteto as aforementioned.
Society shouldn’t be incessantly condemnatory to the young. A majority of these young people are sufficiently visionary despite harbouring diversionary views and opinions from their elders. All that is important is to give them a chance to express themselves but not suppress, suffocate and choke their spaces.
By Wornicks Gisemba
Gisemba is a teacher of English at Nkoile Boys High School, Kajiado Central.
He is also an author and editor.
wornicksg@gmail.com Website: www.wornicks.co.ke
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