Without missing a beat, the earth continued its endless voyage round the sun. Days passed by, the night came and years were marked on the calendar.

The year is 2035 and the reality of a Nigerian is very different.

WELCOME TO A FUTURE

It’s 4 am on a cold Monday morning in 2035. You wake up in your bed and place a soft kiss on your spouse. You wear your pyjamas and head out of your bedroom.

You walk over quietly to your children’s bedroom. You open up the door slightly and take a peek at your beautiful kids. The two girls are cuddled up with each other and the boy, alone in his bed is spread out like butter on bread.

You smile to yourself. In two hours, these quiet angels will morph into uncontrollable demons.

Your final destination is the gym which you deliberately had put at the other end of the house so you can take every morning to appreciate your 4 bedrooms, 1 large kitchen, 1 large living room and the 2 utility rooms you’ve made into a private chamber and a gym. You let out a smile ofsatisfaction as you climb on the treadmill and hit start.

At 8 am, you are set for the office. You get in your newly bought Toyota. It’s the latest version. It smells nice. You press a button, exchange pleasantries with Karen – your AI driver – and tell her to take you to the office. You look at the dashboard; the battery is 100% full. You smile – ‘of course it is, there has been 24-hour electricity for 8 years now’.

4 hours into your work at the office, your phone starts blinking. It’s a call from your younger brother. You’re surprised because it’s Monday and you two aren’t due for your weekly call until Wednesday. You pick up.‘Hello, Biodun…’

Your brother called you to inform you he just got 6 offers from prospectiveemployers – 4 multinationals and 2 local companies. They are all great offers. You are happy for him. More so yourself, that’s one less person you have to be responsible for financially. As happy as you are though, you can’t shake the feeling of surprise.

Your brother’s graduation is two weeks away and even though he’s brilliant, he isn’t exactly a genius. How has he managed to secure 6 different offers from top companies? Even you, despite beingsmarter did not have such luck in your own time.

‘Breaking News’ flashes across your television screen and you turn up the volume to be greeted with news of another10000 megawatts power station that just went online. It’s the 10 one in as many years.

Everything starts coming back to you.

BACK IN 2018

It all started in late 2018 with a momentous event ahead of the 2019 general elections – a seismic shift in the mentality of the largest voting group in the country, the youth. Tired of the suffering and the killing. Tired of the failed promises and the economic sabotage. Tired of playing catch up to their peers around the world, they went out en masse and got their PVCs.

Like a Samurai sharpening his sword before a battle, they kept their cards safe as the 2019 elections drew closer. It was the only weapon democracy granted them and they were ready to wield it.

When the elections came, like the Israelites on their way out of Egypt, they trooped to various voting centres, cast their votes and watched over the ballot boxes like hungry hawks. Agents of the ruling party tried to force their way to the boxes wielding lethal weapons. The more they cut people down to stuff ballot boxes, like the head of a hydra, more arose to defend their mandate. All over the country, thousands died.

No one knew it at the time but therevolution was already alive.

After the dead were buried and their blood washed off the streets, the people would have been forgiven for retreating to the solitude of their homes and newspaper stands to complain about the government but they chose differently.

Driven by the ghosts of those who laid down their lives in February 2019, they took to the streets to protest every decision thatimpacted negatively on them. The elected no longer had the luxury of peace after mismanaging the people’s resources. Those who were lucky got long sentences in court. Those who weren’t fell victim to a brand of justice that was usually the hallmark of petty thieves.

The wave of an active citizenry that spread through the country birthed a period of progress and prosperity. From education, which became fuel to the people’s newfound belief that the government exists to serve them, to infrastructure and commerce – the country’s progress was in an upward trajectory. Even political offices that were usually the hunting grounds of those who saw government coffers as their personal wealth have now become home to the bright and honourable with the arrival of heavy consequences for bad behaviour.

The chain reaction led to an improvementin the quality of education and the number of existing industries which resulted in your brother’s six offers – and it all started in 2019 with your fight at the feet of a ballot box.

You smiled to yourself.

Written by Adeola Seun.

Adeola Seun:Humanist. Big believer in common sense. Arsenal lover.