Raised in the 90s, this is how we differ from them

Our parents were brought up during the 50s, 60s and 70s, the colonial and post-colonial period. These were very conservative and strict times. Things were expected to be done in a particular war. Individualism was sacrificed for communal growth and togetherness.

The time has changed a lot. This is not the same society your father, mother, aunty and uncle grew up in. Nigerian millennials are different from the young Nigerians who saw the Union Jack lowered in 1960.

There a new set of challenges, expectations, dreams and hopes that vary from what our parents lived through. For example, one of the underlying principles back then was the reward of hard work. Our parents believed in the success of sweat and labour. It was a thing of pride to work at a company for 30 years, three decades of clocking in and clocking out.

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This generation differs from the previous one. Hard work has been substituted for grind or hustle. The golden era slipped away in the 70s and Nigeria went on a slow descent into chaos in the 80s. We 80s and 90s kids would meet a Nigeria that was a shadow of itself 20 years prior.

In this Animal Farm society, corruption was the order of the day. To survive, hustle and grind had to be embraced. Now, these two things don't mean anything illegal.

Today, young Nigerians have a main job and two or three hustles to keep body and soul together. Back in the day, our parents took care of us with one job. These days, you need two or three to stay afloat.

It's because of this stark reality that has made today's youth run away from the legacy occupations. These jobs are baking, medicine, engineering and Law. In our parents time, you were as good as gold if you studied these subjects. These days, we can be less bothered. We have discovered that you can make a good living by embracing your artistic and creative side.

Another aspect where we differ from our parents is our perception of those who smoke. Smoking was seen as a taboo in our parents' era. As for those who smoke weed, you don't want to know what they thought about those people.

In today's clime, Nigerian youths don't look down on those who smoke. Yeah, we might frown on people who smoke cigarettes because of the health implications but as for weed, we can be less bothered.

Getting divorced and being a single parent was a big issue back in the day especially for women. Today, people don't normally trip over divorce. It is seen as one of those things that happen in life.