Quick one on seniority

I don’t know how many of you watched the Thomas Tuchel interview a few minutes ago where he talked about Julian Nagelsmann, coach of RB Leipzig, the team that Tuchel’s PSG is about to play in the Champions League semi-final.

13 years ago, Tuchel coached Nagelsmann in Augsburg, and that was where the 20-year old Nagelsmann’s playing career ended. In the interview, Tuchel said, “He was a talented player, but he was always injured, so I advised him to take up coaching, and now he’s competing against me for a place in the biggest final in club football. I’m so happy for him.”

Imagine if it was a Nigerian speaking.

“He’s my boy, I taught him everything he knows,” is the kind of thing we’d have probably heard Tuchel say.

It’s one of the things we need to work on in this country, this attitude of infantilisation and the belief that the student can never grow beyond the master. It’s the same mindset that has led to the NBC attempting to muzzle free speech under the guise of respect for elders.

It’s one of the reasons we are stuck where we are as a people. Refusing to acknowledge that the young have to grow.