EXCERPTS FROM MY VOTE OF THANKS (2) Ladies and gentlemen let me express our sincere gratitude and appreciation to our resource persons. First to Petra Onyegbule, the amazon of the day, change agent, and quintessential social activist, we say a big thank you. Petra should have been with her family and friends and deservedly celebrating her birthday, but she opted to be with us because of her passion for doing good, her commitment to human development and justice for all, and her intrinsic alignment with the vision, mission and objectives of the Circle of Hands. In addressing the topic: Nigerian Youths and the National Question, Petra was incisive, coherent and forward looking. She spoke with erudition in her diagnosis and prescriptions and articulated a compelling intellectual agenda for national engagement, namely: the necessity for a generational change in leadership; the urgency of building a Nigerian national identity, and the imperative of a change of mindset. No doubt these are crucial building blocks for resolving the National Question and putting Nigeria on the path of genuine national development. Second, to Mr. Gimba Kakanda, we say another big thank you. Mr. Kakanda is, doubtlessly a leading light of the younger generation concerned with the entrenchment of the right values and ethos for Nigeria. He had with honesty and integrity deployed his intellectual perspicacity to throw light on why our nation is not working, why it should be made to work and why it must work so that the younger generation can also make meaningful contribution to national development. His analysis and recommendations were well reasoned, and provided the younger generation particularly with fresh perspectives and methodologies for understanding our national predicament and how to overcome them. Our moderator, the cerebral Tope Fasua, had done a marvellous job of not only guiding the proceedings but also putting a great deal of intellectual energy towards bringing new perspectives to bear on the issues under discussion. His critical interventions have been invaluable and we are, indeed, grateful. Ladies and Gentlemen, Bamidele, the convener of this historic event along with Pius Adesanmi and other great minds in the Board of Trustees of the Circle of Hands have been the driving force behind this whole process. Their vision, passion, interest and hard work have culminated in this success story, that promises to serve as the flame that will soon engulf the national landscape with the roaring fire of change and transformation, with the young people as its vanguard. We thank them for the tireless efforts they have put into developing the event concept and bringing it to full fruition. CIRCLE OF HANDS MAIDEN LECTURE, LAGOS, 1/10/2014
Posted on: Thu, 02 Oct 2014 18:31:35 +0000
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