A Text of my Speech at the Official Launch of POIS “Today, after more than 50 years as a sovereign nation, with the persistent ASUU strikes as a necessary part of the school curriculum, young undergraduates in Nigeria are only fortunate to be one of the yet paltry 4.3% of their own youthful generation with an opportunity for university education.” The Chairman, Special Guest of Honour, Distinguished Guests, Parents, Ladies and Gentlemen. Thank you all for coming, and for giving me this unique privilege to stand and speak before you in this “October occasion”. The era of information technology which we live in presently has created a thriving new market, and this new market is the generation of youth (15-40years) which make up about 70% of the global population. In the 21st century, corporate brands that will successfully do business with this new thriving market in this unique century, must of necessity, understand its internal dynamics and what makes it tick! Global brands like Facebook, Twitter, Google, Microsoft, MTN and Apple understand this subtle terrain and have exploited it to their full advantage. What do they know? This is a dyslexic generation and the growing disinterest in the quest for knowledge gained through deliberate study, and reading of good books is alarming and thoroughly disheartening. According to consulting expert, Leke Alder, “They respond less and less to words and more and more to images. In the 80’s music could sell without video accompaniment. Today, no video, no music sale, the video is the music, and the music is the video. No video, No music! Today, after more than 50 years as a sovereign nation, with the persistent ASUU strikes as a necessary part of the school curriculum, young undergraduates in Nigeria are only fortunate to be one of the yet paltry 4.3% of their own youthful generation with an opportunity for university education. For Nigeria that percentage does not compare favorably with 37.5% for Chile, 33.7% for Singapore, 28.2% for Malaysia, 16.5% for Brazil. Our lag in tertiary education enrollment is quite revealing and could be interpreted as the basis of the competitiveness gap between the same set of countries and Nigeria. Dr. Oby Ezekwesili, former Minister of Solid Minerals and Education, in in her insightful paper “Nigeria: The Wealth and Poverty of a Nation” posits, that the reason for this is that tertiary enrollment rate (which is the percentage of total enrollment, regardless of age, in post-secondary institutions, to the population of people within five years of the age at which students normally graduate high school) plays an essential role in society, creating new knowledge, transferring knowledge to students and fostering innovation. The countries with the most highly educated citizens are also some of the wealthiest in the world, in a study by the OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development) published by the Wall Street Journal in 2012. The United States, Japan, Canada, South Korea, Finland, Norway, Israel, United Kingdom and Australia also have among the largest Gross Domestic Products. All these nations aggressively invest in education. And may I also add as a side note, that the endowment fund of Harvard University at about $32Billion as a single institution is bigger than the 2013 budget of Nigeria at about $25Billion as a Federal republic; under this meager budget, there is also a statutory allocation to education and its numerous Federal parastatals! At the moment, today’s society is a complex and dynamic one where the morals and values that society hold dear, are constantly trampled down, in sacrifice to “Civilization” and “Advancement”. The home which is the basic unit of society has failed consistently in her responsibility to raise people who will pass on worthy legacies to generations yet unborn. Religious institutions which are supposed to be the guiding light and living conscience of society have left their primary responsibility in the search for material wealth and ephemeral riches. The institutions which were once held in respect, honour and sanctity, have been run over and the inevitable moral decadence, that is the resultant effect, cannot be overemphasized. The result of the failure of these institutions and the severity of the responsibilities they bear is turned over to the schools-primary, secondary and tertiary; especially at the tertiary level, where the youths who are the virility and future of a nation are neglected, and totally confused on what roles particularly, they are expected to play, in the midst of all these confusing and blurring fiascos. The situation gets worse when we understand and factor in the fact, that most of the people who get admitted to higher institutions of learning every year, are young and within the ages of 16-18, leaving for the first time, for a whole lot of them, the regulated and confined environments of their earlier educational experiences and home, these impressionable ones see and feel for the first time, the thrill of freedom without compelled responsibility that the life of the university offers. The inevitable result of their decisions for some of them, lead to the sad stories and cases of cultism, rape, prostitution, party maniacs, societal deviants and drug addicts etc. These ought not to be, if the right measures and structures are put in place, tailored particularly, to meet the many needs, yearnings and aspirations of these group which number in their millions, in other to enable them in turn lead great and fulfilling lives while society is the better for it in the long run; as a society cannot be more developed than her educated citizenry! An article by David Wraight further clarifies the mission and purpose of these people whom he rightly called the “Millennial Generation” According to him,” They believe they can change the world for better, but they are unsure what they should change the world to; so they search for an ideology or system of belief to use as a foundation for the change they seek, They are actually searching for something worth living and dying for. They are optimistic and idealistic with a deep desire to make their mark in the world. They dream of what can be, and follow their dreams with passion and perseverance. They are no longer prepared to be spectators watching the world go by, but want to be ‘players’, to get their hands dirty, to make a difference. They are knowledgeable about the affairs of the world and very mobile, travelling as much as resources and opportunity.” But to achieve the lofty objective above, and thereby see that society is great, and its potential is fully realized and exploited for the betterment of humanity, and progress of mankind; it is not hard to tell, that every single member of society: family, educational institutions, corporate organizations, religious bodies etc. must fold their sleeves, fall on the ground, get dirty and clean the mess of this Augean stable, saving ourselves and generations yet unborn, from the stench and its traumatic effects on our lives. The onus ultimately, is in our hands to do something; question is, what are we going to do? Possessed with a strong, commanding, passionate and compelling vision, my dream through this book, is to see the Nigerian youth and in men and women all over the world, potentials and capabilities realized, pursued, expressed and reached. To raise a generation of people who are committed to the Nigerian dream and who are truly liberated-spirit, soul and body; whose contribution to national growth, policy and development is unmistakable and unassailable. For it was John D. Rockefeller who said “I believe in dignity of labour, with the head or hand; that the world owes no man an opportunity to make a living but that it owes every man an opportunity to make a living.” It is in the light of all this, that I present to the public, the first of such movement of enduring legacy, the book, “Peregrinations of an Inspired Soul” an anthology of about 100 poems, carefully written and compiled by me, for there is my lips, the pen of a ready writer. Divided into sections called “Peregrines” with a glossary, it is a literary espouse that tries to fathom the existential meaning of life, through words-poetry. It is a written expression of words giving reality to existence as it tries to address almost every aspect of human life. It is a piece of work which seeks to ignite and inspire in all who pick up and peregrinate through it, the creation and expression of their innate passions and life aspirations. Put differently, it is a book for everyone, regardless of class, race, educational status, religion who want to discover that there is more to living rather existing knowing fully well that life is by far beautiful, deserves better, and is to be lived richly. Indeed Booker T. Washington captures this sentiment well when he wrote that “no race can prosper till it learns that there is as much dignity in tilling a field as in writing a poem.” For after all, according to Dr. Ezekwesili in her paper quoted earlier, “The clear message is that Dignity is conferred on a life of effort and hard work and not on a life of ignoble ease for the latter can easily become dulled by contemptible wealth. To be born into inheritance like our nature endowed oil wealth does not of itself confer any deserving honor on us and our nation. Our oil rich nation merely makes us a rented state.” As you peruse through this miniature version of the concept of life, being in-exhaustive, be aware that the wind of existence which caresses each of us, portends a personal meaning. Ergo, feel free to define your life by the expressions you bestow upon it. The individuality of self is stressed, because we are after all a single entity in a vast array of like humanity since each of us has a personal ideal of what life means to us, as according to John Locke, “The great question which, in all ages, has disturbed mankind and brought on them the greatest part of those mischief’s which have ruined cities, depopulated countries, and disordered the peace of the world, has been, not whether there be power in the world…but who should have it” Go discover yourself in Life and in the Peregrinations of an Inspired Soul. Enjoy!!! Emmanuel Motojesi Ayokunle. (EMA) Author & Poet, Peregrinations of an Inspired Soul 26102013.
Posted on: Fri, 08 Nov 2013 12:48:36 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015