All
protocols duly observed. I am Babatunde Waliyullah Adesokan from our
home--Oyo, the great kingdom with sharp riposte, the land of blackened
Amala with sumptuous "gbegiri" and viscous "ewedu", the
great land of "sekere" the percussive instrument of Atiba
descendents, the land of Alaafin to whom other kings bow. Honored to
be here, I greet you good day.
At this kind
of enlightened gathering, defining what is youth would be too layman-ly. Except
to mention the fact that Nigerians have widened the age-scope of youth to its optimal
stretch-able limit where a 50 year old man was once appointed as youth leader.
Youths in the Nigeria Constitution refer to persons between ages 18 and 35, an
exception to the global scope that is 15-35. Youth should be defined from
its symbolic representation rather than its dictionary meaning which has been
often abused.
Thus,
youthfulness represents enthusiasm, freshness, vigour, having or showing
innocence, hope and openness to learning. That fecundity is the tool we youths
need to effect any change in the world. Making a nation viable is hinged on the
'going concern' of a nation which when defined in accounting terms is the
fundamental principle that assumes that during and beyond the next fiscal period
a company ( a nation here) will complete its current plans, use its
existing assets and continue to meet its financial obligations. Succinctly it's
the capacity of a nation to exist wholesomely and peacefully with every denizen
having ample chance to flourish within their individual domain and circle.
Not
much of a politician nor an administrator, neither a learned economist nor a
grounded socialist but as a learning individual, to a degree I have
surmised so far that the viability of nation lies in her 3S's-
Self-sustenance,
Sovereignty,
and
Status
amidst comity of nations.
The
3S's can be used to gauge the progress and development of a nation through the PESTLE
analysis-
P-political
E-economic
S-social
T-technological
L-legal
E-environment
At the
above listed levels, can a nation sustain her activities without too much
assistance or reliance on other nations? Can the nation uphold her sovereignty
and control with less influence from other nations? What's the status of that
nation in the phalanx of nations? At economic sphere, how the nation
economic decision can be self sustained, less influenced and the recognition
accrued to it (in the world of today, we all know that China's economic
decisions affect more people). At the social sphere, every nation needs to
find a way to promulgate their cultures cum traditions in this era of
e-culture, that is a hybrid of globalized cultures or else the culture will be
threatened, eroded, or extinct (India does this heavily through their
Bollywood). At the technological sphere, at the legal sphere, and also at the
environmental level where we consider the individual survival propensity, ease
of existence, security, shelter etc.
At that
point, we need to identify how we can process our youthfulness to resourcefully
increase our viability as a nation. It’s not only Nigeria that has
statesmanship issue. America has, and has been trying to belly her impending
implosion. Despite the high rate of unemployment, government marginalization,
low educational funding, absence of alleviation programmes for youths, we can
still stand tall and effect the desired change. In the past, it has been more
of talking than walking it. Today I share with you a pragmatic means to making
Nigeria viable by enlarging your personal selves. Is that not a win-win
situation?
At the
individual level, my brothers and sisters, the first task is installment of
empathy- as the building basics of character and morality. Remember that a
nation is an embodiment of common individuals. Being good to one's neighbour
is a molecule of National development and the starting point of character and
morality building. The recipient of such goodness will spread to others like
ripples in a silent river. It becomes a goodness-circle. There arises a great
sense of patriotism that is long lost in our Nigeria. With empathy, we see
others as ourselves and treat them as thus. Imagine we have empathy from
herdsmen and empathy from local farmers; will the rift not have abated?
Presently there are farmers using the situation to abuse, exploit, and goad
Fulanis and also some Fulani miscreants hide under that to plunder the
locals. A simple installment of empathy will resuscitate lost patriotism,
love harmony and unity that government undoing have caused.
Then, personal development through
reading with critical reasoning-- Autobiographies, memoirs of great
thinkers can be read for personal development and demanding mental ruminations
should accompany such digestion. Alternate language development is also a
viable way to mental enlargement (I heard that any individual that will head UN
now must be proficient in at least two int'l languages). Personal development
courses are helpful. Emotional intelligence has been proven to be more
important to the IQ that was emphasized in the last century. This ICT
aided age does not need you to do more scholastic activities at work
but we now talk of people skills, emotional intelligence, etc.
A 2nd class graduate that makes her colleagues feel great around her can
outlast a first class graduate that is a competent jerk at work.
Acquisition
of skills should be a must-have compliment: that is your economic
contribution to National development. As you take values for all services, those little-sums build Nigeria. Earning gives
you values and self-esteem. As a student, session-break should be used
to acquire at least a skill until you can find that which you sync with.
Not only our economy that needs diversification, at the individual level
we need to diversify and create income/career options.
With
empathy as a source of morality and character, with personal development, and
skills acquisition, youths are positioned to be involved in policy
making. We henceforth can step forward in every sphere: political, economic
social, technological or legal sphere of our nation. Partake in politics, form
healthy alliances, contribute through sacrificial innovations and policy
making. The grand mistake of the past generation is embodied in the saying
"politics is a dirty game". What a great Mistake! Now,
the cerebral are now at the mercy of the dirty gamers, 80 percent of which
are the bail-out and let-my-people-go students. We should understand
how after the likes of Awolowo, we are suffering from the want
of technocrats that will take us to the Promised Land. Learning from such
mistakes, youths therefore need to partake actively with focused vigour.
At this
juncture I now present to you: the goals of youth empowerment, as identified by
UNESCO. They are to nurture in the youth values, ideals and notable skills as
follows:
-
Positive sense of self: building self esteem.
-
Self-control : discipline ( it's said the effort needed to make a breakthrough
is same to the effort you need to wake up 2mins after your alarm sounds - same
as calculating your degree of procrastination which is inversely proportionate
to your rate of getting things done)
-
Decision making skills (traditional intelligence is laden with untapped
wisdom--divest yourself into Proverbs) to me it may speak volumes
compare to all these motivational books: a synergy would be appreciable.
- Moral
system of belief- every moral system of belief has a firm root in empathy, selflessness,
sacrifice, and kindness. Empathy is the source of everything humane.
-
Pro-social connectiveness- this encourages good neighbor-ship, camaraderie
and collegial harmony.
It was
once said "every state in Nigeria is viable because the ultimate resource
of wealth creation is the people and they all have them in abundance."
Youths, we are the people: the active people, for that matter. The younger
and the older are dependent on us.
I leave
you with this quote "youth refers to people who have energy, vigour and
enthusiasm to get things done. It is a state of mind not a function of Age, a
quality of imagination, a predominance of courage over timidity and an
insatiable appetite for progressive reasoning."
Giddy
up and let us make this Nation great.
A
jisebi Oyo laari!
Thank
you.
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