Goodwill Message by His Majesty, Obi Nnaemeka Achebe, mni, CFR, at the 30 th Anniversary Lecture of the Obafemi Awolowo Foundation, 06 March, 2022.
Protocols . . .
It a great pleasure and privilege for me to deliver this goodwill message on the occasion of the 30 th anniversary lecture. of the Obafemi Awolowo Foundation.
As a patron of the Foundation, I join in welcoming all present, particularly our distinguished visitor, the former President of Ghana, H. E. The Right Honourable John Dramani Mahama. I also welcome our amiable former Head of State, H. E. General Yakubu Gowon, GCFR, Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Foundation. Similarly, I welcome the guest lecturer, The Right Reverend Professor Adedapo Asaju, Bishop Theologian of the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion), who has just been translated as the Bishop of Ilesa Diocese.
I congratulate the Obafemi Awolowo Foundation led by the indefatigable scion of the great sage, Ambassador Dr. Tokunbo Awolowo-Dosunmu, for steadfastly immortalizing the memory and thoughts of the Right Honourable Chief Obafemi Awolowo in an independent and non-partisan manner. I daresay that the mission mandate of the Foundation has been well accomplished in its thirty years of existence through various programmes, particularly this annual lecture series and the separate distinguished leadership award. We pray that the Foundation will continue to grow in strength and coverage in the years ahead.
The theme of this year's lecture resonates very well with me in my efforts to transform my kingdom of Onitsha from an ancient enclave that basked in past glories to a forward-looking community that is 21 st century compliant.
On becoming monarch, I met a dysfunctional community still affected by the aftermaths of the civil war. Firstly, we embarked on a journey of peace building and reconciliation, believing that these were adequate for the social re-engineering that we envisaged. Subsequently, we realized that there was a far more fundamental enabler to our journey of sustainable development, namely, restoring our communal values, that were sorely distorted by the civil war. We have since infused the concept of values re-orientation into every facet of our comprehensive programmes for our youths under four business pillars and four enablers. It is not yet Uhuru but our progress to date is very satisfying.
Today, with a few exceptions, Africa remains a continent of unfulfilled dreams and expectations, lagging behind the world in most indices of human development. There is still distinct prevalence of abject poverty, hunger, malnutrition, ignorance, lack of potable water, internal and regional insecurity, etc. Some may argue that neo-colonialism is alive and well in Africa.
Since our unfortunate civil war, Nigerians have probably not felt as despondent as in the present times with widespread insecurity, declining economy and quality of life, massive exodus of professionals for greener pastures abroad, disruptions to tertiary education by incessant strikes, youth frustration, etc.
The forgoing unhappy picture notwithstanding, UNICEF has declared that the future of humanity is increasingly African, predicated on the youthful population of the continent. It thus becomes imperative that this burgeoning youth population is effectively trained and harnessed as the most potent engine for development. Failing that, a disappointed youth population would become the greatest threat to the stability and well-being of the continent.
I trust that today's lecture will give fresh insights on the challenges of sustainable development in our continent and the place of values in that context. Our guest lecturer is a well-respected intellectual and eminently qualified to do justice to the subject of the lecture. I wish all happy participation and thank you for your attention.
Agbogidi.
06 March, 2022. |
