A KEYNOTE ADDRESS PRESENTED BY HIS EXCELLENCY, RT. HON. EMEKA IHEDIOHA, CON, KSC AT THE INAUGURATION OF THE NANS ZONE “B” COORDINATOR, HELD AT THE FEDERAL UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY, OWERRI, ON 26TH MARCH, 2018

PROTOCOL
I am particularly delighted to be here today to participate in the inauguration of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) Zone “B” Coordinator, Mr. Godson Okereke and his Executive committee.

For the records, I believe your invitation of me stems from your well researched findings of my age long participation in students movement in our country and contribution to youth development and empowerment.

My delight stems from the fact that all over the world student bodies such as NANS play a fundamental role in shaping institutions of higher learning and preparing students for future leadership challenges. They exist essentially to complement the efforts of the school authorities in ensuring quality learning, scholarship, promotion of pristine moral values and right ethos that will ultimately, not only promote the growth and well-being of the respective institutions but also help in jump-starting national development.

This is why I had no hesitation in accepting to be part of this event and to present the keynote paper themed: “The Role of Intellectuals in Nation Building, the Youths in Focus.”  

This conversation could not have come at a more auspicious time than now when most of the country’s 36 states, particularly our dear state, Imo, are evidently at crossroads due to bad governance and the toxicity of the political manoeuvrings of those saddled with the responsibility of the authoritative allocation of our collective values.

As leaders of tomorrow, youths occupy a critical place in nation building. But for them to play that role effectively, there must be a formal process of socialization that prepares them for the onerous task of leadership. That is where higher institutions of learning, particularly the universities come into focus
 
It is not mere happenstance that the leadership cadre in most Western countries that have achieved remarkable levels of development are usually recruited from their best universities.  For development and growth of any nation, education is a sine-qua-non. But more importantly, the education that engenders development must be qualitative.
 
Qualitative education itself leans on many variables – sound government policies that engender conducive learning environment, dedicated and well-motivated teachers as well as enthusiastic, committed and disciplined students.

No nation has ever attained greatness without fully harnessing the energy, resourcefulness, creativity and ingenuity of its youths. And there can be no resourceful, creative and skilful youths without quality education. It is instructive that quality education is not attained by chance or deceitful theatrics as it is the case in our state presently but a product of sincere, rigorous, well thought-out and vigorously implemented government policies because education is the foremost social instrument without which a state is bound to relapse to the Hobbesian State of nature where life is nasty, brutish and short.

As Benjamin Disraeli, a famous British statesman who served twice as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, poignantly put it, “The youth of a nation are the trustees of posterity.”

This is what Franklin D. Roosevelt, the 32nd President of the United States, meant when he said, “We cannot always build the future for our youths but we can build our youths for the future.”

The only way to build a country’s youth for the future is to arm them with a very firm God-filled foundation, quality education and the upholding of our cherished value system

Every well-meaning government must prioritize education and human capital development as the best legacies it must bequeath to its youth. The strength of a nation is therefore a function of the sophistication of its educational system. It is the most powerful change agent. Education is the passport to reshape and consolidate the future, for tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today, and education is the best way of preparing for that tomorrow. But the candid question is: Where does this leave our dear country, Nigeria? To what extent are we guaranteed quality education that prepares our youth for that tomorrow?

On February 14, 2012, barely nine months after taking the oath of office, Governor Rochas Okorocha declared that no student or pupil of Imo State origin studying in any institution owned by the state would pay fees. He also announced scholarships for all students and pupils of Imo State origin from primary to tertiary level.

Addressing Imolites at the Imo “Freedom Square” in Owerri, the governor said the state government would, starting from September 2012, give each school pupil N25,000 every year; N100 every day for each secondary school student, N80,000 scholarship in addition to N20,000 as loan to students in Imo State University; N60,000 and N20,000, respectively for scholarship and loan to students at the HND level; while N40,000 and N20,000 respectively for ND level students in the polytechnic. The loans according to him would be repaid after their graduation and having secured employment. Today, students of Imo origin will bear witness that six years after, these promises have remained as proposals and perhaps wishful thinking.

It was obvious that what the governor did was sheer grandstanding, making a policy pronouncement to gain instant praise, without generating the necessary raw data for analysis with respect to planning. Yet, governance is a very serious business which cannot be divorced from statistics, planning and priority setting.

As a pillar of socio-economic growth and development, education should not be trivialized, but accorded top priority in planning, policies and programmes.

Qualitative and affordable education is therefore not only desirable but imperative and critical if the state must accomplish sustainable milestones required for its development
 
Beyond formal education in this country, we also need to focus on vocational skills and entrepreneurial development. As part of my commitment to youth empowerment, in 2012, 2013 and 2014, and even recently, I sponsored skills acquisition and entrepreneurial development programme for Imo youths and students; In the actualisation of this programme, I partnered with several federal government agencies with proven records in skill acquisition, where a large number of youths and students benefitted. The beneficiaries included student leaders and students across higher institutions in Imo State.  

Similarly, mentorship is another crucial area that youths need to be empowered. Although fast disappearing in the educational curriculum it is very critical in nation building and development of the youth. The major aim which doubles as the primary benefit however is; to provide opportunity for the youth to be guided and prevented from making mistakes, as well as ensuring that the youth or mentee achieves his/her goals in abridged time.

It is incumbent on the older generation to mentor the younger ones so as to continue the cycle. In the course of my close interaction with students and youths, I have had the privilege of guiding at some point, a few  of your colleagues, including; the late Donald Onukogu, (former NANS Senate President), Rex Okoro, (former SUG President, IMSU), Chidi Aguocha, (who was my S.A. during my time as Deputy Speaker, House of Representatives), Kelechi Nnaji, (former NANS Clerk), Orient Nwadike, (former SUG President, Alvan Ikoku FCE), Godson Okereke, (former SUG President, FUTO and now NANS Zone “B” Coordinator), to mention but a few.
 
Recently, I read a paper presented by Prof. Ibrahim A. Gambari, at the first anniversary lecture of Mustapha Akanbi Foundation where he observed and I quote; “In today’s world, skills, industriousness, productivity and competitiveness are the determinant factors of national greatness”. According to him, “Not even the possession of the nuclear bomb is enough to make a nation great without reference to the industriousness and creativity of its citizens”.

He concluded by submitting that, “Since the time of Adam Smith, every serious nationalist and politician has come to know that the wealth of a nation is not based on the wealth and opulence of its rulers but on the productivity and industriousness of its citizenry”.

I align myself completely with Gambari on this particular viewpoint. National development achieved through skills, productivity, competitiveness and industry can only be stimulated through qualitative education and dexterous mentoring. This largely explains why the government, our institutions of higher learning and of course the private sector must cooperate to empower our youths with the right and veritable hands-on knowledge required to grow the nation.

At this juncture, let me enumerate some other challenges bedevilling nation building and the youths. They include but not limited to;
 
1.       FAILED INSTITUTIONS:
Our state and indeed Nigerian institutions are deficient and inefficient in grappling with challenges confronting the government. We would be on the right path to nation building when we address this challenge of failed and failing Institutions. We must realize that the growth of every country has a bearing with her institutions, strong, virile and responsive to issues and challenges of government

 Some of the institutions that have been greatly weakened include; the state legislature and local government councils. The Houses of Assembly have been turned unfortunately to be an appendage of the executive across many states thereby impacting too adversely on good governance and national development. Sadly, we have succeeded in building strong personalities and weak institutions, hence poor leadership.

In response to this, I took advantage of my chairmanship of the House of Representative’s committee on Constitution Review (2011-2015) to trigger a nation-wide People’s Public Session which recommended the strict observance of the principles and practice of the separation of powers between the various arms and levels of government for the true sustenance of our democracy. Regrettably, after a successful rigorous legislative process, President Goodluck Jonathan refused to give accent to the bill, ostensibly hiding under the justification of some administrative lapses.

2.   POOR LEADERSHIP:
It is important for us to examine holistically the nature of our leadership by answering the following questions: What type of leaders have we been producing? What type of persons do we entrust power to?  What are their antecedents and pedigree? How prepared are they to deal with the task and rigours of human, material, institutional and infrastructural development? How much commitment does the government show towards the youth and their issues? What stake do the youths have in the government of the State and Country?

It would interest you to note that the youngest civilian leader Nigeria has ever elected, was Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, who became Prime Minister, in 1960, at the age 48. One would have thought that 57 years down, we would have beaten the record or at least sustained this record by encouraging the youths and providing them with greater political space to enable them ascend to various political positions. Although, Gen. Yakubu Gowon who became Military Head of State in 1966 at the age of 32 is the youngest to attain such position under military government, it is proper and necessary to always make plans and preparations for the youths to have access to governance. It should be noted that youths are progressively taking over the mantle of leadership around the world. France at 39, San Marino at 39, Austria at 31 and New Zealand at 37.

When eventually, the Not-Too-Young to Run bill completes its legislative and executive sojourn to become a law, it will provide inevitable opportunity for Nigerian youths to assume national executive leadership as is the case in these other countries.

 3.    UNHEALTHY ENVIRONMENT:
The Nigerian environment is unique for its stinging nature. Millions of youths’ dreams and ideas are frustrated on the altar of the Nigerian environment.

The indices of success recorded by youth in other climes would be terribly less, had they been confronted with similar Nigerian environmental realities. This ranges from insecurity, to epileptic power supply, to high inflation, devalued naira, bitter bank interest rates, poor economic policies and deficient infrastructural base. The list is almost endless. How then can start-up small-scale businesses or enterprises by the youths survive here?

It is my recommendation that, Governments at all levels and arms must wake up to their responsibilities of providing necessities for business and economic relations to strive. The legislature has a duty to enact laws that will improve the lives of citizenry; the Executive must stand up to her huge role in the daily running and managing of the state resources; and finally, the Judiciary must be seen to be the beacon of hope for the common man as it painstakingly administers justice without fear or favour.

The youths as a matter of priority must be accorded a prime space in the national development architecture. This is the only way Nigeria as a nation can consolidate the onerous path to nation building and greatness. To achieve this, the youths must be properly equipped through the attainment of qualitative education and inherent sophistication handed down by scholars imbued with profound intellect. Functional mentorship and remarkable training on entrepreneurship are also critical towards positioning and reinforcing the youths to contribute meaningfully and effectively to nation-building.

Let me conclude this address by commending our son, Okereke Godson Bishop who was recently elected NANS Zone-B co-ordinator for his hard-fought victory. I have little doubt that your capacity and campaign approach sold you to your colleagues. By reason of your attainment today, you have become our people’s ambassador among the very significant Nigerian students’ community. Take note therefore, that your actions and inactions will now become subject to serious scrutiny. It is my prayer that you will take advantage of this rare privilege and become a positive role model. I must also salute your comrades and campaign team who sacrificed their time, resources, comfort and subsumed their individual ambition to actualize the victory you are celebrating today. And to the university authority, I commend your sense of tolerance and accommodation. I am knowledgeable enough to understand that your cooperation was a vital ingredient in the success of Godson.

Early this morning, as I was putting finishing touches to this presentation, I read through the social media that NANS zone B leadership has unveiled a bottled water factory as part of its inauguration programme, for the purpose of self-sustainability. This is a commendable and laudable step in the right direction. It’s worthy of note that lack of economic independence has greatly militated against institutional independence in our polity. I hope you will have the discipline to nurture it. Please take this as a test on your managerial capacity.

On this note, I express my appreciation to the Chairman of the Governing Council of this great institution, the Vice-Chancellor, staff and students and other members of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) for the privilege given to me to address this gathering. I thank you all for your attention.

God bless you.

Long Live the Federal Republic of Nigeria!
Long Live Imo State!!
Long Live National Association of Nigerian Students!!!
Permit me to say, ALUTA CONTINUA…. VICTORIA ACERTA.