Being a lecture note delivered at the 2010 end-of-year get-together of the PACESETTER CLUB of EBIRALAND by Omeiza Paul (a freelance writer and editor of Voice of Ebira newspaper) at 1st Oriental Hotel, Ajaokuta Road, Kogi State. Date:30/12/2010.
I greet everyone seated here today in the name of Almighty God. I welcome you all to this important gathering of the eagles that are set to soar with Ebiraland as their feather. It is, indeed, an honour to be among you all today, and a great privilege to be found worthy of giving the piece of write-up.
Permit me to respectfully ask to be forgiven for not speaking today in line with the topic which this admirable body formally gave me to deliver. I was ‘officially’ directed to speak on the topic “THE ROLES OF YOUTHS IN NATION BUILDING”. But I had meditated upon it and concluded that it was relevant that we, as the youths with the fire of transformation burning in our bones, needed to be the specific youths, and our land which we earnestly seek to reform and transform, becoming the specific nation in the larger Nigeria – thus the birth of this new title: “THE ROLES OF EBIRA YOUTHS IN NATION BUILDING”. Yet, I’m promising you all that the soul, body and spirit of the originally given topic will not be missed out even under the current heading. I’m hoping that I’m forgiven for this humble rudeness, please.
Let us now begin to work on the work of the day for time, as it is said, wait for not us.
ON PLAYING OUR ROLES ARIGHT…
It will be a bit difficult to specifically hold on to a particular definition of the word ‘role’ as its overriding explanation here, yet it is important for us to search for an acceptable and understandable meaning of the word for our usage. First, the Chambers 21st Century Dictionary (2004 reprint) reminds us that role is “…a function, or a part played or taken on by someone or something in life, business, etc” Here, we have an understanding of the meaning of the word role – that is, the part we undertake in the process of an event. Unless one is dead, we all must be up to something at a given time in our living diary. We constantly play roles everywhere either active or otherwise. In a public show for instance, if we do not have an active part to play then we must have an inactive part, that is if we are not players then we are automatically spectators – yet both sides need each other to function in other to have an eventful and memorable show. Every side has its role for its partakers – one to watch, the other to act.
Again, role means responsibility; whereas the word responsibility is formed from its root word ‘response’. We must hold it fast that it is in our responding to issues around us that we pick up a role to play. So everyday we must perform a role – as long as we breathe in oxygen and digest food. Usually, however, we tend to misplace our roles as humans. Temptations sometimes force one to follow the crowd to taking wrong roles results that are always regrettable. For example, if one are born to rise from a poor background to leading his generation (like Nelson Mandela), such might be tempted while still very young to following his mates who have become truants at schools spending their precious time hustling for yahoo-yahoo pay to buy assorted materials to show off. Becoming a member of these happening kids is a great temptation to overcome; and should one fall for them, the brighter star upon his head as a future leader begins to dim. Well, the day those fellows are caught consequent to their nefarious acts may likely be the last day star that is destined for greatness dims last; it may black-out thenceforth – which is the result of misplacing one’s role to peer temptation. And by this mistake, many promising stars have been driven to the back seat in life today, and many more have died especially in the marketplace of mercenary to some political business-men.
Having said this, those who have stepped rightly in their roles in the pursuits of life are surely marking their indelible footprint in the sands of time. And they will be remembered for how many souls they placed ladders for to climb to higher grounds and their unforgettable contributions to other areas that bring succor to their generations – simply because they know their roles and are functioning perfectly therein. Going to the West, in the heat of the segregation that plagued the blacks in the United States (US), public places were conspicuously divided for the Blacks and the Whites; whereas the dirtiest, filthiest places were meant for the blacks. A black man must not seat in a public bus while a white stood; such black could be fiercely punished and fined. Yet, the Blacks who stood for the emancipation of their fellows were then youths who played different roles: Rosa Parks was a seamstress (tailor); Martin Luther King Jr. was a preacher; Phillis Wheatley, a writer and poet; Benjamin Banneker, a Mathematician; Jesse Owens, an athlete, etcetera. These people’s roles remain the ladder through which a black man (President Barrack Obama) climbed the coveted Oval Office also known as the White House in the US.
And the question before us today is one; with our chosen pursuits, are we perfectly playing our roles to effect positive changes before our misplaced, misinformed and misguided generation?
ON THE ENERGY CALLED YOUTHS…
Who is a youth, we ask? In an attempt to expatiate the word youth, the online version of Meriam-Webstar’s Dictonary and Thesaurus states that the youth is, “the time of life when one is young; especially the period between childhood and maturity.” In this definition, we are caught in the web of two words, ‘childhood’ and ‘maturity’. We are told that the substance of being a youth falls between those of being a child and an adult (maturity).
When then is one considered as a child and as matured person? Let us seek help from the Macmillan English Dictionary for Advanced Learners (International Student Edition); and in here, we are told that childhood is “the time of your life when you are a child” noting that a child is “a young person from the time they are born until they are about 14 years old.” Clearly, it is of our knowledge now that childhood is the period of day-one of one’s birth till about age 14; so you are a child if you fall in this parameter. Then we are told of the period of maturity in the same dictionary as, “the qualities and behaviour that you would expect of a sensible adult.” And that an adult is, “someone who is no longer a child and is legally responsible for their actions.” Now, we must understand that a youth is not yet mature to be assumed as an adult, whereas he is not immature to be assumed as a child, too. But a youth, as we can establish in this definitions, is the vibrant live-wire between the periods of being responded to as a child and that of being responsible (legally) to others as a mature adult. Which means at the stage of being a youth, the freedom of exploring the limitless adventures of the good and ills of the society is at its fullest. How? The youths are not fully being responded to by his parents like a child – neither do they wholesomely hold much legally binding responsibility like parents do. The youthful period is the energy of life; the time explore and exploit the sweetness (and bitterness) of tempting freedoms. We surely know what it means to be freed from parental ‘chains’, and the temptations of such freedom. It is the ripe time to make one’s path in life reputably good or bad.
But how then do we build good reputations as youths? By making the foundation of one’s life solid – and building it with qualitative blocks and bricks that can never be rocked to the ground by winds or rains. One of the foundational stones of a good reputation is sound spirituality; our unbreakable devotion to the Most High. God is the Porter who carved every living soul; He is the Porter that we must constantly return to if we must not be broken on the fiery stove (fire) of life. He is the Unchangeable Changer that can change our adversities to advantages, our trials to triumphs, our formidable temptations to adorable jubilations… He is the Manifold Wisdom that can make us wiser than Solomon to overcoming troubling questions raging like the sea waves against our lives.
And the building bricks and blocks to raising good reputations are threefold: one, intellectual; two, physical, and thirdly, relational.
Now, the Encyclopaedia Britannica Student and Home Edition helps us visualize intelligence as, “mental quality that consists of the abilities to learn from experience, adapt to new situations, understand and handle abstract concepts, and use knowledge to manipulate one’s environment” Observing this definition, we see the supremacy of mental soundness (“mental quality”) as the foundation of sound intellect. It pictures intellectuals as people who learn constantly; they submit to changes resulting from their education, and with their acquired knowledge always working ways to improve on their immediate and distant environments. Intellectuals do not build bridges where there is no water; they influence minds to taking up lofty and patriotic tasks that can correct the ills of their society. They investigate to mitigate problems, and they question to correct unhealthy situations around their settings. So, a reputable youth must be intellectually overflowing.
Physically, we all are not equally made; some are tall, others are short. But all are fitted to solving one problem or another in our society irrespective of height or disability. But our point of concern here is of our hygienic devotion to our physical health. The kinds of intakes we allow our bellies contain determine our looks, longevity and capability – and our strength. For the lifespan of those addicted to hemp or alcohol are never at par with the non-alcoholics. And the rational behaviors of the alcoholic and the non-alcoholic are a gulf apart, too. In the choice of a leader, you and I know whom the cap fits between those addicted to stimulant stuffs and those not addicted; whereas there we find the place of a reputable youth, choosing the honourable part of staying clean, healthy and serene.
Coming to the relational side, it is said that no-one is an island. As humans we must co-habit, we must relate with others. Yet one of the hardest human behavioral traits is the ability to relate maximally without unnecessary frictions; many can neither accommodate their neighbors nor tolerate any other partner for long in a relationship. Many love to dominate to accommodate, instead of cultivating the ability to subordinating oneself to others irrespective of age, status and stature. It is humility and the ability to endure the foibles of others that place one above his equals. It is like saying the way up is down; being a servant-leader fellow. A highly reputable young mind treats his/her neighbour as he/she loves to be treated.
To display such great virtues makes an ordinary youth a sought-after gold among equals. Such virtues emanate from devoted reverence to spirituality, disciplined fellowship with intellectuals, diligent breeding of relational instinct, and dedicated attendance to healthy physical hygiene. Many of the world’s great heroes – Mahatma Ghandi of India; Nelson Mandela of South Africa; Jomo Kenyatta of Kenya; Obafemi Awolowo, etcetera – have these traits scribbled in their lives while soaring to the top. The challenge is this: one must not ask for tasks equal to his power; it must be power equal to any given, profitable task!
ON EBIRA AS A NATION…
Writing on the back page of the Nation newspaper of Sunday, February 10, 2008, one of Nigeria’s most respected columnists, Idowu Akinlotan, produced an image of the Ebira-tao thus, “There are the Ebiras in the centre, tempestuous but practical and impatient… And while the Ebira can hardly see well through the hot vapour of their fiery temper…” Really, the writer was writing on “Exposing Kogi’s Mediocrity” taking a look at the three main ethnic groups in Kogi State, whereas he qualified the Igalas as “numinous and domineering”, and the Okun in the West as “a studious but sedate and officious people.” Well, I still search for further fitting words to describe the peoples of Kogi as the ones used above. But my concern here is the picture made of the Ebiras. Could he be totally correct?
It is still a matter of hushed debate on which of the various historical accounts of the Ebira-Tao nation is authentic and acceptable. Many sides still tell stories of the history of the coming to the Central of the Ebira people. For this purpose, it is useful we make do with our recent history in order to find ways to improving on its weaknesses. Like many other lands, Ebiraland has produced great minds and thinkers working within and outside this nation. Our older siblings have held exalted positions of authority here and elsewhere (and some are still holding places of pride today) – and to name names here now will take every space left for us. Many are they who are truly making the Ebira nation proud by their silent labours world-wide.
Frankly, on the other side, as Akinlotan puts it, are our weakening attributes; “…tempestuous…impatient…hardly see(ing) well through the hot vapour of their (our) fiery temper.” We are practical but we endure too little; we are industrious but not constructive, and we are highly religious but less Godly. To endure, to be constructive and to be more Godly have been a hilly trip for us to undertake. Taking the nature of electioneering in this land and the celebration of festivities like Echane and Ekuechi for examples, one is pricked by the avoidable bloodshed and death that usually trailed these calendar moments in our lives; truly tempestuous used to be these seasons. Also, by the reason of using hot vapour of our fiery temper where calculative movements were demanded, this land has lost profitable and respectable positions of authority to other lands in the time past. Violence has been so unleashed on the land by these weaknesses that it is depriving the future a better place among their equals in high places already. An average Ebira is recognized today outside this land as a violent, unforgiving fellow. It is the peculiar identity card handed us by the period of showdowns (bloodshed, arson, theft, etc) the land had witnessed. Yet, one thing is sure: change is possible…and it begins with you…and I…today!
ON THE ROLES OF THE YOUTHS…
The easiest and simplest job in the world today is to blame: to blame the governments for our bad roads; our parents for not paying our fees on time; our friends for dirtying our rooms…I mean, give a man a day to correct a situation he could undertake within five hours and see him cussing and blaming the cause for twenty-three hours. It is hardest to see blame on us, or to even gather others to repair the ‘government’ roads, source for our own fees earlier and sweep the room much better without apportioning blames to Dick and Harry. While we may cry to high heavens, the problems remain the same until we courageously gather the energy to act. It would never change until we are changed to change it; it remains the same as long as we remain the same, and we will keep getting the same solution if our formula remains the same.
Every exposed, widely traveled and extensively read Ebira youth, going by our definitions so far, is an instrument needed for the change this land deserve. We already know what role means and where it is exercised, we know that youths are the energy of the land – which means they are the main undertakers of all inevitable change occurring in the land – and we know the peculiar curable disease afflicted on Ebira nation. In short, we have been equipped with the necessary ingredients (of the land and its deserving change) to which we must arise to effect and affect the change we dream of. Someone said, “Every youth who is ambitious to grow to the full stature of noble manhood must make up his mind at the start that he got to be bigger than the things that are trying to down (pull) him. If he doesn’t he will go down with them.” How do you overcome the bogey of impatience since you seek to grow to the full stature of becoming a patient, noble manhood? How do you speak and act the language of non-violence in a setting where even some grayish fellows mastermind unrest by misinforming the youths?
One, play your role – and in playing your role, you must understand that you are the change you want to see. You cannot give what you do not have, so you only can give patience to the impatient – if you have it. It is important we begin to cultivate those great virtues of forgiveness, patience, endurance, charity and brotherly love. You must be ready to turn the other cheek when this side appeared slapped even by the least expected neighbour of yours! It is a hard way, but is one of the easiest ways to a noble manhood. Again, it is your role to always practice what you preach. You must become the flesh and blood of your continuous sermon of peace and love; it must become your own lifestyle. Do not make it a matter of do-as-I-say; let it be do-as-I-do – doing unto others what you want them to do to you. Whenever you foresee unhealthy situation worthy of causing violence, you must cry out and reach out to your friends of like minds for the crusade of rigorous enlightenment and education. I tell you, it will be a hard trip, but nothing comes easy; you are only writing your names on the good pages of history.
As youths with zeal and overflowing energy, now is the time to make imprints in your nation of birth with your gifts and/or talents. If you strive to be fit spiritually, physically, relationally and intellectually, it is then you directly and/or indirectly affect and inspire the erring “boys” around you, and then those from afar would begin to trace your blazing stars to you with respect and admiration.
True, Ebiraland is a part of this nation thirsting for a positive change. Fortunately, you are the only ones – my dear friends – who must stand up against those shortsighted old guards for the proclamation of freedom from internal disunity, clannish go-slow, regressive politicking – and the victory over impatient, hot temper, unforgiving spirits, etc. And, in doing this my brothers and sisters, you must not wear the garment of domination for accommodation; you must be humble and meek in the preaching and practice of the change you desire. The road will be rough; you will be persecuted, abused and harassed by those whose sights are yet to be complemented with light especially the Machiavellians who have been feasting on the violence in the land, but just make them see the unshakable force of nonviolence over violence; the place of order against disorder, and the need to letting “boys” grow into men instead of sending them to early graves. Just like this club, THE PACESETTERS CLUB OF EBIRALAND, is set to battle ignorance by imparting knowledge on young minds across Ebiraland, we must all begin to win the battle over violence with the knowledgeable messages of non-violence. It is the time for you to rise and let your stars shine; do not hold back nor hold on because it is not over until is over. As you will rise up from here today to positively set the pace to changing Ebiraland, I Charge you in the words of the legendary Martin Luther King Jr., “We, the disinherited of this land, we who have been oppressed so long, are tired of going through the long night of captivity. And now we are reaching out for the daybreak of freedom and justice and equality…we must keep God in the forefront… Not only are we using the tools of persuasion… Not only is this thing a process of education but it is also a process of legislation… As we stand and sit here this evening and as we prepare ourselves for what lies ahead, let us go out with a grim and bold determination that we are going to stick together. We are going to work together. Right here in Montgomery, when the history books are written in the future, somebody will have to say, “There lived a race of people, a black people…a people who had the moral courage to stand up for their rights. And there they injected a new meaning into the veins of history and of civilisation””
Finally, permit me to sound this canon of warning: the time is coming when you would be tempted with money to forego your noble cause of reformation, revival and renewal. Big men and women would tempt you. As a guide, I provide the guiding principle with which Mahathma Ghandi uprooted oppressive and ignorant clouds from India in his days. He tagged it the seven deadliest sins we must watch: one, wealth without works; two, pleasure without conscience; three, science without humanity; four, knowledge without character; five, commerce without morality; six, politics without principles, and seven, worship without sacrifice. You can register this in your heart as a navigational compass. I understand that all of you have been converged here today from different streets of Ebiraland; Ihima to Ohiana, Ebiya through Ogaminana, Eika through Uruvucheba…but you need to return home today as the only one who will change the lives of the so called boys in your area, while you indirectly send the thieves using them before out of business. What have I left unsaid than calling us to “Arise, O compatriots…Ebira unity and progress call…obey!”
Thank you all for your time.
Email: omeizino@yahoo.com;
Tel: 08065055031 (SMS please)
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