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The Responsibility of Hope
Keynote Speech by Frank Nweke II at the 2023 Shaping the Future Conference on December 1st, 2023 at Debase Events Center, Enugu State, Nigeria.
1.
Once upon a time, two frogs, Olileanya and OsoOso fell into a deep pit. All the other frogs gathered around the pit to see how they would help them come out from the pit. When they saw how deep the pit was, they became dismayed and hopeless and told the two frogs in the pit that there was no way they could ever come out from the pit and that they should prepare themselves for their fate. Unwilling to accept this terrible fate, the two frogs made frantic efforts to jump out of the pit. Some of the frogs shouted into the pit that it was hopeless trying to jump out because they would never ever come out. Other frogs continued shouting sorrowfully that they should just give up since they were already as good as dead. The two frogs continued with desperate effort trying their very best to jump out. Finally, OsoOso quietly resolved himself to his fate, lay down at the bottom of the pit and died as the others looked on in helpless grief. The other frog, Olileanya, continued to jump with every energy he had although exhausted and worn out. His companions began yelling again for him to accept his fate, give up and die. Finally, Olileanya leapt so high that it jumped out from the pit. Surprised, the other frogs gathered celebrated his miraculous freedom and asked him how he made it because it was just impossible that he could get out of the deep pit. Reading their lips, the astonished frog explained to them that he was deaf and that when he saw their gestures and shouting when he was in the pit, he thought they were encouraging him to try his best and jump out from the pit.
I believe a number of you must have heard that story before.
2.
Let us take a quick survey, can you rise to your feet if you feel like your personal economy and our country are currently in a deep pit?
That’s the majority of everyone in the hall today. Yet, your presence here at this conference to discuss the acceleration of actions to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals in Nigeria is a clear indication that you are like the frog who has chosen to ignore the attempts at suppressing your voice and demeaning your efforts. You have chosen to keep jumping, to keep speaking, to keep playing your part in creating a nation that our future can be proud of.
Please, give yourselves a rousing round of applause. You may take your seat.
3.
It is an honour to be here with you all today at the Shaping the Future Conference, on the 1st day of the final month of 2023. I have chosen to address the theme of this event ‘Accelerating Actions to Achieving the SDGs in Nigeria through Entrepreneurship and Civic Engagement’ from the point of personal responsibility as a proof of hope. Therefore, I invite you to join me and pay close attention for the next 15 minutes as I speak about having hope in terms of the responsibilities that we must implement for our collective progress.
4.
In the past year, through the course of the gubernatorial campaign, and as the aftermath unfolded in the past few months, I concluded a number of my statements with the phrase - Keep hope alive.
It may have sounded like a nice cliche in the midst of turmoil. But for me, it was a lifeline to hang on to as we watched our institutions, systems, and economy plummet deeper into the abyss of degeneracy.
This hope is not mere optimism or a euphoric feeling from momentary pleasures.
As Eric Liu aptly put it, "Hope requires responsibility and agency; optimism relieves us of both. In rooting for your sports team, choose optimism. In rooting for democracy, choose hope.”
Hope is an understanding that if we keep trying, just like the frog in the story, we will eventually return to freedom.
That is the responsibility of hope.
This responsibility presents itself in several ways which I will elucidate below.
5.
Responsibility for the future you envision
You are responsible for the future you envision. The Bible says in Proverbs 29:18 that without vision, the people perish. If you have no clarity on where you are going, your chances of getting there are next to nothing. A vision to work towards is proof and a sustainer of your hope.
One thing I believe that we have lacked as a nation is a national vision and cohesive picture of what we desire to achieve. You can see the effect of this visionlessness in our social and economic reality. The poverty of vision over many decades has led to the loss of benefits that should have accrued to our nation.
Thankfully, the 17 SDGs from the United Nations provide a shared vision for peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the future.
It is your responsibility to localise that vision for your reality. Do you seek to end poverty, promote good education, see a world that practices gender equity, or protect our environment? How can you take that goal and design a vision for yourself?
My vision for zero hunger and quality education is the reason I adopt families and provide all they require to ensure good nutrition and education for the children. That is one example.
Nobody should leave here today without a clear vision of what your contribution will be for the good of our state, nation, and world.
6.
Responsibility for lifelong learning
You have a responsibility to keep learning throughout your life. In a rapidly changing world, our approach to learning must pivot from content regurgitation to critical thinking and creativity. Lifelong learning must become a culture and it begins with you.
I am often pained by the low level of reading comprehension that is displayed on social media. Many people assume that they already know enough and it shows in the quality of some arguments, questions, and comments. A stagnant river soon starts to stink. You have to keep reading, learning, and exploring new information in whatever format you choose. My team can tell you how often I forward materials to them to read, watch, or listen to as the case may be.
You cannot expect to make any real change without constantly challenging your mindsets and way of life. Please, make learning and continuous personal development a culture. Get relevant skills and present them in innovative ways. As it is said in your youth lingo - ‘Add packaging’ and to your packaging shall be profit.
7.
Responsibility for innovative and relevant solutions
And as you learn, you must act. Take responsibility for proferring and implementing creative solutions to the challenges you recognize in your communities. New business models and technological advancements in the world present incredible opportunities for you to solve local problems with innovative solutions. Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship has become a critical niche for our overall economic development and the possibilities for what you can do are numerous. Charitable and non-profit organizations are great as well. However, the goal must be sustainability. Quoting Chinua Achebe again, “While we do our good works let us not forget that the real solution lies in a world in which charity will have become unnecessary.”
You should have a plan to keep your venture a going concern that creates social wealth and pursues goals such as quality Education, Gender Equity, Health care, Zero Hunger, Environmental sustainability, Renewable energy, Community development, job creation, and Economic Development.
As the country battles a steep unemployment situation, you have the opportunity to upskill yourself for relevant needs in our society. These jobs may not be regarded as glamorous in our climes, but they are essential for survival and economic development.
Today, Germany is inviting 400,000 skilled workers to address their labour shortages. In addition to jobs in the medical fields, Information Technology, and Engineering, they are also inviting skilled craftsmen - that is artisans, carpenters, metal and woodworks, electricians, industrial cleaning, personal hygiene workers, tailors, hairdressers, chefs and so on.
These are jobs that we look down on here but Germany recognizes their importance and has built this sector into their formal economy. Due to low birth rates, they are actively encouraging emigration to bridge the gap of reportedly over a million jobs.
I can already imagine some of you considering this information a vital ‘JAPA connection’ and won’t mind doing those jobs in the West. I have no plans to discourage you. But it is my hope that you stay. Here in the East, we are known for our innovative minds, entrepreneurial drive, and resilient spirit. We must take responsibility for our gifts and work towards creating communities that work for all.
8.
Responsibility for our history
You must take responsibility to know your history, the labours of our heroes' past, their successes and their failures.
“When you know your history, you know your value. You know the price that has been paid for you to be here. You recognize what those who came before you built and sacrificed for you to inhabit the space in which you dwell.” ― Cicely Tyson
I love to speak about Dr Michael Ihuoma Okpara, the Premier of Eastern Nigeria during the First Republic. Did you know he was only 39 years old when he became a premier?
How much do you know about his achievements and the values that drove the economic success that the Eastern region enjoyed from 1959 to 1966?
What about the Biafra-Nigeria war? Chinua Achebe said that if you only know one side of the story, you have no understanding at all. How can you pursue a goal for peace and justice if you do not have a firm grasp of the historical context that fuels human and communal behaviour?
Do you know about the incredible exploits of the Biafran Research and Production (RAP) team that produced several technological innovations, from Ogbunigwe and other weaponry to building airports and roads, refining petroleum, chemicals and materials, and designing and building light and heavy equipment?
What do you know about the herbs that kept our forebears strong and healthy in their 90s and 100s? How many folktales that carry the spirit of our values do you know?
History was recently restored to the Nigerian Education Curriculum after it was removed in 2009. That is a welcome development. But that is 13 years of raising children who have no understanding of where we are coming from. That represents a good number of you in this room.
It is critical that you embrace the challenge of educating yourself about our history, as a state, a region, and as a nation. As you grow in this knowledge, take the next step and share it with others.
9.
Responsibility for civic and political advocacy
One of the most bandied quotes of every politician and motivational speaker in Nigeria is - “the youths are the hope of our future, the leaders of tomorrow.”
While this cliché is a homage to the strength and vitality of the youth, your creativity and capacity for adventure and new ideas, in reality, we have experienced it to be a patronizing maxim for the burgeoning population of young people who control the largest blocs of votes.
In the past few election cycles, and especially in the 2023 elections, we have seen an upsurge in the number of youths who truly understand the truth of that phrase - the hope of the future. This increasing consciousness has led to a subversion of the ballot as the suppression of voices has become almost impossible.
We can’t shy away from the feelings of despondency that became the reality of many Nigerians as we watched the events of the past few months unfold.
What we must not do is allow it to overshadow the place of hope. You must continue to use your voice, your education, your strength, your partnerships and every other resource at your disposal to hold your leadership accountable for the rights of citizens. The future will thank you for this.
10.
Responsibility for the name you answer
Contrary to rambunctious attempts to make you believe otherwise, ezi afa ka ego. A good name; integrity is still more valuable than wealth, fame or power. A good name is not bestowed, rather it is the result of the choices you make and the values that underpin those choices.
I have often told the story of my father threatening to call a press conference and publicly disown me if I were to ‘soil’ his name. Knowing my father, he would not have hesitated to carry out that threat if it was ever necessary. Mind you, I was a minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria at this time.
I also recall that he regularly turned away people who visited with gifts to show gratitude for some perceived favour from his son. Such people often returned to tell me, ‘Now we understand’.
I once had a friend whom my father did not particularly like. All efforts to separate me from the gentleman who was older at the time, failed. Eventually, I didn’t need my father to counsel me further after I almost got shot at the toll gate on the international airport road, Lagos in 1990 while riding in my friend’s car. It was only when the would-be assassins levelled up beside the car with guns pulled that they realized that my friend, one Mazi, wasn’t in the car, they asked after him and then drove off angrily warning that they would get him.
Naivety almost killed me. When my father heard what happened, he wrote me one of his many letters and one quote has remained etched in my memory: My dear son, “You cannot afford to live in a world where people are pointing accusing fingers at you”.
The seemingly good fortunes of those who have fingers pointing at them today may try to convince you otherwise. But I urge you to remain deaf to everything in our society that is demanding the surrender of your values and your good name. You may think you are the only one but when you choose to stand out, you will discover, like the prophet Elijah did in the bible, that there are thousands more who have not bowed their knees to the temptations of a corrupt society.
11.
Responsibility for communal action
While every one of the sustainable development goals is critical, it is often said that the most important is Goal 17 - Partnership for the goals. Our people say, “When you make a decision alone, you can commit an abomination.”
Collaboration is a core part of our culture as Ndigbo. Igwebuike as our people say. I believe that this is similar across several cultures in Nigeria. It is core to how we are raised. Just a week ago, I recounted the story of my extended Umuohajioke family in a goodwill message for the Ebube Dike Summit, an intergenerational dialogue hosted by the Center for Memories on the occasion of International Men’s Day.
Our annual meeting comprised of my father, uncles, cousins and all the male children. This meeting takes place on December 31 every year and the agenda often revolved around the general welfare and well-being of family members. Its most important highlight for teenagers was the agenda item on discipline.
It was at this point that fathers and guardians had the chance to inform the meeting about any errant or deviant child or adults in the family. The accused persons went on summary trial, with punishment, ranging from whipping, and shaving of hair for those that relaxed their hair in those days, administered, instantly. I wish to confess that we didn’t look forward to it as children.
This for me, highlights our core value of communal responsibility for personal accountability. When someone is going astray, the community takes the responsibility to correct the person, not celebrate their wrongdoing. This system insisted on values of truth, honesty, hard work, discipline, and familial obligations.
12.
Responsibility for Communal Wellbeing
In the same vein, this council would discuss the welfare of everyone in the family. It was important that every member was making progress. The children of the less privileged had the opportunity to enjoy the largesse of the more fortunate family members. I personally grew up with so many cousins and relatives that my father trained alongside my siblings and me.
This sense of responsibility for one another, to insist on good behaviour, to shape their worldview, and to guarantee their welfare and well-being is how communities and families ensure shared and sustainable prosperity. That is the spirit of Onye Aghana Nwanne Ya - being your brother, and your sister's keeper.
This is also what gave birth to the Oso Afia apprenticeship system. These beautiful community-building cultures have become adulterated in many ways. But these are values that form the bedrock of development.
The challenges ahead of us - are too big for any one person to solve alone. We need to work together, combining our diverse experiences, skills, and ideas to develop innovative solutions. This may mean compromising when we disagree and focusing on the goals we have in common.
13.
This sense of shared responsibility is what we require to achieve sustainable shared prosperity.
Our shared future is calling. How we arrive there depends on the hope, passion, and action that we collectively deploy to solve our daunting challenges.
You need to imbibe a hope that is responsible for a clear vision, personal development, understanding of our history, innovative solutions, upholding good values, advocating for good leadership, and driving change through collective action.
The world is not ending soon. 2024 is going to happen. 2030 is going to come. And even if the world will end soon, let the end meet you striving to make it a better place for all.
Your generation is particularly burdened with an immense responsibility. But it is also an incredible opportunity. The actions you take today will determine if you meet this moment with the responsibility of hope or not. It will determine if you give up when everything around you is singing of your misfortune or if, like Olileanya, the frog, you choose to be deaf to cries of impossibility and believe that the realization of a state, country, and world that works for all is possible when we act.
Thank you.
References
Agwuna, S.O, www.iaajournals.org, AA Journal of Communication 6(1):114-121, 2020.
https://www.iaajournals.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/IAA-JC-61114-121-2020..pdf
Nweke Jr, F, Quality minds, strong institutions, thriving nation. Keynote Speech delivered by Frank Nweke II at the 50th Anniversary of Federal Government College, Maiduguri and the 35th Annual General Conference of the Old Students Association on October 21, 2023 at the Federal Government College, Maiduguri.
https://www.franknwekeii.com/post/quality-minds-strong-institutions-thriving-nation
United Nations, The 17 Sustainable Development Goals, 28/Nov/2023.
