February 3, 2023
February 3, 2023
SALUTE TO AN ICONIC NATION BUILDER
There are iconic nation builders who embody the essence of a generation and who possess the capacity to transmit to successive generations the virtues of their generation. Such nation builders are bridge builders. Nation builders become all the more iconic when they connect young people three or more generations down the line to foundational values.
At SPPG, many classes taught me the lesson of bridging divides but the March 23, 2021 session with Chief Mbazulike Amechi, former Minister of Transport who was then the only surviving Minister from the First Republic modelled it for me in an exceptional manner. Listening to a founding leader who was present at independence was a solemn experience for me. His session unveiled invaluable lessons which the present generation of youth must preserve and deploy even amidst the unfolding democratic process.
From Chief Mbazulike Amechi, I learnt that the youth of a nation can jettison partisan divides and work together across party lines in the interest of the nation even when their political fathers are at daggers drawn. Chief Amechi conveyed this lesson when he narrated to us the collaboration between the youth association of the National Council of Nigeria and Cameroons (NCNC) and the youth wing of Action Group (AG) despite the contentions between the parent parties and their leaders. I found this inspiring when I heard it for the first time from one who was there at the time. It was a reminder that, irrespective of our diversities, the call to build Nigeria requires collaboration across leanings, across generations, across political parties, across ideologies, across ethnic groups, and across religious orientations.
With his session, Chief Mbazulike Amechi set the stage for what was to become a recurrent call to the Class of 2021 - the call for a consensus towards nationhood, development, good governance and accountable leadership. I recall how the class unmuted to give this pioneering leader an elongated round of applause for his service to our nation.
Sir, we salute you! We are confident that this generation of leaders emerging from the SPPG Class of 2021 will build a memorial of good governance upon the foundation of values-driven and courageous leadership that you presented to us. Rest in Peace, Sir, because your labour will not be in vain.
There are iconic nation builders who embody the essence of a generation and who possess the capacity to transmit to successive generations the virtues of their generation. Such nation builders are bridge builders. Nation builders become all the more iconic when they connect young people three or more generations down the line to foundational values.
At SPPG, many classes taught me the lesson of bridging divides but the March 23, 2021 session with Chief Mbazulike Amechi, former Minister of Transport who was then the only surviving Minister from the First Republic modelled it for me in an exceptional manner. Listening to a founding leader who was present at independence was a solemn experience for me. His session unveiled invaluable lessons which the present generation of youth must preserve and deploy even amidst the unfolding democratic process.
From Chief Mbazulike Amechi, I learnt that the youth of a nation can jettison partisan divides and work together across party lines in the interest of the nation even when their political fathers are at daggers drawn. Chief Amechi conveyed this lesson when he narrated to us the collaboration between the youth association of the National Council of Nigeria and Cameroons (NCNC) and the youth wing of Action Group (AG) despite the contentions between the parent parties and their leaders. I found this inspiring when I heard it for the first time from one who was there at the time. It was a reminder that, irrespective of our diversities, the call to build Nigeria requires collaboration across leanings, across generations, across political parties, across ideologies, across ethnic groups, and across religious orientations.
With his session, Chief Mbazulike Amechi set the stage for what was to become a recurrent call to the Class of 2021 - the call for a consensus towards nationhood, development, good governance and accountable leadership. I recall how the class unmuted to give this pioneering leader an elongated round of applause for his service to our nation.
Sir, we salute you! We are confident that this generation of leaders emerging from the SPPG Class of 2021 will build a memorial of good governance upon the foundation of values-driven and courageous leadership that you presented to us. Rest in Peace, Sir, because your labour will not be in vain.