In the Beginning

“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth...”  Gen 1:1

By the accounts of 2/3 majority of the world’s religion from Hindu, Judaism, Islam, to Christianity there is an existence of God a creator irrespective of the name they call him, the scriptures wherein all this godly folks lay their hopes for direction, be it the Holy Bible, Koran and various hadith you name it all had the account of a God who created the heaven and the earth.

Beginning in the beginning is not a religious review or hadith evaluation, it’s to establish the point that, we are here on earth to serve, the Bible said in Genesis 1:1 “In the beginning God Created the Heavens and the Earth…” and I have a strong conviction he is still working till today, mostly through humanity that makes God a doer.

This act of creation that took place in the beginning has already set a task for me before I was born; during my growing-up days I was a ‘busy body’ so they say, but they were wrong, it was my destiny that was calling me; to become a social crusader, an intellectual entrepreneur to preserve knowledge from generation to generation. So as a teenager I started thinking community, volunteering and just helping out others at my own expense.

The journey started as a local Red Cross volunteer learning first-aid, and going to the township stadium for football matches/athletic competitions, and public events to give first aid. However there were turning point during those days, one of such point that affected my life most were the period of voluntary service at the Federal Medical Centre in Makurdi, during  the nurses strikes at various point, where I saw a lot of lapses in public healthcare system, and over ten years after the experience, it has never gotten better the presence of weak health service infrastructure has become a normal thing, to compound the worst situation, needed skilled personnel are inadequate, infrastructure and poor functioning equipment & a lack of essential drugs and supplies.  

From my activeness as a volunteer I came into leadership position as the youth coordinator in 2002, representing the youth on the management board of the Red Cross in my region, (Benue) it was in this position, that I learnt the first lesson of youth participation, that is there is no place for the youth in leadership, not  because we cannot lead but because the adult that failed in their youth, are afraid of what ‘I do not know’, so for youths to earn their place at the top, they must bring  innovative ideas to the table, this I did through an inert embodiment of a balance necessary to learn quickly and perform exceptionally in new, challenging environments. Adding enthusiastic desire to take any initiative and being hard working; you must learn to put them at ease, while with you. Whatever level of success or results gotten from all the initiatives I created or worked in came from my adaptable openness and sensitive sense of humour; you must be genuine, optimistic and have a confident personality, with well-developed leadership skills, and have ways to engage challenges and challenge self and others to work collaboratively and approach issues in an innovative manner, these were the virtues that earned me a place among the ‘strong and mighty at that level’. So for all youth complaining of being let out by the adults, know you are not alone, just be innovative and creative, the adults we chase after you.

From a young man that had no place, I was able to gain skills that made me a proficient programme facilitator/coordinator, proposal/report writer, researcher and now an intellectual entrepreneur, though still learning. To maintain and keep fighting for the change we need in our community, we must prioritize our goal and this I learnt from the beginning I had to prioritize my long-term personal and professional growth and this I directed toward social concern and servant leadership in Nigeria. With a community volunteering experience for over 14 years with several organizations and through participation in and organization/promotion of community events related to public health, peace-building, and civic participation/governance, I met great people committed to the cause of humanity not because of Job security, or level of unemployment in the continent, but because they have learnt that building a better community begins one block at a time. 

Please keep following my thoughts; after one-half decade of the beginning, I went back to assess the house we built; now they are more youth as decision marker across various organizations, some are even CEO’s, more youths from the rural community pursuing education, because they now know that their parents owns them nothing expect education, so they are trying to go get themselves schooled and fulfil their dream (get a life),  more youth volunteers with passion; but the trouble I met at home(social work practice) was the issue of  no believe in delay gratification; volunteering for the joy of it, the happiness and smile on the faces of those we help; now it’s about the ‘Benjamin’, travelling opportunity, recommendations, all these are good if it comes as a motivation on service not an entry point. 

Yours sincerely has benefited from such at some point, but it was not my goal; when I started in 1995 as a 12yrs old school first-aider I was just happy following in the footstep of Jean Henry Dunant the founder of Red Cross; the Mother Theresa’s and the rest of the good guys. If your entry point is based on the goodies, you will have issue with integrity and will not be able to avoid conflict of interest. Integrity as explained by Ndidi Okonkwo Nwuneli founder of LEAP-Africa Lagos; is more that “clear-cut universally accepted standards of behaviour like lying, cheating and offering or receiving bribes all accepted as bad.” I strongly agree to her postulation.   

Summary

In the beginning we were small in number, motivated not by fame, wealth or lack of career direction, what called us to be doers was the need to change our community and in so doing fulfil our mandate on earth. Now we are many, some motivated by fame, wealth & lack of career focus; volunteering now a ticket to travel, be known or get some extra ‘Benjamin’s’, but I say a LAZY MAN’s thought!

Lesson Learnt

·         There is no place in leadership for the youth; they have to earn it with innovative ideas and creativeness.

·         Volunteering services is growing here in Africa, but with a bit of concern on the motive behind the entry point.

                                           

(Extract from the my social work journal “I was born here…so I live here and must work for its survival” [2001-2011])