LET’S CHANGE OUR PARADIGM A speech made in University of Port Harcourt by OJIFO RAPHAEL UNDIANDEYE, Students’ Union Government Presidential Aspirant, February 2014.

A speech made in University of Port Harcourt by OJIFO RAPHAEL UNDIANDEYE, Students’ Union Government Presidential Aspirant, February 2014.

LET’S CHANGE OUR PARADIGM

Dear Comrades,

Our union-government is experiencing the best of times, and it is in the worst of times. It is in an age of wisdom, it is in an age of foolishness; it is in an epoch of belief, it is in an epoch of incredulity; it is in a season of light, it is in a season of darkness; it is  in the spring of Hope, it is in the winter of despair; it is in the climate of Change, it is the in clime of harmful status quos; it is in the ambience of a needful Paradigm shift, it is in a situation of stagnation; it has everything before it, it has nothing before it; it is  going direct to Heaven, it is going direct the other way. In short, this period is a paradox; the nosiest of times, with the noise propagated by elements who insist that they be received for evil or for good; and the quietest of times, with the quietness exhibited by men of goodwill, (who, as Plato describes in his Republic, bear the heaviest penalty for declining to lead) abandoning the glorious fate of society into the hands of inferior men.

Our light has been put under a bushel; but never again shall we grope in darkness when we can shine the light; never again shall we have our shoes on while standing on Holy ground; never again shall we shy in the face of duty and responsibility; never again shall we hide in the face of evidence; never again shall we question the demands of patriotism that lies on our young shoulders; never again shall we sit on the fence and allow mediocrity take the lead; never again shall we abandon our fate in the hands of insincerity and banality; never again shall we ride on the wings of vandalism, when we can always employ the endless networking of Negotiation, Dialogue, Lobbying, Mediation and Arbitration in solving our smallest and biggest of problems. We will not ignore our collective future, when we can join hands to build one which we should lift up with genuine pride.

The destiny of students leadership (in UNIPORT) is the destiny of over 50,000 young men and women who are the growing timbers for today’s and tomorrow’s “bridges” and “houses”; who are the oils that must grease the “engines” of today’s and tomorrow’s “automobiles”; who must offer purposeful and ethical direction to the present and next generations, to enable them navigate through the difficult challenges of our time; who must also serve as guardians of the society, building its economic, social and political structures and institutions to enviable heights. Hence, no single tribe, religion, political party, or group of individuals should or be allowed to usurp this destiny (that is collectively ours) for its selfish whim. Our strength and unity is national, not regional; it is collective, not personal; it is spiritual, not mundane; it is intellectual, not the other way round. Consequently, we must guard against (with utmost vigilance) any manipulation that tends to steal from us, the towering potentials of the leadership that ought to contribute to the strength of our country.

To this end, let us hold our hands together and stand our commitment and devotion, towards building the union that unites us so completely; let’s ignore all that tends to divide us. Let us pull up our sleeves and set to work. Let’s pluck out the emotions and sentimentalities that have plagued the enviable potentials of campus-based political processes; which is the harbinger of National and Societal leadership.

The responsibility is ours, let’s not abandon it! Let’s change our paradigm!

Let’s hold hands and make something beautiful out of Students Union Government!

Meanwhile, we shall continue to CONSULT, CONSOLIDATE and CONFRONT to making UNIPORT a home of reasonable action.

Aluta Continua…Victoria Aserta!!!