HOPE IS ALL WE NEED NOW! 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.

HOPE IS ALL WE NEED NOW!

Fellow Comrades,

I am speaking to you today because, everywhere in the world today, students’ leadership is determining the direction of national and state development.

The national space we live in today is a country of over 150 million people with over 200 universities. It is the second largest economy on the African Continent. Upon independence, it had a per capita income that was larger than that of several Asia-pacific countries and a preferred investment destination. It has always had the potential which is trying to materialise (at best) and hardly materializing (at worse). Nigeria is richly endowed by providence. She is strategically positioned and blessed with a high spectrum of human and material resources and not plagued by the numerous natural disasters like draught, earthquakes, tornadoes, wild-fire and flood, which have devastated many countries and rendered them prostrate.

In our strides through kindergarten (even till now) we have heard (and learnt) that our country, (due to her material and human capital base) bears veritable potentials of becoming a world power. But she still basks in her potentials while the likes of China, Singapore, Japan, Malaysia, Ukraine, Brazil and India etc., have reached their potentials and are aiming for higher grounds. We have asked (and still asking) when we shall work out our potentials for actuality and our dreams for reality. How long shall we continue talking of potentials, when we can put our hands together to -consciously and deliberately, actualise our potentials? Two generations have passed, and we are next; shall we throw away the duties and responsibilities which God has caused destiny to thrust upon us? Shall we continue to pray with our eyes closed, (thus allowing ourselves to be robbed by ourselves) when we can do so with our eyes open? Shall we keep on praying to God Almighty -over a matter which answers He has granted, when we ought to pray ourselves to pull up our sleeves to work? Can’t we see that the need for our conscious and concerted contributions towards national development is becoming more and direr and has reached gracious heavens? How long will it take most of us (here and now) to understand that; the unemployed tomorrow; the poor health of tomorrow; the poorly educated of tomorrow; the poorly fed of tomorrow; the social structure of tomorrow, the political economy of tomorrow, and the like, is fundamentally our responsibility fix? How long shall we sit on the spectator’s seat (which belongs to the kindergartens, primary and secondary school students) when we ought to begin to fix these problems from now?

Evidence of the dire need for Nigerian students to make sincere contributions -to ensuring our country’s transformation, abounds in the very fact that we, as one of the world’s largest producers of crude oil, consistently import petroleum products; one of the world’s largest producers of cassava, yet nowhere in the global starch and ethanol markets; one of the largest world’s producers of palm produce and cocoa (in the sixties), yet merely patching up in these areas; one of the tourism destinations on the globe, yet having tourism industries that make a single digit contribution to Annual National Income (nearer to 1, than not). The list is endless.

The time has therefore, come for us to take action to EMBRACE PURPOSE; by espousing intents & goals that are deeply rooted in reliable ideologies and ethical certainties, rather than on ethnic bigotry and moral aberration. The time has come for us to CULTIVATE TRUST; by developing the ability which enables us act reliably and trusting others to do same. The time has come for us to clinically TEST OUR EXCUSES; by evolving the ability to make conscious, but brutal examination of our honesties, so as to avoid negative reactions such as, “everyone is doing it, therefore we must do it”, “it is not my fault, therefore I don’t care”, “things cannot get better, because it has been like this from the beginning” etc. The time has come for us to TACKLE OUR MOODS; by mastering and controlling our feelings, fears and anxieties, so as to avoid being controlled by them, especially when under pressure. The time has come for us to INSIST ON INTEGRITY; by consciously narrowing the gaps between what we claim to believe and what we actually do. The time has come for us to keep Hope and Faith with what we believe!

In the end, it is not our words against each other that will matter; rather, it will be our indefatigable will, efforts and yearnings, and the spirit that inspires it, that will count. It is what will deliver, to us, the future we now dream of.

We must sustain an unwavering Faith and Hope; that we can do it. When any discouragement comes, we must rebuke it as we would the devil, and it will flee!

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

God is with us!