The Archbishop of the Catholic Church’s Sokoto Diocese, Hassan Kukah, claims that the current “dispute” in Nigeria is a consequence of the younger generation’s ignorance of the country’s history.
Kukah made this claim in Lagos on Thursday afternoon at an event held to honor two eminent Nigerians, Christopher Kolade and Emeka Anyaoku.
Mr. Kolade, former Nigerian High Commissioner to the UK; and Mr. Anyaoku, former Secretary General of the Commonwealth, were honored at the ’90th Anniversary Concert and Book Launch: The Spirit of Our Treasures’ at the Nativity Church Auditorium in Ikoyi.
Kolade receives an award at Thursday’s event hosted by John Momoh; Channels TV boss
The event was organized by the Heritage for Life Foundation to celebrate the duo whose lives organizers say have set a positive example for Nigerians to emulate.
The secretary of the foundation, Lemuel Iyalla, said that the book focuses on the experiences of nonagenarians who achieved success by maintaining great virtues and values.
Opening speech
Delivering the keynote address at the event, Mr. Kukah spoke about the challenges of nation building in Nigeria.
“I accept all the accolades that have been showered on the lives of these wonderful men, but I think we must also be cognizant of the fact that to build a nation, the challenges are far greater than we can understand and the success of the challenges lies we use the relay race as a metaphor. Because no matter how good you are as a relay team, your success depends on the quality of your collaboration and cooperation and how successfully we pass the baton,” said Mr. Kukah.
The cleric said the challenge Nigerians face is how to sustain their nation’s collective narratives today.
“And yet there is no better guide than history because without history, our lives will be an endless and frustrating chain of accusations and counteraccusations; ball pass, song of praise and condemnation.
“And yet in reality the story is a contest of ideas, because it continues a culture of interrogation and the more we interrogate the events of the story, the better it is for us. But of course, if this interrogation is not sustained, memory fails.
The bishop said it is not true that the story has been removed from the Nigerian curriculum.
“The late Professor Obaro Nkime, who was President of the Nigerian Historical Society,
Perhaps one of the world’s greatest historians said that no one took history out of the syllabus,” he said.
“But what happened was that over time in the 1990s, as banks with this artificial prosperity created in Nigeria, fewer and fewer young people decided they wanted to read history. People looking for courses that will help them in the future.
“What I was saying is that it was actually a deliberate decision by young people to gravitate towards the kind of courses that were worth their time and we have ended up with a generation that is pretty ignorant about the history of our country and that has tremendous consequences. for us; how we see ourselves, how we define ourselves, and the culture of bullying that has become an integral part of our society today.”
Biography of nonagenarians
Kolade, who will turn 91 in December, was born in 1932 in Ido Faboro, in Ekiti State, to devout Christian parents, the Reverend Abraham and Lydia Kolade.
He began his early education at Christ School in Ado Ekiti in 1945, after which he went on to Government College, Ibadan on a government scholarship and graduated with the legendary class of 46, which produced several notable Nigerians.
He began his career as an education officer at Government College, Ughelli, Delta.
State. He went on to become the region’s first education officer and was later appointed Controller of the Western Region of the Nigeria Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) and then moved to the Nigerian Television Service (NTS) where he eventually rose to become the Director General of the Nigerian Television Service (NTS). Broadcasting Corporation at the age of 40.
The father of two would later join Cadbury Nigeria PLC, eventually rising to become chief executive.
His retirement as Cadbury chairman was described by many as the end of an era in Nigerian business. Mr. Kolade joined the faculty of the Lagos Business School until his appointment in 2001 as the Nigerian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom.
For his part, Mr. Anyaoku was elected the third Commonwealth Secretary-General by the Heads of Government at their meeting in Kuala Lumpur in 1989 and took office in July 1990 and served, after re-election, two terms of five years each. one, up to 2000.
Anyaoku receives an award at Thursday’s event
He was born in 1933 and educated at University College, Ibadan, where he studied classics as a university scholar and graduated with honors from the University of London in 1959.
The father of four was Nigeria’s foreign minister in 1983, before the military coup later that year.
Mr. Anyaoku has had extensive international exposure and service. Among the many innovative achievements of his; He was the first African executive director of a global intergovernmental organization before Boutros Boutros-Ghali and Kofi Annan in
The United Nations; the first African international president of the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) – position previously held by HRH Prince Felipe Duque de
Edinburgh; the first African to have a chair named after him at a British university; and the first African trustee of the British Museum.
Tributes to Anyaoku
In his tributes to Mr. Anyaoku, former President Olusegun Obasanjo described him as
Nigerian “detribalized”.
“When he came here to marry Bunmi, it was not in style,” he wrote in his tributes.
“He believes in the world in which he lives. He was successful at the time when he served as an officer in the foreign service under Chief Simeon Adebo, who was also a man of excellent qualities, in every way. He is a great worker.
“I saw him as he rose through the ranks of the Commonwealth Secretariat to become substantive head of that secretariat. I worked with him when he was a member of the Eminent Persons Group in Africa.
“He was with us. We had times when the two co-chairs, Malcolm Fraser and myself, didn’t see things in the same light. Emeka acted as referee. He is that kind of man, a peacemaker.
“He is a lover of humanity in general, but he is also a lover of Nigeria. Many people don’t know it, but we live close to each other. His house in Abeokuta is a short distance from mine and sometimes when he is in town. I just walk over to see it.
Yakubu Gowon, a former head of state, said the retired diplomat is a man of exceptional qualities who exemplifies what a good Nigerian should be.
“He has led an exemplary life in everything. As Secretary General of the Commonwealth, he did Nigeria proud in the way he conducted himself and Commonwealth affairs, to the glory of God, the honor of his country and that institution, the Commonwealth,” Gowon wrote.
For his part, President Bola Tinubu called the first African trustee of the British Museum a “signal of what is best and possible for Nigerians and Nigeria as a country.”
He wrote that Anyaoku proves “beyond a doubt that Nigeria is a blessed and not a cursed country and that if there is true leadership, Nigeria can produce a dozen or more Anyaokus.”
Cross section of attendees at the classic evening Tributes to Kolade
In her tribute, former president of Nigeria’s National Postgraduate Medical College, Ajesola Majekodunmi, said her path crossed that of Nigeria’s former high commissioner to the UK in 2000 “where we met at Ogudu GRA, where we both reside.
“We were soon elected to the Board of Directors of the Residents Association and that brought us closer together.
“Our BOT president was unanimously elected. The way he led our meetings and engaged with the members demonstrated the wealth of experience gained in the boardroom. He is a good listener, disciplinarian, and leader who provided a good summary of our discussions at the end of each meeting. We held him in high esteem.
“Soon Dr. Kolade became my confidant with whom I could chat or discuss any topic. He was knowledgeable and can never be found wanting in any field. In fact, in times of trouble, when he finished his conversation with Dr. Kolade, he would have made her smile.
“He has a way of restoring your self-confidence, bringing out the best in you.”
In his goodwill message to Mr. Kolade, Canon Ogundipe, a cleric said that the life of the celebrant is worthy of emulation.
“Indeed, the life of Dr. Christopher Olusola Kolade is worth emulating by all. Like Daniel in the Bible, he remains impeccable in his services to both God and humans,” he said.
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“He worked on public notices and remains uncorrupted. A faithful servant of the Church of God he served as an organist for several years for free.
“It is not surprising that he was named a Lay Canon of the Cathedral of the Holy Spirit in the Diocese of
Guildford, England. There is no better way to make it known to the world and to the next generation than by writing a book like ‘The spirit of our treasures’”.
Yemi and Titi Akinsanya said that in a world “often devoid of role models”, Kolade’s legacy “will not be one of wealth or worldly achievements, of which he has more than enough.
“But much more than this, it will be a spirit that constantly radiates a sense of unwavering goodness and a life that inspires those around you to be better.”