As parts of the drive for a renewed hope in Nigeria, Open Africa Foundation, a non governmental organization, has charged secondary school students to inculcate the right values anchored on love, with love, and for love, where everyone is more equal than they are now or they were in the past, having the firm belief that with hard work and commitment we can build a new Nigeria.
The chairman, Open African Foundation, a United Kingdom-based forensic expert, Tunji Aworinde, gave the charge during an annual conference organised for secondary school students in the FCT as part of the Catch Them Young initiative.
Tunji said values had so much eroded in the present day society that people no longer call crime by its name, while youths engage in all sorts of immoralities, inhaling illicit substances and contribute to the height of insecurity in the country.
He said if we must secure the future of the Nigerian society, there’s the urgent need to locate and raise young students who are often referred to as leaders of tomorrow with the values and principles of effective leadership because the future lies on the shoulders of young students in secondary and tertiary institutions today.
While presenting awards to students who took part in the essay competition organised by the foundation on the topic; “The kind of Nigeria I want and what I would do if I was the Nigerian President” where about 12 secondary schools in the FCT participated, he said the initiative was to invigorate the spirit of patriotism in children and encourage them to toe the path of integrity, love and hard work, shun corruption, social vices and all forms of immoral behavior.
“We need to build a new Nigeria that values the goodness of our hearts over the depth of our pockets. We need a Nigeria where wealth is not what is inherited by our children but the capacity to do good and stand up for your fellow man, a Nigeria Where you are known for not just your name and deeds but the goodness associated with it,” he said.
Celebrating the children, he encouraged them that with hard work and commitment, all these are possible and charged them to choose the path of integrity, love and hard work for a better Nigeria.
The minister of education, Professor Tahir Mamman, applauded the Execution of Open Africa Foundation for the programme, saying education provides the knowledge, skills and professional attributes to mold and bring about a successful career.
