Kayode Fayemi: Six lessons UNILAG taught me
In an excerpt from the lecture delivered by Dr. Kayode Fayemi, Minister of Solid Minerals Development at the 2017 Convocation of the University of Lagos, his alma mater, the minister lists six lessons he learnt from the institution which NAIJ.com hereby present here.
"I would be highlighting certain life lessons that must be learnt in the university environment that promotes the inculcation of progressive values, and the development of sound character in young people. If we are to improve the quality of our country’s human capital and invariably have better national development outcomes, we have to pay attention to the factory that produces the most important segment of our work force that we expect to drive development in every sector, and which is the crop from which our future leaders would arise. "These crucial lessons are present in the ideal university setting, and some of you have done well to imbibe them. Some others have ignored them in pursuit of “more important matters”, and are thus deficient in some of them. The misplaced emphasis on certificates – that is to say the sole concentration on obtaining a certificate as the end result of your 4/5/6 years of study here, has stopped some of you from imbibing critical life skills that ought to have been learnt concurrently with your academic studies.
"My thesis is that knowledge alone is not enough; neither is character by itself sufficient. A fit and proper UNILAG graduate is one that has successfully straddled the obligations of being found worthy in both ‘Character and Learning’. I would now be sharing with you from my own personal experiences, six key lessons and life skills that UNILAG taught me, which I would be commending to you.
1. Knowledge is Power – Learn How to Learn "As a student, you have to learn how to learn. That is, you have to learn the principles behind actually acquiring knowledge. When you receive information via lectures, books e.t.c., the first impulse should not be to commit it to memory for the purpose of ‘dumping’ on exam day, or to go on social media to display your familiarity with certain subjects. You should meditate on new information and study more deeply and widely, allowing it to truly illuminate your mind – that is what new information is supposed to do after it has been thoroughly processed. "I’ll tell you a personal secret. By God’s grace I have held public office for the most of the past six years. Consequently, I have many people trying to reach me for one thing or the other. Those that find it easiest to get my attention are not those that come to me with notes from influential people, or those that can breach protocol and get to see me – they are people that are smart enough to write out what exactly they want; what advice they have for me; or what input they want to make; and send to me by letter, email or text. In all my years in office, I have treated all my letters and files personally and similarly attended to all my emails myself, in order to ensure serious minded people have access to me. I have also retained the same phone number for over a decade. There is a light that shines through when an educated mind writes to you, as deep calls to deep, and I am quick to single out such letters and messages for attention. "In the days to come, many of you would have elevator pitches, where you have few unscheduled moments to intelligently engage an important person. How prepared are you for such opportunities? I encourage you today to commit to a lifelong attitude of learning. Read more and speak less. Stop hustling to get attention and let your mind set you apart from the rest of the noisy pack. Go beyond the narrow confines of disciplinary specialization, and adopt a multidisciplinary approach to learning, in order to be grounded in vast areas of human endeavors.
2. Discipline – Master Yourself "Without discipline, knowledge is useless. In the world today, with the advancements in civil liberties, democratisation and freedom of speech, we operate in a freer world with increasingly less constraints placed on individual conduct. Now, anyone can do almost anything, at anytime. The impetus is therefore on discerning individuals to self-regulate and be disciplined enough to do what is right, and at the right time, if they want to be successful. "The university offers the opportunity for you to learn self-discipline which is very important for productive living. When you first enter into the university, you were enthralled by the new found freedom, because many of you were leaving home for the very first time. You soon discovered that this freedom actually comes with a greater responsibility. The academic environment promotes the development of crucial work ethics needed later in life. In the university, you have set targets that you must deliver in defined formats and before strict deadlines. Nobody would babysit you to know how you would deliver, nor would anybody celebrate your efforts or listen to your excuses, you are simply required to deliver results. "Discipline is the very basis of human progress. Without it nothing can be made or properly maintained. Indiscipline causes all sorts of harms. The temporary pleasure it gives is not the genuine pleasure of freedom (Roy, 2015). Self-discipline and self-mastery are very important life skills you must develop if you would be taken seriously and given opportunities to advance your interests in an increasingly competitive world.
3. Adaptability – Be Flexible and Dynamic "A great mistake any student can make is to become so hermitic in the pursuit of excellent grades that he/she fails to robustly interact with other students and learn from them. I am always thrilled by the testimonials of first class graduates of UNILAG, who demonstrate that it is possible to be academically proficient and also socially well adjusted. The reason for this is that you never know what life would bring your way, and you always have to be in a position to adapt to whatever circumstances you find yourself in. In the world today, your adaptability quotient is just as important as your intelligence quotient and emotional intelligence. Some people are just so stuck in their ways, and cannot see beyond the restrictive boundaries of their academic disciplines and socio-cultural backgrounds. It was Nelson Mandela that said “I was not a messiah, but an ordinary man who had become a leader because of extraordinary circumstances.” It was his ability to adjust and rise to the challenges of his time that thrust greatness upon him. "Some of you that studied Biochemistry might find yourselves working in banks. Some lawyers might find themselves in consulting. Some of the Engineering graduates here today might find themselves in advertising, while some doctors might find themselves in tourism management. I studied history and currently find myself in Mining. Don’t ever stay idle waiting for the ideal job, do whatever your hands find to do, adapt and excel at it.
"As important as raw intelligence and personality traits are, now more than ever, being able to adapt to change will profoundly determine your ability to survive in the current job market or get re-employed if you are in a transitional period. (Parkin, 2010).
4. Truly Live – and Follow Your Passion "For many of us, coming into the university was the first time we took some measure of control over our lives, because our parents and other authority figures had always taken decisions for us. The clothes we put on, the food we eat, the friends we keep. For many of us, our parents decided for us the courses we read in the university, and are still waiting on the wings to tele-guide our decisions going forward. Parents have their own agendas of the type of future they want for their children. "Don’t get me wrong, our parents mean well, which is why they project their understanding of success in life on their children, and try as much as possible to mould them in very conservative views of success. Many parents are inclined to encouraging their children to study certain courses in order to become successful in life. The issue is these widely held views of success constantly changes, and your studying certain courses considered lucrative today, might not necessarily guaranty your being gainfully employed tomorrow. "Take Andela for example, the start-up recruits young talented technologists from across Africa and trains them to become world-class developers through a four-year technical leadership program. The enterprise has accepted over 200 young engineers since it was founded about two years ago, out of a pool of more than 40,000 applicants. Andela which was founded by Iyinoluwa Aboyeji, a 26 year old Nigerian, recently attracted $24 million dollars in funding from a consortium led by Facebook’s Mark Zukerberg. "Therefore, the advice I would like to give to young people and parents alike is – the most important thing to do is to find your purpose and passion, and commit to pursuing and fulfilling it – parents, let your children fly. The question to ask is “what does success mean to me”? The first step towards being successful in life is to identify what your own definition of personal success is, and the parameters you would use to assess and look back on your life when you are old and grey. The spoken word artiste Prince EA said, “It is not death that most people are afraid of, it is getting to the end of life, only to realize that you never truly lived.”
5. Seize the Moment – and Just Do It! The university environment imbues you with so much power. If you have applied yourself in the course of your university education, you should by now have not only the intellectual capacity and ethical awareness, but also some degree of experience and a vast network to leverage for your personal and professional interests. "One of the failings of our society is that we don’t give young people enough room to explore their creative abilities and make mistakes early. Equally as bad is the fact that young people don’t optimally take advantage of these opportunities where they exist. Universities as a microcosm of the larger society ought to be the grounds for students to explore and make mistakes in a protected environment. A person in his youth will have only one rival, that is his own potentialities; and he will have only one failure, that is, failing to live up to his own possibilities. (Fashola: 2011) "I can share categorically, that there is almost nothing I have found myself doing in my life and professional career that I did not first experiment during my time in UNILAG. As a leader, activist, writer and academic, I cut my teeth right here in UNILAG. I was exposed to leadership by serving as the Secretary of the great Eni Njoku Hall, which also made me a member of the Students Representative Council. I also served as the Secretary of the Youths United in Solidarity for Southern Africa (YUSSA), as well as the Secretary General of UNILAG’s chapter of the All-Nigeria United Nations Students’ Association (ANUNSA). "Late Chief Awolowo in his book ‘Voice of Reason’ stated that “a man whose personality is fully developed never fears anything; he cringes not, and never feels inferior to anyone; His breadth of mind enables him to exercise his freedom in such a manner as not to endanger the interests and freedom of others. He is a citizen of the world – free from narrow prejudices. He is what he is because the three main constituents of his entity – his body, brain, and mind – are fully developed.” "Likewise, in the words of Wilferd Arlan Peterson, it is time to “explore your mind, discover yourself, and then give the best that is in you to your age and to your world. There are heroic possibilities waiting to be discovered in every person.” You would never know the feats you can achieve until you overcome fear and procrastination, and JUST DO IT!
6. Quit Whining – No One Owes You Anything "The last lesson I want to talk about is the debilitating entitlement mentality that is commonplace among young people today. The earlier we realize that no one owes us anything, the better for us, and the more prepared we would be to face life’s challenges. "Don’t think you are entitled to a job, just because of your parents’ influence or what they have. Don’t think things would be all rosy because you graduated from UNILAG with good grades. Be prepared for surprises and disappointments because life is bound to hand you a couple. The only guarantees you have in this life is what you do for yourself with the grace God has bestowed on us all. "You have to be prepared to bend backwards and do what you might consider to be beneath you, because of the bigger picture. When you consider my resume today, you might see the prestigious organisations I have been privileged to work with. What you need to know however, is that as a UNILAG graduate and a post-graduate student in the United Kingdom, I have also driven taxis and worked as a security guard, amongst several other menial jobs I did in the past to survive.
"I would be highlighting certain life lessons that must be learnt in the university environment that promotes the inculcation of progressive values, and the development of sound character in young people. If we are to improve the quality of our country’s human capital and invariably have better national development outcomes, we have to pay attention to the factory that produces the most important segment of our work force that we expect to drive development in every sector, and which is the crop from which our future leaders would arise. "These crucial lessons are present in the ideal university setting, and some of you have done well to imbibe them. Some others have ignored them in pursuit of “more important matters”, and are thus deficient in some of them. The misplaced emphasis on certificates – that is to say the sole concentration on obtaining a certificate as the end result of your 4/5/6 years of study here, has stopped some of you from imbibing critical life skills that ought to have been learnt concurrently with your academic studies.
"My thesis is that knowledge alone is not enough; neither is character by itself sufficient. A fit and proper UNILAG graduate is one that has successfully straddled the obligations of being found worthy in both ‘Character and Learning’. I would now be sharing with you from my own personal experiences, six key lessons and life skills that UNILAG taught me, which I would be commending to you.
1. Knowledge is Power – Learn How to Learn "As a student, you have to learn how to learn. That is, you have to learn the principles behind actually acquiring knowledge. When you receive information via lectures, books e.t.c., the first impulse should not be to commit it to memory for the purpose of ‘dumping’ on exam day, or to go on social media to display your familiarity with certain subjects. You should meditate on new information and study more deeply and widely, allowing it to truly illuminate your mind – that is what new information is supposed to do after it has been thoroughly processed. "I’ll tell you a personal secret. By God’s grace I have held public office for the most of the past six years. Consequently, I have many people trying to reach me for one thing or the other. Those that find it easiest to get my attention are not those that come to me with notes from influential people, or those that can breach protocol and get to see me – they are people that are smart enough to write out what exactly they want; what advice they have for me; or what input they want to make; and send to me by letter, email or text. In all my years in office, I have treated all my letters and files personally and similarly attended to all my emails myself, in order to ensure serious minded people have access to me. I have also retained the same phone number for over a decade. There is a light that shines through when an educated mind writes to you, as deep calls to deep, and I am quick to single out such letters and messages for attention. "In the days to come, many of you would have elevator pitches, where you have few unscheduled moments to intelligently engage an important person. How prepared are you for such opportunities? I encourage you today to commit to a lifelong attitude of learning. Read more and speak less. Stop hustling to get attention and let your mind set you apart from the rest of the noisy pack. Go beyond the narrow confines of disciplinary specialization, and adopt a multidisciplinary approach to learning, in order to be grounded in vast areas of human endeavors.
2. Discipline – Master Yourself "Without discipline, knowledge is useless. In the world today, with the advancements in civil liberties, democratisation and freedom of speech, we operate in a freer world with increasingly less constraints placed on individual conduct. Now, anyone can do almost anything, at anytime. The impetus is therefore on discerning individuals to self-regulate and be disciplined enough to do what is right, and at the right time, if they want to be successful. "The university offers the opportunity for you to learn self-discipline which is very important for productive living. When you first enter into the university, you were enthralled by the new found freedom, because many of you were leaving home for the very first time. You soon discovered that this freedom actually comes with a greater responsibility. The academic environment promotes the development of crucial work ethics needed later in life. In the university, you have set targets that you must deliver in defined formats and before strict deadlines. Nobody would babysit you to know how you would deliver, nor would anybody celebrate your efforts or listen to your excuses, you are simply required to deliver results. "Discipline is the very basis of human progress. Without it nothing can be made or properly maintained. Indiscipline causes all sorts of harms. The temporary pleasure it gives is not the genuine pleasure of freedom (Roy, 2015). Self-discipline and self-mastery are very important life skills you must develop if you would be taken seriously and given opportunities to advance your interests in an increasingly competitive world.
3. Adaptability – Be Flexible and Dynamic "A great mistake any student can make is to become so hermitic in the pursuit of excellent grades that he/she fails to robustly interact with other students and learn from them. I am always thrilled by the testimonials of first class graduates of UNILAG, who demonstrate that it is possible to be academically proficient and also socially well adjusted. The reason for this is that you never know what life would bring your way, and you always have to be in a position to adapt to whatever circumstances you find yourself in. In the world today, your adaptability quotient is just as important as your intelligence quotient and emotional intelligence. Some people are just so stuck in their ways, and cannot see beyond the restrictive boundaries of their academic disciplines and socio-cultural backgrounds. It was Nelson Mandela that said “I was not a messiah, but an ordinary man who had become a leader because of extraordinary circumstances.” It was his ability to adjust and rise to the challenges of his time that thrust greatness upon him. "Some of you that studied Biochemistry might find yourselves working in banks. Some lawyers might find themselves in consulting. Some of the Engineering graduates here today might find themselves in advertising, while some doctors might find themselves in tourism management. I studied history and currently find myself in Mining. Don’t ever stay idle waiting for the ideal job, do whatever your hands find to do, adapt and excel at it.
"As important as raw intelligence and personality traits are, now more than ever, being able to adapt to change will profoundly determine your ability to survive in the current job market or get re-employed if you are in a transitional period. (Parkin, 2010).
4. Truly Live – and Follow Your Passion "For many of us, coming into the university was the first time we took some measure of control over our lives, because our parents and other authority figures had always taken decisions for us. The clothes we put on, the food we eat, the friends we keep. For many of us, our parents decided for us the courses we read in the university, and are still waiting on the wings to tele-guide our decisions going forward. Parents have their own agendas of the type of future they want for their children. "Don’t get me wrong, our parents mean well, which is why they project their understanding of success in life on their children, and try as much as possible to mould them in very conservative views of success. Many parents are inclined to encouraging their children to study certain courses in order to become successful in life. The issue is these widely held views of success constantly changes, and your studying certain courses considered lucrative today, might not necessarily guaranty your being gainfully employed tomorrow. "Take Andela for example, the start-up recruits young talented technologists from across Africa and trains them to become world-class developers through a four-year technical leadership program. The enterprise has accepted over 200 young engineers since it was founded about two years ago, out of a pool of more than 40,000 applicants. Andela which was founded by Iyinoluwa Aboyeji, a 26 year old Nigerian, recently attracted $24 million dollars in funding from a consortium led by Facebook’s Mark Zukerberg. "Therefore, the advice I would like to give to young people and parents alike is – the most important thing to do is to find your purpose and passion, and commit to pursuing and fulfilling it – parents, let your children fly. The question to ask is “what does success mean to me”? The first step towards being successful in life is to identify what your own definition of personal success is, and the parameters you would use to assess and look back on your life when you are old and grey. The spoken word artiste Prince EA said, “It is not death that most people are afraid of, it is getting to the end of life, only to realize that you never truly lived.”
5. Seize the Moment – and Just Do It! The university environment imbues you with so much power. If you have applied yourself in the course of your university education, you should by now have not only the intellectual capacity and ethical awareness, but also some degree of experience and a vast network to leverage for your personal and professional interests. "One of the failings of our society is that we don’t give young people enough room to explore their creative abilities and make mistakes early. Equally as bad is the fact that young people don’t optimally take advantage of these opportunities where they exist. Universities as a microcosm of the larger society ought to be the grounds for students to explore and make mistakes in a protected environment. A person in his youth will have only one rival, that is his own potentialities; and he will have only one failure, that is, failing to live up to his own possibilities. (Fashola: 2011) "I can share categorically, that there is almost nothing I have found myself doing in my life and professional career that I did not first experiment during my time in UNILAG. As a leader, activist, writer and academic, I cut my teeth right here in UNILAG. I was exposed to leadership by serving as the Secretary of the great Eni Njoku Hall, which also made me a member of the Students Representative Council. I also served as the Secretary of the Youths United in Solidarity for Southern Africa (YUSSA), as well as the Secretary General of UNILAG’s chapter of the All-Nigeria United Nations Students’ Association (ANUNSA). "Late Chief Awolowo in his book ‘Voice of Reason’ stated that “a man whose personality is fully developed never fears anything; he cringes not, and never feels inferior to anyone; His breadth of mind enables him to exercise his freedom in such a manner as not to endanger the interests and freedom of others. He is a citizen of the world – free from narrow prejudices. He is what he is because the three main constituents of his entity – his body, brain, and mind – are fully developed.” "Likewise, in the words of Wilferd Arlan Peterson, it is time to “explore your mind, discover yourself, and then give the best that is in you to your age and to your world. There are heroic possibilities waiting to be discovered in every person.” You would never know the feats you can achieve until you overcome fear and procrastination, and JUST DO IT!
6. Quit Whining – No One Owes You Anything "The last lesson I want to talk about is the debilitating entitlement mentality that is commonplace among young people today. The earlier we realize that no one owes us anything, the better for us, and the more prepared we would be to face life’s challenges. "Don’t think you are entitled to a job, just because of your parents’ influence or what they have. Don’t think things would be all rosy because you graduated from UNILAG with good grades. Be prepared for surprises and disappointments because life is bound to hand you a couple. The only guarantees you have in this life is what you do for yourself with the grace God has bestowed on us all. "You have to be prepared to bend backwards and do what you might consider to be beneath you, because of the bigger picture. When you consider my resume today, you might see the prestigious organisations I have been privileged to work with. What you need to know however, is that as a UNILAG graduate and a post-graduate student in the United Kingdom, I have also driven taxis and worked as a security guard, amongst several other menial jobs I did in the past to survive.
Comments
Post a Comment