The 2nd edition of our Rediscovered Citizenship™ held on Friday, February 26, 2016 at The LEAD™ Haven & Research Crib…

It was a The LEAD™ Dialogue, which  primary aim is to strengthen our IDEOLOGICAL base as socially conscious people working as personnel of NGOs, FBOs, CBOs, Social Enterprises, Governments and international organizations or individual volunteers to a noble causes.

It was great time of fruitful interactions…We discussed the link between Personal Identity and National Identity and established Private and Public SOCIALIZATION as the inevitable FOUNDATION of both.

We made it clear that the study of our SOCIALIZATION without a careful study of our history as a people once colonised will not only be incomplete but misleading…We established the historical truth that the primary agenda of colonisation was simply ECONOMIC INTERESTS of the colonial authorities and GOVERNANCE was just a means of managing the original ECONOMIC interest… This ECONOMIC INTERESTS were expressed in recruiting us as labourers for their companies through slave trade and establishing the colonies as viable and veritable markets for their products and services. We established that to control the ECONOMIC life of a people and fully dictate the direction and ultimate use of their purchasing power, you must program their SOCIAL life to see the possession your products and services in inevitable abundance as the only definition of their MEANING and RELEVANCE in life …Therefore our YEARNINGS, HOPES & ASPIRATIONS were programmed to be in accordance with the ECONOMIC, SOCIAL and POLITICAL interests of the colonial masters. The system and nature of Government established by the colonial forces was also to enforce a SOCIALIZATION that patterned all of our desires after their own desires.

We established that CITIZENSHIP as majority of us see it today is as defined by the colonial masters, who with the active but ignorant collaboration of our ‘founding fathers,’ deceived us that INDEPENDENCE and FREEDOM are of same character. Unknown to us INDEPENDENCE only focuses on the colonial masters vacating our lands but FREEDOM begins with the discovery or rediscovery of our personal and national HERITAGE and IDENTIFY as a people and an unalloyed commitment to defend same by all organized and peaceful means necessary. With INDEPENDENCE, the colonial masters only changed location but did not change their ORIGINAL ECONOMIC AGENDA, replacing COLONIALISM with NEO-COLONIALISM and securing same by leaving behind INSTITUTIONS and TOOLS, designed to effectively oil constantly, the fortified engine of COLONIAL MENTALITY.

We opined that as the Third World people, we must make a commitment to invest in our FREEDOM and accept the foregoing as our number one priority as a people.

Finally we established that Citizenship begins with PERSONAL and NATIONAL IDENTITY…We found that Citizenship, when predicated on true PERSONAL and NATIONAL identity is the HIGHEST STATUS and NUMBER ONE Personal Social Responsibility of every member of the state. We concluded that Citizenship when rediscovered in the order enumerated above is the key to PATRIOTISM and PATRIOTISM is the key to MEANINGFUL and ENDURING PRODUCTIVITY in the noble cause of Personal/Public Social Responsibility.

We started at 9.00AM and ended at about 5.30PM and it was as if we shouldn’t round up as the participants testified that there were no dull moments…We took our A Social Conscience CLARITY Exercise and every participant developed a Social Conscience CLARITY STATEMENT (SCCS)…We recommended further readings, including the E-book we promised.

As much as we tried to share here, the taste of the PUDDING is still in the EATING…We look forward to your participation in the next The LEAD™ Dialogue.

In conclusion,  permit me to place on record the following people and organizations, who participated in the program: LEAP Africa, Compassionate Orphanage Home, Chamagne Foundation, Save the Child, Save the Nation Foundation, Revive Afrique, Women & Cross Border Trade, Funfit Ventures, Pastor Yemi AKINSETE of Faith Foundation Church, Pastor Yinka SANNI of RCCG, Mrs. Tola GBOGBOADE, Mr. Oluwaseyi FAKOYA, Mr. Owoyemi DAVID, Ms. Patricia OGAJE, Mr. Oludare MULERO, Teacher with Queensland School, Okota, last but not the least, my dear friend, Tatenda MAKONI, Child Protection Specialist from UNICEF, Abuja.

Finally, I will like to thank our team under the leadership of our able and amiable Executive Director, Oluwafunmilayo AKINLAMI, whose exemplary and sacrificial commitment was the prerequisite ingredient to the success of the outing, Damilola ADEYEMI, whose tenacity, hard and smart work are priceless gift and encouragement, Damilola OTAIKU, whose commitment to the cause is commendable, Uche ADIM, whose meticulousness and innovation made all the difference and Ms. Raymond, whose attention to details, worked wonders and for everyone, who really wanted to be with us but were unavoidably unavailable, we thank you and look forward to receiving you in the next program.

Thank dear believes for taking time to read this treatise. Do have an INSPIRED week.
(C) 2016 by Taiwo AKINLAMI..All Rights Reserved
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