Speeches

Re-Introduction Of Uniformed Voluntary Organisations And Clubs In Lagos State Schools

May 14, 2009 - Distinguished ladies and gentlemen, I stand here with pride, with a lot of hope in my heart and incredible belief in the capacity of our people to say that the event for which we are gathered today may yet turn out to be one of the most defining of the next few years in all what we will do.

In 1985, barely 25 years ago, I was an undergraduate in the University of Benin. Today, I have become privileged to hold office for almost 2 (two) years as Governor of the largest urban conglomeration in Africa, and it all seems like yesterday.

In the next few years, many of the young boys and girls who look at me today with hope for their future will have assumed one position or the other, where they will be called to take responsibility and exercise leadership roles. I therefore see our most important obligation to them today as being that of preparing them for leadership.

The quest for a new generation of leaders and those who will exercise uncommon leadership qualities has become a matter of global concern.

More leadership training institutions are opening up across the globe; more books are daily being published about leadership roles and responsibilities. Ironically, across the world, the models that are being studied are those of leaders that our generation did not live with, Churchill, Eisenhower, Lincoln, Ghandi, Napoleon, Cyrus etc.

The leadership vacuum is so wide that models and institution created by leaders of yesteryears such as the United Nations in 1945, the World Bank in 1946 to mention but a few, are the only references we have for dealing with today’s problems in a globalizing world that those who created those models did not contemplate.

This vacuum has prompted authors to write books on leadership to emphasise the fast disappearing breed of leaders, like Lee Laccoca’s book titled “Where are all the Leaders Gone?”

Some may therefore begin to reason that leaders are becoming extinct or threatened like dinosaurs or special breeds of animals that need to be protected.

I of course do not think that great leaders have become extinct. My belief is that we have not done enough to enable them thrive. We are here therefore to start the process again, to bend that arc yet another time, by using tried but abandoned method of building leaders from the scratch.

Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, Dr. Nnamdi Azikwe, Chinua Achebe, Wole Soyinka, Nelson Mandela, Obafemi Awolowo, Bola Tinubu and so many other leaders of our time did not become leaders when they took office or by attending leadership training institutes. They had been leaders in their various fields before they took public office. The reason is simple. They took responsibility.

This is the defining element of leadership. Responsibility for self, responsibility for others and responsibility to a cause.

Mandela, Awolowo, Bola Tinubu were responsible for themselves, so they took responsibility for others and for causes like the fight against apartheid, the enforcement of free education and the enthronement of democracy.

Responsibility requires that only those who can look after themselves can be entrusted to look after others and can be expected to put themselves forward while their needs take a back stage.

This is what we expect from these young faces who will lead our police and army in the not too distant future. People who will be our professors, doctors, teachers and professionals to train others.

People who will build our power and nuclear reactors and make us a leading player of the first world. Our future politicians, Councillors, Local Government Chairmen, Lawmarkers, Governors, Judges, Diplomats and Presidents.

These people must have character, they must recognize the need for team work, they must understand the meaning of trust, and they must understand the value, virtue and nobility of service.

There is in my view no better place to start than the voluntary vocational clubs that we are here to re-introduce today as a compulsory part of the education of Lagos State School curriculum, every Friday.

The Boys Scout taught me community service through the Bob-a-Job programme of cleaning up the environment and performing chores from house to house in my neighbourhood.

It taught me to overcome temptation and people developed trust in me, because I had to account for every money I was given during the service programme.

The camping programme instilled in me team spirit and the need to take responsibility for myself and also for others because of shared responsibilities like being on guard, cooking, fetching wood or lighting camp fire.

Scouting

Scouting has many important principles, some of which are listed below. Scouting assist parents in raising their boys to honourable manhood. The principles taught in the Boy Scout program reinforce the principles, skills, and morals that parents instil in their children. Scouting helps boys learn valuable skills, such as working with others toward a common goal. And perhaps most significant of all, scouting gives boys a chance to develop friendships which will follow them, and nurture them, for the rest of their lives.

Scout oath: On my honour, I will do my best, to do my duty, to God and my country, to obey the Scout law, to help other people at all times and to keep myself physically strong, mentally awake, and morally straight.

Scouting connotes trustworthiness, loyalty, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, cleave, reverent. Its motto is to be prepared, its slogan is do a good turn daily and its outdoor code is to be clean in all outdoor manners, be careful with fire, be considerate in the outdoors and be conservative minded.

Red Cross

Red Cross was established in 1859 after the battle of Solferino, one of the bloodiest battles of the century.

It was established in every country as a Relief Society composed of volunteers that will take care of the wounded in the times of war and promote international agreements protecting the wounded soldiers on the battlefield and those who care for them, providing a neutral status to them.

Boys’ Brigade

The Boys’ Brigade care for and challenge young people for life through a programme of informal education underpinned by the Christian faith by providing opportunities for leadership, decision making and skills training. It seeks to raise awareness of boys and young people to the need of others (especially young people) locally, nationally and globally and encouraging them to engage in activities and projects in which they can make a difference.

The Boys’ Brigade equips leaders through the provision of high quality training and resources, providing a network of professional staff to support voluntary leaders and create opportunities to develop partnership with other appropriate organisations and agencies.

Girls’ Guide

Girls Guide’s rapid growth was due to the efforts of many enthusiastic, resourceful and forward-looking women, all of whom saw it as a wonderful opportunity for the education of girls.

Organisations such as Girl Scouts and Girl’ Guide were especially important at this time to the development of a new, stronger, and more gifted young women encouraging participation as valued citizens who were concerned about their future

The common thread of all these organisations is the development of the minds and bodies of young people, teaching them skills, the value and virtue of service, compassion for fellow man and woman and preparing them for leadership roles. This is a better avenue and an alternative to secret cults. The children of Lagos deserve no less and the Government of Lagos will not give any less.

We recognise that some parents may be indigent and may not be able to afford the uniforms. In the way that we have provided free education, paid exam fees for NECO and WAEC and provided text books for all our children, we have provided the uniforms free for all the Children with the support of our corporate sponsors. We are resolved that no child will be left behind.

To the Tutors – General, Permanent Secretaries, Parents and Teachers Association, School Heads, Teachers, Community Leaders, Local Government Chairmen, the responsibility is now yours to ensure that every Friday your children are proudly dressed in these uniforms and attend their respective association meeting and events as part of the Lagos School curriculum.

To the glory of God, for the development of a brand new generation of leaders, it is my distinct honour and pleasure to formally re-introduce the Uniformed Voluntary Organisations and Clubs such as Boys Brigade, Boys & Girls Scout, Girls Guide, Red Cross and so on to the Lagos Schools and on behalf of these young boys and girls and parents, I express sincere gratitude to the State and National leaders of these Associations for their support.

Thank you.

E ko o ni baje o

Babatunde Raji Fashola, SAN
Governor of Lagos State