"Excessive individualism", bane of Nigeria's underdevelopment- Mrs Omu ~ Truth Reporters

By Foster Akpore

The eldest child of Chief Demas Akpore, second republic governor of old Bendel State, Mrs Stellamaris Omu, has over the weekend, traced the cause of Nigeria's underdevelopment to  "excessive individualism" in her goodwill message at the 14th Chief Demas Akpore annual memorial lecture  organized by the Ejiro & Otive Igbuzor Foundation, themed ‘Chief Demas Akpore and Nigeria's Development’, which held on Friday December 10, 2021 at Ughelli Kingdom Hall, Ughelli, Delta State.

The Memorial Lecture was instituted in 2008 as an annual lecture in honour of Late Chief Demas Akpore in recognition of his dynamic leadership qualities and contributions to the development of the old Bendel State, now (Edo/Delta States) and Nigeria in general. The lectures were purposely to contribute to the public debate on contemporary leadership and developmental issues. 

According to her, "national development is a collective responsibility. It is important to critically look at the nation's development vis a vis our core values as a people. The fact that our schools have been denied a knowledge of our peoples and history is a tragedy to behold. The exclusion of the subject from school curriculum has negated the understanding of our various groups, persons and places. Many of our citizens do not know the indepth contributions of men and women who made our nation what it had been hitherto. 

"The flaws we see today in fabrics of our society is related to the wrong socialization. We have put the cart before the horse .Hard work is rebuffed and all kinds of things are now apparent in the nation, that once assisted other nations to achieve.

"We can no longer be forceful of  'How Europe Underdeveloped Africa' by Walter Rodney, including Nigeria, but how Africans and Nigerians have tragically underdeveloped ourselves.

"The greed factor, nepotism, ethnic bigotry, hate, laziness, so many vices, have continued to affect a positive development of our nation.

"National development is jeopardized at all levels. Our present generation have no clue of what we were and the pathways charted by history, even in our small entities. So, where there is no bearing, no anchor, no compass, what do we expect?

"However, the problem of development is deeper than we can see or imagine. The  moral decay and excessive individualism are at the root of our national crisis. People simply want money , riches at all costs. That is why they are ready to appropriate what belongs to all. Legacy of hard work and patriotism no longer count where politicians and yahoo boys and girls are calling the 'shots'

"The unity of our entities has been submerged in the rot that has engulfed us as a nation. The beauty of unity amid diversity was a powerful ingredient in our national development. If this can be restored, we are good to harness all that is naturally endowed to bring about the retracing / re- tracking on our nation development, beginning from our local entities. We need to seriously reappraise ourselves and get off the shackles of the abasement we have found ourselves in. The need for true identity of ourselves and the  stereotyping of our common resources have to addressed.

"At this point, may I say that there is the arching need to imbibe the ideals that Chief Demas Akpore stood for: compassion, genuine kindness, justice, fairness, firmness , generosity and faithfully making a difference in the lives of  persons and places wherever you find yourself. The development of the human person is basic. No matter how small or big you may be. Start from a point and be positive. This is where the true identity comes from. It is transformational. You may be misunderstood or misrepresented, it does not matter. I pray that these annual memorial lectures will bring us into those exchanges that will propel our generation into the development that will endure, through access and cross cutting interactions with the old and new", she concluded.