Emerging African Leaders complete inspirational book reading phase 1:
Lessons from “A Journey Beyond the Horizon: Memoirs of Professor Sunday Nnata Nwosu”
By ENL Bright Ayo (University of Jos) and ENL David Godstime (Ebonyi State University)
Prof. Nwosu was a teacher and a man of great accomplishments. He was and still is a role model and a man with a heart and mind to serve. Through this book review, we hope to understand his passions and follow in his steps.
As Emerging African Leaders, reading and discussing about this book was a great experience for us. We learnt a lot in the different aspects of life; education, career, social interactions, leadership, family and many more! We learnt from “the memoirs of Sunday Nnanta” that the family of a man plays a great role in the life formation of that man and no matter how busy our schedules are, we should create time to be with our families and make them our priority.
Parents should endeavor to invest well in the future of their children through proper education. Family is the first educational institution of a child.
Formal education is not the key to achievement, it is undertaken to improve or qualify for a specific profession. The mentality that should be put behind formal learning shouldn’t entirely be “just to achieve” but to effect positive change and improve the life of others. There should be reorientation on the true essence of education especially in our country, Nigeria. There must be a shift in our minds also, concerning the divide between polytechnics and universities. None of these institutions should be looked down upon as long as they can provide proper education to their students.
We also look to the Nigerian government, Nigerians in the diaspora and citizens of this nation to take active steps towards improving the quality and system of education in the country instead of the constant complaints and disheartening brain drain into other nations. Provision should be made to ensure that every student has full learning experience.
As read in the book, examination malpractice is a leech that must be extinguished from our educational system and institutions. It reduces our productivity, discourages the hardworking ones and distorts their view of the world and worst of all prevents us from reaching our full potentials; all of which are hazardous to the prosperity and advancement of this country.</>
The disdain towards the teaching profession is as a result of faulty mind set. We must change that quickly. Teaching is a noble and prestigious career and we must treat it as such. Trainings and seminars should be made to rejuvenate the minds of the teachers and bring them up to par in order for them to be at their maximum and meet international standards. Teaching is definitely not a ‘by-the-way’ profession.
Furthermore, we learnt to speak against injustice, stand for our rights, get involved in politics as much as possible, hold our leaders accountable, do away with tribalism, strive for excellence in all we do and look out for competence and character in political aspirants. We must understand that our actions in our society must be models to others, notwithstanding the actions of others around us whether good or bad. Tribalism and racism is one of the major causes of our nation’s down fall.
The story of Mr. Sunday tells us that what matters is not how others see us but how we perceive ourselves and work toward making ourselves better individuals. This book also teaches us that for you to be successful in any field; you have to learn about that particular field by practicing diligently and learning continuously. We also learnt that nepotism should be curbed and is a great mitigation to excellence; that the standards should always be upheld not giving mind to status, race or any form of sentiment.
We learnt from the book to stay humble and true and remember our backgrounds and culture. We should not become haughty on the grounds of our wealth, office, power or achievements and must constantly have a heart to serve our community and the world at large. We must have a ‘do-more’ mentality, never resting to say we have done enough.
We must also be courageous and strong to follow through our dreams till they have been fulfilled not being daunted by the words of people around us or the happenings that seem to want to break us down. We must understand that troubles will come but also know that we will surely come out victorious.
Phase 2 begins May 5, 2017: “Developing the Leader within you” by John C. Maxwell. Join the conversation every Friday @csaaeinc: twitter, instagram, facebook.
