Nnamuka: A Case Of Big Sized Shoes

"A successful father will produce a child greater than himself" ..Troy Vincent.

There exist a two-mile road in my village that mirrored the exact state of the youths of our day. This little stretch of road exhibited all the pointers to failed progressive ideas of our today youths. It begs the question, "Were our father's shoes too big to fill in ?" or  "have the youths failed in stepping up to the feat?"

The two-mile road stretched from a landmark point called the Y junction and ended right at the heart of the Nkwo-Orodo market. This road spanned past this market, all the way to Nwaorieubi but for the purpose of this article, the two-mile road of interest ends right at the market.

On this two mile road, relics of the old order laid untouched. Progressive developments kick started by our fathers with hopes that we the children and forthcoming youths would carry the blazing torch to fruition, begged for attention. Abandoned hopes and legacies laid scattered on this little stretch of road. Unfulfilled promises and footprints littered this stretch. 

Each time I drove past this road, an evident prehistoric dinosaur visible on this road was an abandoned water reservoir. In those days, by every standard, this all concrete humongous water reservoir that stood over sixty foot tall was an engineering masterstroke that would have eliminated the problems of water scarcity in the community. It was designed by the then water board to redistribute water to the villages in Orodo. It was common practice for the central government of those days to site projects in towns with agreed counterpart funding or contribution from the host community. The government was to bring in the technical know-how whilst the host community provided counterpart guarantors and backings. The location of this water reservoir was triangulated by the board and located at the highest point in the village and work had commenced as promised with all the parties in consonance. This project, however, was truncated by either the incessant coup d'etats or the death of the contractor in charge and said project had died a natural death with the skeleton and carcass still standing tall, reminding us all of a good that never saw the light of the day.

It has been thirty years now since that project failed. It has been thirty years since our fathers tried their hands in solving the pending water issue in Orodo. It is fair to say that the advent of personal boreholes scattered in the length and breadth of the villages have ultimately reduced the burden of water scarcity in these villages but it will also be correct to highlight the use and need for water reservoirs and distribution and its impact on the society. It will be in tune to state that we have failed to challenge a solution to our fathers failed mission as of today. If we had believed in the " A successful father should produce a child greater than himself", then we have failed to reach that landmark as of today.

Another drive-through museum in plain sight was the Ubahaeze community hospital that was now a shadow of its old self. There, laid a rot in what seemed a noble concept at inception. A community hospital that would have served the community and its immediate environs. A place built up by community efforts and painstaking years of nurturing and foresight by our fathers. It was quite evident that in their hay days, they also attempted to bring closer to home, a viable health care delivery system to their people, albeit to say it was laden with a lot of managerial shortcomings that hampered growth but the overall groundwork was laid for prosperity. A desolate place devoid of all the trappings of a health center is all that is left. A place that could not accommodate a first responder situation. A place that seemed light years away from civility with infrastructures bursting at seams crying for attention, with shelves gaping open for needed supplies, with rooms and environment looking like spoils of war, with services relegated to mere skeletal medical concerns. Our fathers had thought it through. Our fathers had recognized the indices of growth in their hay days, with a sworn belief that the wealth of a nation laid bare in the health of its indigenes.  A clear path set by our fathers have now been abandoned by the beacon of hope, we the youths. A clear path meant to assure steady growth and progress have now been abandoned in plain sight. "Nnamuka"? but then "A successful father should produce a child greater than himself"  we have failed to reach that landmark as of today.

"Classroom block donated by Orodo progressive union" was emblazoned on the side wall of a newly built classroom. A new addition to an already run down high school. A noble contribution by the sons and daughters of Orodo residing in the united states, an attempt by our worthy sons and daughters to alleviate a dilapidated school.  The Orodo technical school, cited on a large expanse of land along this stretch of road was yet another insight on the minds of our today youths. A visit to this school will assure you of my concern. Our fathers had taken painstaking efforts in their hay days to promote and uplift standards of this high school by building blocks of classrooms, providing library facilities, encouraging cohesive sportsmanship among students and improving on the welfare of school in totality. Back in those days, many men were patrons of the school, aiding and financing many projects and scholarships that arose. A far cry exist today as the classrooms were all desolate, fallen short of today's standards, with broken windows and chairs littered around, no viable library, non-conducive reading and studying environment, no proper amenities to make life easier for millennial students, with students working on farms rather than situated in classrooms, with rascality heightened more than excellence. A citadel of excellence that once was, now laid a harbinger of students that stood minimal chances to compete with counterparts elsewhere. "Nnamuka", " A successful father should produce a child greater than himself"..we have failed to surpass this landmark.

In thirty years, Orodo had produced ten times the number of pioneers of the ‘80s, produced young men and women with knowledgeable abilities to challenge the norm. The big question "why have we not towed in the lines of our fathers ?","why have we abandoned the indices of growth in our communities ?". It is alarming to note that our fathers were in their thirties or about that when they challenged these societal needs. Our fathers were about our age now when they attempted a global solution to community needs. They saw a need to advance the communities agenda while individually contributing their quotas. We should be branded failures since we have not looked at this little stretch of road in thirty years, since we have not contributed meaningfully to salvaging what they could not finish, since we abandoned collective solutions to community issues, since we dropped the ball. We were already in the forty's and the baton of leadership had reached our toes and it is obvious that we might not be ready. I have attempted to answer this question over time. I have always approached it each time on a multi-faceted front .

" There is nothing wrong with helping someone without a cost. Especially if there's no end return"...Solange Nicole.

Youths of today are not as selfless as our fathers. We do not have a global view like our fathers did. Our fathers saw the need to champion a common goal in the community without expecting a return. The stories I heard from my own father showed that communal and community efforts were evident in the projects that they were able to execute in their hay days. Most projects were born out of necessity and were geared towards the total benefit of the community. Most of the projects championed by our fathers were executed to the best of their capabilities and resources. Back in the hay days, there were no internet, crowdfunding, social media, Facebook, and all other tools that brought people together but yet they were able to galvanize support and goodwill to aid in developing and aiding their immediate environs. We have increasingly become selfish. We look out for only ourselves and immediate selves. We have become in the words of  honorable Patrick Obahiagbon "Instagramming", Whatsapping", "Snapchatting" youths who only excel in admiration of the virtual world but not on the ground, where we accept misplaced priorities as accepted values, who seek validation before helping anyone,  who show off when we eventually do help. Our today's youth are inclined to only venture into those deeds that drew accolades ,admonitions, and glory.  It has now become an uphill task to convince youths of our day to come to a consensus to simple solutions. Dissident voices drown the progressives for merely selfish reasons. It is easier to be invited to a "launching and opening" of one's borehole than a collective effort to have a global solution to scarcity within the community. It is easier to celebrate an acquisition of a "Lister" generator than to discuss electrification of communities, yet easier to unveil multi-million naira houses and cars rather than discus common welfare and health of a nation, we have become a "Moet and Chandon" drinking youths , a "Hennessy and Cliquot" popping generation who will expend millions on fine wine rather than plow needed funds to community development. " We are indeed a strange continent". We need to start moving back to communal efforts to solving communal problems. We should start accepting prosperity as a reward for aiding humanity. We should move from paper tigers to ground-shakers.

"Real education should educate us out of self into something far finer, into a selflessness which links us all with humanity"....Nancy Astor.

I have not heard of any debate whatsoever about this failed water project by the youths. Each year, a lot of people travel home for reunions and celebrations, it would have been noble to challenge academically the solution to an outdated water technology. It would have been refreshing to galvanize ideas on modern and viable ways to manage a health center. It would be quite an insight to hear possible ways to chaperone a failing school to heights that meet millennial goals. The engineers in the fold should be encouraged to ply their trade in times like this, the knowledgeable should be heard, the enlightened should shine. The beacon of hope as youths should have been showcased. What is the use of education when one cannot put it into use? What is the use of churning out graduates by the numbers every year without benefits? What is the use of "Dr this and that", "Engr this and that", "Barrister this and that", "Accountant this and that" when we cannot apply acquired knowledge to pending issues in our community? In the case of the water reservoir, education among us would have challenged its present state, education would have tried to proffer solution, even if only on paper, education would have had a road map to modernization of said project, education would have championed a renewed spirit to be selfless in contributions that uplift humanity. What we have is truly a strange continent that does not recognize that which is valuable.

We have a vibrant youth base that have robust presence in many online forums that contribute opinions in different spheres, we have a vibrant base that makes use of the virtual cloud to galvanize support for different needs, we have quite a number that have now failed to pose the question "Why did the community hospital Fail?", “why has it not lived up to expectations?”, “are there resources to tap into out there to reinvigorate? A progressive way to challenge this problem is to have a robust and vibrant discussion with like minds. I have challenged in principle, a lot of medical missions that held in that particular hospital. I have challenged them based on mere principles and not on the act. It is right to say that all that ventured into health missions in Ubaha have done noble but lack the vision of today's world. We are in a world where information and data flowed seamlessly, we are in a world where most regions are striving to attain set standards and if we must join in those millennial goals, we would have to conform to strata. A proper way to go about medical missions would have been a systematic laid out way instead of the haphazard manner of a "one day treats all" that we had seen over the years. It was not enough to line people up at the health center while handing out hypertension or diabetes medications. It was not enough to check "blood pressure" and " fasting blood sugar" without considering long term presentations of said diseases. With information floating about, hypertension and diabetes would be meaningfully approached if followed over time. A progressive suggestion would have been to select a number that can be handled and followed over time. If hypertension was the culprit or target disease, then we should be able to provide lifestyle modifying parameters, we should be able to influence their diets, we should be able to channel medications and medication reminder personnel for compliance, we should be able to encourage controlled exercises for these select few. If diabetes was the target, we should be able to do the same. This way, we would be making a meaningful impact in the immediate community. If we continued on the trend that I just challenged, it would forever remain "for the brochures", " for the cameras", "for charity documentations". Who suffers in the end ?, the community in general. Do we sit and watch the hospital wallow in rot?, do we sit back and not find ways to uplift said facility?, do we sit around without meaningful input on viability? We had clearly deleted from our social conscience, the impact of a robust healthcare delivery system in a society. We can be part of the solution by volunteering in any facet of this delivery. Data collection, resource distribution, education, and information dissemination, ancillary health services are all areas we can collectively approach and slowly change the meaning and impact of quality health delivery.

"The most important rule of educational leadership is to always remember that people, not policies or programs, are what drive highly effective schools"...PJ Caposey

We should move towards targeted curriculum delivery. We should start looking at ways to improve the delivery of educational materials to our upcoming youths. A lot of information is hidden in books, you cannot find it unless you open it. We have to look past the age-long traditions of donating pencils and exercise books as measures of encouragements but rather invest heavily on providing a sound education to these students. These can be approached in a few ways. A number of students could be selected as a turnkey population and sheltered with special tutors in science, arts, English , mathematics. They would be considered in a total package format where all the facets that affect adequate assimilation are totally factored in, from nutrition, transportation, to book supplies, to pocket monies, living conditions, health status, and mental stability all geared towards preparedness to compete with their peers. A vibrant alumni can move in these directions or galvanize support to incorporate millennium values into this school. Resources should be tapped to align school with sister schools for comparisons and exchange of information. We need to start having these conversations as youths and limit bickering over the forums that do not translate to actions. Again we should move from paper tigers to ground-shakers.

Nnamuka, your shoes are way too big. "Nwakanna" is getting harder to attain. We the youths, as a matter of urgency, must re-engineer our psych so as to enable us to attack societal ills like you people did when you were in your prime. We need to brace up, so as to proffer solutions to immediate problems facing our communities. We need to make use of the tools available to us to promote cohesion to champion common goals. We need to understudy you. We need to become our own champions.

It matters that we strive to surpass the limitations of our fathers by taking advantages of the tools of our time, putting forward millennial solutions that serve common good. This stretch of road exist in everyone's lives. Look around you, search deep and proffer solutions.

Uchenna Iwualla MD

It Matters.Period.

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