A friend of mine sent me this address by one of Nigerian's illustrious sons, i find deep and inspiring. It can not be more timely especially at this time when most Nations are undergoing different levels of developmental transformations, hence i decided to share it on this platform.
Convocation address by Kanayo Nwanze at the faculty of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences - McGill University:
My deepest thanks to Chancellor Arnold Steinberg, Chair of the Board, Stuart Cobbett, Principal Heather Munroe Blum, Dean Chandra Madramootoo, Parents, friends and most of all, fellow graduates. Thank you for thehonour of inviting me to be a part of this important day. Congratulations. Félicitations. Or as we say in many parts of Africa, ﺗﻬﺎﻧﻲّ [Tahanía], Hongera, Eku-ise.
You have much to be proud of. You have earned a degree from a fine university; one of the best in the world. This is an important and significant achievement.
The world you are about to enter is very different from the one I stepped into so many years ago. The headlines speak of financial turmoil, alarming unemployment numbers and political instability. But you have two key attributes that will help you thrive in this world: You have fine minds and a
fine education. Use your knowledge – apply it and share it – and not only will you do well for yourselves, you will contribute to making the world a better place.
Let me tell you a little story. Where I come from in Nigeria, there is a saying that when you go to the stream to fetch water, your bucket will only be filled with the water that is yours. No one can take the water that is destined for you. Life will give you what you deserve, nothing more and nothing less. But first you must walk to the stream, bend down and dip your bucket.
Walking to the stream is not always easy.
When I was younger, much younger than you, I thought I would never get there. My father, at the time, was a travelling teacher. The year I finished elementary school my family moved three times, and I had to wait another year before I could start high school. Then, just when I seemed to be back on the path to higher education, war broke out. The Biafran War that ravaged my country is, even today, a synonym for horror and atrocity.
Three years went by before I finally made it into a university campus. I was 23 years old, and my peers had graduated the year before, well ahead of me.
Yet, I too reached the stream, and my bucket is certainly not empty. What the stream gave me has made my life rich and fulfilling. It has taken time and perseverance, a few stumbles and falls – never totally down, but always with a sense of satisfaction.
And this is the best advice I can offer: do something that gives you satisfaction. Your work will occupy most of your waking hours, and if it does not give you satisfaction, no matter how rich you may become, you will not be happy – your bucket will feel half empty. As a research scientist, it gave me joy when my papers were accepted for publication. I enjoyed sharing what I had discovered – so be sure someone learns something from you and comes to know how to do it better than you did. In other words, “pass it on”. Knowledge is a gift that grows only when it is shared.
Today, 40 years after graduating from the University of Ibadan, I enjoy a different sort of knowledge sharing. My greatest joy is going to rural communities to sit down with the women, men and children who live there.
In various countries on different continents, in remote regions of the developing world, and in places not found on most maps, I have seen people empowered to transform their own lives with the support of the agency I now work for – the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).
When I spoke before about satisfaction, I meant the feeling I get when I hear people talk about how they can now eat two or even three meals a day. How their children can now go to school, or that they have a new clinic down the road. It takes so little to change so much in people’s lives. The secret is to remember that development is not something we do to people but something they do for themselves.
Whether you are planning a career as a scientist or in development, remember to listen to and respect the opinions of the people in the communities where you work. They may not have had the same opportunities as you, but their knowledge of the land and local conditions is far deeper than that of the development workers who parachute in for a few weeks or months.
They know what they need. Our job is to help them get it. If you want your work to transform lives, you need to look up from your desk and apply the same rigour of thought to understanding the social dimension of local communities that you hope to serve. If you can do this, your work will take root, and although you may not know it, the benefits will last long after you have left, like a footprint in the sands of time. Lives will have been transformed in the process. Your own life will be transformed as well as you come to know the joy of bringing happiness into the lives of others. And that is when you too will come to know true happiness. These are the stories that bring joy to my life and make me realise, every day, that my bucket is certainly not empty – and perhaps it is much more than half full. I wish you every success as you follow your path to the stream.
Remember, you must bend down and dip your bucket to collect your water. And when you do, be sure to share it with your community.
Thank you.
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