Nigeria
Name: Oloko Ben ChukwuemekaBen.
Email: olokoben@yahoo.com
Country: Nigeria
Birthday: November 21, 1988
Education: WASSC, LL.B in view
Please describe your vision of a world that works for everyone
My vision of a world that works for everyone is that of a place where everybody does his duty conscientiously; where the government as well as the citizenry plays their parts; a place where the golden rule of treating others exactly the way you would want others to treat you reigns; a place where merit is enthroned and mediocrity is extinct; in all, a world where God is enthroned will do all of us a world of good, and that’s my vision of a world that works for everyone.
What do you see as the most pressing problems facing the world today?
The world today is bedeviled by a kaleidoscope of problems, of varying typologies and degrees. These range from insecurity, poverty, ineffective system of education, inefficiency and lack of vision in leadership, unsafe environment, pervasive bribery and corruption, blatant and incessant rape of justice, sectionalism (which manifests in such social problems as racism, ethnicism, tribalism, nepotism etc.), to a seemingly intractable moral decay in society. These problems are largely interwoven; we shall consider the issue of insecurity in greater detail to clearly delineate their enormous adverse effects especially as it relates to the development of a given society.
Insecurity: In my country, Nigeria, insecurity remains the most ‘costly’ problem. The cost comes in from both the human loss and loss of capital. It is on record that we have lost not less than 10,000 human lives to the Boko Haram insurgency alone. The tales of loss that heralded the several crises that has enmeshed the nation since its independence is no news; the civil war alone claimed not less than 2,000,000 lives. When we add what it cost the two warring sides in preparing the civil war; the wanton destruction of personal and public property; what government spent in reconstruction, reconciliation, it dawns on us what the cost of conflict really is. Also the emotional injuries that was no doubt inflicted, which may never heal completely, we see the manifest and manifold consequences of these crises that have rocked my country. Finally, at the top of the year 2012 Federal Government of Nigeria budget is the challenge of tackling insecurity. It has accordingly taken precedence even over education, health, infrastructural development. When we consider these few facts we shall at once see how the above listed problems can cripple any meaningful development in any society.
How do you feel these problems could best be solved?
Although God is the fountain of all solutions to the myriad human problems, He as a matter of habit works with men. The basis of this premise is that God, being the creator of man, necessarily knows man more than man knows himself. So, to get at the root of man’s problems God must of necessity, be involved. God’s involvement usually takes the form of inspiration and infusion of vision. This is needful in all the classes of citizens of a society; however, it is rare to find it spread across the board on all flesh. For the class supposed to lead the others, it is essential to that society as air is essential to life, that such persons be endowed with an overdose of vision, for as John Maxwell noted, vision is the ‘lead’ in ‘leadership’. In addition to the all important issue of divine direction evidenced in visionary leadership, I will also add such ancillary factors as; Periodic free and fair election as opposed to sit tight leadership; virile judiciary and responsive legal profession as opposed to government control of the judiciary and self help; Quality education as opposed to the contemporary emphasis on certificates; Sincerity in leadership as opposed to polarizing sensitive issues and blatant and incessant lies emanating from the corridors of power. The issue of leadership is overriding because when the good people are at the top, there shall not be an avenue for the evil men to wreak their havoc. I accordingly feel that the world’s problems are majorly a result of leadership failure. However in this sense, I use the word equally in reference to our political leaders as well as individuals because I believe we are all leaders in our small corners. Living the right life in our little corners inevitably pulls followers.
Profile
My name is Oloko Ben Chukwuemeka. I am from Orba in Udenu Local Government Area, Enugu State of Nigeria. I am currently an Undergraduate student of the Faculty of Law, University of Nigeria, Enugu Campus. I am in my penultimate year.
I grew up under the care of very loving parents, both civil servants. I am the second of seven children and the first son of my parents. My five sisters are matchless in their show of affection to me. My little brother is just eight. We are very serious Christians. Most of us at home have specific responsibilities at our local church; my mom and dad are both in the Church Committee. We pray together every morning and night. We also eat together, most meals of the day. In essence we are as closely knit in my home as an adhesive.
My parents in a clear show of their unparallel love for me, made sure I attended the best schools in our neighborhood. Notwithstanding the cut-throat school fees, my parents were persistent in their bid to give me the best. My kindergarten and primary education was at the University of Nigeria Nsukka Staff School; My secondary education was at the prestigious University of Nigeria Secondary School Nsukka. To cap it all I am currently a student of the renowned Faculty of Law. University of Nigeria. I cannot wish for any better education than this and I cannot thank my parents enough for their enormous sacrifice to see me through to this level of education.
Now, my ultimate aim in life is to become a great leader of men, the like of Nelson Mandela, Mahatma Gandhi, Abraham Lincoln, George Washington and a host of others. I feel I am the solution to Nigeria’s perennial problems of leadership. I feel I was sent by God to provide solutions to these problems. Funny enough, throughout my primary and secondary education I usually shirked responsibilities, I refused to take any active part in school; I was never a prefect throughout my primary and secondary education, though in both levels, I was, well…very popular, especially in secondary school. Even a teacher suggested to me that I should contest the prefectship election because I was popular. The greater part of my years in primary school, I played too much and in grade five my teacher remarked “…Benjamin! If only this boy would read his book and leave playing, he will be genius” when I answered a question she did not believe anyone could answer at that level (this statement, meanwhile has served as a inspiration to me up till today in my steady climb to greatness).
In secondary level, I similarly was unserious (not very serious is the apposite word). I however, always passed (not just passing…as far back as I can remember, I have always been in the top ten students in my class). I even graduated from secondary school, best in two subjects. In my junior secondary education, I desired to be an engineer because I wanted to build my own car. As I grew older however, that necessarily had to change, because I came to think at that time that there is no need to build my own car as cars have already been made in varying sizes, shapes, models, capacity, etc. Most of my friends wanted to read law and I also felt law was a nice course too and joined the Art class. Because my background was relatively poor, compared to that of most of my mates, I developed a crippling low self esteem. My mates were brought to school in cars, I went to school with an ancient bicycle; my mates drank mineral drinks and ate meat pies during break times, but most of the times I did not even have money to buy burns or palm cakes; my mates were sons of professors and lecturers, but I was a son of a hostel porter. This was the case in both primary and secondary education. At a point in my secondary education, I started stealing money from my parents, just to belong. I overdid it and I am so ashamed of myself whenever I remember it, though I later told them I took their money and apologized.
In the midst of all this, I’m always seen as exceptional by most people I have met. In my secondary education, my teacher in Government always came around my chair to dearly rub her hands on my head and tell me “Good Boy” when I answer her questions correctly. Trust me, this happened very often. It inspires me whenever I remember it.
The moment of self realization, however came when I had to stay for three years before I was offered admission to any university. I wrote JAMB (University Matriculation Examination) four times. Two of the times my result was not released. Once it was released but I failed the Screening test. It was in the course of staying at home alone, reading books, that my life started to take shape. I started thinking of what, actually I wanted to do with my life. It was then I started seeing myself as a ‘messiah’ of a sort. I started to see all my ordeals (so to say) as a necessary preparation orchestrated by God to bring me to his perfect will for my life. I saw that Nigeria’s major problem is inadequate enforcement of laws. We have good laws, we have a good system but these are always thwarted to serve the private interests of the elite class. This strengthened my resolve to study law in the university as I felt it was necessary for me as I, at this point developed a desire to major in law enforcement and ultimately become the president of the country, at least. I also discovered that most of the renowned world leaders were lawyers and soldiers. I sensed that that was not a mistake; There must be something in those professions that inspired greatness and I‘ve not been disappointed so far in that lofty expectation.
In view of the above I aim to work preferably with the Nigerian Police or Army or any of the other Law enforcement outfits when I graduate.
In furtherance of these goals and dreams, I hold and have held several leadership positions. Currently, I am the National President of Orba Undergraduates Association, and also the president of the UNEC chapter of the Association. I was also the Anglican Youth Fellowship, Secretary of my church and later the church secretary. I was the Secretary of Orba Undergraduates Association, UNEC Chapter, Before I was elected the president. I was a two time Academic Coordinator of Students Christian Movement, SCM, UNEC. I am currently the Academic Coordinator of Christian Law Students Fellowship of Nigeria, UNEC Branch. Also, at a point in my class the need arose to select people to constitute a disciplinary committee. The requirement was that the persons to be selected must be persons of “Unquestionable Integrity.” Proudly, I received the highest vote in my class. I was also a Faculty Sheriff, charged mostly with the enforcement of the Faculty rules and regulations. I have been in all the committees set up in my class, since my first year, ranging from picnic committee to disciplinary committees and by the grace of God; I am doing great in my academics. I have also gone for the Federal Government Citizenship and Leadership Training. I am duly certified and I learnt a lot from the two weeks training. Part of the reasons why I am joining this Institute is the opportunity it will offer me to sharpen my leadership skills, in preparation for the “rainy days.”
I enjoy watching films and reading novels, bordering on solving of crimes, and Comedy films. I also enjoy reading Psychology, hence my Masters Degree, hopefully will be in Criminology. I also enjoy the company of funny friends. If I fail to point out that Pastor Bankie has influenced my life more than any other person…then the profile is incomplete.
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Books Completed:
As A Man Thinketh
Jonathan Livingston Seagull
Keys to Success
Psycho-Cybernetics
Success Through a Positive Mental Attitude
How to Win Friends and Influence People
Real Magic
Giant Steps
New Dynamics of Winning