By Muhammad Danjuma Abubakar
The holy scriptures enjoin us to love for our brother what we love for ourselves- ( in this instance our fellow human beings); by extension, No joy is worth anything, but the joy that benefits humanity. These sayings which perfectly fit this discourse is for better society and shared growth.
In other words, a society in which peoples’ actions are not beclouded with ‘self’ and extreme individualism, but reasonably for the collective happiness and comfort of all, will find lasting Peace and Progress. It is sad that true demonstration of these virtues is arguably lacking among many Nigerians particularly, public office holders; and the popular J.F Kennedy’s assertion of ‘…always think of what you will do for your country’ is overshadowed with the default mentality that overrate material possessions, positions of power and excessive quest for such, in the general assessment of one’s success in life.
The country’s poor reward system for hard work, selfless service and entrenched mis-governance culture by the political class also compound our problems as a nation. It is hard not to believe that these ills are the bane of our collective development and shared growth manifesting in poor infrastructures, high costs of living, pervasive unemployment and corruption cases with little or no room for selfless service as JF Kennedy proposed.
In spite of all these realities however, it gladdens still, to note that a few Nigerian men and women have inked their names in gold for patriotic selfless service across different works of life.
One woman that has demonstrated tenacity, sacrifices, advocacies for the rights of women and girl child as well as empowerment of young Nigerians over the years is Khadijah Abdullahi-Iya; a Former Vice Presidential Candidate to Fela Durotoye under the platform of Alliance for New Nigeria(ANN) in 2019 general elections and the Publisher of Searching Inwards Magazine.
As a PhD candidate in Philosophy and Ethics, Khadijah Iya understands that societies can only develop when citizens are guided by the consistence of conscience, morality and solidarity; as a holder of two law degrees from Universities of Jos and Abuja respectively, she has championed vigorously campaigns against Gender-Based Violence; as an alumna of China-European Business School, Khadijah Iya is an entrepreneur of grand vision and experimentation who has facilitated transition of many youths from idleness to gainful engagements through her multiple enterprises and businesses. Her quest for better society which she is into over the years was again exhibited on the occasion of Nigeria’s 62nd Independence Anniversary when she graduated some youths sponsored in modern photography training.
Worthy of clarity, Photography today is a relevant skill that is far beyond holding a camera to shoot an image. It has become a specialty that has stood taste of all time and has proven to be a money spinning venture. If you must know, politicians of class, businessmen, top government functionaries and blue-chip organizations now have trained photographers in addition to their spokespersons and media team. It is why universities particularly overseas now run a degree and even higher degree programs in modern Photography.
Having said these, here in Nigeria where politicians maliciously share ten thousand naira in envelopes or distribute wheelbarrows as empowerment tools to the citizenry, a sponsorship of young citizens to train in a desired skill such as modern Photography is most deserving for special commendation. Beyond this, politicians in this period, are restless, busy and desperately crisscrossing every corner to seek votes of innocent voters, but Khadijah Iya used the period of the National Day to mark the graduation of the children of ‘nobody’ from Mtugraphy Training School, Minna on Saturday the 1st October, 2022, at the Gidan Matasa in Minna, the Niger State capital.
Muhammad Danjuma Abubakar, is a public affairs commentator, and writes from Minna, Niger State. [muhammadcares4u@gmail.com]
