There are three taboos in Toastmasters. Three taboos! The three taboos are politics, religion and sex. So as Toastmasters all over Nigeria join the rest of the citizenry to perform their civic responsibilities let’s uphold the finest tradition of Toastmasters by resisting the temptation to peddle politics in the hallowed chambers of The ACROPOLIS. In the light of Toastmasters tradition, I will toe a very fine line in this write up not to cross the rubicon (we do not endorse any candidate), as we gear up for the general elections starting today.
Victor Frankl in his Man’s Search for Meaning proved beyond all doubt that between stimulus and response there is a space. That space, he called the freedom to choose. Unlike the birds of the air, the fish in the waters, and the animals in the fields, man is the architect of his destiny. Beginning tomorrow, we begin the arduous task of constructing our destiny. Alexander the Great was given two choices when he was seven, and then known as Alexander of Macedon. Instead of a long and uneventful life, he chose a short life full of glory, and today Alexander the Great is amongst the handful of men in all of human history to have the title ‘Great’ appended to his name. So beginning tomorrow, let’s go out and choose greatness. It’s our choice! We have the privilege to choose between greatness and mediocrity, between greatness and the enemy called average, between greatness and the status of also ran as a nation.
Remember, when we all become great, our families will become great, when our families become great, our neighbourhoods will become great, our communities will become great, our local government areas will become great, our states will become great and our nation will become great. Let us take empty sloganeering with a pinch of salt. Let us close our ears to meaningless grandstanding. Let us close our hearts, our minds, and our eyes to barren ‘politics’. Let us seize the moment. Determine the destiny of Nigeria with your vote.
When that line of our national anthem that says NIGERIA’S CALL OBEY echoes on the plateaus of the middle belt, the flat lands of our far north, the mangrove forests of the south-south, the undulating plains of the east, and the lagoons of the west, and our children ask, daddy, mummy, did you obey NIGERIA’S CALL? What shall we tell our children? What shall we tell our children’s children? What shall we tell the children yet unborn? Shall we tell them we failed? The answer is in your vote.
I call all Nigerians to choose greatness. Greatness will help us hew great highways out of our dilapidated roads. Greatness will help us mould grandiose dams for first class power generation out of our epileptic electricity system. Greatness will help us engineer superlative citadels of learning out of our moribund and cult ridden schools. Let us CHOOSE to bring light where there is darkness, enlightenment where there is backwardness, and progress where there is retreat into the stone-age. A pessimist says, one tree does not make a forest, an optimist says it takes a tree to begin a forest; a pessimist sees the glass as half empty, an optimist sees the glass as half full; a pessimist sees darkness, an optimist lights a candle. Let’s choose wisely. Let’s make our votes count. Nigeria deserves no less.
Aristotle tells us that the roots of progress are bitter but the fruits thereof are sweet. Aristotle further tells us that the leader ought to stimulate people to virtue and urge them forward by the notion of the noble. A great leader is a servant, a shepherd, and a steward. An old Indian proverb says when you were born, you cried and the world rejoiced. Our leaders should live in such a way that when they die, the world cries and they rejoice. Is there one amongst them? Choose that one! Remember, leadership is not a right, but a privilege.
As we had earlier announced, in the light of the elections, the doors to the ACRPOLIS will be under lock and key on April 2nd and 9th. However, practise your speaking and leadership skills even while queuing up to cast your vote. Remember the rule of three. As Carmine Gallo posited, three is more dramatic than two, three is funnier than four, three is more memorable than six.
