LECTURE DELIVERED BY ELDER EBUNOLA OLAYEMI AT THE END OF YEAR MEETING OF ILAJO ROYAL FAMILY LAGOS ON 08/12/2024
PREAMBLE: Youths are the future of every family unit. Youths have to be included
in our leadership drive. According to Proverbs 20:29 “The glory of young men is their
strength: and the beauty of old men is their grey head”.
The following are the key areas of impact:
■ Observation
■ Learning from elders, parents and seniors.
■ You have to read because your success depends on it. You don’t need to repeat
(make) the mistakes of those before you: Be informed!!
■ Be conscious of what you watch on social media because it will have either a
negative or positive effect on your now and future.
■ Generation to generation, values are passed down.
■ Parents should be intentional about passage of family values and leadership traits
in the family to make them generational.
AREAS OF FOCUS TO ASSIST THE YOUTH:
- FINANCIAL SUPPORT: All those little funds that are given to youths to mentor
them, to assist them in their different trades, we have to continue and enlarge our
coasts in those areas.
•PRESERVATION OF FAMILY VALUES: For the youths, when called upon, should
make sure that you don’t stay idle. The idle hand is the devil’s workshop. When you
see some youths in the cities, you will not even be able to recognize them, nor think
that they are from a family, because their attitude is such that cannot be associated
with a good family.
You know ours is a good family; it’s a family that is leading, a family that have values,
it’s a family that ensures that the values we have are passed down to our children. - VISION: In the Bible, God says to the generations of Abraham, how far you can see
when he has departed from his brother Lot. He told him how far can you see; you
have to know what you are seeing; you have to know what you are expecting and he
said what he can see.
God told him whatever he can see he should possess and he was successful in all
his endeavors. That’s why we can rightly say, Abraham’s blessings are ours.
Whatever you want, have in mind a pictorial exposition of what you want. Have it in
mind, what do I want to be in the next 2 years, in the next 5 years, in the next 10
years and you try and document it.
FOCUS: The Bible says it may tarry but it will surely come to pass. Document it; work
at it; pray with it and then continue to be expectant.
Whatever you want to do will surely come to pass when you’re focused.
Do not look back; do not be dismayed.
Focus on what you want to do and God will be your helper.
YOUTH EXPOSURE - We need to be very careful with social media. They are very educative as well as
very harmful. We have the positive impact they can make upon your lives and we
have the negative ones. So please ensure that what you watch, whatever you are
investing your airtime on are things that will be beneficial to you and your future.
Don’t just watch anything; those things that are negative make sure you turn them
off. Watch those things that are positive.
CHOICE OF FRIENDS AND SOCIAL IMPACT:
Be careful with Your choice of friends, because evil communication corrupts good
manners.
Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. Those that have different beliefs and
aspirations are different from you: Don’t be involved with drugs, terrorism,
gangsterism, and oppression of any form. Do to others what you want them to do to
you; and it will be well with you and your generation.
BE INTENTIONAL
It is not easy; you have to be intentional. Make sure you are intentional to listen and
to be willing to carry on the good works because tomorrow, you’re going to be the
leader of this our family.
A good example of change in early education system. The Chinese experience can
be cited, whereby Chinese are training their children at kindergarten stage, in line
with what was obtained in Nigeria at my early education period. Then we go for
Domestic Science as a subject and we were taught how to cook, how to sew. Along
the same line, when I was just in Form 2 in Holy Rosary, Idah. I was already making
Magyar-dress, my sister Mrs Owope, wore same and other things I made with needle
and thread. We do not even have the privilege of using sewing machine. Those are
the things we must go back to. We cannot ask our children to be reciting rhymes all
the time without teaching them handwork, home keeping, science and artisan, crafts.
The nature of reading now is even different; they teach by sound.
It is not a question of learning A, B, C and cramming it. No. And now we should be
intentional. Whether a child is small or not. A child must be able to do running stitch,
back stitch, hemming, all these small things that can impact on the life of the child
and gradually when the child is growing, he will be able to do other things.
Children follow their parents to the farm. An example is the Owope family, a
renowned farming entrepreneur and my father a transporter.
I even ventured into transportation in line with my father’s business but was swindled
because the people of those days are not as the people of these days.
WISDOM
You have to be very careful and full of wisdom and do your background checks
before you get involved with anybody in business.
The Owopes were taught how to farm, how to sell farm produce and what to do, how
to nurture domestic animals and even cash crops. He extended his cash crops
gathering by buying off from other farmers and selling them to the marketing board.
And my own father was involved in carrying the cash crops from Kabba area and
Ilorin to Lagos for shipping abroad.
All those types of teachings and experience learnt made us to buy into business.
Anywhere I find myself even as a teacher I will still sell one thing or the other. My
own mother was supplying Berets to my school, Holy Rosary, Idah.
My principal then, a Reverend Sister, brought me to Lagos and I told her we can get
gas in Kabba and she followed me. And even had to visit my father and prayed with
him.
My father is not a Catholic but the children – were all Catholics. He was liberal and
allowed us to be Catholics because the Catholic mission was close to our residence.
We attended the school and the church so we can experience what they are
teaching, and we performed well academically.
BE PRAYERFUL
Now, not all of us can take our children to our churches, some of them will not even
want to pray. All those things are not counting well for them. Youths, you have to be
prayerful in all circumstances.
Follow your parents as they pray. Do not think prayer is nonsense. Prayer is
everything. Whatever you call God into; He follows you and He will make sure you
are successful. Prayer is an integral part of life.
You have to be spiritual as much as you are physical, because we are both physical
and spiritual beings, and our spiritual rules the physical. So, you must call the
spiritual into your physical life before you can take any action.
HAVE A MENTOR/COUNSELLOR
I will beg the youths to still tell them that no matter what: Your parents have seen it
all. They have seen more of life than you have seen, listen to counsel.
If you have no counselor, if you have no mentor, it will not be easy. Try to listen and
try to learn. Try to imbibe those values that have made your parents successful.
BE FAITHFUL
Be faithful, be vigilant, be ready to listen so that you can go forward; you can make it
in life. Life is sweet; life is easy for somebody who is ready to follow the elders and
not make the mistakes that they made before by reading about them; by studying
them; by knowing what to do and by intentionally doing them.
ASSOCIATE WITH YOUR FAMILY MEMBERS.
No matter how much we carry you along to family meetings, you will still learn
through observation and associations with family members. Nobody can carry you to
family meetings at such a tender age, going by what the last brother said, but you are
grown now and being nurtured by all these wise people. They have seen and have
known what their own parents did.
Everything is generational. It will soon come to your turn and you will be where all
these people are; and you have to tell your children that this is what our elders did in
those days.
The Lord God will help you in Jesus Name, Amen!
