AN ADDRESS BY DR. OKEY ANUEYIAGU AT THE CONFERMENT OF DOCTOR OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT BY THE NNAMDI AZIKIWE UNIVERSITY, AWKA
PROTOCOLS
Please allow me the opportunity to thank the Governing Council, the University Senate and the Vice Chancellor of the Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Professor Charles Esimone for finding it worthy to confer on me with an honorary Doctor of Economic Development degree.
I must recognize and thank the two almost forgotten heroes of this great institution, Professor Kenneth Onwuka Dike, and His Excellency, Jim Ifeanyichukwu Nwobodo. These two great sons of our country, created and nurtured the dream that today has become the toast of the academia, and envy of the world. They had a vision long before the proliferation of, and the creation of institutions of higher learning, that envisaged the constant need for quality learning. This vision was transformed into what today stands out exclusively, as one of our country’s best and outstanding academic endeavours.
When Dike and Nwobodo, two men that I hold with a high sense of awe and veneration, hired me as the first staff to kickstart the Awka Campus of what was then The Anambra State University of Technology, headquartered in Enugu, little did I know that this institution, whose first offices were situated in my father’s Awka home, and under the tree shade in the same compound, would become the great institution that it has become today.
For these reasons, I am indeed delighted to be receiving this revered conferment today, as I feel a certain sense of nostalgia and fulfillment to be so honoured. In the same vein, I welcome and applaud my fellow recipients Malam Abdulsamad Rabiu and Chief Ikenna Okafor for being purveyors of industry, and for, together with my humble self, making bold and significant forays in supporting institutions by rehabilitating and building new structures to arrest the current decaying infrastructures in our schools.
As I stand before you to receive this honour, I recognize the critical fact and element of the neglect our society and leaders have, over the years, foisted on our people, especially in our educational sector. My rapid awareness of these maladies, defects and deteriotions, awakened in me, and in the minds of a few patriotic Nigerians, as my fellow recipients here, the spirit of philanthropy.
As we celebrate the many laudable strides of this University, I believe and share in the philosophy of this great institution, that there is no form of human endeavour that will thrive without well secured incursion of strong and progressive attributes of our people as a sum of moral disposition to public responsibility over our own selfish interests. We must collectively turn from our private interests and invest in the ambition of the future, by accumulating and implementing clear and practical ideas and realities about the urgency to support those in need, by providing them with an equal chance to excel and succeed, especially in the educational sectors of our society.
This university was founded on the backs of visionary men of ideas and grit in an era of can-do and must-do. Now, in our own era of conscientious primitive acquisition of wealth, wanton squandermania, and contemptuous avarice, the decisions we make everyday, big and small, have the power to affect lasting and impactful changes in our society. Therefore, we must collectively advocate for causes and matters that positively affect the conditions of the poor and the needy in ways and manners that will inspire others to pursue, even in smaller and purposeful ways, the passion of helping others.
As our societies and lives crumble before our own eyes, I believe that each and every one of us is gifted by God with talents to support one another, and that we can perform small miracles in each other’s lives if we take advantage of the unique intelligence and gifts we all possess in improving the lives of people and the growth of our society and country.
I cannot end this address without making reference to my father Chukwuma Anueyiagu (1915-2015), who freely donated most of the land belonging to him and the community on which this University stands today. Without him, and a host of other Awka patriots, this dream would not have become possible.
On behalf of myself, my wife, Hadiza, and my family, I wish to express my profound gratitude and appreciation to Professor Charles Okey Esimone and so many of my relatives and friends here today for their positive support and good wishes.
Thank you.
Dr. Okey Anueyiagu, B.Sc (Hons), M.A., Ph.D.
December 8, 2023
Awka – Anambra State
NIGERIA
