THE GENERATION THAT BUILT- Rasak Adekoya writes inspiring open letter to Leaders of Disability Organisations

Rasak Adekoya, a Youth Leader of Nigeria Association of the Blind. (Lagos Chapter) has this to say for all leaders of Disability organisations in Nigeria. Read below..

Dear leaders,

I write this with a high sense of the responsibility that has been placed upon you as a leader. And the need for you to get serious and strategically act in tandem with time.

Prior to 2010, lot has been happening with respect to reforms, policies and social perception towards persons with disabilities in Nigeria. The result has been tremendous since 2012 but failure to ensure some of these bills become a law as well as enact it before
2020, we might never experience these kind of momentum and attention in the disability community for another decade.

Best-selling author, Malcolm Gladwell, in his brilliant book, OUTLIERS, revealed a rather interesting fact.
A list was drawn from the very wealthiest men in history. The list spanned centuries. But a shocking 20% of that list were people born within a single generation! Do you know what that means?

He did the same analysis for a list of key people who defined the present-day computer era as we know it today and the significant milestones reached in the ICT world. Most of them were born within 4 years of each other. Again, in a single generation.

Time and again, history shows us that at certain times, specific generations are given tasks, responsibilities and opportunities to define pivotal shifts in the existence of mankind.

Now, let us come to Nigeria. In 1984, in an essay, Prof Wole Soyinka delivered a scathing verdict on his generation calling it THE WASTED GENERATION- a generation which produced intellectuals but no results.
Fast forward several years to 2012 [28 years later], in the same paper, The Punch, Prof Pat Utomi, another cerebral Nigerian, described his own generation as THE GENERATION THAT LEFT TOWN- intellectuals who
saw the reality and the lack of opportunity and an enabling environment to flourish, who left the country to find greener pastures.

Relating this to the disability clusters, it has been observed that the highest reform and developmental changes that PWD community will ever experienced will be between 2010 and 2020. You will see this
happening from the enacting of the Lagos Special People’s law in 2012, the introduction of similar bills and inclusive policies at different states parliament like Ogun, Plateau, Akwa Ibom, Taraba, Kwara etc.
and same is about to happened to the National Disability Bill.

Again, you will realize that All these bills are champion by disability activist who were born between 1960’s and 1970’s. Look around your organisation and check how old the leaders are. But the question is how sustainable are these reforms? Who will implement them? Will it still be you and your group that will do that
in your 60’s? and this is why I am calling for restructuring of the leadership of disabilities organisations.

Other than your generation, have you heard of the GENERATION THAT BUILT. They are the ones born between the 80’s and 90’s and up to the very beginning of the millennium. They are part of the generation globally referred to as The Millennials.

I’m talking to you to include that generation specifically in your advocacy and leadership structure. So, here are few thoughts.

1. There have been generations before yours. And there will be generations after yours. Yours is not the beginning. And you will not be the end. But you can be more than a generation that just passed through. You can be the change.

Every generation has had their fair share of tasks, responsibilities and opportunities. What sets them apart- or not, is what they DO with what they have [not what they SAY about what they have]. So again, what have you DONE? What do you DO? What will you DO? And what effect does what you do have on the sustainability of Nigerian disability Project, in Africa and the world?

2. Stop trying to save people who don’t want to be saved. Don’t suffer needlessly from Messiah Complex. Yes, it is in your power to change the world for the better. But you won’t do so if you waste your energy
and resources, concentrating on people who do not want to be changed.

Some people, whatever you say, will never buy into the idea of a better world or a better Nigeria disability community. As far as they are concerned, you are wasting your time. These ones may be changed only with actions and results. So, concentrate on results-oriented actions and keep moving. Either way, you win, and Nigeria disability is the better for it.

What you are looking for is NOT the CROWD. What you are seeking is a CRITICAL MASS. The Critical Mass is always the needed catalyst in any system for significant changes to occur. This Critical Mass is the
Intelligentsia. And the invasion of the intelligentsia is about to commence in the disability community.

3. Seek your tribe. I have found that people of like passions congregate. There is, after all, a level beyond which you cannot attain if you insist on being a lone ranger. But for us as PWDs, why have we not align with JONAPWD and other related disability organisation with ours? Even when if there is need for structural
reform, you can educate the leaders. After all, they don’t know it all. And they will be willing to change if you’re constructive.

So let’s find partnerships, nurture friendships, build networks. Create a tribe of people who share a passion with you and share ideas.

Don’t let the future take us by surprise. Don’t arrive the future and find yourself strangers. Let’s Grow together.
This is not about ethnicity. Or unhealthy competition. This is about global collaboration. Across languages and religions. Reprogramme your mind to view people, not as “their tribe”, “their race” or “their religion” but as humans with the common goal of our mutual
advancement. People who think like this, they are your tribe. Seek them.

4. Seek Mentorship. I love passionate, zealous people. Yet, for all my love for these characteristics, I am a little wary when I see people high on passion and low on direction. Zeal without guidance or control is a terrible thing, a very dangerous thing. Enough of rancor among
you, disability leaders. The direction of many is not encouraging to us the youth to join you. true leaders are people who give us the benefit of their experience without the downsides of their mistakes.

Having you as a mentor pushes us light years ahead.
You are not Omniscient or Omni-Potent. Don’t pretend. We already know. And we do not hold it against you. We are a passionate generation that is willing to learn. Let us also be informed, inclusive, intelligent and intentional.

I end this letter with something I have come to accept as a personal driving force. Advancement, for me, is no longer an option, but a personal responsibility.
I must do what I must. And same thing should be applicable to you as a leader. It is a duty. Together let us be known as THE GENERATION THAT BUILT.