2023 NEW YEAR GOODWILL MESSAGE TO EKPEYE YOUTHS - EDWARD IMO

Happy new year, uboji li ugbedhe Ekpeye. 

I have been inspired to deliver this good will message for several reasons the most important being the need to present a kind of  agenda setting for some of us who had planned to do better in the year 2023. 

The intention of this message is to prick your conscience on the need to chart a better way forward for yourselves in the year 2023. We all know that most of us bank on politics to pay our bills. We need to change the narrative this year. There is nothing wrong in playing politics but there is the need for you to have a more reliable and stable source of income first and then complement it with politics so that politicians don't see you as a mere beggar.

Having an alternative means of livelihood gives you the confidence to be self reliant and to also  have a say in political gatherings. Spare some minutes while reading this and reflect on  what have you actually gained politically since you started following party politics in 1999 or earlier or later. Supposing you were engaged in serious business or job, would you have been where you are now? When do you want to make it in politics? How long did it take the politicians you are following now to make it in politics?  Did your political godfather's follow as much as you are following now before they made it ? Answers to these questions will surely convince you whether to bank on politics or not.

In this new year, make some plans to leave home and go to far away land in search of greener pastures. When you are far from home, you will be challenged to face your fears and  conquer it. Don't be afraid to fail. Those in the city also came from their respective rural communities without any relation to stay with in the city yet they made it.

Home brings little or no source of financial breakthrough. The best home affords us is to eat straight from our parents kitchens for those whose parents are still alive. Take one minute and think about this. How many big men in Ekpeye made their monies in Ekpeye land? Try to name them . If you see up to ten of them in your community or clan then know that staying at home is good but if you can't count ten of them then know that home has little or nothing to offer your pocket. Nwaname, leave home and join the hustle in town. In the beginning it will be tough but through determination, you shall succeed.

Umu nwaname, no matter your condition try and get a certificate be it first school leaving certificate, O Level certificate or first degree. Even certificate in skill acquisition is equally an advantage for job hunting in Nigeria. In case you don't know, Nigeria is a country that depends so much on certificate more than skill and experience. Try and bag a certificate against all odds. Do not let your economic background to affect your dream to bag a certificate. Certificates in Nigeria are meal tickets. 

My brother and sister, try and review your option this year. Some of us have rejected certain job offers because we do not like the kind of job that has been offered to us. Some us feel that we are too big to do a particular kind of job. My dear, just start somewhere and allow time to shoot you up. Great things come in small sizes so you can start small and become great tommorow. Most of the wealthy men we are admiring today have their tough histories of starting small. Please lower your options this new year and pick up that job. 

Above all, avoid being used by politicians and traditional rulers in Ekpeye to cause violence  and insecurity in Ekpeye. The politicians and traditional rulers have grown -up children like you so if violence and thuggery are good things why are their children not leading in the front.

They use you to cause problems in oil companies and elections and when the job chances come they reserve for their children who are in the University and sell the remaining chances to your detriment. What becomes your gain in the end? Death, injury or accumulated enemity. Don't go and incure enemies for yourself because of one politician or traditional ruler. Don't also dream to only be a follower and not a leader someday. After all the current politicians and traditional rulers we have in Ekpeye today do not have a record of long followership before they became leaders. It means therefore that you can also be a leader tomorrow without following leaders for too long. Just go prepare yourself by improving on your human capacity and get ready to be a leader. 

A word is enough for the wise. Leave the messenger and take the message. 

Follow my advise and thank me by the end of the year 2023.

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