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| (Image Courtesy: newamerica.org) |
Students, teachers & staff of HMS Schools and other guests present, good morning. Before I commence, I would also like to extend my gratitude to the teachers for the outstanding work they are doing in shaping the young minds of the future. There is no profession as noble nor as valuable as teaching. I know this for a fact because I wouldn’t be where I am today if it wasn’t for the inspiration and yearning for knowledge my teachers instilled in me. So, thank you so much for all that you do.
This
keynote address was meant to be about tolerance, how it can be a tool for
peaceful coexistence, learning and mutual understanding. However, while going
over my notes in preparation for this event, the definition of tolerance got me
thinking and I decided to head towards a different direction. Tolerance is
defined as the ability or willingness to tolerate or put up with the existence
of attitudes, behaviors or opinions that one dislikes or disagrees with. While
this definition is essentially complete and conveys its meaning effectively, I
am slightly intolerant of it. That’s an irony, I know. I feel by saying we “tolerate
or put up with”, there is still some resistance or obstacles that we allow to
exist within us which allow prejudices, stereotypes and other remnants of
intolerance to exist, thus preventing us from benefiting from the immense
experiences and knowledge that can come from being open to other cultures,
experiences and people.
So, I will be deviating from tolerance and will be
discussing diversity and its acceptance instead. Diversity can be defined as
the existence of various people, ideas, cultures and attitudes within a given
community or society, while acceptance in this context is the ability to openly
accept and learn from the attitudes, cultures and experiences of others while
using that diversity as an engine of progress, mutual understanding, cooperation
and peaceful coexistence.
As
this is a talk that focuses specifically on the students, I will try to make
the discussion interesting and lighthearted or as you say in the usual hip and
trendy lingo of the times; I will try to make it LIT!
Now,
that we understand what diversity is, let’s talk about why it is important for
us to embrace it and see it not as something to be fearful or disdainful of,
but rather as something to value and learn from.
DIVERSITY BRINGS VARIETY TO
LIFE
We
all have a favorite color, celebrity and football team, don’t we? Now close
your eyes for a minute and imagine the only color, celebrity or football team
that existed was your favorite color, celebrity or football team. What do you
think life would look like? At the onset it would be thrilling but as time goes
on, you would become increasingly bored and despondent as things became more
monotonous and predictable.
Or
imagine again that the only people that you mixed with were people from your
ethnic group or religion. Sure the familiarity would be somewhat comforting but
would you learn anything from mixing with individuals of the same religion or
ethnic group?
Diversity
brings variety to life as it creates opportunities to learn, new experiences
and it brings a certain level of positive unpredictability and excitement that
makes life more exciting and worth living.
INTERCULTURAL ENRICHMENT
Living
in a diverse society or community gives you the opportunity to learn about
other cultures and people’s way of life. I’ll give you an example. My father
was in the army and that meant we moved around a lot. We lived in Kaduna,
Bauchi, Jos and Lagos. As a result of this constant movement, I was able to
make friends from numerous ethnic groups and religions. This expanded my
knowledge of other cultures as well as other religions. It also enabled me to
build friendships which have lasted to this very day. There is almost no state
in Nigeria in which I don’t have a friend.
ECONOMIC STRENGTH
America
is a major economic, military and technological superpower due to its policy on
accepting people of all ethnic groups, races, religions and cultures. I know we have been inundated with various
news reports on the closure of its borders and separation of families of
illegal immigrants. However, America used to be a society that embraced
diversity. This is the major reason why they are where they are today. That
culture of openness and diversity they had gave them the advantage as it
allowed them to pool various skills, talents and knowledge to make them the
superpower they are today. A major advantage or importance of diversity in a
society is that it can harness the different talents and skills of a group of
people to make a society more robust and economically resilient.
PEACEFUL COEXISTENCE
We
don’t need to travel far to explain why diversity is important for peaceful
coexistence. I am sure we have all heard stories from our parents and teachers
about the ethnic and religious unrest that occurred in the past such as the
Zangon Kataf crisis. We are also witnesses to those that occurred as recently
as last month and in 2011 as well. These crises, despite the various reasons or
triggers that gave rise to them started basically due to our refusal as a
people to accept the diversity and live peacefully with our neighbors. Nigeria is a multicultural and
multi-religious society. No single ethnic group or religion is superior to
another. You, I, all of us have equal rights to this country. We need to
realize this and try to get along with each other. We have one of the most
diverse cultures and people on the African continent. There are countries who
would give anything to be blessed with half of what we are blessed with in
terms of diversity of ideas and cultures but we are letting it all go to waste.
As
I have noted earlier, diversity can be an engine of progress and development.
Due to our intolerance and failure to accept and learn from other people’s
attitudes and cultures, we keep setting ourselves back both in terms of
infrastructural development and human capital development with our constant
conflicts. We need to realize that accepting diversity is the only way we can
make any meaningful progress.
As
I am sure most of you have noticed, I have been talking about the importance of
diversity with so much passion. The reason, aside from the fact that I have
lived in numerous diverse societies and have witnessed the advantages accepting
diversity can provide, is due to the fact that you as the future generation of
this country are going to inherit it along with its challenges and problems.
Therefore, it is of the utmost importance that you begin to embrace diversity right
from this point and see how you can utilize it for the good of the society and
the country in general. I have had numerous arguments with friends and
colleagues as to whether or not it is possible to teach people how to accept
and be open to diversity. While most believe it is not possible to do so, I
strongly believe it is very possible to teach people how to accept and be open
to diversity. No one is born a racist or as an individual who discriminates against
others. These are all acquired or learned traits. If we can learn them, then we
can unlearn them as well. And this is exactly what I intend to do with a few
tips.
SHOW EMPATHY TOWARDS OTHERS
In
anything you do in life, if you are guided by the sense or the need to put
yourselves in people’s shoes and see how your actions might affect them, you
cannot go wrong. A major hindrance to accepting diversity is the failure of
people to realize or understand how negative attitudes or treatment affects
others. We treat people who are different from us negatively because we either
refuse or are unable to put ourselves in their shoes and feel the impact of
what our actions are making them feel.
If
you can place yourselves in people’s shoes before you say or do anything
hurtful that will guide you to watch your actions and utterances, as well as
enable you understand and learn from the cultural differences that may exist
between you.
UNDERSTAND YOUR OWN BIASES
& WEAKNESSES
No
one is without biases or weaknesses. Every culture has its inherent weaknesses
and imperfections. The reason why we sometimes feel our individual ethnic
groups or cultures are the best is because we have been living and abiding by
the cultural norms and practices our whole lives and are therefore unable to
detach ourselves from it and view it objectively.
However,
when you understand that just as you hold biases and beliefs towards other
cultures, they also hold biases and beliefs about yours, then you can begin to
acquire the enlightenment that comes with accepting diversity.
CHALLENGE PREJUDICES & STEREOTYPES
The
truth is we don’t live in a tolerant world. We live in a world filled with
millions of prejudices and stereotypes about different ethnic groups, cultures
and religions. While some may be true, most are not and are a misguided belief
brought about by errors and misconceptions. In modern times these stereotypes
have been reinforced by the media and how it erroneously portrays certain
ethnic groups, cultures and people. It is important that you do not believe all
that you see. Your classmates and teachers are people from different ethnic groups
and backgrounds. It is important that you do not make jokes that foster these
stereotypes and degrade others. Rather than believing everything you hear about
various ethnic groups and cultures, ask questions, politely and in a
non-offensive manner. Seek to understand what their culture is about and
explain yours to them as well. Besides the mutual understanding you will gain
from doing so, you will also learn a lot about your respective cultures and how
they may even have the same origins.
CHALLENGE YOURSELF
It
is very easy to always see things through your own point of view and to become
defensive or offended when others challenge our cultures or points of view.
This attitude of defensiveness or taking offense prevents us from opening our
minds and learning about other points of view. It is important for you to lower
your defenses and try to see things through others’ point of view. Ask
questions, listen and understand before making a response based on emotions.
Of
course I do not expect you to all at once change the society and the world but
you can start from here. I want you all to make a commitment to get to
understand the ethnic group and culture of your classmates and teachers and to
take that knowledge and spread it outwards. Teach your sibling, your elders and
your parents about it and maybe, just maybe things can start to change.
I
would like to thank you all for being so attentive. I would also like to extend
my gratitude to the staff and management of HMS Schools for considering me
worthy to deliver the keynote address at this highly auspicious event. Your
decision to give priority to promoting a culture of diversity and tolerance is
a strong indication of the welcoming and all-inclusive nature of HMS Schools
and its staff. I have no doubt that by your actions you have set the bar high
for other schools to follow. Thank you.
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