Babafemi Ojudu: President Buhari’s one year in government

Today, May 29, 2016 marks President Muhammadu Buhari’s first year in office. It has indeed been an all-round exhilarating year, not only for the government but also for the generality of Nigerians. There is nobody in Nigeria today who does not agree that the current challenges that the government face stems from deep seated rot in the system which pervaded the entire nation prior to President Buhari’s assumption of power. Precisely one year ago, President Buhari took over the mantle of office to wide acclaim from Nigerians. Before that fateful day, Nigerians had watched aghast and rather helplessly as the country continued a fast downward spiral, as if racing to join the ignoble category of failed nations. A year ago, though the sorry state of the economy was partly due to the falling prices of oil, Nigeria’s biggest foreign exchange earner, a bigger part of the problem, however, was unbridled corruption, mindless depletion of our foreign reserves and gross mismanagement of the country’s dwindling resources. To compound our people’s woes, Nigerians lived in fear. In the Northern parts of the country, especially in the North East, it was the fear of the dreaded terrorist group, Boko Haram. In the southern parts of the country, the fear of being kidnapped was rife, while armed robbery completed the pathetic picture of insecurity in the land. As if that was not enough misery in people’s lives, the perpetual darkness the country was plunged into due to the ever present power failure made living in Nigeria almost unbearable. In the knowledge of the truth that Nigerians deserve better, President Muhammadu Buhari campaigned vigorously round the country using the slogan “Change”. Nigerians embraced that change by voting massively for President Buhari. One year after, the President is not unmindful of the fact that “change” which he is midwifing has come with some necessary pain. Changing a system that has decayed beyond the widest imagination of even the most fertile minds comes with some pain. It is this pain that Nigerians now face. However, this fleeting pain shall pass. President Buhari has stated repeatedly that he feels the pain that we feel. He is assiduously working to mitigate and calm our pains with the proverbial ‘balm of Gilead’. It requires great courage for a leader to tell his people an inconvenient truth. The truth is that the reality of the times demands some measure of sacrifice from every citizen, if the country is to be returned to the glorious path to prosperity. President Buhari, characteristically, has shown his mettle as a courageous leader even as he tackles the numerous challenges that confront the country. When the history of Nigerian Presidency is written, President Buhari will be remembered as the most consequential President in Nigeria who stepped in at a critical time to change the unfortunate trajectory of a nation that was on a downward spiral. Taking stock of the past 365 days; while it cannot be said that the country is out of the woods, there is no denying the fact that the hemorrhaging in the system has been stopped. On the day President Buhari mounted the saddle of office as the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, he promised to deal decisively with the godless terrorist group, Boko Haram. That promise which he put into action immediately by relocating the military high command to Maiduguri is almost a “fait accompli”. There is no doubting the fact that the Nigerian military with the coalition of neighboring countries which President Buhari forged, have routed Boko Haram. What remains is to clean out the fleeing remnants of the group. President Buhari has been able to achieve this feat by restoring the dignity of the Nigerian Armed Forces and equipping them properly to combat this unprecedented and unconventional warfare. The rescue of one of the Chibok girls from the den of terrorists is a flicker of hope that the rest of the girls would be returned safely to their parents and loved ones. Another battle which the President promised to wage on his inauguration day is the war against corruption that has permeated and eaten so deeply into the Nigerian socio-economic and political fabric. President Buhari has also kept faith on this. Since his assumption in power, he has relentlessly waged this “non-negotiable” war against corruption. It is the President’s belief that the battle against corruption holds the key to the reconstruction of Nigeria’s economic and social systems destroyed by past governments. The Billions of Naira of Nigeria’s stolen money that has so far been recorded bears eloquent testimony to the huge successes recorded in this area. Gone is the era of looting the country’s treasury with impunity. In line with his promise to cleanse the system, President Buhari’s searchlight has beamed brightly on the Nigerian National petroleum Corporation (NNPC), cleaning in the process the national scam that was the fuel subsidy regime. In the fullness of time, Nigerians would start reaping the benefits of the deregulation of the Oil industry. Without a shadow of doubt, this is an area that past Nigerian governments refused to touch, even with a ten foot pole. President Buhari has shown tremendous courage by dealing with this issue once and for all. Critiques of President Buhari’s administration harp on his foreign trips as costing the country money. What they fail to point out are the huge benefits that have continued to accrue to the nation as a result of these trips. Close watchers of President Buhari’s government will readily admit that Nigeria’s leadership position in the world stage and at the Sub-Saharan Africa level has been restored. The frosty relationship between Nigeria and many world powers no longer exist. In the recent past, the country’s near pariah position in the world stage made it impossible for a country of Nigeria’s stature to purchase even the most rudimentary armaments for its military that was prosecuting a war against terrorism. One of the greatest achievements of President Buhari’s first year in office is that of reducing the size and cost of governance. No longer is Nigeria running an over bloated political system that bogs down the economy. The President has reduced the number of Ministries, Departments and Agencies, thereby saving the country billions of Naira now being channeled towards other developmental projects and infrastructure. In addition, the introduction of the Treasury Single Account (TSA) has helped block many leakages in the system through which the country’s funds were siphoned into private pockets. Reportedly, about 2 Trillion Naira has been saved as a result. As Presidents Buhari’s government enters its second year, Nigerians will begin to see the positive impact of various policies measures that the government has put in place to restore the country’s economy and strengthen our democracy. While his first year in office has been spent cleaning the Augean stable, the coming years will see Nigerians benefitting from the government’s programmes to create employment for the teeming youths; strengthen the institutions of government; revitalize the economy by encouraging indigenous and foreign investments and improve the energy situation in the country. With the current passage of the budget and other measures so far put in place by the government, Nigerians will have cause to smile again. The best is yet to come. Senator Babafemi Ojudu is the Special Adviser to the President on Political Matters.

HAPPY CHILDREN’S DAY TO NIGERIAN KIDS by Femi Alufa

Children are the future citizens of every country. The future of the country depends upon the present children. If the children do not develop in a proper way, the country’s future will be ruined. This was exactly understood by our leaders across the world that a day is dedicated to children on May 27 every year as the Children’s Day. The scripture said children are the heritage of the Lord. Children are the greatest treasure and gift of our life. In our Yoruba culture, we name child as “Omolayomi, Omoyajowo,Omoniyi”,etc. meaning a child is a source of joy, children are better than money, child is a source of honour and pride. They are gift from God given to our life. Parents are just the custodian and guardian of these children. As a parent and Guardian you are a manager of the gifts God has given to you. They may be great or small in your eyes, but they matter to God. God has given us unique abilities, talents, and gifts. We say they represent a person’s SHAPE — Spiritual gifts, Heart, Abilities, Personality, and Experiences. This bundle of talents is the thing God has given you that makes you who you are and sets you apart from other people. Whatever may be your station in life, whether you are a pastor, doctor, musician or an accountant, a teacher, driver, cleaner or a cook, God gave you those abilities to train up your child/children and that of your neighbour to build a better society from the bottom up. Our government at all level should also provide an enabling environment for the development of the children, so that the rate of crime, corruption and other social malaise can be reduced drastically in our society. Children are our today, tomorrow and the future. Posterity will either judge or vindicate us for the way we handle the heritage and God’s gift that is given to us by providence. I envision a better society and Nigeria nation in particular where our children total wellbeing will be developed along mental, physical and academic growth that recognizes local need in a contemporary world. Our children will be change makers in their world as society role models; innovators, entrepreneurs, scientific genius, great artists and entertainers, titans of academia, etc in a value driven society. I foresee a better society where children will shape our country for better civilization that is not corrupt or perverted. I have a dream today that, my three little children will one day live in a nation, where there will be order in every sphere of their life and living; decent education, improved health care services, affordable set-ups for modern living; nutritious food, potable water, good housing, functional power and electricity and necessities for good living condition. Our children will live a typical life and made great discoveries to make their world to be a better place for their own grandchildren. We should not rest on our oars teach our children the way of the Lord and to respect the deep-rooted ideas of values of good behaviour, it is by these and only by these we can set standards that are still admired today and in the future. Children are considered as the foundation blocks of a durable nation. Children are very small but have competence to change the nation positively or negatively. They are the responsible citizens of the tomorrow as development of the country lies in their hands. Children are leaders of tomorrow so they need to get admiration, special care and defense from their parents, teachers and other members of the family and the society at large. Today, many children are being abused in many ways in our nation by their family members, relatives, neighbours or other strangers; the case of the Chibok School Girls abducted by Boko Haram Islamic terrorists remains an open sore of our nation. Children’s day celebration makes us remind about the importance of the children in the family, society and country. Following are the common rights of the children which they must get: They should get proper care and love by the parents and family. They should get healthy food, clean clothes and security. They should get healthy living environment where they can feel safe at home, school or other place. They should get proper and good level of education. They should be provided special care when disabled or sick. Let us join our hands together and take a pledge to secure the present and future of our country’s leaders to make a better nation. Happy Children Day to Nigerian kids.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO PROFESSOR (MRS)MODUPE ADELABU by Femi Alufa

Special day, special person and special celebration. May all your dreams and desires come true on your Birthday Ma . Happy birthday to Professor (Mrs)Modupe Adelabu,former DAeputy Governor of Ekiti State . BRIEF PROFILE OF PROF MODUPE ADEOLA ADELABU. Mrs. Modupe A. Adelabu is the former Deputy Governor of Ekiti State during the last years of the JKF (John Kayode Fayemi)administration 2013-2014. She is a Professor of Educational Administration with special interest in Policy and Personnel Issues in Education. She is a consultant to major development partners such as the World Bank, UNESCO, UNICEF, DFIDUK, DFID Nigeria and the International Labour Organisation (ILO) among others. She served as a major consultant to the defunct National Primary Education Commission (NPEC) and was for years a major consultant to the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) amongst other regional and international organisations. Professor Adelabu also served as Chief Facilitator to State Universal Basic Education Commission (SUBEB) in states such as Ondo, Oyo, Osun and Lagos States. The Deputy Governor, who doubles as the Chairman of Ekiti State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), has presented papers at over 50 national and international conferences; she has also authored more than 40 publications in national and international journals. She had her secondary school education at Christ’s School, Ado-Ekiti between 1962 and 1967) before proceeding to Olivet Baptist High School, Oyo, Oyo State for the Higher School Certificate (HSC) in 1968. She left in 1970 with the HSC. The Ado-Ekiti- born Princess holds the PhD (1990), MPhil (1981) and BA (Ed.) 1975) all from the former University of Ife, now Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) of Ile- Ife. She became a Professor in 2008 in the Department of Educational Administration, OAU, where her academic career began in 1975 as a Graduate Assistant. Memberships of Academic Associations • Member of Board, Ekiti State World Bank-Assisted Poverty Reduction Agency (2000 – 2003) • Council Member of National Teachers’ Institute (2001 – 2003) • Member, Planning and Implementation Committee of Joseph Ayo Babalola University (2004 – 2005) • Council Member, Christ International Divinity College (an affiliate of Acadia University Canada) Erinmo (2005 – 2010) • Member of Council, Joseph Ayo Babalola University (2005 – 2010). • Member of Oxford Round Table, Oxford University, Oxford, England, United Kingdom (UK), 2012. Memberships of Professional Bodies • Member of the Academic Staff Union of Nigerian Universities (ASUU) • Member, Educational Studies Association of Nigeria (ESAN) • Member, Nigerian Association for Educational Administration and Planning • Member, Nigerian Association of University Women • Member, International Conference on Education for Teaching (ICET) • Member, Politics of Education Association, United States (US) • Member, International Reading Association, Nigeria. • Fellow, Institute of Public Administration of Nigeria (FPA) Awards & Fellowships: • Fellowship Award for a Four-month Exchange Programme in Mount St. Vincent University, Halifax, Canada, Sponsored by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), a Canadian Nigerian Linkage Programme on Women Studies. August -December, 1989 • Honours Award for Esteemed Leadership Performance, Ijero Progressive Union, 2011 • Merit Award for Proficiency and Outstanding Humanitarian Service to Education Sector in Nigeria by OAU chapter of the Nigeria Universities Education Students Association (NUESA), November 2011 • Distinguished Board Chairman of the Year Award for Patriotism, Outstanding Achievement and for being a Pride to Ekiti by the Editorial Board of KAYEGBO magazine, December 2011 • Merit Award for Quick & Executive Intervention on the permanent site of Onisirila Community Nursery/Primary School, Ado Ekiti, by the school’s PTA & pupils, December 2011 • Leadership Service Award for Principled Commitment to Human & Community Development, Rotaract Club, Ado-Ekiti, 2012 • Grandeur Award for Selfless Contributions to Grassroots Educational Administration & Advancement in Africa by Ekiti State Chapter of National Youth Council of Nigeria in collaboration with Ekiti Youth Parliament 1st Assembly • Excellence Award in Service as Best Hosting SUBEB Chairman, by Nigerian School Debate, July 2012 • Oponnu Omo Oyiyo Royal Merit Award for Excellence Performance, Heroic & Outstanding Contributions towards the upliftment of the enviable Oyiyo Royal Dynasty by Oyiyo Ruling House, Ijero-Ekiti, August 2012 • Best Agency (Chairman) in Human Resources Management & Infrastructural Development by the Nigerian Institute of Building. • Distinguished Award for Excellence in Educational Administration & Leadership, Faculty of Education, OAU, 2012 • Faculty of Education Distinguished Award for Excellence in Educational Administration and leadership, 2012 • Kwame Nkrumah Leadership Award As African Administration Icon by All- African Student Union (AASU), 2013 • Award for Excellence for Outstanding Performance on Education. (Rotaract, Ekiti & Ondo District.) June, 2013 • Award for Excellence at the 10th Anniversary of Paramount FM 94.5, Abeokuta, Ogun State, July 25, 2013 • Award of Excellence in Recognition of Contribution to Good Governance & Community Development. Rotary Club, 24th August, 2013 • Role Model Award for Passion towards Girls Education (Mater Christi Catholic Girls High School, Igede Ekiti, 11th October, 2013 • Award of Excellence for Unparallel Giant Strides towards Social-Academic Development of the girl child. November, 2013 • Award for Excellence, Ijero Progressive Union, November 2013 • Achieving Deputy Governor of Ekiti State, Christ’ School at its 80th Anniversary, 2013 • Advocate of Gender Equality, Nigeria Universities’ Engineering Students’ Association (NUESA), March 2013 • Award for Excellence at the 10th anniversary of Paramount FM 94.5, Abeokuta, Ogun State, July 2013 • Award for Excellence, Federation of Ado-Ekiti Students’ Union (FASU), October 2013 • Award for Excellence, Solutions Media Concept, November 2013 • Award for Outstanding Performance in Educational Administration & Governance, Executive Assistants to Ekiti State Governor, 2013 Professor Adelabu has served as External Examiner in several Universities including University of Ibadan; University of Lagos; University of Ilorin; and University of Ado-Ekiti (now Ekiti State University (EKSU). Born on May 23, 1950 to the family of Prince Samuel Adepoju and Abigail Oyeyemi Adejugbe. Princess Adelabu married Prince Adelabu Adedeji of the Oyiyo royal family in Ijero-Ekiti. The marriage is blessed with children. Our dear mentor,heroine and beacon of inspiration On your special day, I wish you good luck. I hope this wonderful day will fill up your heart with joy and blessings. Have a fantastic birthday, celebrate the happiness on every day of your life. Happy Birthday!! With love from Femi Alufa,a descendant of Ajero Oyiyoyosoye of Ijero-Ekiti.

The Man, Babafemi Ojudu - Profile Of The New Special Adviser To The President On Political Matters

Profile of the new Special Adviser to the President on Political Matters President Muhammadu Buhari has appointed Senator Babafemi Ojudu as his Special Adviser on Political Matters. Ojudu, a Senator who represented Ekiti Central Senatorial District in the Upper Legislative Chamber of the 7th National Assembly, received the letter containing his appointment on Tuesday. Ojudu, a foremost journalist and former Managing Editor of the Independent Communications Network Limited, publishers of TheNews, PM News and Tempo was a senator between 2011 and 2015 on the platform of then Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, before the merger that transformed it into the All Progressives Congress, APC. He was the Vice Chairman of the Defence Committee of the Senate and spokesman for the APC Senate Caucus. In December 2014, he announced his desire not to seek reelection into the Senate but he has continued to play prominent roles in the activities of his party, the APC leading to the success of his party at the 2015 presidential polls. Ojudu was one of the victims of the military brutality as a result of the courageous roles played by him and his colleagues during the brutal military regimes, notably the dark days of the Abacha government. This constantly pitched him against the military authorities and he was incacerated several times, the climax of which was his nine month detention in a solitary cell at the State Security Service, SSS, cell at Awolowo Road Ikoyi, Lagos. The Man, Babafemi Ojudu Babafemi Ojudu was born on 27 March 1961 at Ado-Ekiti in Ekiti State. He attended Ado Grammar School in Ado-Ekiti between 1973 and 1977. In 1976 he won a scholarship jointly sponsored by activist lawyer, the late Chief Gani Fawehinmi and Jùjú musician King Sunny Adé for indigent students of the state. He proceeded to the then University of Ife, Ile-Ife, now Obafemi Awolowo University, to study English where he took interest in journalism. While at university he joined the Association of Campus Journalists, reporting for COBRA, a Campus Journal. He and two friends founded a journal called The Parrot, which he edited until graduating in 1984. He worked as a reporter on completing his National Youth Service with The Guardian while attending the University of Lagos between 1985 and 1986 where he studied for a master's degree in Political Science. The new presidential appointee moved to African Concord in 1987 as a Staff Writer and rose to become the Assistant Editor. In 1992 Ojudu resigned in protest of a request by the Publisher of Concord, the late business mogul, Chief M.K.O. Abiola to apologise to the then military President, Ibrahim Babangida over a piece critical of the military regime. In 1993, together with some of his former colleagues, they established The News magazine, with Ojudu as its first Managing Editor. Gani Fawehinmi assisted in funding the newspaper with a contribution of N25,000. The first version of The News did not last long before it was banned by Babangida in 1993. Years later, when Babangida said he was in interested in running for president in the 2011 democratic elections, Ojudu said that the second coming of Babangida to rule the nation should be resisted by every Nigerian who wanted progress for the country. He said "He does not have anything good to offer us. We have suffered enough in his hands... He is a trickster. Look at how many journalists were killed during his time. Look at what he did to our colleagues (journalists)... Look at what happened to our institutions when he was around. He destroyed the system and he is now seeking to come back. " Ojudu was arrested, tortured and detained several times during the draconian days of the Sani Abacha regime. He was arrested and detained for three days at the notorious Shagisha prison in the outskirts of Lagos on 11 August 1996. The cause was an article in The News about Oil Minister Dan Etete which alleged that Etete was giving government contracts on behalf of the Nigerian State Oil Company to his family and friends. Later in 1996 Ojudu went to the USA for six months as a fellow at the School of Communications, Howard University, Washington, D.C. On his return in June 1997 he was appointed Group Managing Editor of Independent Communications Network Ltd., publishers of The News, P.M. News and Tempo. He was arrested on 17 November 1997 after returning from a conference in Kenya. In July 1998 (after the death of Abacha) it was reported that he was suffering from typhoid fever and jaundice, both life-threatening, caused by the unsanitary conditions in which he was detained and denial of access to medication. In addition to his Managing Editor work, both before and after the return to democracy Ojudu has been a member or chairman of several organizations and committees involved in media and human rights. In total, Ojudu spent 26 years in media practice before entering politics in 2010. Political career Ojudu formally declared that he would run for the Senate in August 2010. He left his post as Group Managing Editor of Independent Communications Network to run for office. The 10 January, 2011 primaries for ACN candidate for the Ekiti Central Senatorial seat were held in three of the five local government areas that make up the Senatorial district, and Ojudu won in all three. In the April 2011 election for the Ekiti Central Senatorial seat, Ojudu polled 67,747 running on the ACN platform. Labour Party (LP) candidate and former Ekiti State Governor Ayo Fayose received 29,773 votes. Kayode Alufa of the People's Democratic Party (PDP) received 29,488 votes. The election, although contested at the courts later confirmed Babafemi Ojudu as the validly elected senator to represent the Ekiti Central Senatorial District in the Red Chambers of the National Assembly, where he offered his constituents quality representation until he voluntarily left at the expiration of the 7th legislative session. The new Special Adviser to the President has been posted to work at the Office of the Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, SAN. Source: Tempo Online

You must come out of a Swan’s egg: Tips for Success to Rule your World

Being a paper delivered on Motivational Seminar Presentation at the Department of Computer Science, Crown Polytechnic, Odo, Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State of Nigeria on Friday,30th May,2014. By Femi Alufa When I was a young boy, apart from the Yoruba folklore of Tortoise told in our oral and written literature, my boyhood favourite story is a fairy story titled, The Ugly Duckling, children's story written by HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSEN, (1805 - 1875), Danish writer of the 19th Century. It is a story in which a cygnet raised by a duck is considered ugly until it grows into a beautiful swan. “The Ugly Duckling,” is the story of a young bird that is scorned and ridiculed because he looks different, is perhaps the most famous fairy tale told by 19th-century Danish writer Hans Christian Andersen. When even his own family turns on him, the unhappy “duckling” leaves home and encounters loneliness and hardship over the next year. But when spring arrives, the outcast bird sees his reflection in the water and realizes his true identity as a beautiful swan. My favourite quotation from that fairy story is: It does not matter being born in a duck yard, as long as you come from a swan's egg. What is the literary meaning of the Ugly Duckling: the Encarta English Dictionaries defined it as: 1. undervalued person or thing: somebody or something originally considered ordinary but whose true beauty or value is later revealed or appreciated; 2. unattractive person or thing: somebody or something regarded as physically unappealing in comparison to others. [The Ugly Duckling, children's story by HANS CHRISTIAN ANDERSEN in which a cygnet raised by a duck is considered ugly until it grows into a beautiful swan is an allegorical autobiography.] If you want to succeed in life, or You want to live your dreams and rule your world; Don’t settle to be an Ugly Duckling. Life will not give you easily what you bargain for, but you must never say die to life. A winner never quits, and a quitter never wins in the game of life and of success, but you must quit being an Ugly Duckling. Don’t stay in a position, embrace CHANGE. Remember, Newton first Law of motion: Every object will be in a state of rest, until an external force impressed on it. The principle of changeability helped the ugly duckling to discover his purpose and realize his true identity. I will digress back to the Holy Bible, the book of books, on my honour as a Christian, God created man in the Genesis, He created us to have dominion over all the living and non-living things in the world. (Genesis1:26), even after the fall of man at Eden, and the great flood of Noah, man used his power of imagination to built the first skyscrapers at the tower of Babel (Genesis 11:1-6).The Bible is full of stories of great men and women who did excellently and performed extraordinarily in their times because they don’t settle to be an Ugly Duckling. There was an Ugly Duckling in the Bible, his mother named him Jabez, because she bare him with sorrow, but Jabez refused to be an Ugly Duckling when he prayed and changed his destiny for better and he became more honourable than his brethren when he called on the God of Israel; (1 Chronicles 4:9-10).I will encourage you to have faith in God, and in particular you must be connected to Him, without God you are nothing. Don’t be restless in the journeys of life; have your rest in Him, you will succeed. Remember what God said in the book of Jeremiah 29:11; For I know the thoughts I think toward you, said the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil to give you an expected end. The life of 90 percent of the successful men and women in the world is like the story of the Ugly Duckling but they came out of a Swan’s egg; Ask Bill Gates, the richest man in the world today and a computer guru, he was drop out of school. He was ridiculed like the Ugly Duckling but he comes out of a Swan’s egg. Nelson Mandela spent 27 years in the Apartheid prison before he became a legend; African first man of the millennium; he now belongs to the ages. Another Ugly Duckling is Barack Obama, you all know him today as a global role model, and I like his story as that of the allegorical ugly duckling; he was born in Honolulu, Hawaii. His father, also named Barack Obama, belonged to the Luo tribe of Kenya, where he grew up in a small village. His father won a government scholarship to study abroad and was the first African student at the University of Hawaii. There he met Ann Dunham, a fellow student originally from Kansas. She had moved to Hawaii with her parents in 1959. The young interracial couple married in 1960, when miscegenation was still illegal in more than half of the United States. When Obama was 2 years old, his father left to pursue a doctorate at Harvard University on another scholarship and eventually returned to Kenya, where he worked as a government economist. Obama and his mother stayed in Hawaii until her second marriage to an Indonesian man brought a move to Jakarta when Obama was 6 years old. There, Obama witnessed the extreme poverty of a developing country. His mother strongly encouraged his education, personally teaching him English lessons from a U.S. correspondence course to supplement his Indonesian schooling. At the age of 10, Obama returned to Hawaii to attend a prestigious college-prep academy, the Punahou School, and live with his grandparents. Obama would later recall that his admission to the academy “heralded something grand, an elevation in the family status …” for his working-class grandparents. In 1999, after only three years in politics, Obama made an unsuccessful bid for the U.S. House of Representatives, running against the incumbent Democrat from Illinois, Bobby Rush. Obama tried for Congress again in 2004, this time setting his sights on the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Republican Peter Fitzgerald. He believes there is “a set of core values that bind us together as Americans.” This philosophy stood in stark contrast to the divisive politics of his opponents. The Democratic Party noted Obama’s success, inviting him to be the keynote speaker at the party’s national convention held in Boston in July 2004. His speech at the convention catapulted Obama into the national spotlight, giving television viewers nationwide a first glimpse of the charismatic “rising star” from Illinois. In his keynote address Obama offered his personal story as an example of the American dream, stating: “My parents shared not only an improbable love; they shared an abiding faith in the possibilities of this nation. They would give me an African name, Barack, or ‘blessed,’ believing that in a tolerant America your name is no barrier to success. They imagined me going to the best schools in the land, even though they weren’t rich, because in a generous America you don’t have to be rich to achieve your potential.” Obama became a United States Senator as a Democrat representing Illinois in 2004. In early 2007 he announced his candidacy in the U.S. presidential elections scheduled for 2008, entering the field of contenders for the Democratic Party nomination. Obama’s autobiography, Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance (1995), became a bestseller during his 2004 campaign for the U.S. Senate. Obama’s second book, The Audacity of Hope: Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream (2006), expounds on some of the themes in his 2004 keynote address. In November, 2008 Obama won the American Presidential election and became the first African-American to become the President of the United States, the world most powerful nation. The Story of Obama is like that of the Ugly Duckling but he comes out of a swan’s egg; A black man who rules his world in spite of all odds. Finally, As students you must THINK BIG, If you want to be successful in your academics, don’t settle for average, only the best is good enough for you; it is by thinking big that you can rule your world. Dr. Benjamin Carson (Ben Carson), the world renowned Neuro-surgeon and motivational author in his book, Think Big, wrote this acronym for THINK BIG, which I will recommend for you as a formula for Success: T-Talent, H-Honesty, I-Insight N-Nice, K-Knowledge, B-Book, I-In-depth- Knowledge, G-GOD. I will also recommend that you buy the book, THINK BIG and read other motivational books by great authors, because it is by Thinking Big that you can rule your world. Do not stop learning, even when you leave school, Read-Read-Read; Readers are leaders. The late sage Chief Obafemi Awolowo said: Education remains the best and finest to give to an individual. Education is a weapon of liberation from ignorance, poverty and disease; today we are talking about the knowledge economy and information and knowledge-driven world which is at the heart of education, science and technology. The poor man is not the one who has no money but the man who stop learning and who refuse to change his world. If you want to succeed in life and become what you want to become; you must be the change to see in your world, you must come out of a Swan’s egg like the Hans Andersen’s Ugly Duckling. Rule your world. May God bless you with anointing to rule your world. It is anointing that breaks the yoke, ridicules life obstacles and change destiny for better. God anointed Jesus , the carpenter of Nazareth and the greatest Ugly Duckling that come out of a swan’s egg, he was born in the manger in Bethlehem of Judea, he later become the center figure of history, his story is the greatest story ever told, and you know the rest of the Good News story. Be connected to Him today. You will succeed and your life will be change for better, forever. Amen. Remember my favourite quotation from the Hans Andersen’s Ugly Duckling: It does not matter being born in a duck yard, as long as you come out of a swan’s egg. Thank you and God bless you all. About the speaker: Femi Alufa is an ICT administrator and digital journalist. He is the CEO of Herald Edumedia Services, the promoter of EKITI NET TV (an online media project in Ekiti State, www.ekitinet.com). He can be contacted via: Tel: 08030475828, 08099313793, E-mail: femialufa 2011 @ gmail.com, facebook name: Femi Alufa, facebook page: Ekiti Net TV.