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By Vivian Onyebukwa
Samson Ojakovo is a geologist and an ICT Consultant. He is also an evangelist, motivational speaker, author and a philanthropist. At his conferences, he has never held back on speaking against social ills, and as a motivational speaker, he addresses critical issues affecting humanity generally and the Christian church.
In this interview with Saturday Sun, he spoke about those societal ills, solutions to them, and life generally.
The Ijaw National Congress (INC) Vice President, Alabo Nengi James has declared that nobody can steal crude oil in the Niger Delta without the knowledge of the military.
You have 13 living siblings with 11 as graduates. How do you think your parents were able to achieve that?
My father did not train only his children; he extended his benevolence to his nieces and nephews. And I think he must have got that drive of sending his children to school from working closely with American doctors (missionaries) at the then Eku Baptist Hospital while assisting them in the theatre. He was working hard and smart, focused and had an open heart for progress and growth in his family. In fact, he was a man who does not want to play the second fiddle.
What are some of the critical issues affecting humanity in society?
Of a truth, the human society is being bombarded with issues that I never knew of when I was growing up. Today, sexuality is staring us in the face such that sane parents are now scared once a girl is above 10 years. Everywhere you go, even in some worship centres, nudity will welcome you in church. The craze to acquire wealth by all means is another issue I can’t fathom. Currently in our society, a 12-year-old child is made to feel he or she has failed in life or inadequate by those who are into internet fraud. What does a 12-year-old child know? Can he or she even clean his or her ass properly? Of course, these are children who cannot differentiate between the planes and the valleys of life, yet you see them in hotels drinking alcohol, taking hard drugs, partying every weekend amidst having frequent sex as if it is an exercise.
Consequently, academic grades in our school have dropped drastically and parents are losing their children to insanity on a weekly basis, and their daughters to the cold arm of death through illegal abortion and drug overdose. This ugly development has led many into kidnapping and ritual killings just in a bit to raise money to sustain their lustful and wasteful lifestyle.
Unfortunately, their male counterpart come home so soon too in boxes because their life was violent and it’s like a “tale told by an idiot full of sound and furry signifying nothing,” according to William Shakespeare. At present, we now have lots of baby mamas and fathers who only know how to promote broken behaviours.
In fact, children are now being sold like products and sometimes on promo. Buy two and they will give you one for free. The worst of it all is that some parents are busy promoting these ills by encouraging their wards to get involved in “yahooism” or “hustling kingdom”. For this, I wonder where we are headed and what will be the fate of future generations.
Some clergymen are not helping issues in this regard because oftentimes, they are the ones who seem to be promoting these ills because some are fraudulent too. Most do not speak against such ills and even if they talk about it, they do so in passing for the fear of losing members. Sincerity and discipline are no longer standing tall and it’s scarce at most homes and in most pulpits.
Over pampering of children by parents and the advent of technology is another kettle of fish entirely. Parents and children are now glued to their mobile devices, thereby weakening the social bond in the home. Due to this development, most of our daughters don’t know how to prepare healthy meals. All they are good at is how to prepare noodles. When will our politicians hold through to their campaign promises? They are even the worst and they are partly the ones promoting these ills.
What can be done to refocus the youth?
All hands must be on deck. Parents should stand firm in their resolve and they should know that they owe God, the society and themselves the responsibility to train their children in the most acceptable way. They should also know that it’s not all the time that a child needs a sail to move forward. There is time to drop the anchor, to enable a child evaluate life and know when danger is coming so they do not drift away from the purpose of their existence. The laws of the land must be fully implemented notwithstanding whose horse is gored. In this regard, our politicians should be truthful in carrying out their constitutional responsibility. Also, they should abide by the oath they swore to.The use of the scripture is not out of place to guide the society and every institution must be effective in discharging their responsibilities. Finally, prayers. For through prayers, we can achieve a lot.
Generally, how can societal ills be curbed?
In the Bible, there is evidence to show that we are in the last days of the last days the end time is near. In society today, evidence of the signs abounds everywhere and it will increase in frequency and occurrence if we continue to stay docile. Therefore, I will encourage parents to be patriotic, loving and responsible to their wards. The government and politicians on the other hand should stay true to their election campaign policies and promises. Also they should promote only policies that are enduring. Institutions that have been saddled with the responsibility to maintain law and order in society should wake up to implement their goals and roles effectively. The judiciary should hold on to the oath they took with the mindset that no one is above the law, so they could become a channel of joy and justice. And they shouldn’t forget the fact that moral consciousness is the inner sense of right and wrong. The clergy on their part should speak everything God has commanded and leave the rest for Him because He, God, knows when to take out the trash out of the universe and how best to fix things. Generally, let us be kind to nature and also be dedicated to our responsibility, either as an individual or an institution so we won’t be held responsible or judged as contributors to the current decay we see in our society.
There has been a controversy over the responsibility of child’s upbringing between parents and teachers. What is your take on it?
There is no way both parties can shy away from such responsibility. The community should be involved too. The Bible calls parents to “Train up a child in the way they should go, and when he or she grows, they will not depart from it” in Proverbs 22:6. Also, the book of Titus 2:1-8 went further to specify our responsibilities. The question I want to ask at this moment is, do children misbehave while at school? Of course the answer is yes! So, as a sane teacher who knows his onus, do you now decide that since the parents are not there with them, therefore they should be allowed to misbehave? Of course the answer is no because if those students are left unattended, there will be total chaos.
As a responsible teacher who knows his or her onions, aside the academic responsibility to your students and your responsibility to your institution, you are better placed in the position to drive home your disciplinary drill because your emotion will be fairly applied, unlike some parents who may be carried away by their emotions. However, in this dispensation, proper training of a child is made much easier when both parents have laid a proper foundation for the child’s upbringing. Charity they say begins at home and there is nothing wrong to start disciplining a child as early as when a child is a year old. Therefore, the proper upbringing or training of children is a collective responsibility and it takes a whole community to raise a child and that includes the teacher and both parents.
What is your most recent book This Generation all about?
Despite the fact that I wrote the book, I do pick it up to read on a weekly basis. And most times when I scan through the ideas in it, I shed tears of joy. The book, ‘This generation “ x-rays the ills growing unchecked in our society today. The ills you never thought existed, the ills cutting across our domestic, social, political and religious atmosphere with the aim of proffering solutions. It is a book written to prick even the most callous heart to wake up from slumber in a perishing generation. And even if you are pretending to be asleep and unaware of the decay in this era, if you read this book, your eyes will open to a new reality. The words in each chapter will keep knocking at the door of your heart, especially chapters where I talked about rape, the laxity of the older generation, the problems of the new generation and the effect of hard drugs intake.
What motivated you to write the book?
The ills I saw and still see growing unchecked in society today prompted me to write the book. I was challenged by the fact that I am a child of God and I will have a share of the blame if I see something going wrong and won’t draw people’s attention to it with the ultimate aim of correcting such ill or error. Secondly, I wrote that book so we can live in a peaceful world, have a better and sane society where my children and your children will grow up and live their lives in peace according to God’s purpose. Finally, I wrote that book because, according to Ezekiel 33:1-9 and Isaiah 58:1, it’s my divine responsibility to do so.
As a motivational speaker, what are some of your experiences?
I am not only a motivational speaker but also an evangelist and a truth speaker. I have had awesome relationships and experiences with my target audience, and I feel delighted and fulfilled each time they bare their minds during question and answer sessions when I am privileged to organise a conference or as a guest speaker or preacher. However, it is obvious that the new generation does not want to hear the truth. Some have gone so deep into vices and crime that they no longer feel safe to retrace their steps. For this group, I do follow them up with counselling and by God’s special grace, they lay down their ugly character. Normally, audiences are mixed multitude and it is not out of place for one or two persons to disagree with what you want to propagate in their heart. But in the face of opposition, God always come through for me.
