We’re raising you as global citizens – Otti tells Scholarship recipients

Founder of the Alex Otti Foundation (AOF), Dr Alex Otti, has admonished Nigerian students to see themselves as global citizens rather than being in competition with fellow classmates or their local peers.

Otti, the governorship candidate of Labour Party (LP) in Abia State, gave the advice on Saturday, at the presentation of recipients of this year’s Alex Otti Foundation Scholarship Awards, at the Mater Dei Catholic Cathedral, Umuahia, Abia State.

Twenty-six students from various universities and other tertiary institutions across Nigeria, but all residents of Abia State, joined no fewer than 80 others who are already on the scholarship scheme, initiated by Otti, over four years ago.

In a short TED talk during the event attended by the Labour Party Presidential Candidate, Mr Peter Obi, the former bank chief executive officer urged the students to think global and carry themselves as citizens of the world, in order to excel in today’s competitive world.

“I would like to call your attention to the changes happening in today’s world. You need to bear this in mind as you study and graduate. Your competitors are not your classmates, those that live on your street, or your village playgroup. Your competitors are your mates in other countries of the world. You need to, therefore, be quick to learn new things, even if they are different from what you are currently studying at your university.

“Our expectation is to have from amongst you, top career men and women, successful business owners, tech giants, great researchers, professors, and others. You need to, therefore, push yourself harder and not rest on your oars.

“We want to see you square up with your mates in China and Singapore, the UK and the U.S, Australia and New Zealand. We are raising you as global citizens and hope you carry yourself that way. It is only such thinking – that you are natives of Nigeria and citizens of the world – that will qualify you for success in today’s fiercely competitive world.

“It is also such thinking that will prepare you as worthy inheritors of the Alex Otti Foundation – people who will build this organisation beyond what we imagined, and impact more people than we ever thought we could,” the renowned economist admonished.

Otti said his love for education and his understanding of its transformational power is what has continued to keep the scholarship programme going, year on year. This is more so, when he came from a very humble background.

READ: Leaders must use public money for public good – Obi at Otti Scholarship Awards

He said: “Every year when I share a podium with this Foundation’s latest scholars, I am reminded of my days as a student at the University of Port Harcourt. I am reminded of how I managed through the rigours of academics, with barely enough stipends to get by.

“Yet having to struggle through school was in itself an opportunity many of my secondary school classmates could not afford. My father, a poor clergyman with eight children had managed to send me to school in spite of his daily struggles to cater to the family. Almost 40 years later, I look back and wonder what would have become of me if my life had taken a different turn, if my parents had given up on me since they did not have so much.

“I love education. As a kid growing up, I may have loved it without fully comprehending its capacity for miracles. I may have loved it because I performed well in class and soaked in the praises from teachers, parents and classmates. But my love for it as an adult, business owner, employer of labour, and entrepreneur, stems from my years of observing education as a social leveler, and how it takes people from nothing to everything. This appreciation of the transformational powers of education is why we are here today. It is why we spend so much money every year ensuring that this scholarship extends opportunities to everyone who seeks and merits it.

“And we won’t stop. We will continue to intervene in the education of our children in a way that also recognises and respects their human dignity. From day one, we have been particular about this. I am told that a common story among the candidates who make it to the scholarship’s interview stage, is that the Alex Otti Foundation treats its scholars like royalty. You also may have heard from one of the new inductees’ parents that she had expected the interview to have thousands of people struggling for space and pushing one another. That was never going to happen because the Foundation’s leadership put in a lot of work to ensure they do not run a chaotic organisation.”

The frontline gubernatorial candidate in Abia in the 2023 election, schooled the students on the benefit of developing critical mind as they embrace the world ahead. According to him, this would help the youngsters navigate the slippery paths, especially falling prey in the hands of those he described as evil politicians.

“That way you can boldly refuse to become tools in the hands of evil politicians. I talk about this because I am in politics and know firsthand how some of the ones we have in our state hire some ignorant young people to go on social media and defend the deliberate destruction of the critical institutions in the state.

“Having a critical mind empowers you to question what does not make sense, such as when a government owes your lecturers for 10 months and still manages to reserve some shame to ask you for votes.

“With your critical mind, you will demand that a government that presided over the loss in accreditation of two state institutions goes on an apology campaign rather than a voting campaign. And with a critical mind, you will remind your friends and family members who may have been hoodwinked by unconscionable leadership to remember that those who encourage bad leadership are unwittingly endangering their own future,” he said.