emekaanyanwu
Someone once asked me: Emeka Anyanwu, what do I love to tell people who seek my advice?
First, I always tell them, ‘’For you to be relevant to our time, you must be creative.’’ Talent is one of most important endowments. I learnt that from my days at Federal University of Technology Owerri. And ever since I believe searching within yourself, you find the God in us. This gives us sense of purpose and goal in life.
Being a Chemical Engineer gave me a big platform to do everything I’m doing today. I joined Cyber Bay Limited, an Oil servicing Company at Port Harcourt, Nigeria as soon as I graduated, there I learnt the importance of ‘’walking the talk.’’ I became convinced that putting the interest of the company above personal interest brings a long term benefits.
I remember at Southbank University London, one of my lecturers patronizingly asked me during a seminar how Engineering and Law forms a good combination for me. I told him that Engineering is all about service to humanity and Law is also a service to humanity. In answering that I received an applause from my colleagues and some of the lecturers in the room. Life is about confidence, being quick, thinking on your feet and smoothing everything with humour.
Driven by values like leadership by example and pursuit of excellence, I co-founded C. Hub magazine with Faustina Anyanwu, the woman after my heart. C.hub magazine is the first and only Afro-creative Magazine in the UK. It’s mission is to give voice to Africans and African descent. Before its launch in 2012 there were no print media whose focus was on creativity, like I said earlier, creativity is the heart and soul of our being. It’s that very centeredness within us, without it there’s vacuum and the only way we can be filled is by being creative. Our people need right platform to make the most for their potential and achieve their aspirations. C.hub magazine has been providing that platform. In 2014 we won BEFFTA best magazine of the year, putting us in solid position to organise ‘C.HUB MAGAZINE CREATIVITY AWARD 2015.’ This is done to sustain C.hub magazine’s values and encourage our people to pursue excellence in all their endeavours in life.
They say ‘charity begins at home,’ as a Nigerian I have a duty to give something back. There is no other way I can do that rather than what I’m doing today. It’s my pleasure to introduce my new novel ‘’KALANGO’’ The personified story of Nigeria. The fictional story that depicts the socio-political changes going on in Nigeria today. In fact it’s a campaign for our generation to take responsibility. We cannot shape the forces of change in the world if we can’t take responsibility. Our destiny cannot be in our hands if we fail to take responsibility. This is leadership. And this is what Nigeria needs now. Better future for our children will never be guaranteed if we don’t take law and order seriously. We won’t be able to have conducive environment to produce new technologies we need in order to thrive in the world. Nigeria faces enormous challenges in its bid to lead Africa into international market where branding and values for products are exchanged. With the rise of countries like China, Brazil, India and Indonesia, there is pressure on Nigeria to deliver and join the league of emerging economies.
One of the ways we can do this is by re-organising our educational system to focus on world class business solutions leveraging access to the latest technology on coding and IT solutions. We need educational system that would recognise talent and nurture creativity so that as our graduates are coming out of the Higher Institutions and are able to start their own business without looking for jobs. Instead of being job-seekers they become employers of labour in the first instance, in this way unemployment will be reduced to the barest minimum.
As we are preparing for election, I will urge our people to focus on electing a leader who we can trust to bring the necessary changes we need as a nation. We have worked so hard to get to this point, there is no going backwards, because no country realizes its destiny by walking back. There may be disenchantment and apathy but let this not blind us to powers within, everywhere you go in life the world is full of genuine and God fearing people who understand that you cannot be defrauding your country and expect progress in your family, your community and in your country. By so doing you are improverishing your children and the new generation. The book Kalango tells us that when you mismanage the wealth of your nation, you bring in poverty, sickness and taking away the freedom and independence of the people.
Written By Emeka Anyanwu for Ebony Herald International magazine