by 
By Hon. Mr. Sulaiman Usman SAN, FICMC, FNARC, CMC
Life Bencher and Notary Public.
Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice. Sokoto State, Nigeria.
Being Text of Speech Delivered at Tedxarilla Independent Ted Event Titled “Frontiers” Held on Saturday, November 8, 2021 at the International Conference Centre, Sokoto, Nigeria.
PROTOCOL
INTRODUCTION
I feel highly honoured and privileged to be invited to deliver this lecture as part of the activities marking this Tedx Conference event with the theme “FRONTIERS” focused on Sokoto State and organized by TedxArkilla a group of youth volunteers to generate ideas through talks and presentations. With a grateful heart, I wish to enthusiastically thank and appreciate TEDxArkilla for inviting me to this auspicious occasion to give this talk.
The topic of my speech is titled Plan, prepare, pursue, but do not cross the bridge until you come to it. The aim of this talk is to inspire, influence and motivate our people particularly the young citizens who are the leaders of tomorrow to spark conversations to develop values, principles, essential abilities to approach the present times with authenticity, and agility, and strengthen leadership abilities, including team leadership, emotional intelligence, conflict management, leading change with a view to draw out the best in themselves and their peers in making strategic thinking and moves that are required for a better future. In this speech, I am going to share with you certain values, principles, skills and standards everyone must pursue, harness and harvest to become successful in journey of life. They have been the ingredients of my life. They include education, character, hard work, tenacity of purpose, service, enterprise and innovation, patience and perseverance and planning and preparation.
- EDUCATION
Education is the best pursuit in life because it will lead to integral development of a person. Education prepares and qualify a person for useful purposes in the society. Through education values, morals and etiquette are inculcated into us, to enable us to plan and prepare for future challenges. Education is light, lifelong and the harbinger of success, progress, and development. To underscore the importance of education Malcolm X had this to say;
“Education is the passport to the future for tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today”.
Benjamin franklin one of the founding fathers of America stated that;
“an investment in knowledge pays the best interest”.
To George Washington;
“Education is the key to unlock the golden door of freedom”,
According to Aristotle;
“The roots of education are bitter, but the fruit is sweet”.
Mahatma Ghandi the father of India had this to say on education;
“Live as if you were to die tomorrow, learn as if you were to live forever”.
Consequently, the number one priority in life is pursuit of education and it is a lifelong affair from cradle to grave.
- CHARACTER
Along with education, we need character to do the right thing and even make the right choices in life. Loyalty, honesty, courage, integrity are attributes of a good character which is the backbone of a magnetic personality and solid reputation that make one become a role model and live an exemplary life worthy of emulation, mention, and commendation. character is the basis upon which we can earn respect without character everything is lost, and nothing can compensate it. During the famous match on Washington for civil right and freedom held at Washigton D.C on Wednesday 28 August 1963 Martin Luther King Jnr said:
“I have a dream ……. that my four little children, will one day live in a nation where they will not be judge by the colour of their skins, but by the content of their character”.
George Washington in a letter to his nephew in 1790 stated thus:
“To point out the importance of circumspection in your conduct, it maybe proper to observe that a good moral character is the first essential in a man, and that the habits contracted at your age are generally indelible, and your conduct here may stamp your character throughout life. It is therefore highly important that you should endeavor not only to be learned but virtuous”.
Thus, in the universities degrees are awarded to graduates that were found to be worthy in character and in learning. For Lawyers, it only when a person is found to be fit and proper , that he will be called to the Bar and be entitled to practice law.
- HARDWORK
We must strive to work hard in our pursuits because the more we work hard, the more we prosper, hard work betrays no one. He who strives shall get. According to Colin Powel former US Secretary of State:
“ A dream does not become reality through magic, it takes sweat, determination and hardwork”.
Dreams can come true, but not on a platter, there is a secret; they are realized through the magic of persistence, determination commitment, passion, practice, focus and hard work. They happen a step at a time. Manifest over the years, and not weeks. Margaret Thatcher had this to say.
“I do not know anyone who has got to the top without hardwork. That is the recipe. It will not always get you to the top but should get you pretty near”.
While Edward Bradley a distinguished American Journalist anchor of 60 minutes on CBS Evevining News stated as follows;
“Be prepared, work hard and hope for a little luck. Recognize that the harder you work and the better prepared you are, the more luck you might have”.
It should be noted however that while working hard to attain success or support a cause, we should not expect to be thanked and we should do the job to best of our ability.
- TENACITY OF PURPOSE
Tenacity is the determination not to give up on pursuit of a goal or target. Tenacity of purpose is the quality of being persistent and determine to achieve the result that aims we towards by overcoming difficulties, barriers, and hurdles that came our way by sheer will power. Success in anything in life requires tenacity of purpose no matter how talented, privileged, or fervent a person becomes. Indeed, according to Africa’s richest man Alhaji Aliko Dangote.
“In the Journey to success. Tenacity is supreme’’
The most difficult thing to do is to act with capacity, courage, and tenacity which are great elements of success. If a chosen career or goal is important, we must pursue it with indomitable will, undefeatable motivation and flaming passion no matter the obstacles, opposition, danger, or hardship. Tenacity is one of the most important skills you can develop to help you throughout your career, though, it can be easy to confuse tenacity with stubbornness. Nevertheless, tenacity it is the quality of being determined to do or achieve something, firmness of purpose.
- PURSUIT OF HAPPINESS
Happiness is an exciting state of well-being characterized by feeling of pleasure, satisfaction, contentment, joy, and fulfillment. To be happy, we must strive to make others happy because we receive what we give. Happiness leads to better decision making and creativity and help us to succeed in life. Happiness is not readymade but a product of our pursuits. The American declaration of independence made on in 1776 written by a great lawyer and jurist Thomas Jefferson and adopted by the congress while declaring independence from Great Britain, the pursuit of happiness was give preeminent position after life and liberty to underscore its importance in the following words;
“We hold this truth to be self-evident: that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights that among these are life, liberty and pursuit of happiness”
In July 2011, the UN General Assembly adopted resolution 65/309 titled “Happiness; Towards a Holistic definition of development:” The resolution invited member countries to measure happiness of their people and use the data to guide public policy. Every year ranking of countries is made based on national happiness.
Ladies and gentlemen, I charge you to create the condition for your happiness because it is a measure of success. Happiness is having something to do, some one to love and something to hope for and the freedom to do what you want to do without interference.
- SERVICE
The ethic of service in which everyone works diligently for the common good of all is one of the greatest ideal. Service must be done diligently and efficiently, faithfully and to best of one’s ability with dedication and devotion. In in fact, in our national anthem we are directed “ to serve with heart and might”, and in our national pledge; “to serve Nigeria with all my strength, to defend her unity, uphold her honour and glory, so help me God” Therefore, whether it is by way of public service, national service or community service. We must serve wholeheartedly and selflessly as former President of the United State Theodore Roosevelt said ;
“Nobody cares how much you know, until they know how much you care”
- ENTERPRISE AND INNOVATION
Innovation is the use of initiative and creativity to come up with new ideas or solutions, alternatives, or possibilities, product, model, or service. Innovation brings value addition to work, business and profession and get one ahead of competition. Enterprise, by contrast, is applying innovation to concretised ideas to life. Enterprise enables us to pursue our goals with commitment, determination, and dedication to do what people could not previously do. The nexus between enterprise and innovation lies the promotion of health, growth and give us the imagination to spot the opportunities to undertake new ventures and overcome hurdles and transform the future through innovative solutions to challenges.
- PATIENCE AND PERSEVERENCE
We must patiently preserve in the pursuit of our life goals if we must succeed. We should not be in a hurry but must wait for opportunities to blossom. We should not cross the bridge until we come to it.
Patience and Perseverance are twin qualities that are inextricably linked together, but not necessarily identical. Patience and perseverance are essential for achieving any goal and require a great deal of effort and endurance.
Patience is the strength of will navigate the obstacles and challenges you will face as you work the process. The resourcefulness, calm, and empathetic behaviour and self-control of patient people can make them very popular. It also gives them inner peace and the ability to keep smiling despite challenges.
Perseverance on the other hand, is being relentless about doing what needs to be done for as long as it takes. Perseverance is essential because there will be plans and projects that require a great deal of effort and endurance.
- PLANING AND PREPARATION
Planning and preparation are key to the attainment of any goal in life. An intelligent plan is not only the first step to success but also a sure road to a person’s destination. When fail to plan we are planning to fail in our pursuits because planning is more essential than plans. Allied to planning is preparation because it prevents poor performance. Opportunity to come only to those have devote time to prepare for tomorrow’s achievement. To achieve our purpose, goals, and careers in life, we must plan decisively, prepare meticulously, proceed determinedly, and pursue relentlessly.
CONCLUSION
In sum, I adopted this approach in this talk because of the inspiration I got from the golden words of Isaac Newton as follows.
“If I have seen further than others, it by standing on the shoulders of giants”
That is why this talk is embellished with quotes from the speeches of great scholars and thinkers to appreciate the message and be guided by it in the journey of life. I urge you to plan your life. Prepare for opportunities that come your way and We should have courage, fortitude, faith, tenacity, humour, and humanity but we should not cross bridge until we come to it. Let us be patient in our pursuits to become successful and exemplary, so that history will be kind to us in its verdict because no one is immune from the verdict of history.
Ladies and Gentlemen, these are times which call for patience and studied perseverance; these are times which call for enterprise and innovation; these are exciting times full of challenges and opportunities. We must follow with the current and move with the times especially in the 4th industrial revolution, the age of innovation that has reshaped the way we live, work, education, and commerce.
Finally, if by this address I succeeded in tickling you for appreciating the need to imbibe planning and preparation is our especially if you want to become a lawyer and succeed in the practice of law and live for the direction of our people and advancement of our country, I am grateful to Allah (SWT) that I have been of some use to you. If, however I did not I consign this talk to dustbin.
All I have tried to say is that the distance between dreams and reality is called action. In acting for the realization of our dreams and goals regardless of our profession, trade or calling, we must Plan, prepare, pursue, education, character, hard work, tenacity of purpose, service, enterprise, and innovation, with patience and perseverance and do not cross the bridge until you come to it to archive ambitious goals.
I thank you exceedingly for your attention.
