In a very religious country like Nigeria, where crusades are held frequently by members of the two dominant faiths, the ideas of crusade that readily comes to mind are ‘being combatant-ready,’ and ‘war-waging,’ and often than not, supplications are done in a noisy ambience.
Mrs. Patricia Otuedon-Arawore is a crusader of sort. But hers is different from that described earlier. Her crusade, which has been on for over 20 years, is subtle, quiet, incisive and deep, with far-reaching effects on society. It is one aimed at reawakening in fellow Nigerians the spirit of nationalism and hardwork.
As a youth, she had grown seeing Nigeria and countrymen with immense potentials and a great future. And as time went by, providence also found her a ready tool to be used in the actualisation of that promise. With a background in Mass Communication, she returned from England in 1977 to work at the Nigerian Television Authority, Benin. There she was till she joined the Unity Party of Nigeria National Secretariat as Senior Publicity Officer early in 1979. While at UPN, she was responsible for the party’s publicity campaign of Chief Obafemi Awolowo and worked closely with Chief M. C. K Ajuluchukwu on research and publicity work of the department. She rose to become Assistant Director, Publicity and Research of the party.
Following military take-over, she left politics a better person. Her boss had left for Concord Newspapers at the time and wanted her to tag along. But after working with UPN for five years, her ideas were already “wellformed.”
According to her, she had attained a level of expression that it was difficult for her to still work under a military regime for any newspaper. So she decided to start her own advertising firm, called Mahogany Limited in 1984. She did that and excelled till 1996 when a burning desire to give herself for the public good got the better of her. She became sold on the Hallmarks of Labour Foundation initiative, to address perceived ills and wrongdoings in the society.
The foundation work was so intensive and deeprooted that Otuedon- Arawore could not combine it with advertising. Shortly after she started the foundation, the book series and the programme on television followed. It meant she and her team had lots of research to do. It therefore became practically impossible to continue running the company effectively.
The HLF idea was conceived in deep reflections on the state of the nation at the time. The early 1990s were though great years for the country, the period was best known as the darkest moments in the nation’s chequered history. Nigeria was at her lowest ebb politically.
“For instance, everywhere we went, people thought all Nigerians were drug peddlers because of the few indulging in it. Nigeria became a Pariah in the International Community while criminal minds bestrode our landscape with absurd lifestyles. A wave of negative role models emerged.
“On television too, the content was not too encouraging. Most of our leaders at the time were not the best of models. I saw a lot of wrong things in the society at the time.
In the light of the increasing decay in our moral fabric as a result of dishonest practices, inefficient management of funds and natural resources, and lack of transparency by various governments, I felt something needed to be done to arrest the situation,” she recalls. In other not to allow young Nigerians take after the wrong models, HLF was set up to search for those people who by dint of hardwork and moral uprightness, had achieved success and were doing Nigeria proud; people whom children could look up to in honesty, dedication and hardwork. That was what led to the HLF Role Models Awards.
“We felt we should bring those people on TV to tell their stories so our children could see that there is a choice. Let it not appear to them that it is only those who have stolen money, robbed or lived the wrong life that can live big. We wanted them to be seen and emulated by the young generations.” In 1997, HLF honoured its first role model, the late Prof Adeoye Lambo. Since then, it has celebrated about 30 other Nigerians who have done well in their various fields of endeavour. Some of them include Mr Allison Ayida, Alhaji Ahmed Joda, Dr. Michael Omolayole, Justice Chukwudifu Oputa, Prof Grace Alele Williams, Emeka Anyaoku, Prof Akin Mabogunje Alhaja Abibat Mogaji, among others.
Now in its 20th year, HLF is waxing strong. The feedback too has been “wonderful.” The initiator says this has been so because the team has remained steadfast in its beliefs. “Most times when people start out a good initiative in Nigeria, they derail because of the lust for money. Up till date, we had honoured only about 40 Nigerians of repute. And these are not models you give money to receive awards. You had to beg them to receive the honour.
“Today, we have reached a level in Nigeria where if we give you the Hallmarks of Labour award, it is an honour indeed. It is different from the National Awards; it is described as the most prestigious awards in Nigeria because if you look at our role call, these indeed are deserving men and women. Our greatest achievement is in the fact that we have not derailed, and that even at this point where it is now highly regarded, we still are not giving it out to people ready to pay for it. So to an extent, we have been able to say to Nigerians that money is not everything.”
Having been identifying role models, HLF later decided to start grooming those who would step into their shoes by catching them young. It started a scholarship scheme, which began with disadvantaged children in the Niger-Delta. “We have now included Lagos State. This is to groom and give the young generation opportunity to get education. We started in 2008 and our first awardees are now in SS2. The tertiary level students that benefitted have all graduated. We also collaborate with some NGOs to support them on,” she adds.
Otuedon-Arawore has also added the HLF Young Achievers Awards, primarily to discover young talented people and start mentoring, encouraging and nurturing them to have self-confidence, and to be patriotic so they could end well. This is because many talented young ones fizzle out on their way to the top.
The first edition of the awards, for instance, recognised the best performing public school in WASSCE 2011, Airforce Comprehensive School, Agbani, Enugu State. “They were in 5th position overall but being the first public school, we decided we were going to equip their laboratory with science equipment. We believe that the effect of this would be far-reaching because it would encourage more people to compete the following year to be the best. Secondly, the students left in the school would have better learning environment. By so doing, we would be enhancing learning and technology. We also donated computers to them,” Otuedon-Arawore says.
Some others who had been honoured in the young achievers’ category include 7-year-old Onarietta Isabella, who is one of the world’s youngest exhibiting artists; and Opeyemi Sodipe, who was once the youngest P.hd holder in Nigeria at age 25.
Otuedon-Arawore expresses confidence that the initiative would help reintroduce the culture of hardwork, integrity and dignity in labour fast disappearing among the youth. “Healthy competition would make people strive to be the best. And once you start from youth, the tendency is that you would carry it on all your life.”
