Uche Okeke was at the LSE Festival; Rethinking Beveridge for the 21st century: Civil Society And The Five Giants: A Global Perspective. Photo: Google.
According to Minouche Shafik, Director of The London School of Economics and Political Science; "we live in increasingly divided societies where social conflicts that bind us are fraying. One reason is globalisation, which has intensified competitive pressures. Another is technology which has increased the returns to highly skilled labour and thereby exacerbated inequality".
In her words, "technology has also transformed our awareness of what is happening around the world and the way we communicate and organise ourselves socially and politically, sometimes in a way that builds social cohesion, but often in ways that divide".[Beveridge 2.0; Rethinking Beveridge for the 21st century; London School of Economics and Political Science 19-24, February, 2018].
This lends great support to our arguement that there is urgent need for the restructuring of the current political structure and leadership change in Nigeria with a new leadership that is equipped to deal with the challenges of the 21st century, not barbaric ideas and unworkable policies that decline the conditions of people's lives, risk to safety and security.
This needs informed citizenry. Technology has provided us the space to challenge the behaviours of political leaders so its the duty of ordinary people to be preoperly informed ignoring the manipulations of the media and social media fans reccruited to endorse the status-quo, and attack those who disagree with the status-quo.
We have written about the : Brown Envelope and the Bullet; who cares? . The civil society is the solution to the problems in the society and helping to rectify these injustices, so it needs collaboration and support to confront the ''five giants'- Want, disease, ignorance, squalor and idleness".
As we have learned from Beveridge 2.0; today there is shift in the way we think about things and issues in development from quantity to quality, people first not as 'photo opportunities' to win the next election. How do we make idleness productive needs new thinking, new leadership not the status-quo. "Developing countries are going to be hardest hit". This is the time to think different and act fast. The time for change is now. Read More: http://www.lse.ac.uk/Events/LSE-Festival/Events/20180224/civil-society-and-the-five-giants
We must reject totalitarian rule, political bribery and ensure we vote for credible and capable leaders with the 21st century education and ideas to drive inclusive society built on a 'shared value and shared identity' to lift ordinary people out of poverty, not discrimination, division, exploitation, repression, exclusion, wastes of lives and properties, etc.
The world has changed so this is the era of new breed of leaders with sophisticated education and ideas to drive future prosperity. Together, we can help shape the future.
Uche Okeke is a Social Entrepreneur. He is the Founder of The LEAD Project Foundation. Independent Non-Profit, Non-Political Organisation. He lives in London.
"Today civil society is more important than ever to help ask important questions about the future. To question the political behaviour of the state and to change barbaric policies that contribute to the declining conditions of people's lives. There is a shift in thinking and development now is about 'quality not quantity', people not photo opportunities"- Uche Okeke
ReplyDelete