RADICAL SHIFT AUDIENCE: My Address

Greetings from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Please accept my heartfelt apologies for being unable to attend the summit today. I went to great lengths to make sure I was a part of the RADICAL SHIFT. Despite my absence, I keep the programme in the highest regard and consider it to be very dear to me.

 

Despite the fact that I was unable to attend, my thoughts and prayers are unmistakably with you. I would have preferred RADICAL SHIFT summit over a million dollars if I had to choose between the two. My hope is that you will all leave with a renewed determination to effect lasting radical change to our society. 

 

I'd like to express my gratitude to The Carpenters' Touch, the summit's organisers, as well as the program's convener (Mr. Chuks Chukwueke), who is a close friend and mentor of mine. He has been a vital part of my growth journey. What I admire the most about him is his desire to make a difference by raising a generation of undiluted, unpolluted, incorruptible, unrelenting, and vibrant youths who will re-negotiate for African's new state and radically transform it into the most desirable continent.

It was on this path that we first met. He then became a comrade, mentor, and colleague. I adore him and admire what he's trying to accomplish. I pray for him to continue to grow in the Lord's grace. And he will not let God down. He is not going to fail this generation or future generations. Finally, he will not abandon his mission, nor will he fail our country.

 

In addition, I am very delighted to welcome all of you to this fantastic gathering. This event, dubbed “RADICAL SHIFT” was fashioned specifically for you. I am confident that no one can leave the summit without a reason to be thankful and a renewed desire to accomplish incredible feats.

Today, I suppose to take you on a journey about, “Laying a STRONG FOUNDATION TO BECOMING A GREAT POTENTIAL BUILDER.”  To make a substantive change, we must first understand what RADICAL SHIFT entails.

To begin, the term "radical" discusses:

1. Arising from or going to a root, source, basic or origin
2. Departing markedly from the usual or customary
3. Favoring or effecting fundamental or revolutionary changes in current practices, conditions, or institutions

The term "shift" can also be described as; to move, to adjust, to change, to alter, to modify or to rectify.

"RADICAL SHIFT" therefore is a transformative or revolutionary effort to effect changes in our existing practices, circumstances, or structures that will alter the problem at its roots. Therefore, people who engage in radical solutions to the ravaging problem are also the ones who make radical shift. From today, I see you as one of them!

Looking back over the last fifty-three years in Nigeria, we can safely conclude that our leaders and national fathers have failed miserably. Now, there's a question I ask our youths all the time, and it often echoes my urge for a positive RADICAL SHIFT. In fifty-three years, what do you think the next generation will think of you and me? Have we failed  them or provided them with a better society? If the response is "a better society," then our father's failed customs must be undone. This is where we have the chance to make a radical shift right now. It all starts with you! It begins with me! It all starts with us!

RADICAL SHIFT begins on the inside. Shifts in our orientation, vision, behaviour, and choice. It should become a priority in our minds and a guiding force behind our decisions, not just a subject for seminars or discussions.

"Change is only thing that is constant," according to a common saying. Yes, change is inevitable and constant, but it isn't the only constant, as most people and thinkers believe. There is also "choice." As a matter of fact, choice is the mother of change.


There is no change without a choice. All the changes, the advancements and the transformations we have seen today came from various choices made by different people and nations. Both choice and change are important not because of the fact that they are the only things that are constant, but they are in a way, measure of achievement and progress in life.

There won’t be a RADICAL SHIFT, which is a change until it becomes a CHOICE. Imo state citizens weren’t able to challenge and undo the status quo in the last election until it became a desire – “their choice.” The first time ever in the history of Nigerian an incumbent was defeated. Indeed, it was a RADICAL move that brought about the SHIFT in electing people’s choice. Every “Radical Shift” is delivered on the altar of choice and action before other factors can follow.

At the root of every RADICAL SHIFT is its foundation. It must be STRONG if it must be RIGHT. “If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?”(Psalm 11:3, King James Version) It’s equally important for us to understand that RADICAL SHIFT plays out when we have a faulty, drifted and destroyed foundation. The only thing the righteous can do is to establish a new foundation for a new edifice of structure.

It’s on this platform that the summit was anchored on “REVOLUTION 6:1:4” and took its bearing from Isaiah 61:4 that says, “They will rebuild the ancient ruins and restore the places long devastated; they will renew the ruined cities that have been devastated for generations.” Therefore, this summit is meant to raise army of POTENTIAL BUILDERS that will rebuild the faulty and devastated foundations for decades now with right and concrete ones through RADICAL SHIFT. I’m glad you’re one of them.

Talking about STRONG FOUNDATION, our society has successfully categorized her citizen to three different classes; the third class citizens, the second citizens and the first class citizens. Likewise, we can see this categorization visibly in the League of Nations, where you have Developed Nations, Transiting Nations and Underdeveloped Nations. The making of any of these classes can be traced to choice, master-plan and foundation. One has become an entity of pity, another an entity of envy and the other in-between the two.

My next question now to you is, “Which group are you in the above classification?” You need to understand that the group you found yourself is a function of your choice, the picture of your master-plan and the foundation you laid for it.  Foundation does not take place without one making a decision on the choice of structure to erect and having the master-plan for it. Then, the kind of foundation to institute comes after you have your master-plan.

Over the years, there are few man-made structures that experts have said can be seen from the moon. These structures are the Kansai Airport in Japan, Palm Tree Island Estate in Dubai, Great Wall of China and another incredible structure is Burj Khalifa in Dubai that has 162 floors as the tallest man-made freestanding structure in the world, at 829.8 m (2,722 ft). We cannot deny the iconic and incredible existence of these structures. Also, we can’t neglect the vital role SOLID FOUNDATION played and is playing in their ever shinning existence.

Every outstanding edifice of destiny must has a solid base that holds the above the ground structure. It is the underground structure that sustain the above the ground structure. If it must be great, high and lasting, it must be strong. The difference between the first-class and third class citizens are;

1. Choice: Either way, both made their choices based on their believe system. The later lives life on luck while the first lives on cause and effect. They made a conscious decision and draw their master-plan to get there. Whatever you are able to see is what you become. Our perception determines our reception! To be outstanding is a choice and to be an object of pity is equally a choice. Here, first class people made the choice of their “Durability”- their enduring legacy...the things that could be said about them after they have gone. It talks about the strong, indestructible, enduring, lasting and continuity of the edifice of their destiny structure. Another choice they make is their “Height”– the above the ground height...As you all know that height is a foundation of depth. The deeper and well grounded the foundation, the higher for its height. They choose the kind of structure they want to erect...will it be a mud house destiny, bungalow destiny, or tower destiny. It talks about their achievement and lives to be affected by the solution they bring, which is their product to human community. Next they consider is “Uniqueness” - Area of differentiation...what they can do that others cannot do. Understand that our greatness lies not in our sameness but in our difference.
2. Master-plan: When you have made the choice of your edifice of destiny, the next that follows is to have the master-plan. They engage the services of the expert to drawn the master-plan of the structure. What the first-class people do is to look from available resources to find a clearer picture of that edifice of destiny they anticipate for. It is the master-plan that will determine the foundation. You can’t put up the structure of 162 storeys in the foundation of a bungalow. It will definitely come down.
3. Cost: They price that they are willing to pay. Great structures and outstanding tower edifices have high value cost. They go extra mile to pay the cost. Cost invariably talks about the sacrifices they are willing to make to get the edifice of their destiny structure accomplished.
4. Location: The forces that influence and motivate you...

I pray that you become one of the potential builders that will build skyscraper -great edifice of destiny instead of thatch house. The choice is yours now. Make it wisely!

In conclusion, a wise man once said, “It is not great events that make great people but great decision.” In other words, it is your choice during and after the event that determine the effects and results. Let your decision be the one that will establish you at the mountain top of destiny and that will transform our nation into a country that will be likened to El Dorado.

God bless you! 

See you ALL at the top.
Victor UZOMA