In 1970, just months after the Biafra War ended, the elders of the Igbo Nation gathered across our communities to confront an existential question: What future awaits a people whose land has been reduced to rubble? Schools were gone. Hospitals destroyed. Markets burnt. Bank balances wiped out. No support was coming from the federal government. Yet, in that bleak moment, they rose and declared: this land must be rebuilt!
And they did. Our Greatest Generation – men and women who led the Igbo Nation in early and mid-1970s – demonstrated uncommon wisdom, discipline, sacrifice, and peerless execution, ushering a playbook that was elegant and powerful: every community must create a development union to rebuild its destiny.
And community after community answered the call. My village, Ovim, established the Ovim Community League (OCL). OCL became so influential that it paid teachers and posted them to public schools in Ovim. During my time in Secondary Technical School Ovim, the school offered Motor Vehicle Technology, Woodwork Technology, Shorthand, etc, funded largely by the community. OCL was not alone as most basic infrastructures in Igbo land were built through community effort then.
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And the Greatest Generation did not stop with infrastructure. They engineered the Igbo Apprenticeship System, sending young men from our villages to Kano, Lagos, Accra, anywhere opportunity lived, because there was nothing left at home on the miry clay of Biafra. And they charged them with a sacred duty: “onye aghana nwanne ya” [do not leave your brethren behind] if success comes.
Those men listened. And within decades, the Igbo Nation rose from devastation and caught up with Nigeria’s economic trajectory. They ensured our homeland did not become a wasteland of penury or a museum of hopelessness. I salute that Generation for they saved the future that we enjoy today.
But now, our time has come. And our challenge is different: how do we give skills to our young people in an age where jobs are scarce? Certificates alone cannot feed families. Skills do. We must return to the old playbook of community-driven development but reimagine it for a new era. What ecosystems can we build in our communities to equip our young people with skills, not just paper qualifications? How do we unlock opportunities in digital technology, creative industries, agriculture, manufacturing, and trades?
I am focusing on Abia State, but the model is relevant for any community in Nigeria and Africa. The Abia State Technological Skills Acquisition Centre (ATSAC) will unveil projects next year. But before then, we want to hear from you. Yes, your ideas, your insights, your dreams. When your ideas come in, we will refine the playbook and by early 2026, we will convene a Zoom Townhall Meeting. Afterward, we will begin implementation. Abia sons and daughters, please copy.
Our Governor, Dr. Alex Otti, has given us a clear mandate: equip young Abians with relevant skills across all communities. You in Lagos, London, Beijing, Boston, you carry knowledge that can transform futures. The question before us is simple: How can Abia youth benefit from your experience, and how do we build a system that gives them access? How do we make skills a right for young Abians?
The Greatest Generation rebuilt the Igbo Nation after war. Our generation must retool it for the opportunities of this era, and I want to know your ideas via this form: https://forms.gle/RTobYVnci5xYYpH27
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