Bring back humanity

“ I don’t really know why I care so much. I just have something inside me that tells me that there is a problem, and I have got to do something about it, because it is the only right thing to do”. It is fitting for me to use this quote by Wangari Mathai as we have recently celebrated her 10 year win of the Nobel Peace Prize.

Wangari Mathai and her legacy is a reminder of what humanity is and where it will take us. And she as a woman for the first time reminded the world that people, environment and peace are all connected. And I believe for this interconnectedness to work, humanity and dignity needs to be upheld.

So I ask you; are you compassionate? Are you forgiving? Are you accepting?

As we enter into this decisive phase to accelerate efforts and honor the millennium promise embedded in the millennium development goals, we must first promise to invest in and bring back humanity and dignity.

Humanity is not just a social issue; it is political, economical, cultural and environmental issue that deserves our attention.

To recall, nearly 300 of our girls, not Nigeria’s girls but our girls have been kidnapped and sold off into early marriage. The problem is not western education, the problem is that Education is not enriching inner self and not teaching basic human like traits. Education is not fueling the ‘person’ that is our future.

Living in a world where we carry the best electronic gadgets but are less inhumane and more intolerable of differences I ask you, where is humanity and where is your dignity?

To help others we need to help one self by self-reflection. Why? Because reflexivity is about reflecting on a particular situation and also to self reflect when interacting with others who are linguistically and culturally different from oneself. This also involves making choices. The choice to address a situation, the choice to change one self and the choice to add meaning to what we see. For instance I choose to take a moment to look at the situation in Nigeria- but this is just one example of a pressing issue in the world. Perhaps my young self does not have the capacity to look at every situation coming through media, it is indeed overwhelming but there is no space for us to entertain a tunnel vision. There is no space for ignorance.

You must love yourself to love and accept all others. You must know yourself to know and understand others. You must be kind to yourself to be kind to others.

We are the millennium Promise so long as we embody and internalize and take back our humanity and dignity because after all that is the only right thing to do.