By Adeyinka Adeniran
The Chancellor, Dominion University, (DU) Ibadan, Bishop Taiwo Adelakun has identified the lack of worthy standards and the unwillingness to take to corrections as part of challenges threatening the future of the youths of this generation.
He said, his interactions with the youths in the last six years since Dominion university started revealed that many youths care less about many things and often believe they are always right, which, according to him, remain a big treat to changing their mindset positively.
He spoke in an aside interview shortly after a public lecture in honor of his 62th birthday anniversary held at the Dominion University Chapel, Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, Ibadan on Tuesday.
The lecture entitled, “Epistemologies of spirituality and secularity: Development and the example of Bishop Taiwo Adelakun”, was delivered by the Director, Tetfund Diaspora Transnational Studies Center, University of Ibadan, Professor Senayon Olaoluwa.
Speaking, Bishop Adelakun who is the Founder, Victory International Church, cautions parents and guardians to be mindful of what they teach the younger generation and values they transmit to them, especially through their attitude and characters.
He said, “In my interactions with the youths since we started this University, i have observed that the youths of these days don’t want to have standards. We live in a generation where everything is right, nothing is wrong. And the Bible has not taught us that way. The Bible gives us what is right and what is wrong. But our youth today wants to do whatever comes their way. Whatever they hear.
“They don’t want to be judged, that’s what I fear. And there’s nothing like that in the Bible. This is the way it should go. That’s what we are confronting. That God has set his standard. He’s not waiting for you to set your own standard. You have to obey his standard. Not creating your own standard. And they are very quick to say, oh, no, don’t judge me.This is what I fear. This is what I believe. It’s not what you believe. It’s what’s written you must believe. Those things written are the things to be believed. Some of them are changing, but not all of them.
“That’s my fear. That with this generation that don’t believe anything is wrong, anything they do is right, what will be their end? If those of us who believe the word of God can have problems, how about those who don’t believe in any standard of God?
“So that’s a force we are confronting as we are training them and try to build them up in the way of God.”
Commenting on the progress of the country, the country noted that, he said though the current administration is doing its bit, Nigeria is still grappling with getting it right at the leadership level, especially in the last 26years of the democracy in the country.
“Leadership. Leadership has been a crisis in Nigeria. Where the worst of us seems to be leading the best of us. We can do better. We are a nation of so many lions being led by sheep.
“So I believe that if as a nation will pay attention on leadership, everything will fall in line by the grace of God. Great nations are made by issue of leadership. The leadership that puts in place systems. And those systems working, we see the nation working. But if leadership does not even know about systems, how can they put systems in place? And if systems are not put in place, things can never work.
“Everything you see working, works based on systems. But some people put the system in place.Those systems are put in place by eggheads. That’s what leadership is all about. Setting up the system. And that’s where Nigeria is missing it. But I believe in my lifetime, Nigeria will get it right.”
He charged the current leaders is to put into reality what they see that works in other climes they travel to all over the world.
Delivering his lecture, Professor Olaoluwa explained that spiritual knowledge and secular knowledge are connected, noting that faith can drive scientific discovery and innovation.
He said, the invention of writing, a fundamental tool for recording knowledge, was likely driven by sacred purposes.
The Guest lecturer uses the example of Bishop T.B. Adelakun to show how focusing on faith can lead to development and growth. He also reference the biblical story of Moses, where God gave him a vision and gifted others with practical skills to bring it to life.
He concluded that spiritual knowledge and practical knowledge are not opposing forces, but rather complementary aspects of a larger whole, adding that, by recognizing this connection, people can appreciate the value of both faith and science.
Earlier in his remarks, the Vice Chancellor, Dominion University, Ibadan, Professor Abel Olorunnisola said there is confusion about the roles of churches in establishment of universities today in that many assume that private Christian faith based university are established for business purposes.
Disagreeing with the notion, the VC said most faith based Universities are established for mission and not business, adding that their primary goal is to produce graduates who excel in character and learning. He said even public universities acknowledge that character development is important in students.
