By Bishop Aniede S.O.
There are communities and families whom nature has placed in environments where the pains of the past are constantly remembered. Their parents were looked down upon. They were told they were “less.” Some grew up hearing stories of OSU stigma, outcast labels, “ahia njọ,” or other forms of social discrimination. Others come from regions where national divisions—North, South, East, and West—still shape how people are judged before they even speak.
Let this fact be communicated to such individuals: Your past may have been damaged, but your future need not be stuck in a prison.
Education is the first and most effective way to overcome inherited discrimination. When a people rise intellectually, they rise socially. Culture-enforced ceilings are broken by education. It alters both your perception of yourself and that of others.
Your kids should be encouraged to read, learn, develop, and go beyond the boundaries society has set for their parents. Permit them to study professional fields such as architecture, ICT, engineering, law, medicine, and finance. Knowledge generates influence, which in turn generates access, which in turn breaks down barriers.
Economic empowerment comes next. Take bold ownership of commerce, business, and industry. Become creators of value. Create businesses, not justifications. A people’s economic significance diminishes the influence of social stigma. One of the most effective means of sustaining discrimination is poverty; overcoming it is a calculated act of liberation.
Allow them to become essential in their line of work. Allow them to achieve greatness so that their impact, rather than their past, will define them in society.
A community’s story is automatically rewritten over time when it makes investments in economic power and education. Dignity becomes the new inheritance and marginalization becomes a thing of the past.
Nelson Mandela reminds us:
“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”
A formerly oppressed people change their world when they change their minds.
Dr. Julius Nyerere adds:
“Education is not a way to escape poverty—it is a way of fighting it.”
And in fighting poverty, we fight discrimination.
Let this be your declaration:
“We may have been looked down on yesterday, but we will be counted among the influential tomorrow.”
Rise above the labels. Build a new generation.
Reject the shame of the past—embrace the strength of the future.
This is how communities heal, rise, and take their rightful place in society.
Simeon Aniede is an Enugu based Bishop, Public Affairs cum Political Analyst
English