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The Supremacy Of Gift (2)

By Guardian Nigeria
03 October 2015   |   12:28 am
EDUCATION VERSUS GIFT! ‘’….stir up the gift of God, which is in thee….’’ – 2 Timothy 1:6 ‘’To know the right places for people, we must know their area of gifting.’’ – Myles Munroe Albert Einstein said, ‘’Education is not the learning of facts but the training of the mind to think.’’ The core purpose…

GIFT-jpg-CopyEDUCATION VERSUS GIFT!

‘’….stir up the gift of God, which is in thee….’’
– 2 Timothy 1:6

‘’To know the right places for people, we must know their area of gifting.’’ – Myles Munroe

Albert Einstein said, ‘’Education is not the learning of facts but the training of the mind to think.’’ The core purpose of education is not in the learning of facts and figures but rather in taking us through a journey of self-discovery. It is to help us navigate uncharted territories and also challenge the norms. The human mind was created to embark on daring adventures!
‘’Life is either a daring adventure or nothing.’’ –Helen Keller

The purpose of education is to stir up and ‘fan’ our gifts into flame. Real education should ignite our gifts and passion but it is sympathetic to know that the present day form of education extinguishes our gifts! The Bible says in 1 Timothy 4:14, ‘’neglect not the gift that is in thee’’; the kind of education we practice today teaches more about things and not ourselves, it has been flawfully designed to neglect and abandon our personal gifts. One of the greatest philosophers that ever lived, Socrates, summarised the whole essence of education: ‘’ Man know thyself.’’ The key to success is in discovering your uniqueness and talents. The best education should show us how to unleash our potentials and gifts. Most times the possibilities within are limitless and inexhaustible and it is pitiable that the Nigerian form of education teaches a man to his own neglect!

In the previous edition of THE SUPREMACY OF GIFT, we highlighted the story of Nike Okundaye and how a dedicated woman with no education impacted the world through her gift. Nigeria is now known all over the world for her dexterity in Adire design. Even the Ghanaians are not left behind. They changed the face of textile and clothing in Africa and the world at large through their indigenous textile called Ankara. The Ghanaians were so proud of their indigenous brand that the colonialists erroneously got the name of the famous textile from the capital city, Accra; the clothe would later be called Ankara, a mispronunciation of Accra.

One of the most famous stories of the supremacy of gift is that of Adolf and Rudolf Dassler. The evolution of modern sportswear brands started with these two uniquely gifted German boys with no formal education but with gifted hands. Rudolf and Adolf Dassler started as cobblers (shoe makers) and started making sport wears from their mother’s kitchen after the devastating end of the World War I. They started out making bedroom slippers using scavenged materials such as used tires, old helmets and ruck sacks. Adolf, a sports fanatic, began transforming the slippers into light weight gymnastic and soccer shoes with cleats. The brothers first sold a shoe made specifically for tennis players, and then began creating shoes for other sports. Their journey to international limelight and global recognition came during the 1936 summer Olympics in Berlin and the Olympic Games gave them a platform to equip Jesse Owens of U.S.A with their wears. Jesse Owens ended up winning four gold medals in the year he wore Dassler’s magic shoes which later became the brand called Adidas!

Adidas was incorporated in 1948 by Adolf Dassler following the split between him and his elder brother, Rudolf Dassler. Rudolf later established PUMA which was registered in 1949. Adidas revenue for 2014 was $16 billion, second only to Nike ($30 billion), PUMA came third with a revenue of $4.1 billion. It is amazing how the story of Adidas and PUMA evolved from a woman’s kitchen with two young kids with nothing but gifted hands. The former brand slogan of Adidas symbolises the limitless possibilities in human gifts –‘’Impossible is Nothing.’’
‘’When you discover your gift, you find your area of authority in life.’’ –Myles Munroe

One of the most fantastic indigenous Nigerian story that also underlines the limitless possibilities in human gift is the story of a woman who found a place for herself on the Nigerian 20 Naira Note. The Nigerian Naira note has always been decorated with the faces of past heroes and former presidents; nobody ever thought that a village woman “armed” only with a special gift for pottery will find a place where only kings dwell! Kwali is the first and only woman to appear in the Nigerian Currency: her portrait is on the back of the Nigerian 20 Naira note.

Ladi kwali is the woman who changed the face of pottery in Nigeria and heralded the face of modern pottery through her special gift and dexterity in the act of pottery. She was born in the village of Kwali in the Gwari region of Northern Nigeria (the present Federal capital Territory, Abuja), where pottery was a common occupation among women. Ladi Kwali didn’t only see pottery as a casual occupation but also as a sacred and special gift that was meant to impact the world.

Her pots were noted for their beauty of form and decoration. She became famous for her experimental and innovative works, merging the Gwari style with modern techniques. The impact of her gift became widespread and reached the King’s Palace. Kwali took her time in making her design and they stood out because of their beauty and exquisite charm. The Emir of Abuja at the time, Alhaji Suleiman Barau, was so enchanted by her work that he bought many of her pieces for his collection. Several of her pots were acquired by the Emir, in whose home they were seen by Michael Cardew in 1950.

Through Kwali’s contact with Cardew, she and her work became known in Europe, Britain and America. The impact of her gift was felt beyond the shores of Nigeria far into the British Empire where she was made a member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (MBE) in 1963, and was awarded an honorary degree by Ahmadu Bello University in 1977. Her pottery was also displayed during Nigeria’s independence celebration in 1960. Her work was shown to great acclaim in London at Berkeley Galleries.

In 1980, the Nigerian Government invested her with the insignia of the Nigerian National Merit Award (NNMA), the highest national honour for academic achievement. She received a number of other honours in her lifetime, including being made an officer of the Order of Nigeria (OON) in 1981. The Abuja Training Pottery center was renamed the Ladi Kwali Pottery Centre, and major roads in Abuja and Niger State are named after her. The Bible says, ‘’The gift of a man maketh room for him and bringeth him before great men.’’ For Kwali, her gift brought her before the Queen of England and made streets and roads named in her honour and created a ‘room’ for her on the Nigeria 20 Naira note!

‘’Natural ability without formal education has more often attained to glory and virtue than education without natural ability.’’ –Cicero
We must redesign and integrate properly the discovery of our gifts into the process of our education. Don’t ever give up on your gift, keep nurturing it, keep developing it even when people don’t believe in your gift; it is not your problem, it is theirs and sooner or later they will realise their folly and not yours! I was once an obscured writer, I was hindered, despised, relegated and frustrated but my tenacity remains undaunted; it is hard to beat a person that never gives up! Mark Zuckerberg faced a disciplinary committee in Harvard because of his passion for connecting students on campus through facemash which later evolved into Facebook. Steve Jobs was ‘ejected’ from Apple, a company that he started with Steve Wozniak but was later reinstated when it was very glaring that Apple couldn’t move forward without his unique gift. Bill Gates is ruling the world today not through his education but through his passion and gift. He once said, ‘’ I failed in some subjects in exam, but my friend passed in all. Now he is an engineer in Microsoft and I am the owner of Microsoft.’’ Lionel Messi was not given a chance because of his diminutive nature and hormone deficiency syndrome that restricted his growth. While he grew to become a diminutive, he eventually became a giant in the field of football, breaking unimaginable records. In the normal Nigerian environment, Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg and Lionel Messi might never have amounted to anything in life!

“Money is not a motivating factor. Money doesn’t thrill me or make me play better. I’m just happy with a ball at my feet. My motivation comes from playing the game I love. If I wasn’t paid to be a professional footballer I would willingly play for nothing.”-Lionel Messi

I want to really emphasize again the need for educational gladiators, stake holders and consultants to come together to see how vocational training can be fully integrated into our educational system. We need to develop a vocational education curriculum. Vocational education and training (VET) has become an integral part of the educational system in countries like Australia, Finland, China etc. The European Union (EU) has vocational education and training as one of its core objectives and until we create an environment and a platform to nurture natural gifts and talents, the issue of unemployment among youths will go unabated. We need to emphasize the place and importance of vocational training in our present education system.

I am reaching out to the Nigerian youths to look inwards, to discover their gifts and talents. You are F.O.P (Full of Possibilities); stop attaching your destiny to the vagaries and vicissitudes of the Nigerian system. Discover your gift and ‘unleash’ it for maximum impact. I believe so much in the Nigerian youths. You are great, going somewhere great, to show forth great things! I am so proud of our giant strides in the entertainment industry, fashion industry, sporting sector and art and craft. I believe strongly in education, but we need to redesign ours to show the world we are capable of more!

Gbenga Adebambo is the dean of schools at the Educational Advancement Centre (EAC), an author, youth specialist, international coach and the Editor-In-Chief of MAXIMUM IMPACT MAGAZINE. He is also the founder of the youth ministry called STOP ‘T’(Seeing Tomorrow’s Opportunities and Potentials Today), a ministry that is involved in discovering and nurturing hidden potentials in youths in order to equip them for tomorrow’s challenges, opportunities and responsibilities.

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