I am delighted to welcome you all to this celebration of the 29th anniversary of the Hallmarks of Labour Foundation.

We will shortly be showing a brief documentary that serves as a useful introduction to the Hallmarks of Labour Foundation, including the pinnacle of its activities, which is the much-coveted recognition and award to individuals whose character and career have made them role models, especially for our young people.

We shall today be presenting awards to 13 such individuals. We shall also, for the first time, be according this honour posthumously to 3 people whose lives and achievements, by general consent, have earned them similar recognition.

It is widely lamented, especially among people of my generation—and I am now 93 years of age—that societal values in Nigeria have degenerated to a very low point.

In my young school days, examination malpractice was an unknown phenomenon; but now, even some parents and guardians help their children to cheat and obtain unmerited examination certificates. The prevalent culture at the time, both in schools and in other areas of human endeavour, was that success must be preceded by hard work.

And in my young adult working years, corruption, wherever it occurred, was a subject of open chastisement. The looting of public funds on the grand scale at which it happens today, and the general adoration of wealth irrespective of how it is acquired by churches and mosques, which welcome large donations, and communities, which bestow chieftaincy titles on the wealthy, were generally frowned upon.

The essence of the Role Model Awards by the HLF, which are being presented tonight, is to encourage our young and not-so-young people to learn to imbibe the values that prevailed in our society in those halcyon days. They should learn that success in every human endeavour is a result of hard work; that integrity is the most important possession of every person; in short, that every individual’s life should be guided by the famous saying often attributed to the evangelist Billy Graham: when wealth is lost, nothing is lost; when health is lost, something is lost; when character is lost, all is lost.

As our young people of today face the national challenge of mass poverty and youth unemployment, my advice to them is that in planning their studies, they should choose areas that would equip them for self-reliance. They should choose occupations in areas where their focus would be on production, such as industry and manufacturing; agriculture and agro-allied industry; ICT and digitalisation; or general entrepreneurship. And those who choose a career in politics should ensure that they are driven by a desire to render service to the public.

I would want to conclude my brief remarks by congratulating all the recipients of the awards this evening, and by urging you all to enjoy the social aspect of this evening’s gathering by meeting new friends and chatting with old friends; and finally, of course, by enjoying the food to be served.

Chief Emeka Anyaoku, GCON, CFR, HLF