Keynote speech by Augustine S. Marrah, Esq. on the invitation of Chozen Generation at their First Annual Delegate Conference on 6^th November 2021 in Makeni City  

1. Good afternoon Chozen Generation members and delegates. It is quite an honor to be invited to speak to us about some matters which have upset our national aspiration. Let me say that I find it hopeful that the young people are having conversations about eradicating corruption, nepotism, and tribalism.
2. This is not an opportunity extended to me for a scholarly expose of these phenomena. I will leave the academics to brood over why societies are afflicted with corruption or nepotism or why tribal affiliations tend to trump patriotism, especially in sub-Saharan Africa. As a young person myself, there is no suitable time to have open and honest conversations about the ills of corruption, nepotism, and tribalism.
3. Let me start by noting that at the heart of corruption is nepotism which is the practice of favoring relatives and friends especially in giving job opportunities and such a practice of leadership creates a conducive atmosphere for tribalism to foster.
4. We live in a deeply religious society so sometimes I wonder how it came to be that we have so much corruption and nepotism. These are social ills that should be rife in an irreligious or unrepentant society. But the irony is, we live in a society where we preach one thing but do the very opposite. Our leaders would talk about corruption, nepotism, and tribalism as if they were not associated with them in any manner. They sometimes campaign on ending corruption only to fly society on a higher altitude of corruption, nepotism, and tribalism when they are elected.
5. In 2019, I was privileged to be appointed one of seven persons to craft the current national anti-corruption strategy. We went across the nation to understand the causes and layers of corruption in different parts of the country. I was shocked at the deep-seated impoverishment of our people and the level of mistrust of leadership on the part of citizens, who have grown to perceive leadership and those at the helm of power as the grandmasters of corruption. So, for them, there is no other standard other than being engaged in or supporting corruption themselves.

THE COST OF CORRUPTION AND NEPOTISM

6. It is pertinent to note that when we speak about corruption, we are not hazarding a guess about how it has the potential to rip a nation apart. The Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s findings documented the causes of the civil conflict and recorded corruption and nepotism as one of the primary causes of the civil war. It was corruption that led to the killing of more than one hundred thousand people, unquantifiable maiming, and violation of women and children. It was the discontentment with the level of corruption in the country that had brewed over time that was channeled through the barrel to wreak wanton destruction on a nation. For almost twenty years since we introduced the Anti-Corruption Commission in our governance process, very little has changed. Corruption and nepotism have only yielded much dividends for the partakers.
7. Before society degenerates into absolute chaos, the effects of corruption are often manifest. The hospitals would be starved of medical supplies to such an extent that patients are more likely to pass in hospitals than to be cured. Roads would be perpetually in bad shape because someone who has been awarded the contract has already given half the sum of the contract as backhanders before the contract sum was paid. School supplies intended to improve learning are siphoned into personal endeavours. And as for justice, it is for sale to the willing buyer.
8. Corruption and nepotism have crippled our country. While the older generation in other countries handed their young people legacies of technology, thriving mining industries, international commerce, cutting edge medical care, booming aviation industries, what have been bequeathed to the young people of Sierra Leone are corruption, nepotism, bad governance, battered economy and deep tribal sentiments. This is what the youth of Sierra Leone have been given to compete with their counterparts across the world.
9. We talk too often about how corruption and nepotism have damaged our entire governance system. How it has killed our medical, educational and justice systems. But we speak very little about how it has killed our future even before it arrives—the future of young people. The highest cost of corruption is not the number of things and structures in society that it decimates, it is the future that it robs the young of, the destinies injured, and the aspirations rendered impossible.

Download a PDF copy of this speech DESIGNING THE SIERRA LEONE OF OUR DREAMS- THE ROLE OF YOUNG PEOPLE IN TACKLING CORRUPTION, TRIBALISM AND NEPOTISM

BREWING TRIBAL SENTIMENTS   

10. Sierra Leone is a multi-ethnic society with very rich cultural diversity. You’d think that having different tribes or ethnic groups should be a great source of a varied approach to development and co-existence.
11. In the last ten years, tribal sentiments have been whipped up whether by political manipulations of poor people or by deliberate power or governance structures. In recent times, there have been calls for ethnic audits in certain institutions. These calls are a result of the growing belief that certain tribes are being disproportionately advantaged in the power dynamics. While this may not be true, it is imperative to address tribal sentiments thoroughly and decisively.
12. Indeed, wherever corruption and nepotism thrive, tribalism would be inevitably produced. This is because the corrupt would tend to share their loot with their friends and families and in the process, the false urge to build tribal solidarity to protect the loot emerges. Invariably, corrupt politicians would fan tribal sentiments to make it appear that the people have access to resources only because their kinsman is in power and won’t have such access if someone other than their tribesman were at the helm.
13. The political system of winner-takes-all has also not helped to defuse tribal tensions. This is because usually, the winner invites his kinsmen from Bo if they are green or from Makeni if they are red to feast. Only the crumbs would be shared with folks who do not speak their tongue. Consequentially, contracts, job opportunities, and access to power are concentrated in tribal circles and those whom the tribesmen can benefit from and not distributed across the nation.

DESIGNING THE FUTURE OF OUR DREAMS

14. It is a huge responsibility for young people to imagine beyond the chaos and to design the future of our dreams. This is because what we currently have is a nightmare and nothing good can come out of it.
15. If we are to design a far better future for ourselves, simply saying “No” to corruption is insufficient. We must also say “Yes” to industry and entrepreneurship. I know this is herculean since we do not even have the tools to start with. But beyond anything, we need to have the will and spirit to design a better collective future. So today, I’m encouraging every one of us to develop a strong will to design the future. I know many young people who have been wearied by the many and various deficits in our society. Do it for them, do it for yourselves, for our children, and do it for a better Sierra Leone.
16. In some cases, young people are direct beneficiaries of corrupt leaders. Most commonly, they may have acquired an education through the funding of such leaders and their corruptly acquired funds. As a result of this, they fail to stand up to demand better and widely distributed resources, they become actively engaged in defending wrongful conduct. But young people must view corruption as the single biggest phenomenon of destruction of any society. They must view corruption, tribalism, and nepotism as the very robbers of their future. Young people should demand for all and just not be satisfied when they and their families are given while the rest of society languishes. Young people must learn to use what they have to challenge systematic ills and demand national development, even if this includes education acquired by funding from corrupt leaders. We can’t design a future if we are complicit in the wrongs. If we are the errand boys and girls of failed political classes, we can’t imagine a future, not to talk of designing it.
17. We must design a future where all tribes are seated at the table or given equal access to corridors. A future where technologies are harnessed to the advantage of Sierra Leoneans: a future of globally competitive manufacturing in diverse industries; a future of opening technology hubs across the country; a future of thriving agricultural industry; a booming regional trade and a future of a functional justice system. The only way we can erase the deceit of corruption, tribalism, and nepotism is to confront them with the truth of political inclusion, good governance, economic development, and impartial justice.
18. We can’t tackle these ills with nothing. Young people must channel their energies towards organizing against corruption, confronting nepotism, and exposing tribalism. The future we design should embrace our diversity while guarding against the abuse of tribal identities. It should give no accommodation to nepotism and corruption nor leave tendencies for a few to become rich at the expense of the rest.
19. Young people must be deliberate and unapologetic to political leadership in stating that our dreamed future is to actively compete with the rest of the world and not to be inheritors or beneficiaries of corruption, nepotism, and tribalism. It is therefore time to reject corruption for cooperation, nepotism for equalitarianism, and tribalism for patriotism. This is how to design the Sierra Leone of our dreams.

Download a PDF copy of this speech DESIGNING THE SIERRA LEONE OF OUR DREAMS- THE ROLE OF YOUNG PEOPLE IN TACKLING CORRUPTION, TRIBALISM AND NEPOTISM

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CHOZEN GENERATION SIERRA LEONE GETS $10,000 GRANT FOR DIGITAL RIGHTS ADVOCACY IN SIERRA LEONE

Freetown, Sept. 2^nd, 2021 – Chozen Generation Sierra Leone (CGSL) is excited to announce that it has won a grant of U$D 9,950 from the Collaboration on International ICT Policy in East and Southern Africa (CIPESA) to continue its digital rights advocacy in Sierra Leone in the context of the Africa Digital Rights Fund (ADRF). CGSL is one of 13 entities from the continent to secure a grant in the fifth round of the Fund this year.

The organizations will undertake research, capacity building, awareness-raising, advocacy, and stakeholder’s engagement across 25 African countries including Sierra Leone, Algeria, Cameroon, Malawi, South Africa, and Ethiopia

In the next three months, CGSL will focus on strengthening the capacity of journalists, bloggers, and youth activists on digital rights reporting and advocacy in Sierra Leone. The organization will specifically train selected beneficiaries on the recently passed Cybersecurity and Cybercrime Act as well as on the Right to Access Information Act, which was passed in 2013, supposedly to promote the public’s right to know within the context of press freedom.

Whilst a growing number of the country’s population is now surfing the internet, Sierra Leone still lacks a law that specifically addresses data privacy and protection. This gap undermines consumer protection and potentially opens the door for data exploitation. In the same vein, the Right to Access Information Act has not resulted in significant improvement in accessing information. The recently passed Cybersecurity Act which is now awaiting presidential assent is an important piece of digital rights legislation. However, a survey by a respected local think-tank revealed that only about 29% of citizens had heard about the proposed law which, among other things, seeks to regulate social media and address some of the challenges with cybersecurity.

This low awareness by citizens of these laws, some of which, critics argue contains provisions that amount to a full-scale crackdown on freedom of expression online is a source of concern. “The lack of awareness by citizens means these laws are largely underutilized or used by rogue officials to suppress citizens” CGSL National Coordinator, Joel Abdulai Kallon said.

It is therefore absolutely necessary to analyze the said law and train journalists and youth activists on some of its major provisions to encourage more engagement and advocacy. Indeed, more public education is still required to ensure that every Sierra Leonean enjoys the benefit of these contemporary legislations.

CHOZEN GENERATION IS A COMMUNITY OF PROFESSIONALS WHO ARE MAKING A DIFFERENCE IN SIERRA LEONE THROUGH THE USE OF TECHNOLOGY AND SOUND LEADERSHIP. WE EMPHASIZE THE IMPORTANCE OF INNOVATION, HARD WORK, INTEGRITY, AND ACCOUNTABILITY FOR EFFECTIVE LEADERSHIP. OUR MISSION IS TO EMPOWER YOUTHS NATIONWIDE THROUGH THE PROVISION OF RELEVANT TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES, MENTORING, COACHING, AND NETWORKING SUPPORT.

You can download a pdf copy of this release here: CGSL ADRF Public Notice 922021

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Following months of careful vetting and background checks, eleven new members have been formally incorporated into the ranks of Chozen Generation Sierra Leone. New members subscribed to the oath and appended their names on the CGSL Membership Register last Sunday 6^th June 2021 at the Africell/America Corner in Freetown.

Over thirty young Sierra Leoneans submitted applications for membership The recruitment process started in February 2021. The induction marks the end of the recruitment process.

Welcoming the new members, Joel Abdulai Kallon, National Coordinator of Chozen Generation, said the annual induction of new members is special not just for the CGSL membership, but for the country at large.

He pinpointed that joining the organization is a call to national duty as every Chozen Generation member is expected to make a difference in society.

“At CGSL we aspire to be different, he said. “We want to be different because we are tired of the society in which we live. We are tired of living in a country where young people are reduced to opportunists. To beggers clamoring after politicians for even the most basic things.

“We are tired of a country where there is a lack of belief in talent and skills, where qualities and virtues like excellence hard work no longer matter to young people. We want to build that culture again.

“I am putting it to you ladies and gentlemen that you have a role to play in that regard. Bring energy, positive mind to Chozen Generation. In place of pettiness, Small mindedness, bring excellence and the ability to see beyond the basics.

Mr. Kallon noted that new members are central to the growth and continuation of the Chozen Generation’s ideology. He encouraged them to jealously guard the organization and be particular about their friends and associates.

“In the next five or ten years, this current crop of CGSL leaders might have become too old-fashioned or too out of touch with the leadership realities of the day. That is why it is important that the organization annually attracts and recruits a new group of dynamic, energetic, and firebrand leaders into its fold,” he said.

2020 Ten Most Outstanding Sierra Leoneans Award recipient, Honorable Ibrahim Tawa Conteh, Parliamentarian for constituency 132, who served as the keynote speaker admonished new members to imbibe the organization’s culture of patriotism, hard work, and diligence.

“You are not coming in as inductees today because they told you all the fancy things. Rather, you are coming in as inductees because you believe in the values and principles of the organization and must therefore strive to uphold them. Those values include nationalism, patriotism, and tolerance for diversity.”

Chozen Generation’s Deputy Programs Coordinator, Mr. Ibrahim Bangura moderated the event whilst the programs coordinator briefed the audience and inductees on the history, values, and achievements of the organization. Massah Esther Nyallay Bockarie revealed how the organization transformed her life and have supported her dreams.

This year’s inductees came from diverse backgrounds and they include students, recent graduates, and working professionals.

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THE TEN MOST OUTSTANDING SIERRA LEONEANS IN 2020

Top L-R : Ibrahim Tawa Conteh, Vickie Remoe, Mohamed Buya Turay, Lara Taylor Pearce, Drizilik

Bottom L-R: Zainab Sheriff, David Moinina Sengeh, Staff of Rainbo Initiative, Aiah Lebbie, Sick Pikin Project Volunteers

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CHOZEN GENERATION SIERRA LEONE

Public Notice

The general public is hereby informed that Chozen Generation Sierra Leone (CGSL) organized a fundraising event on the 14th of February 2020.

In the spirit of transparency, the organization wishes to announce that the total revenue from ticket sales for the event was Eighteen Million Seven Hundred and Seventeen , Leones (Le 18,717,000) while the total expenditures incurred was Eleven Million Six Hundred and Eighty Seven Thousand Leones (Le 11,687,000).

The net proceeds from the fundraiser is therefore Seven Million and Thirty Thousand Leones (Le 7,030,000).

Part of this cash will be utilized to fund the organization’s ongoing programs and activities including the weekly CGSL Show and the 2019 Ten Most Outstanding Sierra Leonean awards.

Furthermore,  20% of this revenue will go to a charitable cause which we are in discussions to undertake within the coming weeks.

We want to thank all our patrons and supporters for generously contributing to this event, May God bless you all . You are part of the difference we are making.

©️CGSL Communications

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CGSL AWARDS 2018: MUSA AND BHAI RECEIVES DISTINGUISHED AWARDS

Mr. Sesay designed and provided life funding for CGSL’s very first website. Mr. Sesay, a senior citizen who resides in the US, first took interest in CGSL during the National Debating Championship in 2017. He’s been providing regular support to the organization ever since. Mr. Sesay clinched the award shrugging off four other contenders whose contributions  to Chozen Generation Sierra Leone have also been monumental.

In a related development, Musa Mansaray is CGSL Member of The Year 2018.

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CGSL  QUARTERLY YOUTH DIGEST

Message From The National Coordinator

Dear Reader,

We are extremely pleased to introduce our inaugural edition of the Chozen Generation Quarterly Youth Digest, a youth magazine dedicated to promoting the culture of creative writing and reading among young people.

At the end of every quarter over the coming months we shall be compiling the very best pieces from our dedicated team and bring them right on to your smart phone and PC screens. We shall be profiling extremely amazing individuals whose stories can inspire you. Doctors, Engineers, Lawyers, Entertainers, Entrepreneurs—as long as you have a story to tell we will find you and inspire the millions of young Sierra Leoneans.

August has been an unbelievably tragic month for this country. Hundreds of our compatriots died when flood waters engulfed the capital city Freetown, causing a mountain top to cave in on a small community in Regent. Once again, we have seen the resilience first hand of our people. We also witnessed the epic gallantry of our young people who wasted no time to dash to vulnerable communities to rescue those trapped and help recover the corpses of our fallen compatriots

Here at CGSL, we swiftly responded to this national tragedy by recruiting volunteers to collect details of the deceased which was then posted on a memorial page we created on our website to help relatives and friends, particularly those from overseas, to identify deceased. To date we have compiled a list of more than 100 verified deceased with their details and photographs. We continue to remember them.

Chozen Generation Sierra Leone is not oblivious of the huge challenges that young people in Sierra Leone continue to grapple with. An article in the UK Guardian Newspaper identified Sierra Leone as the most dangerous country to be a young person with 1 in every 150 persons between 15 and 29 reported to have died in 2015. A really unwelcomed news and it is a situation which we must all work to change.

That is why we support the Citizen’s Manifesto’s call for increased political participation of young people in the forthcoming elections. We believe that the more involved young people are in national decision-making processes, the better our chances of ensuring that our needs, voices and aspirations take center stage.

Joel Abdulai Kallon

In this issue:

1. Poetry

A young female poet pushes her creativity to  the extreme as she paints a beautiful picture of the Sierra Leone of her dreams

     2. Two Inspiring Young Sierra Leonean Academics

We profile two incredibly outstanding Sierra Leonean students who are doing their Ph.Ds abroad. Read their amazing stories and get inspired!

     3. CGSL Member of The Month

…and much more

 Download a PDF  copy of our newsletter CGSL Quarterly Youth Magazine and don’t miss out on anything.

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CGSL’s Programmes Officer Appointed Women’s Cricket Team Captain: A New Sporting Gem on The Block

Linda Bull, Assistant Programmes Coordinator, Chozen Generation Sierra Leone

Linda Bull

Commonly in our nation (Sierra Leone) when sport is mentioned, what comes to the minds of people are soccer and track events.Howbeit, Sport is any athletic activity that uses physical and mental skills to exhibit or showcase talents.

Chozen Generation Sierra Leone want to bring the world to an alert of the most recent sporting gem that has been discovered in the West Coast of Africa: She hails from a sporting family with her father Mr John M.S. Bull being her role model, life coach and inspiration.

This pleasant talent started her sporting career in her early teenage years way back in 2008 and had her first appointment as Vice-Captain of Sierra Leone Cricket Women’s National Team in 2010 – what an explicit manifestation of quality!

She made her debut for Sierra Leone in 2010 in the encounter against Kenya in an international cricket competition

in Kampala, Uganda. She is the current captain of the Stadium Stars Female Cricket Club where she has bagged lot of laurels including Most Valuable Player, Man-of-the-Match awards, Best Bowler and many more…

This Gem has successfully sailed home for her club two championship trophies and a runner’s up trophy. She was also in the North-West Africa Cricket Competition (2015) in Banjul, The Gambia where her high level skills slammed her nation the prestigious trophy, grabbing two man-of-the-match awards in the process.

What is most charming about this sardel is her zest for putting her nation on the map using diverse routes. Linda is a Bachler of Arts Degree holder and now pursuing LLB, with her intent to speak for the disadvantaged and most vulnerable. Her taste for success is delicious and her sense of belonging plumpy.

You may also like Joy Jegede:18Year Old With Two Degrees 

A Christian with a firm faith and contrite spirit, she is an executive member of Chozen Generation Sierra Leone, where she gives her all in the office of Assistant Programmes Coordinator. Linda was crucial in the successful organization of the first annual National Debating Championship For Girls 2017.

We are exceedingly glad to introduce this astute young woman, and extend our hearty congratulations to her on her official appointment as the New Captain of the Sierra Leone Women’s National Cricket Team.

Chozen Generation Sierra Leone wishes Miss Linda Nyanje Ngewonya Bull and the Women’s Cricket Team all the best in their upcoming fixtures.

CGSL Communication Desk

Email: enquiries@chozengenerationsl.org

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Godliness, Hard Work And Sheer Genius: The Incredible Story Of Oluwagbemileke Joy Jegede

Written by Joel Abdulai Kallon

joelabdulaikallon@chozengenerationsl.org

03/05/17

Background

Oluwagbemileke Joy Jegede

We have all always had one awe-inspiring story that we considered an old-wives fable: simply too-good-to-be-true. A story of a fourteen year old girl skipping almost eight years of schooling and graduating with two degrees bagging distinctions in both, all before her nineteenth birthday is an extremely impossible story to believe.  That happening in a small West African country, where the legal age for admission into the university is eighteen, and where getting admission into universities and colleges at eighteen is considered no mean achievement only adds to the air of intrigue and incredulousness.

Exemplary Parenting

But that is exactly the story of nineteen year old Oluwagbemeleke Joy Jegede who was born in Nigeria but grew up in Sierra Leone. O, Joy, as she is fondly called, was born on 1^st March, 1998 in the buzzing business district of Ikeja, in the Nigerian commercial city of Lagos to middle class Christian professional parents, Mrs. Olubunmi Olanrewaju Jegede and Mr. Olusola Peter Jegede. The father, a Chartered Accountant decided to quit his secular job and move with the whole family to Sierra Leone after discovering that God had ‘called’ him to serve as an independent Christian missionary with a focus on young people. Joy was four at the time

The Jegedes can be rightly described as a small, unrepentantly ambitious, unyieldingly religious and supremely disciplined family where excellence and high performance are exalted. The only other thing more exalted than the continuous yearning for excellence through a rigorous reading culture is God. The family projects deep Christian values where Christ is at the core of every facet of family life including schooling.

Humility, Courtesy and Discipline

When I met O. Joy at my office for an interview on her most recent academic exploits which had been making the rounds on Social media recently, she looked every bit like a church girl who is out on the street looking for lost souls. She was clad in a simple but beautiful ,gold blouse and a dark coloured pencil-skirt which projected below her knees to match. She wore natural braids and had no necklace, no ear rings, nose rings.The only jewellery she had was a beautiful silver and gold plated lady’s wrist watch. Her black, soft-leather, flat-heeled moccasin gave her the perfect look of simplicity and a nun-like innocence.

As the first of three daughters, O.Joy is the fore-runner, trendsetter and trail blazer for her younger siblings and indeed many other young people she has had an encounter with, who understandably look up to her for inspiration. And it is a role she has played immaculately well. Her two younger sisters aged sixteen and fourteen are already in SS4 and SS2 respectively.

Time Is Money

Joy arrived at my office at 08:22 am Sierra Leonean time, about twenty minutes late for our eight O’clock appointment. She had called at about 07:45 to inform me that she would be showing up late, profusely apologizing for it. When she showed up, she did not stop apologizing for arriving late right through the interview. That was a most gracious display of courtesy that is not very common in our society.

It is normal for someone with whom you have an appointment to show up an hour late and offer excuses, not apologies. That is if you are lucky. If you are not lucky, you could sit there for three hours on end and your appointee not showing up at all. Again, if you are lucky, they would call you afterward to proffer excuses, not apologies: The typical Sierra Leonean black-man-time mentality that almost all of us are accustomed to.

The Ultimate Pacesetter

But Joy is not a lady who conforms to a patterned way of life – particularly when such patterns do

not add anything to her quest for excellence and perfection. Nothing about this child prodigy suggests mediocrity. She was just nine when she took the National Primary School Examinations and got an aggregate score of three hundred and fifty-four. At that age most pupils are still in class three, learning how to count, read and write.

At twelve, she took the Basic Education Certificate Examinations, a regional examination taken in many English-speaking West African countries that signifies the attainment of basic education and heralds the beginning of pre-university years. Outstanding as always, Joy got an aggregate of seven, one more than the maximum attainable perfect score of six.

It was barely after completing her Basic Education Certificate Examinations that her parents jokingly asked if she would like to attempt the West Africa Senior School Certificate Examinations as a private pupil when she got to SS1. Joy, who described herself as always being a high achiever did not take that joke lightly. As a matter of fact, Joy saw a challenge where her parents meant an ordinary joke. Even by their own very high standards, Mr and Mrs. Jegede knew that asking their twelve year old daughter to take the WASSCE in SS1 was a very daring thing to do.

Daring?

According to the education authorities here in Sierra Leone, it would take on average four years to complete the WASSCE syllabus in preparation for the examinations which determine whether one will proceed to the University, a Poly-technic or simply end up as a drop-out. In 2012, a Commission of Inquiry on education had recommended that the number of years required to complete senior secondary school be increased from three to four as a measure to address the rampant failures in the WASSCE examination.

Joy attempted the August/September 2011 examination nonetheless and got a distinction so that by December 2011, barefly a couple of months into SS2, she had already effectively secured a University requirement to study Law. By December 2012, she had received a letter of admission to the historic Fourah Bay College, University of Sierra Leone. By that same period, many of her classmates were bracing up to resume school, almost two years away from taking the WASSCE in SS4.

Two Degrees Simultaneously While Still A Teenager

She started classes, taking all her notes with a laptop, at Fourah Bay College as the youngest pupil ever admitted to the Law Department according to available records; She was looking forward to her fifteenth birthday at the time: A remarkable feat by every stretch of the imagination. But who says we must be content with one when can go on and have two?

At about the same time Joy got admission from the University of Sierra Leone, she received another admission letter from Amity University in India to pursue a Bachelor of Business Administration, a three-year  distance learning programme. This was sheer coincidence and a golden opportunity which the teenager could not afford to let pass.

She told me she had merely applied to Amity as a backup plan in case she did not get admitted at Fourah Bay College because of her age. The college has, what many critics say, is a very backward age restriction requirement policy of eighteen for admission into an undergraduate program. But the good old adage “where there is a will, there is a way” found expression in her situation. When asked how she was able to circumvent the age-requirement limitations, the child prodigy remarked that even though she did not solicit any help -directly or otherwise-from anyone in the University concerning her admission, she thought there were still a few progressive minds in  the system who must have looked beyond her age.

Among The World’s Brightest and Best

Four years down the line, Oluwagbemileke had firmly written her name in the annals of history as perhaps the youngest graduate of Law in the history of Fourah Bay College, but certainly the youngest student from Sierra Leone to bag two degrees, from two fields that are as varying as they can possible be. Even by available world records, Joy ranks very very highly. For instance, the second youngest black law graduate from Harvard Cortlan Wickliff was 22.

A Zimbabwean, Maud Chifamba, was listed by Forbes Magazine as one of the 20 Youngest Power Women In Africa in 2012. She also received the Great Young Achievers Award at the Great Women Awards held in Dubai as well as the Panel Choice Award at the Zimbabwe International Women’s Awards in 2014. Like Joy,she graduated from the University of Zimbabwe at the age of 18 with a Bachelor of Accountancy Honors Degree. Joy however added a second, with a distinction by that same age.

Creating A Balance

Now many child prodigies like Joy usually turn out to be reclusive, twenty-four hour-a day bibliophiles or geeks if you like, who show no awareness for a healthy social lifestyle. But Joy is different. At the university, she actively engaged in the extra-curricular activities of the day: representing the department in debating competitions and even serving as the elected Secretary General of the Fourah Bay College Law Society.

Additionally, Miss Jegede was crucial in the establishment of the campus-based ZEM fellowship, an off-shoot of her parents’ youth-based evangelical ministry. Joy’s knack for leadership and voluntarism is further expressed in the hours she and her friends spend, organizing remedial classes in English Language and Mathematics for pupils in under-resourced secondary schools in Freetown.

Joy attributes much of her desire and passion to invest in people to something she learned from her parents. Her other major interests are music and photography. On relationships, the now nineteen year old Joy says she has never had a boyfriend and that she does not see the need at this stage.

Celebrating brilliance:Showcasing The Africa The World Does Not Always See

The story of the soft spoken, well-mannered and polite Joy Oluwagbemileke Jegede, who hopes to subsequently get a post-graduate degree in Development Law and Policy and a Ph.D. afterwards, is one of the many great images of Africa which the rest of the world does not always get to see. It is the view of this Author that until we Africans begin to tell our own positive stories, the world will only have the grim ones to feed on.

The author Joel Abdulai Kallon is the Founder and National Coordinator of Chozen Generation Sierra Leone, a Christian youth empowerment organization that focuses on the development of strong values and morals through mentorship, personal development and capacity building, for effective transformational leadership.

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