(Most Gen Z of today’s digital age are preoccupied with social media and the attendant social vices. In Africa, many are worried about their lack of education, unemployment and the future. But here are the transformative thoughts incubating in a 14-year-old, Andrew Kenechukwu. Andrew, born to a Polish father and Nigerian mother, spoke at a well-attended Nigeria Day celebration organised by the Nigerian Community in Dorset, UK, on 18 October 2025):
By Andrew Kenechukwu Szewczyk
Good day to all of you. I’d like to thank you all for having granted me the opportunity to speak today. I’d like to thank Rupert (Ogwuazor, President of the Nigerian Community in Dorset, UK), for having invited me to present here at the Nigeria Day festival. I thank the Lord that amid the ghoul of grievous evils, he has kept us as one, in faith, in unity, and in love for our great nation.
Today, as we gather in jubilance and joy, we do so not merely to celebrate a date on a calendar, but to reflect on what it means to be Nigerian. To honour faith, heritage, and culture.
Today, we live in a world where these fundamental principles lie under threat. We live in a world that lies in the midst of grave evils, the strongholds of Satan’s sons, and the storm surge of sin encroaching upon us, eroding man’s sense of morality. Where the world is increasingly beset by wrongdoing, there stands a flood wall of human beings, steadfast to preserving traditional values and culture.
To the valiant guardians of heritage, Godspeed. To the chivalrous defenders of faith, Godspeed. To the tenacious bastions of progress, Godspeed.
Faith, heritage, and culture are three distinct and nebulous words, so how are they similar?
As we are one in Jesus, we are also one in the root. As we are born of our parents, we are also born of the root. As we are dependent on society, we are also dependent on the root. Why? It is because the root is the foundation that supports us as we live our lives, as though walking on a tightrope over chasms of hubris and delusion, where the root protects us from gales and gusts of temptation, and provides us with the commodity of stability. The tree is society, and the root grew in Nigeria.
One millennium ago, the root began to germinate. If one were to ask, ‘Where can the keystone of modern civilization be found?’ another may answer, ‘In the Industrial Revolution, fueled by British coal!’ Another might say, “In the Roman Empire, goaded by Roman ingenuity.” But I say to you, in the Kingdom of Benin, in the Oyo Empire, and in the Hausa City States, driven by the germination of the root.
Long before the fitful, convulsive, jarring sound of industrial machinery, rising from a state of dormancy, there were the unfettered rolling drums of Nigerians across the peninsula, bringing to life modern society from the very seed that is the African continent. When one tells you that it was Western civilization that birthed modern life, let them remember that civilization’s pulse rested on the heart of Nigeria.
Nigeria was, and remains, the fertile root from which the tree of civilization grows.
I ask you, who dawned iron smelting onto the face of civilization, like the sun rising over the horizon? It was not the British with the blast furnace, it was the Nok of central Nigeria. I ask you, who carved modern architectural principles to be the wondrous sculpture it is today? It was not the Aztecs of Mesoamerica; it was the Kanuri of northern Nigeria. How about chased copper and leaded bronze castings? it was not from Western civilization, but Igbo Ukwu in Nri Kingdom of eastern Nigeria. Who cultivated the lush green fields that allowed for the growth of the Agrarian Revolution? It was not the ancient Mesopotamians, it was those from antiquity, in the middle-belt of Nigeria.
Despite this, the sun that blessed society with bastions of progress, must set. In the modern day, it’s an unfortunate spectacle that the wealthiest country in Africa is plagued by kleptocratic governance, corruption, and greed. The root has been corrupted.
Dear friends, I urge you, I implore you, and I beseech you all to let this be water long passed beneath the bridge. This is not the standard of the Nigerian spirit, but the work of opportunistic leaders who lie in the seething waters of contempt.
This is not who we are. This is not the Nigeria of the market woman who leaves home before dawn to provide for her family. This is not the Nigeria of the industrious teacher who rears young minds in substandard classrooms. This is not the Nigeria of the doctor who works tenaciously to save lives, or the soldier who stands at alert to defend them.
The failings of the few cannot erase the faith, courage, and resilience of the many.
When you wade through waters of anguish and find yourself fettered by unfortunate circumstances, it is a Nigerian lifeguard who will come to guide your swim. When you are crippled by the ghoul of illness, with the spectre of death looming over, it is a Nigerian doctor who comes to heal you. And when you are inundated by struggle, hardship, or suffering, it is a fellow Nigerian, through the fire of the Holy Spirit, who will come to comfort you.
For wherever you go in the world, to the darkest and blissless corners of it, there follows a fire that ceases to fade. As long as the tree of humanity stands tall, the root that is Nigeria must remain strong to support it.
And so, as we celebrate Nigeria Day, let this not only be a day of pride, but also a day of purpose. Let it be a reminder that the greatness of our nation does not lie in our oil or our riches, but in the strength, faith, and resilience of our people. Let it be a call to restore our roots, to water it with honesty, to nourish it with unity, and to provide it with the sunlight of faith, heritage, and culture for it to photosynthesis.
For even now when the fitful, convulsive, jarring sounds of industrial machinery roar unending, there remain the unfettered rolling drums of Nigerians across the peninsula, that brought to life the foundations of modern society, providing it a pulse that comes from the very heart that is Nigeria.
And I want you all to remember. The tree is society, and the root grew in Nigeria.
May God bless you all. And may God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria!
Andrew Kenechukwu Szewczyk, born to a Polish father and Nigerian mother, is studying for his GCSEs (General Certificate of Secondary Education in the UK). He plans to major in Software Engineering at the University with specialization in AI and is open to potentially joining a political party after graduation to contribute and make a difference in society.
