Nigerian media entrepreneur, Funmi Iyanda, has revealed that her late father preferred that she studied medicine in the university so that she could become a doctor.

The delectable TV personality disclosed this in her acceptance speech at her investiture as Honourary Fellow of University of Cumbria, UK, at a ceremony held November 25 at Carlisle Cathedral in Cumbria, North West England.

But Funmi had other ideas. She said: “I wanted to be a writer but I didn’t see how writers got paid. Since I hated asking anyone for money, I decided I’d be a journalist but my father wanted me to be a doctor because well, everybody’s father wanted them to be a doctor, also my father wished he was a doctor.

“He said doctors made money and were respected; journalists just get blown up or become impoverished.”

Journalism, however, opened her eyes to hidden truths about the world in which we live in today, especially modern civilisation.

“So as a journalist, I saw and reviewed the world. Recently a friend asked me what I thought about modern civilisation and I answered that we may have made magical technological leaps but I doubt that we have a civilisation. More importantly I have begun to think that a lot of what we know may not have been completely unknown to past generations; I am alarmingly beginning to suspect they chose not to unleash some of that knowledge because they recognised our interest must align with the earth’s interest.”

She realised fast enough that, “the greatest tragedy of civilisations lost around the world to slavery, colonisation and oppression is deprivation of our modern civilisation of alternative political, cultural and economic thought and systems, some of which were very sophisticated.”

This understanding brought back to her the words of her aunty, “who always responded to all my frustrations with a non-committal “ona kan o woja” (there is no one route into the market). I could be discussing quantum physics with her and at my most perplexed point, she’d say but “Aduke ona kan o woja.”

The present civilisation Funmi discovered is all about, “winner takes all, one way to the market, best way to be approach is that it leaves too many behind and gives those lucky enough to fall within a narrow accepted box an over inflated sense of importance and a genuine lack of ability to solve unknown problems. Everyone ends up playing a role rather than living a life whether it is in marriages, parliament or academia.”

“This, she stated, “does not make for responsive, adaptive and happy living. We are best when we are intelligent forces at play. Responsive, adaptive, artistic, functional and magical.”

Bemoaning the fate of this civilisation, she charged, “What is the point of education if smart people can’t find those alternative routes to the market?

“That is my challenge to a new generation of leaders, thinkers and doers.”

Funmi is the first African woman to receive this award. She is being recognised for her contributions to human rights and sustainability.

Funmi is an award-winning producer, talk show host, journalist and activist, she is best known for independently producing and hosting Nigeria’s most popular talk show, New Dawn with Funmi, which ran on the national network for eight years.

•Photo shows Funmi Iyanda (2nd R) with other honorees at the University of Cumbria convocation … November 25 at Carlisle Cathedral in Cumbria, North West England.

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