Creating an Intellectual Hub For the Engagement of Positive Minds

Explore intellectual safe space and grow

By Joseph C. Ibekwe

Any society that despises or under-estimates the contributions of intellectuals can never develop or maximize her potentials. Intellectuals are too critical to be ignored. And there are several ways society undermines the integrity and the value of intellectuals.

When everything in society becomes commercialized and value becomes synonymous with financial and material acquisitions, real intellectuals either hide, fade away, or become dumb.

It is importation to note that public policies, plans, and programs without intellectual depth are bound to fail, and to fail big time over time.

Unfortunately, ours is an environment where paucity of intellectual depth is rife. Many people are shallow in thinking and understanding. Many are mere consumers of knowledge created by others and promoters of ideas formulated by others. They are neither creators of new knowledge nor innovators.

Many are too lazy to engage in intellectual rigour of interrogating issues to come to their own conclusions, instead of making decisions based on other people conclusions.

It is sad that may people are afraid to confront the truths they do not agree with or that challenges their ignorance or prejudices. Everyone lives some measure of prejudices. It is only those who constantly review what they believe, why they believe it and how what they believe has influenced how they lead their lives and relate with people around them, that can begin to tone down their prejudices. Prejudices are so powerful that they colour your perspective. And we are creatures of perspectives. You can’t live life above or beyond your perspective.

The less prejudice you retain in your life, the more clarity your perspective about life; then the more freely you will live and enjoy high quality mental health. A deeply prejudiced mind suffers emotional and mental illnesses of unknown cause.

When we started FLED some 30 years ago, we wanted to create a community of intellectuals, not necessarily of academics. We wanted to have a community of highly polished intellectuals, with less baggage of prejudices; who could engage in critical thinking; who could freely interrogate public issues, and share ideas, views, opinions, and knowledge on them, without any sense of mental entrapment.

Unfortunately, we haven’t been able to achieve that, not the extent we would have love to have it. We discover to our regret that too many people are still enmeshed in the rat-race and struggle for what to eat and how to survive, such that the idea of intellectual engagement is a stress and mundane to them.

Our experience has clearly taught us that it is very difficult to create and intellectual hub in an environment of material poverty. People who are hungry in their stomach find it difficult to think deeply with their head; and those who can’t think deeply, can’t act with conviction on issues that concern them. They are easily swayed.

Nevertheless, we at FLED are still persuaded of the need to create and sustain an intellectual hub in our environment, in spite of the pervasive structurally induced-material poverty that exist around us.

What is an intellectual hub?

An intellectual hub is a place, community, or platform that fosters intellectual discussion, exploration, and innovation. FLED has the prime goal of galvanizing a thriving intellectual hub that will become a force to be reckoned with in Nigeria’s public space, and influential in Africa’s development discussions.

What are the characteristics of an IH?

An intellectual hub is characterized by features, which include:

Knowledge sharing: A hub exists for the exchange of ideas, expertise, initiation of research, and sharing of research outcomes.
Critical and catalytic thinking: A real intellectual hub encourages analysis, debate, problem-solving, and facilitating clarity of perspectives by reducing prejudices.
Multidisciplinary approaches: An IH gains and prospers through its multidisciplinary membership that offers insights from various fields to tackle complex issues.
Collaboration: This is the oil that powers the operations of an IH. Collaboration facilitates partnerships among members, individuals, corporate organizations, or government and inter-governmental institutions.

This, essentially, is the very Fled Intellectual Hub (FIH) we have sought to birth and nurture over the years. The time to fast-track the process is now. The responsibility to actualize a Fled Intellectual Hub (FIH) has been vested on Fled International Leadership Institute. As a pioneer graduate leadership school in Nigeria, that teaches Fledism Leadership Philosophy, Fled Institute is positioned to operationalize a Fled Intellectual Hub.

What are the Possible Benefits of a Fled Intellectual Hub – FIH?

Innovation: FIH will drive creativity and innovation among those in the fled community and beyond.
Networking: the hub will provide opportunities for connecting with like-minded individuals.
Personal growth: FIH will foster critical thinking, problem-solving, and intellectual development.

You need an intellectual safe space to share ideas and thoughts with others. You need a fee space to relate without being judged and despised. You a space to bounce off ideas and get honest feedback from others to re-shape and fine-tune your ideas.

This is the kind of space Fled Intellectual Hub offers you – a dynamic environment that promotes the exchange of ideas, collaboration, and intellectual growth. As you become an active member of Fled Intellectual Hub, you will notice how your capacity to live a full life increase. Because, not only will be able gain new insight, you will experience mental freedom and able to participate in physically liberating exercises.

We welcome interested individuals to explore opportunities available within FIH.

For information on how to join FIH, contact: +234-90630369744

Joseph Chinenyeze Ibekwe is the CEO and founder of Fled Group Africa, a group of social enterprise organizations committed to sustainable human development in Africa.