Congratulations are in order for the Anguilla Social Security Board for bringing back the Distinguished Lecture Series which it started some years ago but which were halted for some unknown reasons.
Those lectures were a Godsend that exposed Anguillians to a pool of knowledge and expertise available in the region, thus enabling us to better understand our problems and how to devise ways of resolving them. To better appreciate the socio-economic and political environment in which we live. No man is an island thus the lectures enabled us to learn much from the talent which abounds in our neighboring Caribbean islands. The past lectures were indeed stimulating and allowed for enlightened exchanges and the cross-fertilization of ideas. With that in mind many people have expressed delight when Timothy Hodge, the Director of Social Security, announced recently that the Distinguished Lectures are back. In conjunction with the local UWI Open Campus, the Social Security Board is hosting Dr Francis Severin at La Vue Conference Room at 7.00 pm on Thursday, 5th November. Dr Severin has responsibility for the management of the many UWI Open Campus Sites across the region and will speak on the topic: Putting people first: grounding human wellbeing in a framework of social security.
Also coming back, thankfully, is the annual Walter G. Hodge Memorial Lecture which had been stopped as well. This Lecture Series was an important component of the annual Anguilla Day celebrations. It will be back beginning 2016. The lectures were presented by leading Anguillian citizens and intellectuals: economists, educators, and lawyers among others. One lecturer who readily comes to mind is the late Dame Bernice Lake, a legal luminary. (May her soul rest in peace.) Yes, Anguillians learnt much from their very own local luminaries and it was sad that the lectures were brought to an end.
Most Anguillians hate to think that this series may have been brought to an end because of the name Walter G. Hodge Memorial Lecture, and probably because Walter G. Hodge was the father of Timothy Hodge, the Director of Social Security. In that regard there was no justification for the cessation of the series. After all, Walter Hodge was one of the stalwart leaders of the Anguilla Revolution which laid the groundwork for the quality of life which Anguillians enjoy today. Among other things, he was the Chairman of the 15-member Peacekeeping Committee which was established to manage the island’s affairs until elections could be held. Walter Hodge put his life on the line for his people. And we should be thankful – should show appreciation.
Actually, Walter Hodge spent most of his sojourn here seeking a better life for Anguillians. At the early age of 22 (in 1943) he won the election to fill Anguilla’s seat in the Legislative Council in St Kitts. (He was the youngest Anguillian to sit in that Council.) He was always willing to represent his people whenever the opportunity arose and therefore contested several elections. For example, in 1958 he contested the West Indies Federal Elections to fill one of the two seats – allocated to the Colony of St Kitts, Nevis and Anguilla – in the Federal House of Representatives in Trinidad. He was unsuccessful, but the point is that he always sought avenues to advance the interests of the Anguillian people – avenues to let their concerns be heard and addressed. Walter G. Hodge has done more than enough to have a series of lectures carry his name.
In view of the foregoing, the Anguilla Social Security Board is loudly applauded for the revival of the Distinguished Lecture series as well as the Walter G. Hodge Memorial Lecture series. The Board is exhibiting professional and enlightened leadership.
— Contributed
