Carl Sandburg says, “Nothing happens unless first we dream,” and that is absolutely perfect. More often than not, we have to dream more than once. Some times, you may have to fight a battle more than once before you win. Set-backs, like some would like to say, are commas, not periods. Set-backs are like dead-rubber games-they do not decide whether you win in life or not. Your win is your decision.
You can, and should dream again, whatever blow life had dealt with you. You can still have the job you have always desired. Yes, you can still make that trip. It is absolutely still possible to get that degree. Whatever you have always dreamt of, you can still achieve. If your mind can conceive it, your hand can achieve it. In fact, many of the celebrated successful people today failed at first. We have their stories with us today because they dared to dream again.
You know what? It was God who placed in every individual the ability to dream. So, your dream is worth pursuing. Keep the passion to pursue your dream aglow. Your dream is legitimate, don’t let the unfavourable circumstances around you tell you otherwise.
A quick question can help put you back in the dream mode: Why have you always wanted to achieve that which you are now trying to discard off? You want to make your family and yourself proud, you want to help others, you want to help the helpless, or you want to be financially independent? If you dwell more on the “why”, it is easier to get back on your feet.
Friend, the world is waiting expectantly for your dream to show forth.“You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.” .
The dream of salvaging our dear nation to the haven of hope-where the son of nobody can become somebody without knowing anybody-needs well cut-out tactics for it to materialize. Of course, hardly any warrior has won a battle without adopting strategic actions. And more often than not, it is not plurality but effectiveness that makes strategies work. After all, according to Josh Billings, life consists not in holding good cards but in playing those you have well.
In the context of Nigeria, number is a crucial factor in bringing about the paradigm shift we hope to see. It is a game of numbers! It takes more than celebs, more than the educated, and more than the politically inclined to build the nation. All hands need to be on deck. In essence, a key strategy is to bring people, in droves, to the train of a new Nigeria. Do not allow your neighbour to be a doubting Thomas at this moment. Persuade the nay-sayers. Convince as many people as possible that we need them to realize the dream of a new Nigeria. Number is something we cannot but use to our advantage. When an election comes, complacency from anyone will double the time it takes for Nigeria to convalesce from her maladies. Everyone old enough to vote should not hold back at election time. No more I don’t care attitude! Also, when it is time to hold the government we put in place accountable, let us all, not just some activists, hold our leaders responsible. We have a dense youthful population; let us utilize this number judiciously. “None of us alone can change the nation or the world. But each of us can make a positive difference if we commit ourselves to do so.”-Cornel West
Come to think of it, we are where we are today because we have always entrusted our salvation to the hands of politicians. We have often ignored to do what only we, the people, can do for all of us. America is great today because 19th and 20th century Americans, majorly entrepreneurs like Henry Ford, dwelled on what they could do for America instead of waiting endlessly for the government to make things right. Indisputably, Nigeria is home to many of the most enterprising people on earth. Although the likes of Shola Akinlade and Ezra Olubi of PayStack, Allen Onyema of Air Peace, and Mike Adenuga of Globacom are a beacon of hope in a landscape with lots of factors that wants Nigeria to be perpetually moribund, more entrepreneurs need to rise up now than ever, notwithstanding. If you need to acquire a skill, now is the time to do it. And if you must learn a trade, please do it now. Farm a land. Start a business. Feed a child. Help a neighbour. In every way you can, add value to society. This is how to build a strong nation: everyone brings value to the table. Society only listens to those who have value to add. Although, yes, only the lazy youths can expect to be silenced by the government without consequences, people who add value will always have a voice.
Today, technology is, perhaps, the most powerful tool at our disposal. What can we do with it? A lot! One, we can grow our economy with it. Two, we can leverage the power of social media to engrave the idea of a New Nigeria into the consciousness of all and sundry. Three, we can use existing technologies to facilitate social amenities for all. The list is endless. The possibilities are limitless. Technology is the bane of the 21st century, and we can only hope to win a 21st-century war with a 21st-century weapon. Glad enough, Nigerian youths are at the forefront of using technology to create a life of ease in Africa. A few names come to mind: Olanrewaju Emmanuel Akintunde, an Android engineer; Odunayo Eweniyi, the Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer of PiggyVest; Iyinoluwa Aboyeji, Founder Flutterwave & Co-founder of Andela. These and many other youths are creating social values via technology. Perhaps we have reasons to rejoice but no reason to relent. We can do more in our numbers! We can be more intentional in using technology to affect the status quo in Nigeria.
This is the summary: Run for election in the coming election if you have what it takes to make things better, and otherwise use your votes to put the right people in power. Technocrats, use your trade not only for personal profits but also for the good of all and sundry. ” No one should be discouraged by the belief that there is nothing one person can do against the enormous array of the world’s ills, misery, ignorance, and violence. Few will have the greatness to bend history, but each of us can work to change a small portion of events. And in the total of all those acts will be written history of a generation”-Robert F. Kennedy
There are depths before heights. And indeed, the hope of resurrection is an offspring of an event called death. It is when you die that we can expect you to live. However, I am beginning to sense that you detest the word death. Your muscles tighten, and your teeth clench at the picture death brings you. Be relaxed. I don’t want you to die. I am only pointing out a fact: Life starts from death. I hope you get it now. It is such a paradox.
Come to think of it. To grow maize, its grain has to be buried in the ground. Then, the sprouting, the shooting forth of the blades. You can see it. You are even seeing something different, I guess. You are seeing a fully budded maize, and your thoughts are already going into how that will end up in your buccal cavity. It’s good. But I want you to ask yourself: where did this miracle begin? How is it that I can expect some kind of nourishment now? Well, you should have figured out the answer by now: some seeds were buried in the soil. That was how the whole story started.
What happens to someone the whole time they are buried? Obscurity! No one sees a buried man, except by illusions of course. That moment you are buried, that moment you are experiencing death, you don’t get noticed. You don’t have to worry about that. Nobody nominates you for Miss World, nobody invites you to the treat of the who-is-who. You are just all by yourself. Does that truth hurt? It doesn’t have to, actually. It’s just a normal phenomenon.
The very essence of depth is to afford you the stability your desired height requires. It makes you last. You don’t want to be a nine-hour-wonder, I believe. So, don’t jump the guns. Stay in line.
And here is a profound truth: the very grave where death is consummated is where resurrection begins. And the brilliance that resurrection exudes, who can stand it? That brilliance is ever-increasing, upwards tending, and never diminishing.
What is all this death stuff? Find a purpose to live for, avoid distractions, and put all of your focus on that purpose. That’s the tripartite summary of death. Be single-eyed. Very shortly, you will cross the line between death and life. And once you are in the folds of life, you are far from the suction of death.
Johnson Oyero 