WHAT WOULD YOU RATHER BE?

“To cherish what remains of the Earth and to foster its renewal is our only legitimate hope of survival”…Wendell Berry

Too ‘Legit’?

Apparently, I am of an unwavering opinion that we all have been largely hoodwinked, massively conned and unequivocally brushed to the sidelines, by whom exactly? The past generations of course, but how, and evidently for what, right?

Unfortunately though, no matter whichever direction you view it from, for whatever reasons ranging from lack of adequate exposure to insecurity, bearing characteristics of fear and consequent impatience, they didn’t benefit of it either, perhaps because even they were plain as the nose is on our various faces, unaware of direction and the potentials embedded within us all, with due respect to them of course, their mistakes have served as our experience, the greatest leverage ever known to man.

“Who do you think you are? Mr. Big stuff, you’re never gonna get my love. Now because you wear all those fancy clothes. You think you’re higher than every star above”…Jean Knight

Mr. Big Stuff

I’m definitely an ardent fan of movies and of course music as well as they go very well together, which by the way influences my judgment in terms of analogies which encourages a line of interest, so here we go again.

Ever heard the funk, soul song ‘Mr. Big Stuff’ by American female singer Jean Knight released in 1971?

The song basically talks about a guy that thought he could buy a lady’s love with his money and fancy car after breaking the hearts of other younger girls and making them cry. The catch for me about the song is that it is a reflective scenario; the song has such simple yet powerful content which reminds us of the fake image we try to project, having in mind an ulterior motive to deceive someone or people.

“Those who claim to be intelligent and you as fool, forget the basic anatomy, a fool does not figure out the result, whereas the so called intellect wrestles himself to get the result, now tell me who is at peace?...Ramana Pemmaraju

Phony

Have you ever tried completely imitating someone? In as much as we all learn by copying people in different capacities and levels, impersonation in itself tends to limit our potentials. Look around you; the most respected people are the ones that decide to be the original version of themselves.

The most important nations are the ones that are known for some unique and creative idea, as we all know that a brand possesses an element of a promise and integrity, but we also really need to bear in mind the imperatives of originality.

The world has always been changing, but as the world population explodes even more, the world revolutionizes even faster, by implication creating room for the inclusion of negative change along with the positive aspect.

“Beware of little expenses. A small leak will sink a great ship”…Benjamin Franklin

Financial Angle

Technically, originality strategically translates into excellent cash flow which adds to the bottom line of any nation. For instance Japan has a longstanding reputation for manufacturing quality electronics, Germany is respected for producing premium, though high end technology that help build cars, trains etc, the British are good managers of sports, events, tax systems etc, India is good at Information Technology and Medicine which has accounted for massive brain drain to the western world.

Originality also creates a strong sense of belonging which you can see in the lighted up faces of the nationals of the country concerned, and it spurs patriotism and loyalty.

“Today you are you, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is youer than you”…Dr. Seuss

Naija Perspective

Nigerians will understand why it is not quite an easy task to do justice to this article due to the peculiarity of the Nigerian system and way of life. Well, here goes.

Most of the stuff you hear about Nigeria is probably true, ranging from the fact that Nigeria is one of the highest producers of oil, having the highest population of black people, having massive deposits of untapped mineral resources, having hundreds of tribes and languages and lots more.

Now the question is, as interesting as it all seems, what has Nigeria done with the above information and visible endowments? Being that it is one thing to have information, and it is another to use it.

Nigeria has faced decades of hardship apparently inclined towards her leadership failure, with several military rule tenures taking a substantial part of her leadership history, creating an unbalanced policy which has negatively affected the psyche and the futures of the citizenry.

Over the years, the Nigerian people have become more aware of both their environment and the world as a global village. This has made them relatively difficult to enslave, and has brought the truth of past exploitation to the fore.

Let us look at it through an economic eye. Non-producing nations slowly die economically and the citizens lose their sense of belonging because if you only consume from people with nothing to offer them, you become a liability to yourself because the entire world will have one goal, to exploit you.

Think about it, for every car, truck, electronic device, phone, apparel, Italian shoe, Swiss watch, pin, toothpick imported into Nigeria, multiplied by the massive population, that and so much more is how much money that leaves the economy as often as possible, coupled with unchecked corruption whereby loads of funds are stolen and untraceable, implicating the economy, and putting the country in bad light internationally.

“I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious”…Albert Einsten

What do you ‘wanna’ be?

It might as well all be a situation that arose due to our infinite dependency on the western lifestyle, which has made us forget our tradition and culture. We have caused our youths to have identity crisis because they want to be like American gangsters, using expensive stuff which they cannot actually afford.

Even I am a victim, growing up, I had embedded in my brain the stereotype that if a Nigerian lizard was imported to America, it could grow up to be an alligator, meaning Americans were better versions of us, how absurd right? But seriously, virtually every Nigerian youth would have an inclination of thought drifting towards that sorry direction because Nigeria is largely viewed as a country with limited opportunities, and that dwelling therein may just diminish the tendencies of success and even survival unless you are corrupt or connected to corrupt people.

Truthfully, while growing up I didn’t know what I wanted to be, despite the fact that the question kept coming, perhaps I was confused or maybe there was no visible role model to emulate. Guess what, even now I cannot actually pin point what I have actually turned out to be, as I struggle to manage the various identities that I have become, and same thing secretly applies to countless people out there.

I know people that wanted to be Doctors but out of desperation to get into higher Institution on time they just settled for the courses they were offered, same thing applied to those that wanted to be athletes but fell off along the way because they couldn’t meet up with clandestine financial obligations and so on, yet we compare ourselves to the western world.

“Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world”…Harriet Tubman

I think we need more heart, we should genuinely love ourselves as we are and focus more on being the better versions of ourselves, perhaps through healthy association and counseling and mentoring of our youths. Now the onus rests on every single one of us, the buck passing stops here, we need to accept ourselves for who we are, be you an ant or an eagle, a fly or a lion, let us stand up tall and look the world in face and exude the aura of confidence we were born with.

Thank you.

Akin Abimbola (akinzogee@yahoo.com)

Sources:

Google

Wikipedia

Goodreads

Brainy Quote

Financial Times

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