The same bottled water you buy cheaply on the street can sell for ₦1,500 in a nightclub. Same water, same bottle. What has changed? The environment, the presentation and the value people attach to it.
There is a lesson there: package yourself well. Learn, grow and put yourself where your knowledge and abilities will be valued.
Some of us left Nigeria as young men because we wanted to learn, improve ourselves and see how things worked elsewhere. We understood that the world was bigger than our neighbourhood.
In our younger days in Ibadan, we looked up to our elders as mentors. We listened to them, watched their ways and learnt from their experiences. Many had travelled, studied or worked abroad, and they brought those experiences home.
Our revered Olubadan studied in Belgium. The late Abiola Ajimobi also spent time in America. Their journeys remind us that you can love your hometown and still seek knowledge beyond it.
Ibadan is our home, but it should never be the boundary of our ambition.
Seek knowledge beyond your place of birth. Travel when you can. Read when you cannot. Learn a skill. Find good mentors. There is always something to learn outside the circle you already know.
Islam places great importance on seeking knowledge. And, as the saying goes, consider the ways of the ant and be wise.
If you refuse to use your brain, somebody else will gladly do your thinking for you—and use you to fulfil their own ambition.
That is where my concern about Nigerian politics begins.
During the Second Republic under President Shehu Shagari, prominent businessmen such as Alhaji Ishaku Ibrahim, Chief MKO Abiola, Alhaji Abdul Azeez Arisekola Alao and Chief Arthur Eze were known for supporting the National Party of Nigeria.
These were men with businesses people could point to.
Today, when some politicians and serving or retired civil servants bankroll political activities with enormous sums, Nigerians are entitled to ask a simple question: Where is the money coming from?
Someone retires from public service, has no known thriving business or substantial family wealth, and suddenly has billions of naira to finance an election.
How?
What investment produced those billions? Which business generated that money? What happened to accountability?
Yet, under the noses of those who preach integrity, the questions are too often brushed aside.
Once the person is “our brother,” “our leader” or “our benefactor,” some people suddenly forget everything they once said about corruption.
Since when did sharing a tribe, religion or political party become a certificate of honesty?
My greatest concern is for the Nigerian youths whose future is at stake. Some are the very people defending this behaviour, shouting “Arise, sir!” and fighting anybody who dares to ask questions.
Ah! Must we clap for everything?
They tell you, “The future belongs to the youth.” But how will that future become yours if you surrender your judgement today?
Your father served the politician. Now you are serving the politician’s children. If you are not careful, your own children will inherit the same dependence.
At what point will somebody in your family break the cycle?
Loyalty should not cost you your sense. Respect should not silence your questions. And political support should never become a lifetime occupation with nothing to show for it.
Learn from your elders, but build something of your own. Acquire knowledge. Develop a skill. Earn an honest living. Create value that will remain useful after an election has come and gone.
There is dignity in standing on your own feet.
The power of packaging goes beyond fine clothes, expensive phones and photographs with powerful people. It is in what you know, what you can do and the principles you refuse to sell.
Package yourself well. Let your knowledge, work and character give your life value.
Mogaji Wole Arisekola writes from Ibadan.
