We can lose confidence in our leadership as a people, but we must never lose hope in our country as citizens.
Your country cannot give you greatness, you are the one to make your country great and then reap from the greatness. Yesterday the name Tobi Amusa was unknown, this morning, she is on the lips of everyone. Her exploit last night where she brought honour to her country has made her a global sensation.
Now, let’s break it down, if Amusa had decided to be disillusioned by the Nigerian situation and submit to paranoia and despair, she would have remained like many of us who tabulate the woes of Nigeria, she would have remained stagnant and perpetually frustrated. In her pursuit of happiness, she found refuge in sports where she drilled herself in excruciating endurance and today she is not just a record breaker but a rich lady with a whopping sum of $100,000! Yes, she is richer by this figure and in the coming days, she will be more richer as companies would besiege her for endorsement deals. With sheer decision and determination, she has carved for herself an image, a honour and a place on the wall map of national heroes.
This reminds me of my voyage to pen the book The Buhari In Us, I woke up to discover how voluminous I have written about President Muhammadu Buhari, and then said to myself, ‘So, these writings with plenty of comments and shares would just end on Facebook?’, ins aid no, I must translate this into something worthy. I confided in my friend and peer mentor, Emmanuel Nathan Oguche and by evening, we had coined a title for the book. So, I said again to myself, if we have about 15 million people who voted for Buhari,I should be able to market this book to at least 1 million of these people. And boom, we set out into what would become a very veritable and profitable venture. The book sold in millions and my name waxed in popularity as a childhood dream of being read was realised.
Like the Amusa lady, there is nowhere she would work presently in Nigeria where she would make $100,000 but in one night she is $10,000 richer! This is what self determination can fetch you. While a lot of people use the Facebook to wane time, I used the same Facebook to sell a product that has fetched me money in modest steam. Like Amusa, the money I made from my book can’t be gotten in one year even if I work with the CBN!
The crux of this epistle is this, only you can fetch greatness to yourself, especially in a land gifted with limited resources for a large population. What are you good at? Stand up and begin to market it cos the market is there for it. Oya wake up.
Be the Nigerian you want in Nigeria. Gaskiyally musing
