Typical
of a session of economic hardship and social discomfort brought about by the
need to change or grow will be many affected people exhibiting their various
grievances, discomfort and frustration in many and varying ways.
I
was at an event recently and within the hall, from a short distance from where
I sat, I observed a group of gentlemen discuss the prevailing economic
situation and how difficult things have suddenly become.
They
kept highlighting the problems and implications, the perceived errors and
inefficiencies and the impact of the change drive and agenda on organisations
and individuals. One of them suddenly said something about opportunities. He
said to the rest, despite all the seeming gloom and downturn, there are still
opportunities everywhere for people to progress, accomplish goals and make
money.
The
rest of the guys looked at him funny as though he was talking nonsense. What
opportunities are you talking about one of them growled at him? Where are the
opportunities? He repeated. I beg, I beg get real, all this by faith, by faith
things don't work for me. As far as I'm concerned, there are no opportunities
anywhere now. That's why we need this government to create the opportunities so
that we can take advantage of the opportunities created and make money, he
submitted a bit irritated.
The
other gentleman responded with a calm smile, there are indeed opportunities,
but they are hidden. The other guys looked at him, made all kinds of faces,
some hissed and they all ignored his comment.
Ladies
and gentlemen, I have a question for you this morning, can you see any
opportunities even now in this season? If you can't see any, I assure you the
opportunities are there and they're very many, they are only hidden from you.
In
this life, it is hard to find or notice anything you are not looking for. If a
man's job and mission is to dig a well, and his whole mind and attention is set
on finishing the job so that he can get paid his wage for digging that well, if
in the process he strikes a huge chunk of diamond, he would merely cast it away
like another rock or stone. This is because diamonds beneath the earth don't
shine, they come in the rough, they appear like any other hard rock; they only
begin to shine after purification. That well digger may have come across a
stone that can make him an instant billionaire but because that opportunity is
hidden and disguised, he wouldn't see it or even recognise it simply because
he's not looking for it and besides, his mind is consumed and occupied by the
need to finish his digging quickly and be paid a few thousands.
His
desperate pursuit of a few thousands covered his eyesight and mindsight to a
hidden opportunity that could make him an instant billionaire and he would
never have to dig another well for the rest of his life.
Opportunities
always hide from those who don't open their minds towards it. Opportunities
abound in excess to those who open up their minds to see other things, other
ways, other means and different approaches to success no matter the
season.
Many
Nigerians find it very difficult to see the very many opportunities everywhere
today to start up or key into something great and phenomenal that could
potentially make them the richest men and women in Africa in another decade.
They
are excessively focused on their normal ways of doing things and their
strategies that worked well a year or two ago. And they somehow expect this
government to retain or revert to that system or process of the past in order
for them to keep running things and surviving as usual.
Many
of us have refused to open our hearts, our minds and apply our thinking to new
opportunities, new businesses, new qualifications; new capacities, new skills,
new competencies and new investments that will rule and dominate the future of
this country.
We
are stuck in the past, addicted to what worked yesterday. We are repugnant to
change and we're probably too brain lazy to learn new and modern ways of future
success.
Please
listen, yesterday's methods and processes and opportunities had their own pros
and cons, advantages and disadvantages and today's new methods, processes,
policies and activations will naturally have its attended pros and cons,
advantages and disadvantages.
A
good judge of situations and a champion at strategy would not carry out
analysis from the stand point of advantages or disadvantages but from the
standpoint of outcomes and consequences.
If
you are an expert at economic policies and conversant with public policies,
you'd agree with me it is very possible to argue for or against any old
process, method or policy of the government and win convincingly depending on
how much facts you have, case studies you can use to support your argument and
of course how eloquent and persuasive you are in your debate and submissions.
This
certainly can be applied also to all new economic and public policies. I can
argue for and against any new policy and win convincingly depending on my
quantum of facts, supporting case studies from our past or as it occurred in
other countries and juicy evidences to support my stand point and argument and
I will win landslide and get everyone to agree with me. That exactly my friend,
is the beauty of democracy, it's about debates and superior arguments.
Arguments
are easier, and juicier and more exciting from the position of supporting or
critiquing a new method, a new policy, procedure or processes.
But
a progressive argument and real intelligence is tested when the discussion is
situated around and pitched on outcomes and consequences of choices.
It's
easy to argue and debate in comparing yesterday and today. It's very easy to
discuss numbers and prices of goods and services yesterday versus today.
Anyone,
even an illiterate can tell you the difference between how things were a year
or two ago and today. But only the super smart, discuss tomorrow and debate
tomorrow. Only the intelligent, educated and futuristic minds can comprehend
implications and outcomes of making choices regarding policies and effectual
governance.
The
power of opportunities are not buried in yesterday, in fact the essence of
opportunities don't reside in today. Opportunities are powerful future
successes, achievements, accomplishments and wealth, hidden in today's
government, economic and public policies.
Opportunities
are not what you enjoy today, they are the advantages you identify in the midst
of today's quagmire that would make your future great, exciting, wealthy and
fulfilling.
As
you dig your well daily so as to strike water as quickly as possible, please
don't miss all the diamonds in the rough disguised as ordinary rocks in your
digging.
Open
your heart, open your mind, stop holding on to yesterday, yesterday is gone,
shift your thinking and attention to tomorrow and seek the opportunities to
activate that which will make your tomorrow extremely glorious and great.
Many
times great opportunities come in small packages; many times as seeds. It's
time to begin to sow great seeds in your mind, let your mind grow the seeds and
have a mental picture of your harvest. If you picture pests, and locust,
and flood and draught in your mind, your dream seed will never grow, but if
you're positive in your imagination and see flourishing, you will see in the
eye of your mind a great harvest. As a man thinks so is he. In this life,
seeing is not believing, on the contrary, what you believe is what you
eventually see.
What
you say about yourself and about your situation reflects what your mind
contains and out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.
You
can't contain negativities, and poverty and lack and impossibility and failures
and expect to attract great success into your life; no, it's not possible.
Likes attracts like. What dominates your mind eventually dominates your life.
Ladies
and gentlemen, let's all let go of yesterday, Yes, today may not be perfect and
the government of the day may not have scored excellent in your opinion, but it
is not a good enough excuse to refuse to move forward and progress into a
greater future.
There
can never be a perfect government neither can there be a perfect employer or a
perfect boss, a perfect spouse or a perfect child, even perfect parents or a
perfect you because we are all human beings and we are not perfect.
Ladies
and gentlemen, start searching for opportunities. Get a copy of our
constitution and study it well. Access a copy of the current budget and study
it well. Pay attention to the various initiatives of all levels of government; federal,
state and local, and see how you can participate. Economic diversification,
where are you, infrastructure development, where are you, advocacy and national
orientation, where are you, all the plans and initiatives of various
ministries, where are you?
Activate
your dream to transform from a salary earner to a salary payer one day. Start
equipping your mind with this ability and capacity. Necessity is the mother of
invention. Owning and growing your own business is better than an unexpected
sack by an employer who indeed loves you but must let you go for his own
company to survive and grow.
Ladies
and gentlemen, stop blaming your boss, your employer or the government, they
may not be perfect, you are not perfect too. Start looking for your own opportunities,
they are there. Activate them and rule your future. Give your citizenship a
worthy meaning. Let Nigeria and Nigerians feel you. We are waiting for you.
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