My virgin blog post was very exciting to write, because I have wanted to do this for a long time. Young, hip, Naija celebrates everything that is authentically Nigerian and challenges us to "think" and upset the norm. I remember asking us to answer a few questions in the earlier post. Maybe you did, maybe you did not. The reoccurring themes of all my future posts will be centered around topics that require some level of thinking and action. This is the only way I know we can develop our minds to effect positive change.
Thursday, July 14, 2011, was a memorable day for me. I had the unique opportunity of speaking to a gathering of a large number of young people in a university seminar organized by an education consulting firm. They were all secondary school leavers moving to the ivory towers in different countries. Some chose to study in India, Malaysia, United Kingdom, Ukraine, South Africa, whilst a small number will study in Nigeria. Interestingly, the students traveling abroad seemed more excited than their Nigerian counterparts. The euphoria of leaving the shores of Naija for a few years was hard to miss.
During the lunch break I was chatting with a 16 year old UK bound student who kept asking me about life in London. He wanted to know everything in 15 minutes and I tried my best to tell as much as I knew, between hot snacks. The hope in his eyes shone through as he kept up the pressure. He assured me he will get a girlfriend from Mexico, he said they all looked so pretty in the television soaps. Young player that one, to think his parents paid for him to listen to academic jargon only. Soon other kids joined him and the seminar resumed with me taking all their anxious questions. This remains one of the most exciting and fulfilling days of my young life. I have participated in quite a few seminars, but this one stood out in my mind. The students were all willing to learn and asked a whole lot of questions.
Did it worry me that the participating students preferred to travel abroad than study in Nigeria if given the opportunity? Yes it did. However, that is not the focus of this 'article". I could not think of a better term sorry, so we will call this an article. The most amazing thing about Thursday 14th July, was the question and answers session after my nearly four hours presentation with careful breaks in between. One of the topics discussed in the seminar was "strategies for top academic performance at the University". This yours truly, was able to discuss flawlessly having earned a distinction from the University of Aberdeen. The participants made me feel like an academic celebrity, they all promised me that their aim will be to make distinctions, first class or any other top score available. This was the highlight of my day for sure.
Back to the questions and answers raised in the "University Preparatory Seminar". One question, this writer will never forget was asked by a girl called Remi (not real name as permission was not given). She wanted to know the other factors that enabled me succeed in school, outside the classroom. She explained this further, did your parents play any role in encouraging you? Or were you always brilliant knowing that you will always excel no matter the academic challenge? This question got me thinking and like we now know I love to think! It's a habit! I went on to tell a shocked Remi and my audience how I was once a below average struggling student. My senior secondary school results were so bad that one time I came 40th position out of 60 students. That was my lowest point. The highest was 15th position and the celebration that followed during the holidays was unbelievable, you would have thought I came first in class. My senior school leaving certificates were at best a disaster. My WAEC result was so bad I could not eat for days. Many thanks to NECO for giving me the necessary five credits that enabled me proceed to the University.
The interesting thing is throughout all these, my parents insisted that I was a genius. I remember, looking up that word in the dictionary and thinking they must be patronizing me. Genius? You have got to be kidding me! The funny thing is, if you hear something all the time it sticks, so when I got to the university this genius decided to try something new. I drew up a reading plan which I shared with participants and it worked. I read everything before the lecturer had a chance to mention it in class and made friends with intelligent students. Somehow, the experiment worked. Interestingly I still enjoy reading till this day. Remi, made me realize that my parents were my motivating force. They believed in me even when there was no evidence of brilliance and it challenged me to be better.
Everyone needs someone that believes in them no matter what. It could be a friend, an Imam, a Pastor, a herbalist or a lover but everyone deserves to have someone cheering them on through life struggles. We can all be exceptionally brilliant at something, all we need is a positive force in our lives that makes us want to be better. Humans need each other not just for procreation but to survive on this planet. As soon as the seminar ended, I called my parents to thank them for never giving up on me. They just laughed it off.
There is always someone that can feed off positive energy from you in your community. Motivate, share, love there is no greater cause than these. In Naija it sometimes seem like the government are immune to the sufferings of young people. We cannot keep waiting for them to accept us, let us believe in ourselves and move forward. There is nothing we cannot do if we believe, preserve and work our hardest.
Until my next post, be a light to someone, stay positively energized!
Yours truly,
Young, hip, Naija!
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