Hope Is Mostly What I Have, and I Won’t Lose It.
There are many things that a lot of people who know me closely will say about me.
However, one thing that is important to this conversation is that I have an unrepentant optimism about the possibilities of greatness for Nigeria.
By mostly a thread of hope, faith, and the fact that pessimism does not help in the quest to be better, I have had to be called many things, had my heart broken many times (with happenings), and or struggled to stay optimistic in the face of data-backed prognosis.
And to be honest, I don’t have a logical explanation for my belief. But the day I saw Mr Sim’s tweet, I was happy to realize that I wasn’t alone or probably not mad after all.
And this did not start now.
I was part of Gemstone at the University. Singing Great Nation by Timi Dakolo gives me goosebumps (still one of my best songs ever). Growing up, singing the National Anthem was a spiritual ritual for me, especially the second stanza. When we were taking the anthem in Secondary school, I would stand in attention, and when I got to SS2/SS3 and could now lead the whole school in taking it, any chance I got meant a lot to me {*The former anthem please}.
I have a huge respect for the flag. This is why October 20/20 was a difficult one for me. Maybe one day I will be able to put to words what seeing people sing the National Anthem, and waving the flags had to go through did to me. It broke me for months, that I couldn’t sing the anthem I loved so much. It is still a weight, but also reinforces the commitment to see that those sacrifices count for something in the future — a better Nigeria.
A couple of weeks ago, I had to apply for the The School of Politics, Policy, and Governance (SPPG) and of the things I wrote in my application was that this was an opportunity to put a method to the madness (I think I wrote passion) — some structure to the unwavering belief, even though difficult and in the face of negative realities.
To be honest, the realities say differently, and current political set up leaves much to be desired.
As of 2014/15–2018, my contribution was being on the radio, bringing amazing young people on the youth shows I was anchoring to give their work more mileage and inspire others that all is not just gloom. Then, this became events, and on several occasions, I brought resource persons from different parts of the country to engage with young people in Akure. Then, we moved to Ibadan, and this heart found a new song to beat for: telling the stories of Africa’s most ambitious brands, or what I eventually started doing, helping to build the foundation that helps them tell those stories.
Since then, I have moved from more overt things like events, radio, and all; to close-knit conversations, meeting people one-on-one, mentorship, connecting smart young people to settings where they will meet other young people doing amazing things and a lot more.
I don’t know if I have so much faith in Government like I wish to, even in this optimism, but I believe in the capacity of Nigerians to be good people if many other things fall into place. See! Despite the odds, and other factors militating against our rising, we have seen people rise from the rubbles of our systems to become major global names in Energy, Academia, literature, Technology, Fashion, Afrobeats, Sports, Politics in other nations, and any other sector you can think of.
Hope Is Mostly What I Have, and I Won’t Lose It. Again, I hope many other people are as involved in the pragmatic ways out, as I am about ensuring that we have more people who believe we should build a better country. To not have people who believe, is a reality that I don’t want to see.
So, while the most I can do for now when it comes to politics is vote, pray, and encourage people to participate; my optimism is based on the number who still believe that things can be better, and possibly building communities that can scale them into a critical mass — ensuring that 1. They know enough to be a global talent, but 2. Care enough to continue local contribution in changing the society and inspiring those coming behind that there is a future for those who love, and you don’t need to be corrupt to make it.
