Ibadan – When I was much younger, and still living in my father’s house, a friend of mine from school came to visit one day.
He came from what people in Nigeria like to call ‘a poorer home’, as he was an orphan who had learned early to fend for himself, and lived in a hut on the sprawling sides of a barren hill in that part of Abuja that would one day become Mpape.
He noticed that every time my father’s gateman opened the gates to let us in or out of the house, I would say to the gateman, ‘Thank you’. And it tickled him in no small way, that I – ‘a big man’s child’, as people in Nigeria like to call us – did this. And he asked, why.
And I said, it was because of how I grew up. My grandfather was a police man, you see. And my father had grown up walking to the stream every morning, before sun up, to fetch water for the house. And as a young teenager, when things got really difficult, I saw my mother do everything, from baking to retail trading, to make ends meet.
So, I know that labor is always precious. And what you see a person doing in the moment to make an honest living tells you very little about how high their spirits can actually rise. And so, always, I receive the service of others with gratitude.
For I know, as someone who was made in Nigeria, that the person you see walking the streets today can be ruling them tomorrow. This is why there is never any need for pride when you are up, or shame when you are down.
For as long as you will not steal or kill to find wealth, or maintain it, then nothing do you. All na hustle. And hustle – clean hustle – is something we Nigerians, always, treat with deep respect. Because, in truth, that is where we all came from. Na so. That you are the fruit of someone’s hustle. So, let someone be the fruit of your own hustle. Na so. Like this, I build my team.
Come and be part of our story. The story of a nation that looks very ugly at first glance. But when you look closer, past all the labels – ‘poorer home’, ‘big man’s child’, ‘muslim’, ‘christian’, ‘northerner’, ‘southerner’ – all you will find is the same desire, burning in every Nigerian heart, to rise up from the dust and make something of ourselves.
This is the rock upon which we shall build. If you believe this with me, then come out, let us fellowship together. And bring 10 others with you. Or, at the very least, tell someone about it.
But please don’t just see me striving to do something you believe should be done, and leave me hanging.
Date: Sat. 29 Jan 2022
Time: 5pm
Venue: Wole Soyinka Theatre Hall, University of Ibadan
Tickets: N2k regular, N1k students with ID
First 112 students with ID enter for free!
