Choice or Courage

During a brief chat (not the Blackberry kind, the real thing) with a friend recently, I discovered something that I might have overlooked or taken for granted. My friend took up a job not long ago and absolutely loathes this new gig. I asked why would anyone do that to themselves and I was quickly informed that there is no other CHOICE at this point. I recall having used that same line many times and I quite understood because it’s a concept I am all too familiar with personally.

How many times do we give excuses for our actions or in-actions by blaming it on lack of choice?

In an episode of the nifty American TV drama "SUITS", the Uber smooth lawyer, Harvey Specter says to a naive but insanely brilliant associate Mike Ross  "...when they put the gun to your head, it's not just give in or get killed. There are 146 other options..." Now that sounded powerful on screen as it must have in the writer's imagination. I think 146 might be a tall order in real life options but heck there can be more than the obvious two.

We often resort to the excuse of choice when we feel we have been boxed into a corner or find ourselves on the edge of a cliff. None of these hypothetical circumstances are pleasant when we are confronted by them - we have all been there. We so often get serenaded by stories of how politicians, executives, preachers, administrators, elders etc did not have a choice and had to act in a certain way. It’s a fundamental human requirement of daily life to make choices every day. I'm not going to dive into the consequences now, because most of the undesirable ones seem avoidable if another option was explored.

I feel there is a key-ingredient we often overlook or rather deliberately ignore - COURAGE. Wikipedia says it's the ability to confront fear, pain, danger, uncertainty, or intimidation. Now, that is a nasty bunch that any rational thinking person will want to avoid - after all ignorance is bliss. This makes FEAR the opposing state of mind to COURAGE in a lot of ways.

I am particularly fond of the manner Dr. Spencer Johnson of the "Who moved my cheese" fame put a really interesting spin on fear "What would you if you were not afraid?" I first heard this from my good friend Mr. Omotosho - He also told me that the answer to that is simply "Anything".

My recent interaction with my work-frustrated friend gave me the idea that there is an antidote to the fear of CHOICE, especially when we desire the power “to do anything”.

This cannot be easy, besides the we have been hypnotized to automatically see the image of a lion when we hear the word courage - and who wants to compete that? Watching a slew of documentaries makes you wonder how much courage do Lions really have without their brutish physicality. Does a Lion have any more courage than a crocodile? Not sure if there is an answer to that. I have learned  from my hefty diet of nature films on lazy Saturday afternoons, that its not the nature of the animal to be brave but the circumstances that activate  the primordial survival instincts that make it act courageously. A good example is the amateur video of a buffalo calf at the Kruger National Park, South Africa, that was caught by a pride of Lions, fell into jaws of a crocodile and was so bravely rescued by its herd. The calf certainly was able to work out more than two choices. And for the Lions? They found the courage to flee. It can be debated that the bovine youngster can't possibly make a choice but merely had its survival instincts kick in.  But isn't that the same thing we humans do? Based on our past experiences we appraise a situation, the options and possible outcomes. Then our rationale ascertains the cost, pain, danger, or intimidation - and these are the things we fear. The outcomes not the confrontations and that puts us in the same shoes as the buffalo calf.

I must admit I lack the courage and admire the calf from Kruger National Park. I'm not even talking about courage needed for martyrdom, NO - That's not always very useful to us, or is it? but the littlest courage needed to do small things like killing sleep to finish that book. Or sacrifice that thing you have grown so fond of but in reality has outlived its usefulness. Or quit the job you used to love but now loathe and do what you love. Or taking that odd course that will emancipate you from paid employment. Or making that trip you always wanted. Or simply ask someone those difficult questions you have been avoiding. As silly as this might sound I had to find courage to write this piece. My last post was 4th of May 2011 - a year and 5 months. What was I afraid of? You never know.

The question then is how does one find this courage? On the pages of self help books or through the voices of motivational speakers? Or through the reverent voices of our preachers or in the soft and encouraging words of those most close to us? I'm not sure there is a panacea for finding courage but there certainly is a natural deposit inside us all - in our instincts to survive, to evolve and to succeed. We don't have to dig deep even. It's just the other choice we are usually afraid to make and that is why a lot of us miss out on accomplishing "Anything"

'Lanre Morakinyo

1st November 2012

Heroes

Easter weekend: we all celebrate Jesus’ life, mission, death & resurrection. I wonder what will happen if he was living today as a 33yr old non-educated carpenter crusading for a new form of an old religion. Would we show Him kindness or vilify and kill him for heresy... as the Jews are said to have done over ago?
I have a feeling we would not result to killing - this would be against human rights, freedom of speech and Geneva Conventions that dictate order of things today.

 We probably would treat the message as the same - heresy or unfounded claims too trivial for any court to entertain – we’ll move on as a new wave of excitement arrests our short-spanned attention – a quality that seem  to worsen with the changes brought about by modernity. Another generation centuries later might be in awe of such a man if he had lived today and dedicate places of worship,  holidays festivals, books and even a whole lifetime of some devotees – as we see in our monks priests and religious extremists that sometimes bring terror instead of succor. I bet none of these will happen in the time the crusader lives in - Isn't this always the case? I wonder how that works. Someone has an idea; He or she shares but most of the people living don’t care and after his/her death a movement starts. All major the world religions are said to share this characteristic.

Is this the same for seemingly lesser people like our everyday heroes? A number of Youth Corpers tragically and unnecessarily lost their lives during the last elections in some parts of Nigeria. They died serving their country. How noble it would have been if they were Military Corps members where they would have taken an oath to serve their motherland with a possibility of giving their lives if necessary. These young men and women had not sworn to give their lives but it was cruelly taken from them and their grieving family members are yet to take possession of their bodies for a proper funeral. What is more sad is that unlike the military, there will be no statutory posthumous medal or benefit to their surviving kinsmen from the country they served or the famed 21-gun salute was sounded at their funeral.

An amazing level of condemnation came from different people and a lot of discourse and efforts to challenge the occurrence and hopefully change the NYSC Program. However, I cannot stop asking if those Youth Corpers had not been murdered, would we have celebrated their service?
 I see them every day and they are not exactly given a hero’s welcome when they walk into an establishment offering their service for one year.  We see them every day by the roadside, on foot or waiting to catch a bus, but we don’t offer to give them a lift - even when it’s raining.

In most cases they are treated with little respect – probably inspired by the institution they represent.  It is just not them but every other person that does little to our personal lives but gives their entire life to the society in service. For instance the countless security guards killed by armed criminals in the line of duty; the middle aged women that sweep our streets but knocked over by reckless drivers; Construction workers that lose their lives because of poor safety standards or teachers who spend their whole life educating others but robbed the opportunity to enjoy the pleasures of life created by their own students.

I have read a number of articles, website postings, blogs etc about the horror the slain NYSC Corps members suffered. Social media is agog with all manner of activities to speak against their murder and engage the authorities about the state of the NYSC Program. I recently co-signed an online  petition “Protect The Corpers”  - I hope the effort which will translate to a hard copy petition will land on the NYSC Director’s or the President’s desk and acted upon. 'Enough is Enough'

This leads me to the question “Why do we celebrate the dead?”  - And ignore the toils of people when they are alive. Had these people not been murdered, would we acknowledge their existence or say they were doing something special after being mandated to be part of the electoral process by INEC? I really cannot answer that, because we have people who give more than usual in service to us but we hardly ever appreciate or celebrate them. We have many examples under our very noses as everyday handymen, workmen and women, domestic help, maids, drivers etc who perform a service to us daily or in our immediate environment - ans sometimes go to extraordinary lengths to perform their duty. Yet we so often refuse to acknowledge their contribution. Is it easier or simply more gratifying to champion a cause for an individual when he is no longer around? I don’t have the answers to why we, as a people often choose to celebrate people when they are dead rather than appreciate them while living.

What I do know is we need to pay a lot more attention to the people around us, usually inconspicuous,  engaging in mundane activities that seem to require a lesser intellectual quotient and of lesser economical value. Collectively these meager efforts come together to make our environment worth living and sometimes been make the future a better place.
Can it be that we revere people absence because of the fear that we might also suffer the same fate or we pay heartfelt tributes to people for a life well lived. Not sure of the latter because we hardly acknowledge the presence of most people around us - their struggles, pains, triumphs, joy etc. Is this because we are neck deep in our own issues?
I just hope we get to value people in life and keep them alive instead of waiting for them to die before they are celebrated.

A wonderful example of celebrating a living hero is brought to life in Ty Bello's song 'Ekundayo" - which translates as 'Tears turn to joy'. The song is about a lady in a small town in Kogi State who in 1969 decided she will dedicate her life to caring for abandoned children. In 2007 she took in her 469th child. Wow. This stuff of fairy tales. Ms Toyin Bello learned about her and dedicated a whole song to this living saint and even made her star in the music video. Now that is celebrating a modern day heroine - and as an icing on the cake immortalizing her through art.

If there is one party most people do not want to attend it's their own funeral.

'Lanre Morakinyo
4th May 2011

Our Everyone Planet

It was the first day of the first day of the year and I was visiting my parents - It’s a sort of tradition with which I start the year. Just before parking, a Saturday morning talk show comes up on radio with Prof. Pat Utomi as guest. It was the first time he was making a public announcement on his ambition to run for presidency in the upcoming elections. I have been expecting him to rollout his drums with fist pumping into the air and say “Vote for PU” yay! really? I’ll come back to that in a moment.

 But first let me tell you about a movie I saw called ‘Two Weeks Notice’ and learnt something profound from this frothy “romcom”. Surprising?  – I thought so too! It was in a sequence where Hugh Grant’s character had called his personal assistant out of her best friend’s wedding where she was the maid of honour. The call came in on a number they had reserved for emergency type occasions that somehow had to involve Hugh’s character being in a near death situation. She apologised to the bride and dashed out of the church to her boss’ rescue – stay with me on this.  On getting to his apartment - armed with her handbag and mobile phone, she found out he needed her to help him pick a tie for an event he was attending. She obliged him with the request and in a fit of well deserved frustration, she told him he is “the most selfish human being on the planet” – this of course was after she told him she was quitting – hence the title Two Weeks Notice. He replied with classic British dry wit and said “That’s just silly! Have you met everyone on our planet?”

Now, I know we all make such bold statements equating our circle of influence with the whole world at some point or the other – I have many times. This made me wonder if I thought myself to be the centre of the universe or, am I simply in the centre and cannot see beyond ‘my’ horizon – more like tip off my nose actually. I have had friends say to me “everyone uses a blackberry or ipad now, when are you getting yours?” and I realised it might help for them to take public transportation more frequently to put the term everyone in proper perspective.

The Catholic Church in the 1500s asked Galileo to recant his scientific theory which proposed the earth was not flat as every person perceives but round; as well as the unthinkable thought - at the time that the earth moved around the sun and not the Sun moving around the Earth. These theories ran contrary to picture the Holy Bible presented and was labelled as blasphemy. Humankind now knows it cannot fall off the planet even if it was flat thanks to gravity - or the Isaac Newton fella never liked that guy, was always in my physics.

Very recently, GEJ launched a book from his Facebook conversations with his Facebook fans – I still wonder whose idea that was. However, the minister for information then went on to thank the President for “bringing Facebook to Nigerians”.  A lot of the people that heard this and were Facebook users and lived in Lagos were already ticked off by the traffic that caused – the minister was called all sorts. “Does he know how long I have been on Facebook?” most of them said – I did too. Interestingly after doing a little research I discovered that Nigeria now contributes just a little over 2 million users (according to webtrendsng.com) to the 500 million plus global Facebook user community (according to Facebook.com). This means Nigerian Facebook users make up about 5% of the 43 million internet users and 1% of the 150 million citizens of this great country. That’s not much actually; at least not enough to say everyone is on Facebook. That makes it tricky, because if a GEJ’s event such as the book launch is broadcast on NTA quite a number of people will be seeing Facebook for the first time. Besides, If Frank Edoho, on “Who wants to be a millionaire gets 44 million viewers to tune in and watch his game show weekly (M2 Online), The President won’t be doing badly either.

A learned and assertive friend of mine once scolded me for making an assumption. His explanation was that each time I ‘ASS-U-ME’ I end up – using his exact words “making an ASS (of) U (and) ME” – It sounded like one of those off-the-T-shirt quotes, but  I liked it. It provides me a level of control on asserting things I should at least give a thought if I cannot verify.

Elections are drawing close Voters Registration has started and of course there is an avalanche of political activism- on the internet, Facebook and Twitter are on overdrive! This is where most people in my circles would say “everyone”. This of course brings me to the venerable Professor Utomi leaving comments on his Facebook page to spark up brilliant discussions reminiscent of Patitos Gang – I just hope he doesn’t make a book out of it. He does have an impressive academic and professional pedigree (minus Volkswagen though) of which I am fairly certain that educated and informed people respect him and will probably vote for him in the next elections. The question is how many are we? Or is it our everyone?

What bothers me is how we equate the nation/society with our circles of influence. The Prof, after 3 years sabbatical as lecturer, consultant, speaker, board member entrepreneur, Facebook activist etc would find it difficult slugging it out against career politicians who have been scheming everyday for the last 3 years and more on how to score or retain political offices; Running the race from Lagos to Kafanchan to Ughelli to Eket to Ilesha and beyond. We are not even talking strategy yet, just vision. Can he really govern with no party members in the federal/state legislature? – that will be a “long tin”

 We all suffer from this syndrome at one point or the other. We hardly like to look beyond our horizon. Funny thing about horizons is that wherever yours ends is where it starts for another person and the trend goes on and on If you take a walk you just might catch the other person’s view of the planet.  Not sure what that might do for you, but it will certainly NOT make an 'ASS- (of)-U-(and)-ME'.



Lanre 16 Jan 2011

Little Pleasures

It has been immensely difficult for me to avoid the mention of Christmas, especially when it’s just a few days from now and all in my face. I would not talk about the spiritual meaning of Christmas I’ll leave that to the preachers- They have been waiting a whole year for that. I’ll rather explore a more seemingly mundane view of Christmas that we often over look. I can’t smell it yet like ‘the Salah Celebrations’ – which is characterised by mass importation of smelly sheep that magically transform into the sinfully delicious ‘Salah Meat’ – I love that treat though.   Christmas is hard to miss these days even if it doesn’t minister to your faith. It’s everywhere. The shopping offers; barrage of media messages; Christmas inspired hats, shoes, clothes lights trees and sundry that is hawked even in traffic;  and of course tonnes of beautiful outdoor decorations that has painted Lagos into some pre-conceived notion of Christmas. In some cases these outdoor Adornments are simply beautiful like these ones I found on in Ikoyi

The Falomo Grotto Decor during the day

                 

The Falomo Grotto Decor at night

                    
My pictures do not do this site justice. It's far more beautiful than my little camera can capture. I say both the sponsor and executors of this project deserve pat on the back. Well done. I guess the State does remember 'Little Pleasures' that reminds us of the season and takes our mind of the other problems - I know it has neglected a whole lot more but for now let's cut them some slack.
This reminds me of earlier Christmases I spent while still living with my parents. My dad was away in Europe and I became the Christmas tree champion. I would dig out the plastic pine tree on the 1st of every December I will have it washed and stacked then hang the little adornments on it and wrap the lights around it – typically with an Angel on top as the crown. We had a bunch of Christmas CDs and would play them every morning – particularly the Boney M. The Christmas presents were not displayed in plenty big boxes sitting pretty at the bottom of the tree - like we have seen in movies; but they did come later on Christmas day in shopping bags just before you have the proverbial Christmas rice. Everybody got something and we all knew it was not from Santa but our parents! It was a little pleasure we all enjoyed once a year. I was always excited by all of this but could not understand why our mum always looked at us and smiled with an expression that neither bothered on pity or pride – I have grown to young man and now I understand it- It was fun for us but their money. Interestingly, the reverse is the case now. And I get one of my little pleasures when I see my folks smile at their gifts and Christmas treats

As soon as we approach the ‘em & ber’ months we all get apprehensive of our cash flow and do all sort of mathematics - that could earn us Nobel prizes if it wasn’t just for our consumption, just  to ensure we can accommodate all the things we planned.  This has become a recurring ritual especially in a fast paced city like Lagos which sucks the little pleasures of life out of you. So what can we do in the spirit of this festive and costly season? I personally intend to enjoy it one little pleasure at a time - from family, to friendship, to sharing, to good health, good food, some art to a lot of laughter and to life.

I dedicate this poem I wrote  to everyone that gets to read this peace ...

It’s been long since the breaking of dawn had brought a true smile 

But this season arrives with good intentions just in time

And so magically the pressures of life are overcome by something divine

In merry we all can share but more so it is love this season has comes to bare

As many little things come together to form multitudes or parts of the mighty

Little pleasures string up to birth ever joyous souls because Christ lives

We can admire the lights and songs that usher in the day,  

and also gather under a tree although it does not snow in this place

But as we know the Sun lights our day and we have hope to lift our souls to carry us another day 

We give thanks in our hearts for all the things for which we cannot repay

So by the next season we will not be the same, but be happier for the rest of our days

The poem might not tell you much but this is one of my little pleasures. I it has not blessed you I hope it inspired you.
What's your little pleasure I hope you know them. Feel free to share

.... Merry Christmas

Lanre 21st Dec 2010

Two Highways

I went to the National Museum at Onikan awhile ago to refresh my knowledge of past events and national treasures – who am I kidding, I was bored. My wife and me – my fiancée at the time; wanted to catch a movie but had some extra time to ‘faff’ around
The place itself was a weather beaten, joyless place which has to endure the shadows of the imposing City Mall that stood next to it. We were asked to pay a paltry 200 Naira at the entrance – fair bargain at the time; and that got us an hour of petrol generated electricity, a middle aged lady tour guide - that didn’t seem happy about our timing; and a trip into the past of a great Nation - that was quite worthwhile.
I had been there before as a child but could barely remember what it was like. It turned out to be hot and stuffy because the generator could not power the ACs – in retrospect I wonder if they were actually artifacts too because they certainly looked the part. We were urged by our lady guide to comb through the dim lit corridors very quickly to avoid passing out due to the heat. The place was littered with ‘National Treasures’ which lacked the aura that defines anything of significant value. Most of the items seemed antiquated, mundane and badly cared for. Our grumpy guide gradually softened up as I slipped in jokes at intervals – that wasn’t deliberate because most of the things I saw seemed ridiculous anyway. This must have angered her into trying to make us see the beauty in the dull artifacts that represent our beautiful past.
And in that she succeed mildly, and helped me shape a different view of the items we saw. One item that caught my fancy in particular – if I exclude the Mercedes Benz limousine in which General Muritala Mohammed was shot, is an old picture of Ikorodu road; this one right here.

My wife and I stood in awe to see what that now famous stretch of land looked like In 1954! It was a humbling moment. It was a good thing that the rules for the tour were put together before camera phones came on to the scene, because conventional cameras were not allowed. I could not resist. I asked my poor wife to shield me and like two spies we sneaked a peek – literally.
Compare that timeless image to this one

 ....and you have a fair idea we have come a long way since then.
The beauty for me is not in the obvious – A highway, concrete buildings, street lights, Billboards, BRT Buses etc.  I can assure you the vegetation in the first picture was just as green as or probably greener than what we can find today – if you are the sort that considers environmentalists crusades. Not even the fact that, the technology used to capture both moments has evolved.
But the simple thought that the first image saved a moment in a people’s journey over half a century ago that has led us to where we are today. It has been a long and tumultuous journey, but we certainly are glad that we are no longer where we were in the first picture – this is where all the stuff in the second picture become appealing.
The same stretch of road but half a century apart. Our lands have changed a lot since then, how much has the heart of our society? We are defined by the obvious - material things which make us comfortable and earn us perceived respect. They are good to have in moderation and by merit. But the wanton thirst for more is what defines us these days. I am equally as guilty.
The same vices that have defiled our history are still plaguing us today. Yet we seek evidence of progress in the obvious that could be washed away in matter of moments – Katrina, Haiti etc are recent examples of how fleeting these principles for success are.
We look at our past with contempt – just as I trivialized the artifacts in the museum. The items I belittled hold more value than the glitzy mobile phone I used in taking the picture. The picture remains priceless but my phone has long been replaced.
I wish I can immortalize more of our heritage to share with a new generation that struggles to speak their mother tongue let alone know how they have evolved as a people.  We seem to be distracted by the obvious or the new measures of success. How do we change our heart when it seems to have been hypnotized by warped expectations
I like the encouraging words of Heraclitus, the Greek Philosopher who said

"Good character is not formed in a week or a month. It is created little by little, day by day. Protracted and patient effort is needed to develop good character." 

 This gives me comfort. It gives me hope that as a society we can become the very vision we hope to be, if we just step back and reassess the subtle things that truly define us and make a change from the inside out.

Lanre 13th Dec 2010

Footprint

It’s been a week since my first piece on 3rd eye and I am still revelling in the responses.
I say a big ‘Thank you’ to everyone for according me such overwhelming support.

‘Ese o’ ‘Dalu’  ‘Nagode’.

The encouragement came in form of praise, advice and opinions and provided much needed courage to continue. So, like my good friend Olayinka ‘Elegg’ Elegbe had suggested oh sorry.... ‘Irritated me’ I will make this a weekly affair. Quite frankly doing this daily right now might get me fired.  You might say it won’t and you might be right, but I assure you do not intend to find out. One interesting thing I noted and believe is utterly my fault is that everyone who read the last post thought I was referring to writing alone. Absolutely not, my apologies if I gave such a hint. I want to speak to everyone who has an idea, may it be artistic or scientific; social or spiritual, professional or political. We all have a vision of ourselves at the peak of our accomplishments; I do, and I am a billionaire – you can’t blame me for dreaming, it’s FREE!

I dare you to dig deep and I bet you won’t have to go far to find that little project, idea or something you have been dreaming about. It just might be the next big thing – who knows it just could make you the next Billionaire - and you’ll ‘be sitting next to Oprah and the Queen’ according to the American Hip-hop singer Travis McCoy.
We all have something - or many things if you are sometimes as confused as I am; which you will like to accomplish in our lifetime and as well as seek comfort in the thought that the legacy will live on even after you are long gone. I went to a secondary school called Olivet Baptist High School in Oyo town – a typical boarding school that can knock the wind out of you for most of your teenage years. Psychologists believe it’s the most dramatic phase of human life - but they obviously haven’t lived in Lagos because its drama every day.
Anyway, just like students in every other school I have heard off, we used to love to write on the walls, ceilings, desks, chairs, lockers, doors, fence and even trees – for some strange reason we didn’t fancy writing in our note books. We hardly used our real names because that might cost you a trip to the house master’s office or two buckets of paint the following term. We would write cool inscriptions on the wall saying things like ‘Moraks wuz ere’ – not sure that would work on a FB wall though; usually this is written next to someone else’s inscription which can be ten years older.  They are all over the place even in Universities and some are pure silly like one in particular which I saw in a lecture room in UI which read “Virginity is like Pringles, once you pop you just can’t stop” – Procter & Gamble should try that for catch phrase.

At a young age we develop a desire to make a mark in life, although the ones we made on the walls of the hostels and classrooms have been long painted over, the images linger in our minds and people we have influenced. If you add that to the experiences and stories passed down from one person to the next, we unknowingly leave our footprints in the lives of the people around us. 



I got married back in May this year and decided to whisk my beautiful wife to the Island country of Gambia. An absolute blessing because the rates to the Caribbean were just too harsh! And then there was the annoying ‘Volcanic Ash’ situation – though that worked quite well for some people who were already on holiday. Thanks to a friend that works with an airline, she generously hooked me up with a brilliant package in Banjul. I had no idea where it was on the African map – actually I had no idea I was so ignorant. It’s a three and a half hour flight from Lagos to a beautiful country off the coast of West Africa. The weather is divine; Hotels are great, with almost half of them sitting on the beach- and cheaper than Lagos hotels that are not! The people are friendly and city –Banjul; is safe and clean.

Armed with a camera I decided to capture some of the beautiful images of Banjul.  And a few came out quite ok like the one above. My foot print on the Banjul beach sand – I actually had to take that shot like five times to get it right and in a matter of moments the next wave washed it all away – just like that, I managed to catch that process below (and yes those are my feet).

The feeling of the cold Atlantic waves gushing over my feet as the fresh, salty sea breeze filled my lungs and made me feel like I was floating on my feet,  is simply a priceless  experience and has stayed with me ever since. And that foot print still lingers on.



My wife and I kept raving about Banjul and became unofficial ambassadors for its awesome beaches and wonderful hotels to all my friends when we got back – Some of our friends actually went there for their honeymoon and created memories of their own.
I am very certain Buzz Aldrin’s foot print on the moon is still up there unspoiled –there is no air and water to erase it actually; but it stays in our minds for a different reason. He took a step and it became a leap for mankind and crushed the age old “the sky is the limit saying”.
So, what footprint have you put in the heart of others? It might just be a word of encouragement; a word of thanks; a generous gift; a shoulder to cry on; a listening ear; a life changing advice; an idea that turned to a movement; an idea that made life easier; an idea that became the next big thing and made you a billionaire.
I particularly like the words of Ralph Waldo Emerson, the American Scholar, who said "Not he is great who can alter matter, but he who can alter my state of mind”

I found a little white shell on the beach in Banjul. I turned it into a subject and practiced my photography skills with it. It was a lot of fun. The shell looked quite nice on its own; white shell against sandy beach seemed like a vision that jumped off the pages a Mills and Boon novel - Where are those Novels?



After taking a few steps back looking at in another light;

I noticed that it fades into the foreground . Its life has passed, its stranded on the beach wistfully gazing at the ocean as it waves rave with life, and if the shell had thoughts it would probably wonder  ‘only if I could get to do this one more time’.


Whose state of mind have you altered lately? Whose life have you put your foot print on? I am not talking about just writing nice things on your friends FB wall – That’s nice too though. There is ample beach and wall space in the lives of people around you. Our mark will be indelible with no Atlantic wave or paint washing it away.
Lanre – 3rd Dec 2010

Inspired, irritated and ready to live a dream.

My name is Lanre and there are many sides to me, but for the purpose of this piece I will refer to myself as an ‘aspiring writer’. I do love the word 'aspiring' because that is the only thing I have been able to do ‘develop a persistent longing for literary accomplishment’ and probably make a few coins in the process. By now you probably realize I have not been able to accomplish either.

 I sometimes ask myself why this is so – I have never gotten the answer until recently. We’ll get back to that later, but first I’ll take you back in time to late 1996, a hot Tuesday afternoon, Universities were on strike in Nigeria as usual and I had gone to help out at my mom’s shop in Apapa, Lagos. I walked up to her with a scowl on my face as usual asked her to give me some money and like a scripted play she asked what the money was for? I told her I wanted to buy a notebook to write something- let me quickly say at this point that this was not a computer notebook but an 80 leaves higher education writing pad made by Onward Paper Industries. Good thing was my mom never hesitated on academically related requests. And that marked the humble beginning of my story as an aspiring writer.

 I did finish my first manuscript about 13 months later. I was insanely proud of my effort and wanted to get it published. That effort did not go very far and is actually another story entirely. In the meantime I started putting my second idea on paper and before I knew it I had finished the second manuscript. It took a little over a year like the first one. This time I got it typed and saved in a 1.4mb diskette made by IBM – I bet you have forgotten those. It was no doubt my most prized possession at the time. I even had it printed out into a bulky lump that was held together using spiral bind and I used it to show off my newly discovered talent to anyone who cared to listen. I even got some friends to read it. They liked the story but complained of the typos and grammar and to a lesser degree the writing style – which one of my friends said reads like a home video. I took all the feed back in strides and tweaked the work a little. I had progressed to my final year in University of Ibadan and school work was getting too burdensome for me to sustain my hobby - quite frankly I’d rather graduate with my friends than dedicate my time to writing and bag an extra year studying biochemistry. So I went on a writing break.

7 years, a B.Sc. in Biochemistry, NYSC, Civil Service Job, Contract Admin job, a call center agent job and a personal laptop later, I decided to reboot my beloved hobby. So I spoke to a friend who in turn spoke to a friend and introduced me to a lovely lady called Yemisi Ilo who agreed to play a mentor slash editor role in the realization of my dream. She loaned me 2 books to read and an assignment to re-write my manuscript. I survived the first book and made several attempts to re-write but never found my writing mojo. And here I am writing about it.

I was frustrated, why can’t I harness my talent! I wondered if I had any. Of course I did – at least I was able to convince myself. Interestingly, I noticed there was a pattern to my inability to harness my talent. Each time I got a brain wave to pick up my hobby I realised I was pinched by an inspiring element that made me aspire to be a writer. The inspiring elements were never the same but had a similar effect on me. What was lacking was something help to sustain this inspiration long enough to make into something meaningful. According to Larry Winget – The self proclaimed American ‘Irritational Speaker’ –   Who in summary does not believe in motivating people to succeed but believes in irritating them out of their failures and self imposed limitations. He says all we need is within ourselves. 

I agree with him. We are hardly ready to go the extra mile or sacrifice a couple of familiar pleasures – in most cases it is just for a while; to pursue that thing which can define our purpose. We are ready to whip up all sorts of excuses why we should not pursue our dreams and stick to the conventional that guarantee our wages. Not bad actually if you want to remain ordinary.

 I am currently irritated by many things lack of fulfillment, creative freedom, control of my time and a longing to be immortalized by the fruits of my thoughts. Another feeling is the intimidation I have to endure when I see young people around braving all odds to use their gifts to follow their dreams until they get to live in them.

A few years ago I was watching a local channel in Lagos and a journalist was interviewing a Nigerian singer after scoring it big with his latest CD. The journalist asked him the proverbial “what is next?” question and he goes “I want to be an international superstar, win a Grammy, MTV award, go to Hollywood, have my own record label and be very successful and make a lot of money too” This he said with the most boyish but sincere candor and I thought what a dreamer – considering Nigerian Music at the time was just not cool enough even to Nigerians let alone others. Guess what, he has gone to achieve most of those things and more. Just by believing in his dream, nurturing his gift and be irritated by the idea he cannot reach his dreams – Well done Mr Idibia.

You are probably wondering what I am doing about this? Well if you are reading this, it means I have started by publishing over a 1,000 words and getting you to read all of it. Technically that makes me writer – I hope. I have another 80,000 I am hoping to get people to read next year in form of a book.

So what sort of creative genius can you use to irritate me to top my aspiring status? Feel free to intimidate me with your genius and creative wealth. I will certainly appreciate it a lot, because I do have a dream and I want to live it. Do you?

Lanre – 28^th Nov 2010