DANCING ON THE WRONG STAGE

I was thinking this morning..... Last night, I attended the Granite jubilee (90th birthday) celebration of one of Nigeria's finest, a Super Permanent Secretary, Diplomat, Bureaucrat and former Minister of Petroleum, Chief Izoma Philip Asiodu. As I sat watching him converse with another of Nigeria's finest, Chief Emeka Anyaoku (91 years), another Diplomat and 3rd Secretary-General of Commonwealth of Nations, what I saw was an impactful generation on their way off the stage of life.

Packed in the Oduduwa Hall of Movenpick Hotel, Ikoyi, were numerous other notable octogenarians and nonagenarians and the achievers of yesteryears My young wife and I were blessed to be in the midst of these very successful seniors.

The tribute to Chief Asiodu was a long list of what he had achieved over the years. Strikingly, most of his major achievements were in the 1970s and 80s. As I reflected on what could possibly be the secret of his success, Chief Emeka Anyaoku stood up and saved me the hassle. He listed the attributes to be hard work, discipline, integrity, public spiritedness, and care for humanity and the environment. While many would've been tempted to ask how many of our leaders today had all these attributes, I was more focused on myself. How many of these attributes do I have? What will be said about me when I turn 90?

The generation of Philip Asiodu and Emeka Anyaoku had the stage in the 70s and 80s, and a few of them took concrete steps towards success. Today, the stage is ours. What are we doing with it? Rather than work, our youths are betting their future away and dancing azonto and shoki. Our political leaders, instead of showing integrity, are dancing skelewu and makossa. Many of our religious leaders, rather than show care for humanity, are dancing shaku shaku and alanta on the glorious stage.

Life is a stage. There is a time to dance and a time to take concrete steps towards success. Philip Asiodu and Emeka Anyaoku are dancing today because they worked when they had the stage. If all you do is dance etighi and zanku when you are supposed to work, the results will be clear at 90. Success is not random. You make it happen by taking steps of faith and diligence and not by dancing sekem or galala. May the Lord order our steps aright (Psalms 37:23).

Stay hopeful. God's got our back.

Happy Sunday!

......Just the thoughts of a certain Wey Mey