Minding the Mind

It was one of those days again and I groaned as the tricycle crawled to a stop. The bad thing about this keke is that you can’t sleep in it, I thought to myself. The tricycle inched forward slowly and I leaned forward in open curiosity, seeing the crowd slowly gathering somewhere just ahead. Chai, not another fatal accident, I thought. It wasn't, thank God. The noise coming from the crowd was one of excitement and laughter and as the keke rode past, I discovered why. A young man, not much older than myself, I reckon was thrilling the crowd with his remarkable dexterity on a motor bike. I found myself applauding; it was truly impressive.
Not too long ago, I was reading a National Daily and something caught my attention. It was a call to support a young man who couldn't afford to further his education. This young man wanted to become an Architect and there was a photo rendering of a number of card board models he’d done. That day, I truly wished I had the means to support this young man’s dream. I don’t know if he got the funding he so desperately needed. I hope he did.
I also remember reading Chimamanda Adichie’s Americanah. She wrote about the military junta of someone I think was General Abacha and how the government was no longer interested in paying lecturers salaries and all things were generally falling apart for us a country with one lengthy strike after another. Finally, people couldn't take it any longer and started ‘checking out’, like the celebrated Andrew. Ifemelu, the heroine finally got a partial scholarship to the US and as she prepared, her friend’s mother commented, a comment that deeply touched me, that Nigeria was throwing away its best talents. It was indeed, then, and I’d like to think that it isn't still doing so, as we speak.
What I'm saying in essence is that this country’s greatest asset isn't its vast oil and foreign reserves; it’s not the wonderful arable land; not the remarkable blend of culture; it’s nothing else but the people; people with talents and skills that are as diverse as diverse can be, but talents and skills all the same. You and I. We’re Nigeria and Nigeria is us. Recently, one of the State Governments was going on and on about youth empowerment and I thought: finally…a set of people with a little common sense. Imagine my dismay when I realised that the grand scheme to empower the youth was to buy fleets of cars and buses and to unceremoniously hand them over to young, able bodied to operate as taxi-cabs and to give the young women sewing machines to becomes seamstresses in destitute market places. I remember thinking to myself that the scheme was anything, anything at all, but youth empowerment. If anything, it was actually taking power from the youth, unwittingly robbing him/her of the ability to reach, to hope, to dream. Empowerment is not doling out bundles of cash that’ll fizzle out tomorrow and leave the recipient worse off than you met him…empowerment is nothing if not the conscious and consistent development of this limitless resource called the mind, the birthplace of any progress and change that’s not headed for the rocks, ab initio.
Your success is as big as your dreams
Your dreams as big as your ideas
Your ideas as big as your mind
Your mind as big as you learn

Learn something new everyday; Empower your mind.

This sterling piece was written by Ekundayo Eniola.