OPPORTUNITY (II)

Hello, I thought I'd finish up this discourse while it is still "hot"

Before 1956 when oil was discovered at Oloibiri, in the Niger-Delta area of Nigeria, the people were fishermen. They caught, cooked, ate and sold fish for a living. Fishing and farming were their only sources of livelihood. Unknowing to them, right under the same water where they caught fish and under the same soil on which they farmed, was locked the treasure which a whole nation has come to depend on. Opportunity was right under their feet. They stepped on it and walked over it repeatedly and they remained poor. Trapped under their feet was opportunity that would change their lives for ever, but they never saw it. To add the stint of luck to their case, at some point, the ground could not hold the abundance of natural gas trapped in it anymore, so the grounds gave up and the released gas by spontaneous reaction ignited. When these fishermen and their wives and children saw the fire, in their ignorance, they took it for a visitation from the gods and they bowed and worship. They worshipped the fire! Opportunity knocked them in the nose but they were NOT prepared for it.

Shell-BP saw the opportunity and was not slow to capture it by any means. Arguably, those were the days when, according to an African saying, the eyes were on the knees. Because the people of the Niger-Delta were not prepared for the opportunity to make money from crude oil, they folded their arms and watched, as outsiders made merchandise of their birthright. From 1958 when oil exploration began in Nigeria till date, people of the Niger-Delta are still waiting for the opportunity to breakthrough. They have repeatedly passed over opportunities and so remain poor! Because they lack preparation, they have failed to build their capacity in order to be able to seize the opportunity right under their feet and getaway from the shackles of poverty. Their fathers still wake up in the morning, send the children to cultivate their dead farmlands and fish on their polluted waters while they all wait for Shell, Chevron and their cohorts to provide employment (for their majorly unschooled children), good road, good water, and free money. They are still waiting for manna from the sky.

The earth is so vast in resources and by design, can never run out of same. Thus, there is always opportunity available to every man, woman, boy or girl to tap into. Life is fair enough, you can only become what you think and see of yourself. In other words, you can only be limited in life by your own imagination and drive. Yes, you can if you believe you can. You can, if you make efforts to do. Life is just, life is fair; it has made provision for each and every creature created to live on it. Therefore, our level of preparedness will determine whether we will recognise an opportunity if we see one. This also determines how far we will go to seize an opportunity and convert it if we found one.

Going through the biography of men who have shaken and are still shaking the world today i.e. people whom the world would almost unanimously describe as successful, I found that there is a common gene in their blood which makes them successful. They are desperate - desperate for a change in the status quo. It is this desperation that propels them in a forward thrust and brings them to a place of opportunity. This desperation creates alertness in their system to the extent that they recognise opportunity by the smell even before seeing it. Positive desperation gives us the edge and makes us go the extra mile in making things happen for ourselves and the people around us.

It is common for people who do not believe in this school of thought to pity themselves and make excuses for their inability to rise beyond their poverty line. Afterall, they have “tried”, they have a job that pays their bills while they moan and badmouth anyone who can afford what they cannot afford but can only wish. They either label them as thieves, fraudsters e.t.c or make excuses for them. Mr ABC is the son of Mr XYZ – he was born with a silver spoon in his mouth. I put it at such people that it does not take the brain of Einstein to know that unless Mr ABC allows that dominant gene of desperation inherited from his father to have an upper hand, he comes crumbling like a pack of cards – unfortunately, he does not go down alone, he goes with in most cases, everything that it took Mr XYZ (perhaps) a lifetime to build. The reality of vanity cannot be more real to him and his cohorts. Happenings in the family that owns the “Concord” brand in Nigeria is common knowledge (at least to Nigerians). I was an ardent reader of “The Concord” since I was seven before politics and improper management of the vision killed the brand. Concord airline was so popular; it was the Virgin Nigeria of their time. On the other hand, a Ladi Balogun is arguably the pride of any father. I don’t think I need to say much about this family and their place in the business world in today’s Nigeria.

Preparation I’d say comes with expectation and expectation (sometimes) gives birth to desperation (drive). Mix all these together, it will definitely drive you to the doorstep of opportunity and when you find one, you will find that you have a room for it in your world. Think about these as we head for the top cos I tell you, it’s hot down here! My geography teacher was right (at least for once); the higher you go, the cooler it becomes.

Stay tuned…

OPPORTUNITY

I was reading a book several years ago and a line caught my attention. The author wrote that “poverty is not a state of the pocket; it is a state of the mind – a sense of lack” This line with other facts and truths from this book and several other similar books changed my outlook to life from age 17. You may be tempted to laugh at and probably scorn an individual who just woke up to the real meaning of life at 17. But if you have an idea of where I’m coming from, that is a very early start at getaway worthy of emulation among my folks. The culture and atmosphere under which some people like me grew up never gave room for self-discovery or the knowledge that there’s actually a better life out there. Robert Kiyosaki did justice to his book, Rich Dad Poor Dad when he pointed that the difference between the rich and the poor is actually not their bank accounts; it is not in how large the estate of one is, compared to the other. It lies not in physical wealth or class. A difference in their mindsets makes all the difference.

Recently, a very dear friend invited me to read his blog. I noted that the (caption) right at the top of his page is the definition of the word “poor” He quoted an author as saying that the word poor actually means Passing Over Opportunities Repeatedly. Recognising the truth when I see or hear one, I immediately nodded in agreement; “true that, true that”… I absorbed this knowledge and it rested in my archive of knowledge I guess for a day such as this when I would have mulled over it sit back to chew the cud for your enjoyment and (probably) edification.

I’ve come to realise over time that most people never attain their desired success because they’re simply waiting for an opportunity to break through. They live on the cliché; “opportunity comes but once”. And day-in-day-out, they steadfastly lay wait for the opportunity which unfortunately will never come! From my friend’s definition which I’ve analysed and found from experience to be very true, opportunity actually never comes just once. In fact it never comes at all! Rather, we find opportunity (consciously or unconsciously) and seize it. It therefore means that every person actually has the potential to get several opportunities to “make it” in life no matter what your goals and/or pursuits are. His ability or inability to seize and convert at least one of them will determine his end. Contrary to general belief that opportunity comes looking for us, opportunity actually lays in wait and never moves. We (sometimes search for it) find it, recognise it and seize it! That is the simplest way to success and the making of a great man. “It is the glory of God to conceal a thing and the honour of kings is to search out a matter” Opportunities are like treasures. In fact, they are treasures and we have to find them in order to benefit from their potentials.

Wealth or riches never come on a platter of gold. We have to search for it to find it. Afterall, he who seeks shall find. And the good news is that opportunities are very fertile. Once you unlock one, it becomes a chain reaction and the process replicates itself (almost) endlessly. A critical mind would say “but what about people who are just lucky?” That is a valid argument and no doubt, luck has a role to play also in our pursuit of success. Another truth is that we all are born lucky - luck shines on all of us every moment of our lives. Luck shines on you when you capitalise on your ability to recognise an opportunity, capture it and convert it. A friend once gave a quote (I have never asked her for the source); she gave a formula for success as; “Opportunity + Preparedness = Success” This is the truth although it sounds scientific. The lucky man is he who is prepared for an opportunity. He does not live life by the law of chance. Therefore when he finds one, he is prepared to seize and convert it. The same is he whom the world would describe as lucky. It’s about being in the right place at the right time and knowing you are at the right place when you find yourself in one. According to Brian Tracey, in his lesson on Psychology of Achievement, one of the laws that govern the universe is the law of cause and effect. Nothing happens by chance. There is always a cause for any event. According to him, people with a positive mental attitude anticipate good things to happen to them before it happens. In other words, they see what they want and live like they already have it before it materialises. To me, that is being prepared.

To be continued. Stay tuned…