In 1986, my good friend, Murphy Gbadamosi and I, went
to Hawksworth Road in Ikoyi to buy JAMB form. As soon as we boarded a taxi at
Obalende and headed towards the Federal Secretariat at Alagbon axis, I was
amazed by what I saw.
Ikoyi was not overcrowded and noisy like Agege where I
came from – even the breeze blowing there was like ‘an answered prayer.’ The joy beaming on the faces of the people was
extraordinary if compared with the
ghetto’s – and their smiles were contagious. The elegance of their gaits
was welcoming and the simplicity of their lifestyle was worth emulating.
Wow! I loved every detail of my findings. “Who are the
people living here?” I asked. I discovered they were neither monsters (because they did not have more heads or limbs
than those in my neighbourhood) nor were they angels (because they had no wings); they were purely human-beings like
those I’d met every day of my life.
Then, why were they so different from those in my
neighbourhood? I asked again. They belonged to the power bloc; the movers and
shakers, people of timber and calibre, crème-de-la-crème of the society, the
civilised and educated, the elites and affluent, and probably the richest and influencers
of Nigerian commerce and industry.
Then, I asked myself the following questions:
· Why are we not living in a
place like this?
I wanted to live in a
place like Ikoyi.
· What can I do to reside in
a place like this?
I was willing to pay the
expected price.
· What is the secret of
these people living here?
I wish to be among them.
· Are there any special
qualifications to reside in a community like this?
I cannot afford to leave
anything to chance.
Over time, I discovered a lot about the exotic people
of the highbrow. I knew so much about their glamorous lifestyles. I coveted
their associations, desired their companies and after several years of
learning, working, serving, watching and growing, I found several other areas
that ranked in the class of Ikoyi and met arrays of men and women in the category
of Ikoyi residents and I have discovered a simple fact that I have been living
with all my life and everywhere I have gone – which is;
From Oregun to Oregon … from Isolo to Oslo … whether
in Banjul or Berlin,
Ecuador or Equatorial Guinea, Mushin or Mississippi … the fact remains the same: No community developed
on its own; the people with DEVELOPED MIND living in a community are the ones
that add value to their communities.
How? If people with
ghetto mind are relocated to a highbrow area without proper orientations, they will, within a twinkle of an eye, convert
the once beautiful environment to a dirty slum - and if the people with proper
orientations living in a highbrow area are relocated to a slum, they will
within a short time renovate the once
dirty environment into a prim and proper, serene, exotic and expensive estate.
Why? Their mind-sets – and
that's the more reason why some areas are cities and others are towns or villages … and countries are rated as developed, developing and under-developed – not because of the availability or
non-availability of natural endowments but
because they have different
priorities.
Is
your community or country developed? THE DEVELOPMENT OF YOUR COMMUNITY BEGINS
WITH YOU … If you move around, you will discover how nobodies became somebodies and you will move from nowhere to somewhere.
