Know thyself
Not too long ago, my father put together his biography, and thankfully so too! Growing up as an adult, I did not really know anything about who I was or where I was coming from, neither was I interested in knowing to be honest. As far as I was concerned, I might as well have sprouted out like a maize plant from the ground.
I believe this was so because I was usually left to my whims and caprices as a kid. Nobody really tried to actively influence me per se, and I looked to books and literature around me to keep myself engaged. This led me to read whatever I could lay my hands on (whenever I wasn’t climbing guava trees in our neighbour's backyard).
Looking back to when I was a kid, I see now that the course of my life was significantly and divinely altered when my Mum brought a certain book home -The Terminal Man.
Once I got my first sci-fi hit, I couldn't help but delve into that world of fiction and fantasy. The cool thing about science fiction and fantasy are that it is usually written by futurists, who sometimes tell the reader about the future world that humans will live in. This ability to think without borders or be bound by reality is what I will consider my superpower, and probably the source of my hypomania.
The second major event that has divinely altered my trajectory in life was a bunch of LPs that my father had but strangely never listened to.
As a young teenager in our "rural mansion" in Ikotun, I would spend hours dancing and listening to the music of Fela till I was drenched in sweat from my head to my toes. I believe the seeds of "activism" were unconsciously sown in those sweat-filled moments. In an alternate reality, I guess you could say Fela’s music was sort of how I got my initial lessons on Nigeria’s military history.
The third encounter that would shape my life will no doubt be the 2008 financial crisis. As an entrepreneur at the time, this event exposed me for the first time to happenings outside of my “locale". It was my first baptism into the larger world of capitalism (and its side effects). Additionally, it stoked my interest in Economics, which was my first choice for studying at the University, before I was made to settle for the sciences.
The fourth divine moment was a sad one in 2011 when I lost my elder brother to kidney disease. This was a very mentally challenging moment for me, and I struggled to come to terms with what had transpired. (Looking back, I believe I should have gone for therapy to deal with the traumatic years that preceded his eventual passing).
Thankfully, I was divinely guided to read about life and its meaning through the Bible (and I still continue reading, as it does have some incredible insights into living, and perhaps the future of humanity).
The fifth encounter is actually an interesting one for me, as it came from a movie produced by Spike Lee and starred Denzel Washington - The biopic of Malcolm X.
If Fela’s music sowed the seeds of activism within me, then I can say Malcolm X’s story and philosophy (towards the end of his life) gave rain and sunshine to those seeds, and the voices of these great men give me strength and propel me forward towards the common objectives which all Africans (and Africans at heart) should be bound to in my humble opinion. A continent where 296 million people cannot open bank accounts because they do not have funds to operate them should not be acceptable in the same world where humans are planning to visit Mars, or extend our realities in a metaverse. Some things should just not be.
As humans, it is perfectly natural to seek to live our best lives in whatever way we deem fit, but as a human born on the African continent or with ties to the continent, there is an urgent need to self-assess as to the reason why the Universe formed you. I will end this with a piece of advice from the great beyond, and a quote from the Bible.
Every race has a reason to be born… and when an African doesn’t want to understand or participate in the reason why he was born, then he becomes a failure ~ Fela Kuti
He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God and he shall be My son. But the "cowardly", unbelieving, abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death ~ Revelation 21:7-8
Selah.
