What Do I Know?

Anywhere I go I seem to subconsciously observe a lot, like I said ‘subconsciously’...so my writing this is in no way trying to make myself look wise or overly sensible. I believe that wisdom is in perspective, a quality seen in us by other people we come across daily.
Now talking about wisdom, we have all heard time and time again that saying, “What an old man will see sitting down, a child will not see standing straight up” (Nigerian Proverb). Well I guess I do agree just a little bit with this sentiment because wisdom does actually come with experience and experience with age. Now this is my opinion on this; because this statement subscribes to an unproven fact regarding wisdom as being a quality associated with old age, there is a lot of bias regarding the intelligence and/or intuition of a young man/woman acting on his guts. Why you may ask? It is because anytime an adolescent or young adult does/says something that does not resonate well with the elderly person’s perspective of the world, even if it is logically and realistically correct, that seemingly logical thing gets tagged as wrong. Our world is in a constant state of evolution and change; meaning our values, morals, ethics and every other social vice never stays the same way over an extended period of time, right? But what do I know...
Quite a large number of people have been made to believe the best and most fail-safe way to becoming wealthy, rich or successful results from praying and fighting against the vices of imaginary enemies. Ok, so yes there will always be enemies around you and not everyone will like you even when you are good to them. The thing is I believe that the more enemies there are around you, the more influential and powerful you seem. In fact if you don’t have enemies in your life, you’re really not a big deal and that’s just the way it is. Praying for death and ill-will on your enemies only makes you bitter inside and that is not healthy, plus if that was the best way to treat enemies, it would have been written somewhere in the bible, right? Does this kind of antagonizing prayer not contradict the bible passage that says, “Pray for those who hurt you and do good to them that persecute you”? But what do I know...

(In a speech delivered by Abraham Lincoln at the height of the American Civil War, he referred to the southerners as fellow human beings who were in error. An elderly woman chastised him for not calling them irreconcilable enemies who must be destroyed. “Why, madam,” Lincoln replied, “Do I not destroy my enemies when I make them my friends?”)


“Government is for the people and by the people.” This statement has been said countless times and still, it never gets old. Very few of us will have something good to say about our government and rightly so because there’s really not much good to be said. So you did that road, built that school, even trained a few indigenous people in professional fields but what matters in the end is, was there meaningful change? The answer to that question could be maybe or maybe not, but i have learnt from experience not to take anything about the government at face value. I’m not even going to talk much on this issue before someone somewhere uses me as a scapegoat for my troubles, right? But what do I know...
Education is the bed-rock of all societies. It is now common knowledge that Nigerian university degrees have very little relevance in the world global market-place. Why is that you may ask? I’m sure everyone also has an answer to this but here is my candid opinion, “They are just too damn much.” I’m not saying this is not a good thing but you see, I’d rather there be infrastructural and content improvement in a few existing schools than racking up so many that lack in quality. That being said, for a country like ours, the tertiary educational system should pride itself on quality assessment and not quantity survey. Why can’t the number of tertiary institutions present in a Geo-political zone be limited to a maximum of five? A university, a technical institution, a college of education, another state-run university and one scientific research institute, right? But what do I know...
A Congregation of saints... Doesn’t this phrase sound a little too good to be true? Ok, maybe it just is to me but that said, I’ve come to understand that phrases and statements used to qualify a group of people is almost usually never true to each person in that group, meaning not a lot of members in that congregation might actually be saint-ish. So you went to that Sunday service and you got pissed (Note: I used pissed, the least form of anger), because someone did not look at you right, or did not say hello to you, or did not socialize with you after the Sunday service, or did not say congratulations to you on your thanksgiving... oh my, this list can go on and on but you all get the point. So you got pissed, right? Well here’s my question, “What was your exact reason for going to church on that Sunday? I’m sure you know the answer, right? But me, what do I know...
I know I am a good looking guy. Yes I said it! Now I know some are already judging and concluding that I may just be the biggest narcissist they ever came across. In fact, maybe some are already wondering how arrogant I must be for mentioning it at all. That said, it is completely normal and perhaps even right for people to think that way. A lot of cute-faced guys and girls are going to share in this sentiment with me, the sentiment that predominantly emanates from the fact that the way they look is almost always used as an axis for the criticism of the characters (good or bad) that they exhibit. I’ll give an example, “You walk into a place (could be anywhere really), and you did not acknowledge the presence of the people in that place when you walked in, probably maybe because you were so lost in your head thinking about something really important and you just did not feel like saying hi, right?” Well I bet you, almost everyone present in that place who noticed you come in or through and expected you notice them as well, automatically concludes, “Oh, this person is just so full of himself.”
Now, let me twist this one scenario two ways for you readers, “You’re at a party, the song just came on and everyone is asked to come on the dance floor, but you’re tired so you sat back, right?” This might just be the opinion of the more energetic individuals at the party, “Look at him/her, just sitting there acting aloof and uninterested, so arrogant.”
Now here’s the twist: “same scenario”, right? But this time you actually got up there on the dance floor and you rocked it. In fact, you rocked it so good that everyone else started looking bad, right? Well this becomes their opinion, “Just Look at him/her acting like they own the place, in other words, showing off.”

This is my opinion, “When you have a pretty face regardless of gender, there are two conclusions most people will have of you. First, a shy good looking person is always seen as aloof hence arrogant. Second, an expressive good looking person who struts around comfortably will be seen as a show-off.” Thing is, as the good looking person you are, you should already know you will attract attention quite a lot based on your looks so just deal with it already. Be yourself and don’t give a nickel’s damn of what others might think about your actions, in-actions and reactions, right? But what do I know...