by Demola Rewaju

In life, people tend to remember those who hurt them than those who are nice to them but that should never be a deterrent. I like to celebrate others also and hope it makes them feel special – when you know what it feels like to be celebrated, you can’t but celebrate others and hope they feel special whenever you do.

I’m a huge fan of Inspiration Radio 92.3 FM where I’ve featured a couple of times on one of their Saturday morning political programmes. They’ve got great presenters and programmes centred around inspiring a whole generation to greater heights.

So it was on Wednesday around midday that I tuned in to the station and caught Artquake in the studio. You would be forgiven if you don’t quite remember them but at some point they were somewhat a force in the music industry, reminiscent to me of the American hip hop duo, Naughty by Nature or KrissKross – you’ll be forgiven if you don’t know those too but let’s move on if you please.

Anyway, Artquake told two powerful stories – one of how they went for a show in Ibadan some years back and were lodged at an hotel where Ice-K (one of the duo) gave some cash as change to one of the cleaners working in the hotel. Few years after, Ice-K went to the airport to pick up Adex who was returning from America and met the ‘cleaner’ from years back returning from London with his family. The guy now had his own hotel in Ibadan and remember this artiste who had once being nice to him and he invited both to stay over at his hotel anytime they are in the city of Ibadan.

The second story according to them happened in 2006 when they were on tour with other established artistes and some upcoming ones courtesy a telecommunications company. The main person in charge of the event had a particular habit of ‘forgetting’ one of the upcoming artistes and leaving him behind at the hotel whenever he took the established acts out to have breakfast, lunch or dinner and Adex would call the upcoming act after protesting to the organising personnel and insist on buying takeaway food for the act. By 2007, the upcoming act had come up and was a major artiste in the country.

I can’t emphasise this enough: be nice to people. Look, you can know where a person is coming from or where they are but you do not know where they’re going. Maybe because of my early exposure to the interdependence of people via politics or my late father’s large heart, I grew up developing an attitude of being nice to people regardless of who they are or how they look.

It’s much more easily said than done but I’ve lived most of my adult life around this philosophy and this year more than before, I feel it will make a difference in my life and that of anyone who reads this blog. I’ve seen twenty-three votes make a difference in an election. I’ve seen four votes make a winner in an election and I have seen one single vote determine the outcome of an election. Being nice to one person can make a difference in the life of that person and in your own life.

It costs little to be nice or to treat others well – a kind word, a handshake, a hug at the end of the day, or even just a smile of acknowledgement. Being nice is usually its own reward – I feel good when I remember some acts of kindness I did. I remember an elderly woman I gave money to who wouldn’t stop praying for me until a small crowd started staring at us. A boy who came to serve at an event is one of my protégés today and he is surely going places because I took time to encourage him even though he was out the down and out when I first met him. It’s a feeling I enjoy and hope to savour for the rest of my life as I find other opportunities to be nice to others.

You don’t have to be great to do great things because greatness is a matter of perception. In your quest to have millions and give big gifts to orphans or sick people, some loose change can make a difference in the life of others you come across everyday. You do not need to be a millionaire to make an impact on the lives of those who are having a hard time with NGN100 for transport fare.

In life, people tend to remember those who hurt them than those who are nice to them but that should never be a deterrent. I like to celebrate others also and hope it makes them feel special – when you know what it feels like to be celebrated, you can’t but celebrate others and hope they feel special whenever you do. The reward of treating others rightly is that you come across niceness even if you never see the person you were nice to ever again.

As for Artquake – they’re pretty decent guys and I wish them greater success in future than they’ve had in the past.

As for you – thanks for bothering to read and hope this piece was worth your time this Monday morning . If it was, do share it with your friends on Facebook or Twitter. If it wasn’t – follow me on Twitter @DemolaRewaju and let me know. Whatever it is, let’s all try and have a splendid week, no matter what happens.

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Op-ed pieces and contributions are the opinions of the writers only and do not represent the opinions of Y!/YNaija.