by Japheth Omojuwa

Some friends say being open to help so many people I don’t know will always come to cost me – it has – but who would I be without the support of the many people out there who have never met me yet root for me? It is a give and take and I will always be willing to give. It takes God’s grace to be in these shoes.

I have never had a better last year but even that reality cannot capture my extraordinary journey through the year 2013. It has been the stuff of dreams. Starting from my first event in Abuja, to gracing platforms in England, several top-notch conferences and panels in Europe, Africa and the United States, being a panelist at the World Economic Forum and at the United Nations, writing several columns from The Punch Newspapers to Metropole Magazine, this column and several other ones on International platforms, the many awards and nominations, the several opportunities to be of help to others and the sheer un-believability that comes with knowing all of these happened in one year has been humbling.

There were several lows too but each one came with very crucial life lessons that will be essential for the much more important years ahead. Living this life has taken courage, persistence, insistence on one’s values and beliefs, God’s extraordinary grace and favour and the support of friends and family. Some friends say being open to help so many people I don’t know will always come to cost me – it has – but who would I be without the support of the many people out there who have never met me yet root for me? It is a give and take and I will always be willing to give. It takes God’s grace to be in these shoes.

I have always felt that life would be meaningless and success useless, if we forget those with us without the means to even feed, let alone have the extra to do other things. I think that as a people we can do much more for the underprivileged in the society. That is one of the reasons I have always been about using my platforms to crowd-source support for such people. It is always a tough task because Nigeria is a place where it is always risky to do good. It is almost as though those who dare to remember the poor and needy are the problem. It is such a difficult conundrum for me because I have always felt that outside of government, we can still do a lot to help one another.

Keeping up with all my columns has been a tough task but I met each and every demand on that front. This particular Frontpage column has been running since March 2012. It is the oldest running column on the Frontpage series. I will take a break and will look to resume the column in February. It has been a privilege to have some of you read me week in and week out. Thank you.

It will always be difficult to succeed in Nigeria but it will never be impossible to. I have since found out that your greatest adversary is not the government but the very people you’d assume are your friends who should cheer you on because in your head, you cheer them too. It hasn’t always been like that based on my experience. There are really no friends until the troubled times come. The ones who take a stand for you, who take the shots for you, who help you to rise when you stumble are your real friends.

Never forget this; you don’t know who your friends are until you are in need of friendship to help you from sinking. Until you are in need of that ship, don’t assume too much about friendship.

More than anything else, my greatest lesson from 2013 will be my hard lessons on friendship. You will always want things to go well for you but please trust me when I say as long as things are going well for you, you will never truly get a chance to know your true friends. Through all your glories, I wish you a bad patch or several bad patches. This is when you see the true colours of humanity; the colours of love from those you thought never cared and the shocking colours of hatred from those you thought had your back.

My dear, it is life and it is what it is. Sometimes we assume some have had it easy but we only need to ask them a few questions, only then will we know that the blossoming beautiful rose had to survive the weight of a hard soil and an unyielding concrete.

From the bottom of my heart, I wish you a Merry Christmas and a prosperous and fulfilling 2014. I really wish for you to succeed more than anything else. I am glad it is in your own hands. See you in February.

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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.