by Adedayo Ademuwagun
Andre was only 13 when his father sent him to a tennis academy in Florida to spend three months. After watching him play briefly, the coach told his father to take his money back and let him train the boy for free because he thought the boy was the most talented kid he had ever seen. The boy went on to become arguably the greatest tennis player who ever lived. His name is Andre Agassi.
Like Agassi, most people who turn out to be among the greatest in the world are those who take up a career based on their natural ability. First they first discover they’re really good at something. Then they develop the talent. Then they put the talent to work, and then the talent produces big results. This is how things basically worked out for most of the greatest people in the world today, from Usain Bolt to Stephen Hawking and Naomi Campbell.
Nigeria turned 54 as an independent nation recently, and a lot of Nigerians feel very proud about the abundance of talent in the country. However, there’s virtually no Nigerian anywhere in the world who is among the greatest in sports, science, art — or any major field at all. Why is that?
One reason may be that certain factors are preventing gifted young Nigerians from reaching their potential.
Yakub was a gifted football player when he was in secondary school in 2004. He was a bright student, but what he really wanted to do in life was play football and his big dream was to play for the Super Eagles at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. But while the Super Eagles struggled in South Africa, Yakub was studying law at the University of Port Harcourt.
Today he recalls, “As I watched our first match on TV that day, I thought, this is what I wanted to do. This is where I dreamed of being, but I wasn’t there. So I thought maybe that’s not where God wanted me to be. Maybe God didn’t want me to be a footballer. So I was thankful that at least I wasn’t on the street. I was in university and on course to becoming a lawyer. So that was quite gratifying for me.
“Well, maybe I would have made it after all if my parents had supported me and given me a chance. But my parents didn’t want me to play football. Maybe they didn’t see my potential or they didn’t see THE potential.”
That’s often the issue. Many parents notice that their child has a knack for something. The child likes to play around with the gadgets in the house or she beats everyone in the school inter-house sports competition. But the parents don’t SEE the potential. They don’t see how that quality could make this child great if it’s developed and put to good use. So most kids grow up without really figuring out what their talents are and without the parental support that would have propelled them to develop those talents.
Uche has four kids. He says, “Parents are a lot busy these days. Everyone’s concerned about how to provide for the kids, pay the bills and make sure they’re in school. A lot of us believe that when we clothe and feed the child and send them to school, we’re done. As long as the child is healthy, happy, and is doing okay in school and at home, there’s nothing to worry about anymore.
“However, I know I should be paying more attention to discover what talents my kids have and I understand that most of us parents don’t really pay attention to this part of our children’s lives — and this is not good.”
Young people try to find their path in life as they grow up, and when they find something they’re really good at and enjoy doing, they try to develop it on their own. But most parents already have a picture of what they think their child should do in life, based on what they think is best for the child in terms of job prospects, prestige and societal expectations. So it’s often the parent who either lets or influences the child to pick a career that doesn’t align well with their talent. Even though parents often do this with good intentions, it doesn’t often produce the best results.
Young people are culpable too because they don’t determine strongly enough to be among the best in the world and put in the right amount of work to achieve it no matter what. They’re content with having a nice job, living in a nice part of town, having some money in the bank and all that kind of stuff. They may say they want to be great, but they don’t have the mindset for greatness, and people usually don’t become great like that.
The environment also contributes to this problem. People in the environment learn from experience that the society doesn’t favour creativity and reward talent. So they don’t feel motivated to work so well on that talent of theirs that could lift them to the highest level.
Some people are doing a job today, too, not because it’s really what they wanted to do, but because that’s just the way things have turned out for them. So they don’t have the zeal to get to the top level.
Nancy read microbiology and works in a bank in Lagos today. She says, “I don’t have any big ambition in either banking or microbiology because I didn’t originally choose to read microbiology or go into banking. Microbiology was the course they gave me in school, and you know how admission issues work in this country. People feel the best thing is to take whatever course you’re offered and try to make the best of it. Then when I finished school and began to look for a job, the bank offered me the best pay. That’s what happened.
“I actually wanted to act. As a child I used to excel in church and school plays. But, well, today I’m doing fine. I have a good job and I’m comfortable. So that’s just the way it is.”
Some people are passionate and ambitious about their talent, but because of their location or their financial circumstances, they don’t get access to facilities that can facilitate the development of their gift and the people who can help them get up. This constitutes a very huge limitation for many young, gifted Nigerians.
Many countries in the world take talent discovery and development very seriously, and they have strong programmes and institutions that create opportunities to prepare young talents for the top level. However, there aren’t as many adequate programmes and institutions for young people in Nigeria aspiring to be the best in the world through using their talent. A consequence of all these systemic problems is that Nigeria is lagging far behind on a global level in nearly every field despite its enormous potential, and some people are concerned that this trend might continue for a long time.
