by Nwokolo Chinwuba

   “The tragedy of the human person owes a large portion to erroneous philosophies.” 

Beyond the grim face of the hungry child adorning the street like a stain on nature’s linen, I see hope. Beyond the gruffly looking youth, face furrowed and skin infested by dots of infection all wrought  by hard times and cruel environment, I see a reason to believe; A reason to trust, to aspire, to expect the rise of yet another day’s sun. Definitely, this is no groundless dream wrought by a desire to hold on to something; anything. It is a dream borne out of the audacity of hope.

Nature in its very essence is fluid; maintaining equilibrium per se, by constant change to balance external influences while at the same time accomplishing a dialectical motion towards perfection. But the human environment started its calvary match to the death,when men began to exploit the very core of nature’s personality with neither fear nor regard for her sacredness. Like evil children, men drank her milk and bit her breast till blood took the place of milk; where once love lay came bitterness. Where there was tenderness, there came anomaly. Day by day we let open, not just few, but countless trails of Pandora’s boxes such that the world has become peopled by mummified despair in locomotion.

However, the miracle is that in spite of these mucorous decay, our real nature; that part that remains when everything has been razed to the ground, that inside that radiates in the deep vortex of the fallen man, still remains untouched. Our journey to this golden inside, this fabulous land of marvellous existential renaissance will start from the mind, the birth place where the problem started a long time ago. And the first question is, what do we believe? The tragedy of the human person owes a large portion to erroneous philosophies. The first philosophy which we need to get inside us is, ‘we are capable of anything, we are capable of everything’. I never used to believe this because it gave me the  impression of the deification of the human person till I learnt from Christ himself that we are gods and that with just a little faith – and believe me the faith is really little – we are capable of achieving anything even the most grotesque. We could tell a mountain to leave its place of fixture to the murky bottoms of the sea, and it will of all things obey us. Our circumstances are a reflection of our inability to realise that we are just capable of standing up and walking away, and believe me, no matter how cloudy the road seems, for every step we take, the road becomes clearer.

Still working on the mind, which is the determinant of our future, it will be appropriate to introduce the importance of information. We need sufficient information to turn our poverty stricken streets into an arena of opportunity. One way to do this is to learn how to SAVE. The problem with the world is a gross inability to build for the future. There is this anxiety to satisfy the now without little thought for approaching the future. In Nigeria, for example, even a beggar is capable of making N100 find its way into his pocket but the problem with the beggar is not that he is a beggar but that he thinks like a beggar. This is because a hypothetical beggar who does not think like a beggar and goes on to save N10 every day would have saved up to N3650 in a year. Assuming that our hypothetical beggar has information about the stock market, he could buy N3650 worth of stock which in the next five years, with continuous information regarding the stock market and adequate action, would have multiplied unrecognisably. It is not just in wealth production that we need information but in every sphere of our lives. Information forms the basis for survival.

The truth is most people tend to anticipate the future with fear and anxiety. Can we really add a cubit to our lives by worrying? Of course not. Rather, we get our lives shortened by great length in doing so. The best way to conquer our fear is to face it. Let us face the future with a changed mind-set and the right philosophy coupled with an arsenal of relevant information. Then we shall behold a wide vista of opportunity in every single step we take, we can build a legendary future wrought by the very arm of love, unity and hope.

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Nwokolo Chinwuba is a young man in his penultimate year at the university. When he isn’t busy in the laboratory, he tries to make meaning out of nature and its happenings; putting his ideas into words.

 30 Days, 30 Voices series is an opportunity for young Nigerians from across the world to share their stories and experiences – creating a meeting point where our common humanity is explored.

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