As a nation, we have never been more aware of the power we wield as a people. As its people, we have never been more aware of the great dispensational change that has come. By this, I do not necessarily mean the change in party-led government as witnessed by the country: I mean a dispensation of consciousness where we, as a people, are alive to our ability to craft a new Nigerian Ethos by which we all shall live and be identified.

In the book “Our Iceberg is Melting,” the story is told of a pack of penguins, whose Iceberg (their home) was melting. They would not have found this out but for one of the penguins, who had an annoying habit of going off by himself to ponder the state of the iceberg. What he found were cracks and fissures that would eventually lead to the total fragmentation and eventual melting of their home.

These cracks were not visible on the surface but in the deep, dangerous part of the sea where a particular breed of Penguin eaters liked to stroll by. As he was more of a look and ponder person, he knew he could not do much; so he reported it to one of the Elders-in-Council who had a reputation for getting people to get things done. She was skeptical at first, but swam with him to those hollow depths to see for herself and what she saw alarmed her.

It is very important to mention that the point we are in as a country did not happen by accident: The state of Nigeria is a function of very deliberateness. There is no need to rehash what we are going through as a people; we live it every day. What I wish us to think about is a re-purposing: to bring the Nigeria Agenda to dignity and worth. Democracy is not an event that happens every four years. It is a lifestyle. It is how we choose to live and be governed as a people.

It is very important to mention that the point we are in as a country did not happen by accident: The state of Nigeria is a function of very deliberateness. There is no need to rehash what we are going through as a people; we live it every day. What I wish us to think about is a re-purposing: to bring the Nigeria Agenda to dignity and worth. Democracy is not an event that happens every four years. It is a lifestyle. It is how we choose to live and be governed as a people.

It therefore goes to reason that any effort to be made in creating seismic upheavals of the perverted and inhumane norm, and move from a people of fragmented alliances, to people who birth values in others, must equally be conscious and deliberate. These are methods which other than perpetuate the past, would be design systems that create the future. This is not intended to whip us into “a-this-is-what-is-wrong-with-our-country-routine” or an “Occupy Nigeria” frenzy. He who does not reason has no depth. Change must move from the position of reflection, quietness, confidence and self-government. As Helena Blavastsky asked, “Are we to cease being lovers of wisdom because we must act?”

Preparing to lead is no overnight feat. It begins with self-discovery and the discovery of purpose. What is your idea of the meaning of life because that is what you live every day? Are our minds replete with shallow goals that keep us so preoccupied from doing anything of significance? Whatever emanates from you has life and the capacity to reproduce after itself. Consider every facet of our country; from politics to entertainment, to education, to religion; can’t you tell what we as a people have been thinking?

A new reality must emerge; if not, there is no hope. If we project new thoughts, new realities would materialise. If these new realities do not promote life and bring back dignity to man, it is the perversion which we seek to expunge, not an innovation. What remains to be asked then is this, have you taken an audit of your mental resources lately?

Most people want to lead, but you cannot be a leader if you have no heart for humanity. We are in a world that interprets price and recognition on looks, position and possession. A world in which a person’s values equal how they function in advancing our individual goals. We are experiencing a moral numbness. Is it therefore any wonder how impersonal and consequently lifeless some of us have become?

Each time you take advantage of someone, you have devalued the person. We are all guilty of this: Governments, institutions and individuals; we are a perpetuation of selfishness and singular reasoning. It is futile to hope that those we have cheated won’t come after us, one way or the other. To lead is to master the times and own it; to be free from the dictates and reasoning of popular culture when it does not befit humanity and to obey the law of conscience.

Position does not make a leader. You may bear the title of office, but not the calling. This would be known by the kind of fruits you bear. The man to whom it is not given cannot bring the change that is to come. If you do not have what it takes you cannot deliver. You simply cannot give what you do not have; you only become a stumbling block, which would be removed.

We are at the age called, “fullness of time”; where Nigeria shall vomit all that has swelled her up with carnal obesity; where legalistic views are no longer sustainable, but where we live by a renewed fundamental spirit of economy; which means that to be blessed is to be a blessing to others.

Each time you take advantage of someone, you have devalued the person. We are all guilty of this: Governments, institutions and individuals; we are a perpetuation of selfishness and singular reasoning. It is futile to hope that those we have cheated won’t come after us, one way or the other. To lead is to master the times and own it; to be free from the dictates and reasoning of popular culture when it does not befit humanity and to obey the law of conscience.

No vision starts with perfection. The penguins in the story faced a lot of challenges in convincing others of the dangers, particularly as the ground above seemed quite sturdy. This included the Penguin in charge of Metrological forecasts, who should have been the first person to know. He was the one, however, who kept insisting that all was well. It took a penguin that nobody knew and considered a social misfit who found out and warned of the impending doom to their home. The voices of those who were unwilling to give up the old order, and those who had gained from consistently preying on the ignorance, weakness and complacency of the penguin citizenry were eventually drowned.

It was agreed that a group of penguins set out on an expedition to find them a new home. Not only did they move to a new iceberg eventually, but they found better and far more accommodating ones. They learnt never to stay at a place for too long, to explore new icebergs, and to give up icebergs when they found they were wrong.

As Eric Hoffer said, “in times of great change, the learners inherit the earth while the learned find themselves beautifully equipped to live in a world that no longer exists.” The old order dictated by human greed, impulsiveness and ambition is being expunged. The right way is not in the books; it’s in the heart and is available for anyone who chooses to walk in them. The question is, will you?
• Adeluwoye, 30, lives in Lagos.
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