By Banji Alabi 

Let me start with a hard truth: poverty kills. It kills slowly; it kills dreams, ambition and generations. AIDS is devastating and we must keep fighting it. But poverty is worse off than AIDS, because while AIDS takes lives, poverty steals them slowly, taking away hope, dignity, joy, pride and the future.

Here’s the good news – poverty is not incurable. It can be cured the moment you discover your talent, develop it and commercialise it. AIDS has no cure yet, poverty does. And that cure is in your hands. Poverty is the disease that touches every home – every child who goes to bed hungry, every young person who graduates with fire in his/her head but no capital in their pocket. That is why I say to you today: this is a do-or-die affair, don’t give up the fight. Your talent is the weapon you already have. You don’t need to wait for government. You don’t need to wait for a miracle. You don’t need to wait for your brother, sister or uncle to mobilise and deploy it. You already carry the solution inside you – your talents.

Talent is not just singing or playing football. Talent is your ability to solve problems. Can you sing? Can you cook better than your neighbour? That’s talent. Can you fix phones, vehicles, furniture, homes, braid hair, fashion design, explain Math, design on canvas or sell anything to anybody? That is talent; discover it. Look at what people constantly ask you for help with. That is your clue. Poverty does not bow to complaints. It bows to skills. Sharpen it like your life depends on it, because it does. Raw talent is not enough. A rough diamond is just a stone, you must sharpen it.

Take free courses on your phone; watch YouTube at night; practice it daily. Ask for feedback. The person who beats poverty is not always the smartest in the room; it’s the most skilled people who refuse to give up on their goals and set objectives. In Lagos, nobody pays you for potential; they pay you for proof. Sharpen your skill until it is impossible to ignore.

Commercialise your skill by turning it into money. This is where the battle is won. Solving problems is good. Solve problems and commercialise; it is the ultimate! Stop begging; begging is self-defeat and lack of faith in your capacity. It can only undermine your destiny. Ask yourself: who has this problem and how much will they pay me to fix it. If you can bake, don’t just bake for family, start taking orders on WhatsApp. If you can write, don’t just write in your diary; offer to write proposals and Curriculum Vitae. If you can repair things, don’t wait in the shop, go where the broken things are.

Commercialising your talent means you stop begging for jobs and start creating them. You stop asking, “Who will help me?” and start saying, “I can help you.”

Final words: don’t give up the fight. Poverty wants you tired. It wants you to say, “It’s not my fault,” and fold your hands. But you are not here to fold; you are here to fight. Fight with your skill; fight with your sharpened mind; fight by turning what you know into what you sell. Age is never a barrier; age is mere numbers. This fight against poverty is do or die – not because we want to die, but because we refuse to live another day in defeat. Tell poverty, no retreat, no surrender. Discover your talent, sharpen it, commercialise it and start smiling to the bank.

Don’t give up on your dreams; keep your coat; lose your coat, but never lose your dreams because dreams are stubborn things. They don’t die when you are mocked. They don’t die when you are betrayed. They don’t even die when you are thrown into a pit. Be like Biblical Joseph. Joseph had a dream. God showed him the ending before he saw the beginning.

He saw himself in authority, his family bowing, his purpose fulfilled. And what did life do? Life tested if he really believed it. First, his brothers stripped him. They took his coat of many colours—the symbol of his father’s favour, his identity, his comfort. They threw him into a pit. They sold him as a slave. He lost his coat, but he didn’t lose his dream. Then Potiphar’s house – he rose again. Favour came, but temptation came too. He refused to compromise and it cost him. They took his reputation; they took his freedom; they threw him into prison. He lost his position, but he didn’t lose his dream.

Years passed, forgotten, overlooked, in a dungeon, with nothing but a promise from God and a memory of what could be. Most people would have quit. Most people would have said, “Maybe I heard wrong; maybe the dream was just pride.” But Joseph held on. He interpreted dreams for other people while his own dream looked dead. He served in prison like he was still in the palace, because he understood something: your circumstances can change without your assignment changing.

And then one morning, Pharaoh had a dream. And the boy who wouldn’t let go of his dream was the only one who could explain it. In one day—one day—he went from prison to prime minister, from chains to the signet ring, from forgotten to the second most powerful man in Egypt. Why? Because he held on!

So, here’s what you need to know: they can take your coat, but they can’t take your calling. People will strip you of titles, opportunities and relationships. Let them know, if God gave you the dream, He is the only one who can cancel it. The pit is not the end—it’s the process. Every setback is a set up. The prison was Joseph’s training ground for the palace. Your pain is preparing you for your platform.

Don’t shrink your dream to match your situation. Joseph was a slave, but he thought like a ruler. He was in prison, but he worked like he was in charge. Act like the dream is already true, because to God, it is.

Some of you are in the pit right now – betrayed, broke and confused. Some of you are in Potiphar’s house—doing the right thing and still being punished. Some of you are in prison—forgotten, delayed, asking “How long, God?” The same God who gave Joseph the dream is the God who gave you yours. And if He showed you the end, He will manage the middle.

You might lose your coat; you might lose your comfort; you might lose your timeline; but do not lose your dream, because the day is coming — and it may be closer than you think—when the door opens, when the call comes, when the pit turns into the palace. And they’ll ask, “How did you survive?” And you will say: “I gave up everything… except the dream.” So hold on. You will succeed. Not because it’s easy, but because you refused to quit.

• Alabi is the National Chairman of Ondo State Eminent Persons Group and Alternate Chairman Eti Osa branch of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA).