On April 11, 2015, the day of the election that saw 72-year-old Muhammad Buhari to Aso Rock, this country of mine, Nigeria, woefully failed me. For once, I took things very personally. In fact, it was so serious that it cost me my patriotism. That day, I was forced to arrive at the conclusion that I wasn’t worth much – or nothing – to Nigeria, and I lost every faith I used to have in her. From thenceforth, I was left with just one piece of faith: God’s. Thereafter, the most I could do for Nigeria was commend her to God who now had every bit of my faith.

What must have happened, you may already be wondering. Let me attempt a narrative. First of all, it was quite a day; a day I’d thought was possibly my last. As a national youth servant, I was conscripted into the INEC and assigned to play presiding officer to one of the many polling units of my local government of NYSC posting. In a bid to contributing my quota to the success of the polls, I gave my best to the 3-day training and refresher course (after the postponement of the election). In this same spirit, I promptly reported to the RAC in the evening of election eve as they’d instructed, and by past midnight was called up to claim the election materials for my polling unit; I did, too. In fact, I didn’t just comply with all their demands, but did so with all enthusiasm and alacrity.

However, dawn dawned on me with the first shocker: the policeman attached to my unit was both old and uncultured, and the civil defense officer assigned to support him didn’t show up. And then I complained, but was convinced to move on while he joined us. Although this scratched my enthusiasm some bit, I was still enthusiastic enough to move on. I believed them; my first mistake. The long and short of it all was that when it was really big trouble time (arising from: the drunkenness and carefree lips of my only ‘gun-less’ policeman, ‘PDP-APC’ loyalists’ clash, youth restiveness and the general atmosphere of unruly behavior), I called all those worth calling and no help came. They were reachable, but they kept promising and lying; the D.P.O., S.P.O., head of civil defense were all making the same promises and telling similar lies. It was really that really bad. And so, I was left with one last option: run for your dear life. But where could I even run to; it was their domain, and I knew next to nowhere. THEN CAME JESUS to the rescue after I said a short prayer for help. Like under a spell, indicative of prayer promptly answered, the locals just came to like me and started complying with all my instructions.

Ever since then, I’ve been unconsciously careless about so many things going on in this country. I’ve even been very much critical about Buhari’s change mantra. For me, it’s his business, and I often accuse him of been hypocritical – to a fault. I’d lost faith in Nigeria and that’s it! However, Thursday, February 18, 2016, became my turning point. On this day, I listened to Dr. Emmanuel Ibe Kachikwu, Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, UNN’s 45th convocation lecturer, shed some light on his personality, convictions, and his outstanding innovations at NNPC. It made all the difference to me because here was my fellow countryman who didn’t think this country owes him anything but vehemently believes he owed himself the duty of being the best of whatever he does. Kachikwu said he is driven by legacy and not by amassment of wealth, which would obviously be nowhere when he’s dead. Dramatically, he swore that he can only do the right thing on his job.

To say the least, Kachikwu is something else. I just sat there and watched him shed his light of excellence on me. I just sat there and watched him give me a thousand and one reasons why I should not give only my best but my all to every worthy cause. While I watched him do and say all these to me, even patriotism began to germinate and grow within me. More so, having bagged his first degree from same university as me, UNN, tells me even more: excellence is not optional for me.

Finally, those that were at UNN’s Princess Alexandria Auditorium while Kachikwu spoke know what I’m talking about. Those that saw it live on national television know what I’m talking about.

Yes, we have been here for too long. It is time to move. Whether we fly, run, walk or crawl, what’s important is the fact that we are moving. That we move is not just right and just, it is our duty and our salvation. From where to where, you may ask? The answer is simple enough: from poverty to prosperity; from lack to plenty; from sickness to health. Indeed, from grass to grace. Now, I can already assure you that we have all it takes to embark upon this journey and to reach our destination.

I once read a good book. It is such a book that every human being should read. The book is both simple and short. Who moved my Cheese? That’s the name! By Dr. Spencer Johnson. It is the story of four creatures and how they reacted to change. Change is the word. Everything does not only changes; everything always changes. Things keep moving. And the man who refuses to change or move along with the trend of time is bound to perish. This is a fact.

The way businesses are run, for instance, have not only changed but keeps changing. The way marriage is contracted and family is run have not only changed but keeps changing. The economy of nations keeps going up and down; boom today, recession tomorrow. New approaches to conflict resolution have emerged; management experts keep uncovering new ways of handling and motivating people. In one word, the philosopher Heraclitus concluded from his observations that everything is in flux (continuous change).

Aligning oneself with change is the answer. Not holding unto things. Not been conservative to a fault. In fact, we must stop playing old-school. Why? Because what worked yesterday may not work ever again. Yesterday, for instance, the whole world believed that the sun revolved around the earth until Galileo came up to prove otherwise. What was the implication? The whole of astronomy was rebuilt.

Let’s be practical a bit. In the marriage of time past, the wife of the house was strictly a sex machine and a children-making factory. As long as she was available for sex and could make as many children as needed to till the farm, she was a great wife. But now, any family that tries that must crumble. Because now, more than ever, wives must also work to augment the man’s monthly takehome. And she must not convert all the eggs in her system to children because the cost of training one child from 0 to 21 years is now something else. And should the man die leaving little or nothing behind, the idle wife could turn to prostitution, with the hungry children becoming slaves  to uncles and aunts and ndi na cho boy. Seen thus, are many married people getting it right? I am not sure. I am just not sure.

As I was saying, things always change. And we must also always change by positively adapting ourselves to the trend of time, so as to end on the sunny side of life. If we fail to do this, then poverty is inevitable.

And I like to reintroduce us to Christ. He is the reason why we have not crashed, and the earlier we took Him personal the better for us. It is His will that we prosper and be in good health, even as our souls also prosper. And the only place to find God is the Bible. He tells Joshua that prosperity and good success depends on constant reading, meditation, and doing the Word (cf. Joshua 1:8). Please, we shouldn’t wait for God to shake us up before we seek Him. About our bad habits, the Word of God will help us know who exactly we are and help us make amends.

God’s will for us is prosperity. So, lets get up, leave this place and go get it. Yes, we can, by His amazing grace.

The medical personnel that attended to me is also a very good friend of mine, and since it’s been like forever I last saw him, our encounter was more of a reunion than for the medical concern that took me there. The long and short of this introduction is that the 10 minutes for which I waited for him (he was away attending to another concern before I showed up) proved to be invaluable. Unlike the burial episode, I’d my writing pad this time. In those 10 minutes, the following realizations dawned on me:

1. We must be continually thankful. UNTH is quite a massive complex, sitting atop hundreds of acres of Fr. Mbakas Ituku-Ozala. Quite massive I must repeat, housing, as it were, many departments/clinics, ranging from UNN’s Faculty of Medicine and Surgery and Dentistry, eye clinic, ENT (ear, nose, and throat), dental clinic, cardiotherapy, etc. Guess what? Everywhere was packed full with thousands of people, many of whom were sick, some of whom were caring for their sick loved ones, and, of course, the medical practitioners who are the ministers of hospitality. This was just UNTH. Add up other teaching hospitals, federal medical centers, general hospitals, private hospitals and clinics, plus all other functional medical outfits and facilities. With this, you can trust that so many people are sick and dying. If you’re not in that count, then give thanks  to God.

2. You’re possibly sick. Of the thousands of people on this medical facility I visited, UNTH, only a handful looked really sick. Others looked very much like me: hot and kinky. But, technically speaking, I was sick too. Moreover, their looks, our looks, didn’t change the fact that were sick. And then I ask you, do you rely on your looks, or even how you feel, to say whether you’re sick or well? If yes, then you’re possibly wrong. Very wrong. A woman, for instance, wouldn’t know she has gonorrhea, a venereal disease, unless a man she infected tells her. What if the man doesn’t tell her or was protected by his condom? The implication is that she will remain in that state of poor reproductive health, which will worsen and worsen by the day, until childlessness in marriage compels her to go find out why conception isn’t working out for her.

Yes, don’t rely on looks for the knowledge of your medical status; always stop at your doctors to get updates. Of course, it is way easier and cheaper and less stressful to deal with medical issues at their budding phase.

3. Take precaution. Prevention has remained the best cure. While I recommend regular checks at your doctors, taking precaution with a view to forestalling breakdown is important. Eat healthy. Exercise daily. Sleep soundly. Reduce stress considerably. Shun self-medication. Just stay healthy.

In the 50^th chapter of his Essays, the celebrated English Lord Chancellor and philosopher, Francis Bacon (1561 – 1621), wrote: Some books are to be tested, others are to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested. Right now, I’m very sure of one of the few books to be chewed and digested: Who moved my Cheese? – By Dr. Spencer Johnson. I believe you’ve done Tuesdays with Morrie (by Mitch Albom) already, because it’s one hell of a must-read. Those who have read it are saying beautiful things about it already… Suffice it to say that Who moved my Cheese? is at par with Tuesdays with Morrie; Albom and Johnson killed it!

Yes, Who moved my Cheese? is quite a book; as interesting as it very name. It is a simple but profoundly awesome story. Borrowing from Apple’s Steve Jobs, it’s insanely great. And I immediately wish to thank Obinna Udeh for lending me his copy – & I already returned it.

Don’t panic about size. It is even way smaller than Tuesdays and can be read all up in an hour, less or just a little more.

About content, Dr. Johnson simply told a simple but amazing story, a story better read yourself than having me narrate it here. This story elegantly captured the No. 1 thing at the very heart of life and social dynamics: CHANGE. And the real thriller in Who moved my Cheese? is that its only four characters – Sniff, Scurry, Hem and Haw – represent, in one way or the other, especially with respect to response to change, each and every one of the more than 7 billion human beings on the planet.

As it were, Who moved my Cheese? is the case of a book really mirroring and convicting and/or commending the reader while he/she reads. In fact, you’ve not truly read this book until you’ve found yourself in one of the characters.

amazon.com is always a great place to find books; check Who moved my Cheese? there. If you can’t afford amazon.com, then do a free Google PDF download – it’s there; I checked. If both don’t apply to you, then inbox me: ndubuisi.cornel@gmail.com – I’d gladly help, because helping you reach your peak is my business.

I can be such a weird dude at times. Imagine that I went for a friend’s father’s burial and what I spent most of my time there doing was write. I didn’t even have my writing pad with me; had to make do with the plain inside back cover of the burial brochure. Somehow, I thank God she didn’t catch me doing that. Even if she did, I wouldn’t have cared much because it was an urge I couldn’t resist. It was way too compelling, and it seemed that her late father was dictating to me what I was writing.

 The 12 Revelations

1. Beauty is vain; looks fade
2. No one is indispensible; Life goes on.
3. The grave humbles everyone – both the lowly and the highly get 6 feet
4. One’s good name is the best legacy – not cash or real estate
5. At death, enemies will rejoice, friends will mourn
6. Life is transient; everything passes away
7. Most mourners will showcase their best pretense ever – as if they loved you that much, as if they were always there for you, like they were your true friends.
8. The one in the coffin is the homilist for the day; others are, at best, commentators
9. It’s a day of regrets for everyone – what they wish they did for you, what they wish they said to you, but didn’t. The dead fellow even has more regrets – wishing they loved more, wishing they cared more, wishing they did more.
10. At death, one loses, another gains. Nigerian Yar’adua’s death saw Jonathan become president.
11. Death gets everyone philosophizing. Raising, as it were, fundamental questions, like: What is the meaning of life? What is the value of things?
12. Uncertainty looms! Most times, things just happen!

 The 10 Lessons

1. Simplify. Simplify! In fact, be notoriously and sophisticatedly simple. To say the least, complexity ain’t worth one bit of the value we accord it.
2. Devote the rest of your entire life building the true legacy: a great name. I didn’t see an account balance, number of cars and houses on the funeral oration. Everybody was just talking about the personality.
3. Humble yourself. We’re all already 6 feet down, only awaiting delivery.
4. Don’t pride looks/appearance beyond necessity. True to it, looking good is good business, but an exaggeration of it is something else. It only serves to make us feel great and to leave a good impression of ourselves on others. That’s all! It’s never an end in itself, which is why you shouldn’t be obsessed about it. Shun narcissism! And refrain from making value judgments and derogatory remarks about people based on their looks.
5. A good question to always ask oneself, from the stables of Robin Sharma, is: Who will cry when I die? Try playing your burial scene in your head >> look at the faces of family, friends, fans, foes, strangers who only got to hear about you after you’d died, etc., in that mental scene.
6. Relate with life as it truly is: transient. Refrain from holding onto people, things, and positions too tightly. Relish the moment, but be open to change whenever it comes calling.
7. Be an everyday philosopher, not a situational philosopher. Always confront yourself with the real questions, the basic questions, the fundamental questions, and then order your life accordingly.
8. You’re important. At most, very important. However, you’re not indispensible. Life just rolls on with or without you. All humans can observe a minute silence for you, but Big Ben can’t afford a second standstill. Never forget this one.
9. Do it now! To avoid regrets at the end, now is the right time to do whatever you wish for yourself and for others.
10. Finally, since uncertainty looms, always have your house in order. You really don’t need an alarm clock for this one.