WHOSE HEART ARE YOU BREAKING?
She looked at me inquisitively, her face furrowing as she struggled to place what she believed she knew but her mind as yet unable to connect the dots. “I know you” she said “but I don’t know where from” she finally confessed. At first I opted to string her along, allowing her to proffer a series of guesses, then saved her the trouble by telling her my name. “Do you speak to teenagers and young adults?” She enquired? “I believe my daughter mentioned you addressed her school a few years ago and that is probably where I first came across your name. Do you recall this school?” It was possible, I mentor youths, do motivational speaking across various age groups and have sat on numerous panel to recall them all. “So, what exactly do you do?” She finally asked and at this point I handed her my calling card.
The look on her face spoke volumes even before her mouth could voice her thoughts. The words ‘Transformational Politician’, was enough to cause her to recoil as though suddenly discovering a
Cobra appear before her. All the warm thoughts of mentoring her daughter vanished in a split second. Inwardly I smiled for it was the very reaction I had anticipated when debating attaching the title ’politician’ to my name. It also opened up the opportunity to discuss Nigeria and why I believed ignoring politics was the gravest injustice any of us could bestow on our children and the generations to come. As she slowly opened up again, I heard in her voice a woman who had been so betrayed by the ideal called Nigeria, so disappointed by the cadre of leaders sworn into office that the last vestiges of hope had all but vanished.
The Almighty God came to see how man was doing after the fall and found a united people determined to build a tower that glorified the Altar of Pride. The same altar had caused Lucifer his place in Heaven so God scattered the people by confusing their language and with that nations were born. Over time, leaders and the governance structures they establish have determined which nations have risen or fallen. What struck me deepest and tore my heart was discovering the lady was not Nigerian but had married one. She had fallen in love with the nation through loving her husband and together had moved to Rivers State determined to make a life for themselves and their children’s children. Year after year of disappointment followed until one day, they packed up and left. As we talked, she looked on with a forlorn sadness in her eyes wanting to believe that something would change but not trusting her heart to hope again that a nation with so much promise could ever be great. At that moment I was reminded once again of why I had chosen to enter this race, determining that the day indeed will come when Nigeria’s full potential will be realized.
May God help each of us to restore hope in Nigeria again.