IS QUITTING THE NEXT OPTION?

In the land of Kilanwi, very early in the morning with a haggard and mournful look, he rose stealthily from where he had been made to sleep yesterday after a severe torture from his uncle (his confidant).  As a young improvident loafer, preparing for his life of mindless routine, without taking his bath, he changed his dress and walked down to the exit where he met his uncle who used to admonish his attitude to life. As usual, he wasn’t touched by his uncle admonition on that very day but rather wilily refuted his complaint and further convinced him that soon he would yield to his advice. His name is Janpororo, the only son begotten by the king of kilanwi which is much the biggest village in our locality. Though the king lived in clover, he wanted his children to struggle for their fortune as well. He believed that education was the best legacy and wanted to give his children the best of it, especially Janpororo - the future king.

  At his tender age, the prince was enrolled in the best school in Kilanwi and had enthusiastic interest in his studies but in no time, this faded out. Why? He was dissuaded by his teacher ways of reprimanding him for his poor performances and unfortunate for him, he was helpless. This made him to believe that education wasn’t his way and later succumbed to his belief without seeking proper counsel from his parents. As his father was known, he would never support any of his children who chose anything other than education and even ready to curse such child. In his attempt to conceal his untenable decision from the king and to avoid his wrath, Janpororo sought his father’s support to be living with his unlettered uncle in the other side of Kilanwi to whom he had confided his view about education and backed himself up that his school was nearer to his uncle’s house than the palace. The trust the king had in his family had made him to be utterly enthralled by the Janpororo’s trick.

He walked out in defiance of his uncle and had barely covered 1km when he saw a shocker. Alas! A strong creature in a weak bondage! ‘This is indeed a puzzle‘ He professed. ‘How possible is this scene if magic is not involved?’
He was held still and filled with surge of worriedness. He was appalled by a very much too big and strong creature, elephant, which was tied down with a considerably weak rope. He assumed that the creature could at least break out at anytime. Out of curiosity, He took some steps nearer to have explicit understanding of the scene. ’So magic is real.’ He uttered this aloud as if he was talking to invisible minds. Without dilly-dally, he approached a rather young man that was sanitizing the animal environs. Please sir, he tried to sound politely, ‘I was nervous about this scene, this big animal was tied down with a considerably weak rope, and didn’t you think that it could break out at any time?’ The young man cleared his throat and said; when the animal was young and weak, the rope was quite strong enough to hold it. It made a repeated attempt to break out but to no avail. Having done this many times, it succumbed and was conditioned to believe that escape was an impossible task. Up till today, it has not made another attempt to escape. With tear rolling down on his cheek, he said; this is a perfect explanation to my life.  ‘Initially, I was a promising child but my life was reconfigured by the sense of dull resentment life had given me.’ He confessed. He regretted how he used his life and promised to restructure himself.

 Dear reader, do you know that every successful person has chequered past and many stories to tell. No matter what the situation might be, you ought not to give up.  Remember that, defeat should never be a source of discouragement but rather a fresh stimulus (South). Countless number of people have been defeated by day- to- day struggles, probably whining due to the bad faith life has giving them. But always remember the common aphorism: no pain  no gain. Had you have thought about the life of Muhamodu Buhari (the current president of Nigeria) who contested four times before he was eventually ratified as the president, Abraham Lincoln (the sixteenth president of the United State), Henry Ford (the CEO of Ford Motor Company), Bill Gates (The CEO of Microsoft), Albert Einstein (the great scientist), Michael Jordan (an athlete) and many more, you would know that there is nothing called impossibility. When Buhari was vying for the presidential post in the year 2015, I was asked by a friend, ‘isn’t it honorable to go for another option instead of doing the same thing and be expecting different result? Isn’t it advisable for Buhari to concede defeat and forgo his dreaming of having another taste?’ But, when Buhari said quitting was not the option, he turned out to be the dark horse. For as long as the zeal to succeed is alive, you strive to increase your potential and trust me; impossibility is a mere English word. You shouldn’t be deterred, keep your hope alive and this darkness shows that there is light nearby. Student will not be discourage by failure, messenger will consider the oppression from the boss as a stimulus for his/her betterment, unemployment will not be an excuse for dropping out of school, poverty will never be the reason to settle down for the less when you think big and never consider quitting as the next option.


Bankole Ridwan (Bankrid)