STRAIGHT
FROM MY HEART.
…FROM THE OTHER
SIDE 1
I have studied through histories and
carefully followed patterns of every tide and time and I have discovered that
one can step into limelight through consistent and deliberate efforts. men that
have moved from mediocrity into excellence have been able to do it through a
conscious effort to be better. Though these men are from the other side of life
but you will be shocked that most outstanding life results are created by these
undermined men from the other side of
life.
The other side is a place where the least-likely, the despised, the weak, the un-believed,
the rejected, the ones we have assumed can never excel, the ones we have called
dullards, the one we have concluded, on that they will amount to nothing, come
from. For them, the other side is there starting point. They could be the last
in the class, the ones that are not the teachers’ favourites.
I was like this
once…
The other side of life is not the sweet
side. It is side of abuse, of rejection, of despise, of neglect, of fears, of
personal, psychological and physical struggles. It is the side of doubts (of
one self), it is the side where one has to break off negative words that we
have heard from people (who know little
of us and judge us by that) and devil- deacons or live with what they have
said to us. Like they are our prophets, they say that we are no good, that we
do not need to learn, that we can be nothing but average, that our efforts will
only result into nothing but failures. They have so said it well that we
believe these lies.
I was like this
once…
Like I remembered sometime while I was
in secondary school and I had walked up to the best literature student in my
class then, in Saka Tinubu Memorial High School, to show him my writing and
hear his opinion of my poem. With great pride, he glanced through my piece and
told me that I do not have the potential to be a good poet. He ridiculed my
poem and remarked, ‛this is not
qualified to be called a poem.’
That was 2002.
In the year 2008, I started working with
the Guardian Newspapers; I submitted this poem to the Sunday Editor of Guardian
Newspapers.
His remark? ‘This is a great piece we must publish it!’ That was 6 years after
somebody discarded it. Need I tell you that I did not edit it? It was as
exactly as it was in the year 2002 and I submitted it that same way.
My point, I know you could be the same
person, people might have written you off, and said you cannot amount to
anything. Albert Einstein was told same, that his brain was weak, and that
anytime he makes an attempt to read, his brain will retard. Yet, you cannot
mention the gurus in science world and not mention him.
Same for Gani
Fawehinmi (late), same for Professor Wole Soyinka, they both finished with pass
(es), but they are renowned in the world today. Wole Soyinka went further to
become the first African to receive the Noble Prize Award in Literature.
Please, don’t
give up on you, and let no one conclude on you. You can lead that class by just
crossing over from the other side.
The truth about
people from the other side (which we
belong to) is that, despite the negative words and beliefs of people to and
about us, we stand at a point where we have a leverage to defy their beliefs
and opinions of us. We stand at a point where we can daze them and re-write our
stories.
We can be all
we desire, because for us, the other side is the best place to start from.
And I, I was
once from the other side….
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