IT’S ALREADY THREE DECADE

I am not very sure this would pass for an autobiography but it tells a little about my sojourn on this planet in the last 30 years.
In fairness, I can’t recall what the first four year were like beyond the fact that I was a mummy’s boy and had a relatively comfortable family background.
Events after then especially my early teens have taught me great lessons, so great are these lessons that I have come to realise that understudying the life of a single man is worth more than a university degree. This may be argued but for me, the lessons of life are better taught by living them and not read on pages.
Show me a book on the most equipped shelf that teaches experience, I’d buy with all of my life savings. Even those that try to teach men how to live a good life limit the teachings only to getting you prepared to live your own life.
I have lived mine so far relying on parental guidance, societal influence, spiritual guidance, peer influence and above all self will.
By any standard, I can’t claim to have had the best of life neither the worst; I have been opportune to see life from the perspective of a rich kid and that of a poverty stricken young mind. I have had reasons to take decisions influenced only by my living condition without considerations for whether or not it agreed with the norms of the society and commands of the Almighty.
Within this little while, I have come to realise that man can only claim to be consistence to the extent of which of his trait is convenient for him, that probably explains why we get disappointed at times and impressed some other times. Why in the first instance would I be impressed when you do things I know you are capable of or disappointed when you come out in your known colours? These two feelings are in my opinion elements of surprise.
Growing up has been so revealing and interesting. The best of our actions in the past years, we look back and see they are the most foolish of present years; it is not as if we weren’t corrected then but, tell me a man that can do better than the limits of his thinking. We were just at the best of our folly for those years. These were years when the community would be willing to forgive us owing to our age limitations. I look back at the arrogance with which most of those acts especially mine were defended and I can only thank God for giving me a second chance and people around especially the elders for understanding.
Today, I am looking back with almost all pictures of the past flashing my mind with some nostalgic feelings. I sure miss the past but the question is whether I can have it back. The scriptures all preach about it but man’s wisdom can’t comprehend the depth of spiritual teachings.
I remember almost everything. The songs that were sang when, the movies, the breaks and holidays. The gathering of friends and outings; the memories of the dead family members, friends and colleagues. All have played a role in designing my kind of man, the man that I have always wanted to be.
These years have taught me yet another irony of life. To what extent can we control the events that mould our lives? How then can we stand confident to say we are now the dream person we wanted to be? Is it more convenient to say we are the captain of our own destinies or better say we are the best of what nature has made of us? Whichever way we choose to go, I think it is all about contentment and the will to get better.
Life for me hasn’t been a bed of roses nor thorns; it has come with phases of ups and downs, good and bad times, I have laughed very much and cried very hard, I have achieved feats and failed woefully at tasks, I have taught lessons and have been taught multiple times, I have drank to my satisfaction and fought thirst bitterly, I have fed fat and gone slim out of hunger, I have celebrated the birth of new ones and wept at the demise of loved ones, I have won and lost, I have given and taken, I have seen life through others and expectedly some have seen it through me. I have impressed some and disappointed some. I have seen that life is in itself a scale that measures the two possibilities of human life and endeavours.
Now, I am thirty years old, I am so aware the priviledges of youthful exuberance are gone and responsibilities of adulthood beckon. To what extent I am set for the challenges others have taken on well before now is a question of time? I hope I can one day read this piece and say with a big smile, SO FAR SO GOOD.
It has been a very adventurous life, one that if given the opportunity, I would lead again but with moderations. I can’t get any luckier than what I have become because of the people I have met thus far and their respective roles and influence in my live.
Alhaja Elegbede, my mother, my goddess. If permitted by Allah, she would be about the only person I’d bow to. My rock of gibraltar. Abiamo lojo isoro. Today, I cannot but say thank you even when I know these letters can’t express how much your efforts, prayers, sleepless nights and your tears have impacted in my life. Of what use would laurels be to me, if your blessings are off my head. Thanks for being so wonderful, thanks for being so caring; thanks Mama for the sacrifice. All I can say is you haven’t seen my best. May Allah preserve you to enjoy the fruits of your sweat.
Dad thanks. You have always called me a man. Now I am growing into one; your resounding lessons and quiet messages are my fortress. You have calmly mentioned the errors and advised the way to go. You have stood to correct me and lowered yourself to be corrected. You have taught me leadership and made yourself available as a follower. You are the man, thanks for your ways and positions in times of confusion. Funny as it may sound, thanks for marrying Mum.
To my siblings, THANK YOU. I am more than sure that you all know what it means when I say that. You all have been my first contact with life and today, I probably wouldn’t have had a life but for your understanding and love. I feel most privileged to be a part of you.
Friends and colleagues, would there have been a better time to know any of you? No! Thanks for coming into my life at this time. You have added colour to my life and made it very interesting.
This is my story, the story of a life that has continuously reminded me that for every situation there’s a choice to make and a path to thread.
Alhamdullilahi Robil Al-Amin, it’s already three decades...