[b]THE PROBLEM WITH OVER-BRILLIANCE----LESSONS FROM NIGERIAN BREWERIES PLC

Who doesn’t know the company called NB PLC and the man who used to sit on top of it all named Chief Festus Odumegwu? The man and the company have a lot in common namely: being firsts in every respect.

The company is first in her industry. First in leading innovations, first in products, first in promotions and advertisements and lately, first to build a fully automated Brewery in Sub-sahara Africa--the newest in the world.

Chief Odumagwu is a first-class product of one of the highly respected and reputable universities in Nigeria. Those who know him cannot help but attest to the uncommon brilliance of this man which does not occur very often in a life time. His foray in the world of business with unusual success made him a rare gem in Africa and with much adoration by the white man.

But the other side of this man leaves a lot of question marks on the role of too much intelligence or over-brilliance in  a person’s life. This is a man who is alleged to neither repect no man nor fear God. This is a man who takes all the credit for every effort and success he records with none left for his creator. This is a man who is alleged to indulge in self-pleasure like he has the license. This is a man who is alleged to use foul language and pat girls on the bum at social gatherings. This is a man who drinks freely and carelessly even to stupor at social functions. A man who takes pride in selecting the finest of girls at luncheons and parties to be at his beck and call. This is a man who demystified the cult and office of CEO’s.

The worst of it all is that like a mechanical train, he does not seem to have control over his tongue----practically suffering from diarrhea of the mouth. The first CEO who attempted combining politics with business, who publicly became OBJ’s campaign helmsman while still seating on top of HEINEKEN’s politically neutral business empire in Nigeria without seeing anything wrong with his ways. No small thanks to HEINEKEN BV who had to do something drastic to prevent the politicization of her business by unseating this man who seemed to have gone out of his rational senses and went astray!

From my good old days in school up until now, I’ve come to observe one thing. That most First –Class materials usually do not have problems achieving great success, but sure do have a great deal of problems sustaining their greatness. On the other hand, most moderately brilliant others may take time to achieve success, but they usually stay with their successes for quite a long time.

The thing about it is that most First-Class people tend to be overly confident in themselves, wholly trusting in their own abilities while subtly and surreptitiously looking down on others who they feel do not measure up to their own self-concepts of intelligence and wisdom. They sometimes fail to recognize the role of other people and other forces in their lives---the interplay of interdependence of humans and forces in life. As a result, they usually fall into snares and blunders that see them come crashing like a pile of cards in sometimes, the most disgraceful dive.

Therefore, these are what I’ve decided to tell my son when he arrives. Son,
I want you to know that success in life does not depend on being first in everything or coming first in every class.
Know ye this day son, that successful people need to be well-rounded in order to do well in life.
Please son, instead of you to come home with a First-Class that will kill you, please bring home a Third-Class that will make you.
If in doubt son, pleas have a chat with Gani Fawehinmi and Bill Gate.[/b]

cool talk

I think I agree with you on this problem of over-brilliancy with some people looking down on others and taking undue advantage of their positions to cause psychological damage to those not up to their standard. However, in advising others ( maybe our children) we should be careful not to give them a wrong impression about studying hard in order to emerge the best.

Bros i feel u, walaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaai

omo,i feel u. na true talk

And the point of this tirade is?

(I hope it means I can apply as the CEO of Nigerian Breweries otherwise I dont see what this post is doing here)

Nice Yarns! you should be a writer. But @ least you should have said that your son should have a 2:2 rather than a third class.
Anyway i get the message and as the saying goes '' Pride goes before a fall''
I guess its better to have a third class and rise by the grace of God to glory than be a First class and fall from grace to grass.
Nice one thereeeeeee. All the best fellow nairalanders

Well there r always 2 sides to a coin but I'ld rather be a Festus Odimegwu than be a poor sorry ass in life.I know he has his short-comiings but in life it's difficult eating ur cake n having it!

@yankidelta ,

correct bo

Odumegwu goofed by combining business with politics as the two hardly flows together.
He wanted to use NBL to assert his political views,but he failed to realize that supporting OBJ.(Seems to be against the masses)means fighting those who supports his brands(beer).
I wanted to call for mass boycott of NBL Products shortly before Nbl intervened.Only fools learn in a hard way whether FIRST class or THIRD class.Common sense will forever govern academic knowledge.

Duttybarb, I hope say u dey hear this

Let us not lump all First Class holders in the same basket, as this over-genaralizes issues.
I hold a First Class in Nuclear Physics (not a boast, just fact), but I consider myself very down to earth, have been a union leader (activist, if you like), played football and basketball in school, partied pretty hard and am moderately successful in my career. I am also a titled Ibo chief.

I agree that some first class holders may across as 'arrogant', but those are in a minority, and this is more a result of not being 'rounded' people, than the possession of a first class.

Not to encourage excellence in your child because of these few, is rather silly (unless of course your child has already demonstrated a lack of intellectual, in which case sports -read football, could be his calling).

We have 3 kids, a brilliant but lazy 12-year old, who could achieve if he just tries, a less brainy but very competitive 11-year old (who wants to be a footballer, and we encourage him), and our little girl (9-years) who is brainy and competitive. If we ground all 3 well, they will be equally successful in their chosen careers.

My point, the degree you get is less relevant in succeeding in life, than the person you choose to become.

"My point, the degree you get is less relevant in succeeding in life, than the person you choose to become."

Ugwumba you just summarised the whole thing. Keep it up

Wendell i agree with u 100%. Keep it up too.

you guys are wonderful.

Better tell your son to make a first class and learn how to manage his success than teach him to be a failure and sturggle to make a name or something out of himself.
It is not enough to look at popular figures from outside and just conclude so many things about them. If u ask Gani I'm sure he would have loved the first class more than the 3rd class, at least I am sure he would scold his child if he/she comes home with A repeat the class result.
I tell u the most important thing in life is managing success and not getting it but u can't manage it if u don't have it. So use all the strebght you have in you to seek for the top. That is why my principle/motor in life as always been "NO PAIN NO GAIN"

sirify,
well spoken

My story:

I was headed for a first from primary school. Prodigy in a lot of subjects, the lowest I have ever scored in an IQ test till this day remains a score of 186. For crying out loud, I had the confidence to face entirely Art subjects in my GCE, and entirely Science in my SSCE, and I excelled both ways.

Then I got into UNIBEN, and as they say pride goeth before a fall. I flunked (I like to blame the distractions, women, money {you see, I was on 3 scholarships as well as being an astute student businessman}, and football). But the truth is, I just didn't apply myself as I should have.

I think it is a testament to my ability that I managed to graduate with my classmates and had the best project in my class.

Moral: be all you can be and stay focussed. Odimegwu lost the plot.

I think Festus Odumegwu just got it mixed up. trying to combine politics and business. and the funniest thing is that its not his own company or personal business. If he was like the likes of dangote or Adenuga it would have been better. I heard he went to the extent to having paid television adverts to support the third term agenda. Anyway its one thing to get to the top and another thing to remain there and manage that position properly.T

I think Festus Odumegwu just got it mixed up. trying to combine politics and business. and the funniest thing is that its not his own company or personal business. If he was like the likes of dangote or Adenuga it would have been better. I heard he went to the extent to having paid television adverts to support the third term agenda. Anyway its one thing to get to the top and another thing to remain there and manage that position properly. A great man has to humble himself before God or he will be humbled.Take heed and we should all learn from his experience

@ Sirify,
You said it all bro! Man maketh money, money never maketh a man. My boss always said to me, 'Even though you have to recognise that money is important, never worship it, for God's sake it's only a piece of paper!' I'm inclined to agree with him. The unfortunate thing today is, a lot of people worship money.

@ kuntakinte
Actually these days, money is just a piece of byte code!

@Initial Poster and Chief Ugwumba
you've all said it all!

The writer obviously has issues with first class products. You do not have to take out your frustrations on not getting a first class by labelling first class people arrogant and then making a stupid comparism with Mr Festus.

Look that man is an individual of his own the fact that he had a first class and is arrogent doesnt mean that this is the charateristics of all those that get first class or are very brilliant. 

I hate it when people make generalizations your write up was good when u talked about the perculair charater of Mr Festus but fell apart when u started making comparisions with First class people and that people should not aspire to be the best they can ever be.

@Initial Poster and Chief Ugwumba
you've all said it all! Cool

OK, maybe not everything;


But Clocky just made it "Everything"!

[b]The article makes an interesting observation that “most” First-class persons usually carry a boulder chip on their shoulder. This is the statement of the problem which the writer sees as a statement of fact owing to the results of his study on the subject matter. It goes on to use the real life story of chief Odumegwu to illustrate the assertion.
The writer’s investigation seeks to ask the question “Why is this so?” In the bid to examine the issue, the writer goes on to find a correlation between first-class persons having some sort of over-confidence and over-bearing self-trust in their own abilities. This writer thinks must have been the reason for the subtle contempt they show to those who in the self-concepts of the first-class persons do not measure up to their own standards and definition of intelligence.
As a result, the writer identified the over-reaching effect of this seemingly prideful exuberance as a loss of hard-earned (God-given) privileges. Thus illustrated also by that didactic story of Chief Odumegwu.

Rather than encourage laziness and sloppiness, lack of aspiration, or being unambitious, the writer makes it clear that aspiration mixed with needless pride will sooner or later zero one out. The article in no way encourages people to dream less. Rather it warns people about the danger of not being careful and mindful of how they pursue their dreams. After all, there is no use achieving a success which will eventually become ones undoing. This article lumped into the saying “instead of you to come home with a first-class that will kill you, please son bring home a third-class that will make you.” Is this not true, people?

Lessons? Do you consider yourself wiser than King Solomon? Are you having success on your hand? Are you in a position of authority, leadership and headship? They are all privileges—God-given privileges—are careful how you handle them. Purge your self of senseless pride.
That beneath and beyond every aspiration, every ambition lies a critical foundation which consists in the recognition of the role of other forces (God and men) in our lives which are parametric to achieving real success. That the secret of achieving real success lies in being a well-rounded person.

Well, Clocky and Sirify, let me give you the privilege of the joy to know that I don’t have the slightest misgivings about first-class or its holders. Unlike my Clinical Psychologist friend who posits that most first-class persons do not make good leaders and team players as corroborated by the fact that “most” world leaders and captains of industries are not necessarily first-class persons. Well, let’s leave that now for another day as it amounts to opening a whole new keg of gun powder. But of course I am concerned about the observed linkage between “most” first-class persons and some uncalled-for arrogance which usually leads to some fall.

Well for me and just as I believe like Chief Gani who would have loved to make a better grade if need be and Bill Gate who did not even need such hassles of formal academics. I know if you ask them, none of them would want to be a Chief Odumegwu even in their wildest imaginations come what may, because they are not just only happy but also joyful for who they are and what they represent. They have understood the secret of life and real success that they depend on being well-rounded and not on holding a first-class.

Little wonder then that most standard tests incorporate reading and comprehension ability tests. Well for your information Clocky and Sirify, you may not need make haste in replying posts. You may need to read some posts twice and in between line to appreciate the hard fact presented therein the article.
Summary:
That "most" (not all) first-class persons usually carry a boulder chip on their shoulder. That most moderately brilliant persons tend to be more well-rounded than most first-class persons for a given sample space. That most first-class persons exhibit over-confidence and an over-bearing self-trust in their own abilities. That well-rounded individuals stay on their success for a very long time. That in the pursuit of your ambition and aspiration, do not see it as a do-or-die thing. After all, the race usually is not to the swift.
And finally, always do your "best" and be the best you can be. Best here means being well rounded. [/b]

Please don't be angry. I said it the way i saw

Wendell:


That "most" (not all) first-class persons usually carry a boulder chip on their shoulder. That most moderately brilliant persons tend to be more well-rounded than most first-class persons for a given sample space. That most first-class persons exhibit over-confidence and an over-bearing self-trust in their own abilities. That well-rounded individuals stay on their success for a very long time. That in the pursuit of your ambition and aspiration, do not see it as a do-or-die thing. After all, the race usually is not to the swift.
And finally, always do your "best" and be the best you can be. Best here means being well rounded.

You use the word "most" as if you can back you claims with facts. You need to do a little more research before you can come into your conclusions . A mere observation of a few people exhibiting these traits will only be taken with a pinch of salt.

I would like to correct one of ur statements in whish u said pursing a dream should not be a do-or-die thing . You should actually be very aggresiive in the pursuit of ur ambition and aspiration because without the hungy and desire to succed u will never make it. It should be a do-or-die thing this has been proven by the lifes of some of the greatest people that have ever lived in this world.

In the world of business the swiftest person to come up with an idea wins. so in whatever u do act fast as someelse is already thinking of doing the same thing if u are not fast enough u will only be left licking your own wounds.

Now first, dont make the mistake of thinking Bill Gates is some average student; he was at Harvard on Scholarships before VOLUNTARILY leaving for other interests; he IS a First Class Brain!!! He went to one of the most challenging and reputed High Schols in the US!!!

Also Bill Clinton was a Rhodes Scholar; a MIGHTY BRAINY Guy!!!

As Clocky has pointed out; your initial postulates are very unfounded go carry out ur research, And dont confuse a brilliant person that chose not to (or was unable to) go to school with 2-2s and 3rd classers; Ofcourse, I say all these in the light of my initial posts, i.e no offence meant on anyone; just setting facts straight.