Post 1

I was impressed when a young man in fulfilling a vow took to his legs for a long trek from Lagos to Abuja in solidarity with the emergence of GMB as president. He wasn’t forced to make the vow, and he wasn’t forced to keep it either. However he chose to walk the walk.

Yes, I was impressed. I was not thinking pro or anti APC. I was only thinking of the man and his capacity to achieve a goal. A goal which in Nigeria amounts to nothing.

However, by the time he was arriving at Abuja there were already serious doubts about the credibility of his quest. Some of us gradually began to suspect that this guy must be a witch, walking in the day and flying at night. But guess what? We were summarily labelled as anti-APC.

Now, considering that the young man was not forced to do what he chose to do, I felt really disappointed. It reminded me of an international marathon once held in Nigeria, where a Nigerian emerged from the crowd and understandably not worn out won the trophy.

I soon lost interest in the numerous treks going on. If the trekers could be shielded from otherwise sensible questioning, why waste my entertainment time being sold a dummy. It’s like playing with a fake Xbox.

My interest was aroused again when this time, I learnt of another man trekking in the opposite direction. This time in honour of Jonathan. He’s been updating us on his journey so far, and it’s a welcome relief. Hopefully he would be more honourable and tell us the truth. Nobody force am, so he can quit if him tire.

But wait a minute. Am I so jobless to be concerned about the Trekers Association of Nigeria? Not really. I am impressed for a reason. It called Maslow’s Hierarchy of needs.

Post 2


I learnt a long time ago that human needs are in stages. The first priority is pretty basic. It’s called Physiological needs and consists of Food, clothes, shelter and sex. After this is fulfilled, it tends to go through the stages of Security, Belonging, Self-esteem all the way to Self-actualization needs.

I have also for a long time theorized that as a people, we have been so subject to hunger and insecurity that almost all our actions have revolved around our belly and building electric fences when we can afford them. I have also watched with dismay as our middle classes barely emerging out of the meshes of poverty try to belong and have some vicissitude of esteem by hungrily reaching out for foreign branded (and expensive) goods thereby freighting away our scare foreign exchange.

With the trekers association of Nigeria, I see a positive push to the top of the needs hierarchy -A need for self-actualization. I am convinced that creativity and innovativeness lies in this sphere of existence as against the belle-centric bottom parts of the ladder. Maybe because I have read too much romantics about events that took place in the West before it emerged as a major global force. These guys were risking life and limb for adventure, for new exciting discoveries. ..whatever

I thank the Social media revolution for providing our youths with the mental tools needed to short-circuit towards a future filled with adventure. I can only imagine what would happen when our traditional TV stations sync with social media to update and entertain us with beautifully presented on-goings by the youths around Nigeria. This would be a gold mine for the economy of our unemployed youths and the economy at large.