Preamble
According to Merriam-Webster Dictionary, Mind is that part of a person that thinks, reasons, feels and remembers. It is often used to denote the way a person thinks or the intelligence of a person. It is the element, or complex of elements, in an individual that feels, perceives, thinks, wills, and especially reasons. Mind synonymously means brain, intellect, intelligence, psyche, wit, awareness, consciousness, memory, sentience and it defines our confidence and capabilities. Mind is one of the things that differentiated me from you, you from others. It is on the basis of this that your mindset differs from mine; and mine from others’. The mind is the accommodator, housing one’s integrity, personality, manners, perception and other traits which define one’s disposition and definition of everything around and within us.
Mind sounds so trivial especially with the number of alphabets required to construct it. But the mind can make or mars any individual with its distinct responsibilities to humanity; depending on its state. In the name of humanity and responsibility; we often question people’s lackadaisical actions lashed out on others. Also, we often imagined the bases upon which people at the helm of affairs made certain decisions, and the mind-work factor surrounding such a conclusion. One thing is certain, whenever a person starts growing; his mindset starts forming the capability of its operation as well using the environmental and other factors as bases; which is why it is crucial, for a person to form the right mindset required to help him handle situations and challenges that life would propose.
It is an ascertained fact that this country has more than required in terms of human capacity to build and sustain a great nation. However, our ways of thinking cum doing things has been hindering our efforts and progress as a nation. We kept on struggling, living and interacting with animosity and disunity; this must stop now. As a popular author has said that “the moment we stop fighting for each other is the moment we lost our humanity”. With a positive mindset, everything is achievable.
State of things:
Nigeria is perfectly blessed with enough natural and human resources. Our problems therefore lie in our state of mind. Our unrealistic, acrimonious, incongruous, iniquitous and bias manners of handling situations remain the major hindrances hindering our growth since time immemorial. In my own country (Nigeria), a defendant could blame a litigant in wrong for an avoidable wrong, thereby, giving a simple wrong undue importance; instead of doing what is right thing and avoid a silly argument. Our minds have been poisoned beyond our prediction. Friends only care about displaying/portraying superiority over others; lecturers only care about struggling for seniority, superiority, influence and other frivolous claims over others; neighbours only care about showing off to other neighbours; landlords only care about showing tenants that they are the ones in charge; security personnel only care about experimenting with unarmed and defenceless citizens just to earn fear and regard; it could have been another topic if the intent of these people is for the good. Instead we ought to devote all our strength, might and intelligence to promoting humanity cum social development with equality.
As a result of the visionless, directionless, and animus tendencies embedded in our hearts, we have turned blind eyes to what we can do; how we can do it; when we can do it and to whom. A problem that requires 10 minutes to be solved now takes us weeks, months and at times, years. All our shortcomings and incompetency have been perfectly buried /hidden under the guise of pride, mistake, principle, rules, regulations and the likes. A recent release by the Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed, seems to show the readiness of President Muhammad Buhari led administration to work assiduously on our mindset. We should always remember them in our prayers, so that God can aid and empower them to achieve the numerous great plans envisaged for Nigeria and Nigerians. Don’t forget that with a positive mindset, everything is attainable.
A good example of our declining ability to reason is the suspension of activities of Obafemi Awolowo University’s Students’ Union by the school management. While the management reserved the responsibility to regulate and control the school and all the happenings around it; the suspension portrayed the management as a body who is fundamentally at war with freedom of speech and expression as enshrined in the nation’s constitution. The Students’ Union body on the other hand showed it now lacks the glorified and reckoned idealistic, intellectual and moral capability she used to be known with. Instead of the Students’ Union leaders to result to protest and faceoff with the school management, the union has what it takes to do things differently and ushered in new results, as H.G. Wells had said “Human history is in essence a history of ideas”. The union could build its own hostels from the due collected from students; or source for fund from alumni of the institution and other relevant individuals to build hostels for students; choose a day in which hostels would be sanitized; orientate students on the reasons why they must take care of their environment; ensure management’s rules guiding hostels are strictly adhered to by all stakeholder (such as number of occupants to not exceed the stipulated occupant, etc), so as to ensure that hostels are not misused. But instead of doing something to justify their intellectual capability, the union decided to path the old ways of doing things, protest; which has yielded no positive result till date. The management, on the other hand, has forgotten that the students have every right to protest the prison-like hostel they have been provided with, instead of handling the situation with all the deserved maturity and sensitivity, the management concluded that shutting down the school and suspending all Union activities would be the best solution. Well, this is a good test of the intellectual, conscious and vibrant rants of Students’ Union of Obafemi Awolowo University. Nonetheless, the act of suspending Students’ Union activities ought to have been practice of the past by now. Nigeria has changed tactics; accountability at all level is the order of the day now. Students’ Unions are the watch-dog over the activities of management now, this is the reason why managements and unions must redefine their perceptive of administration and work harmoniously for the betterment of their various institutions. Hope you still remember; that with a positive mindset, everything is possible.
According to Elijah Cummings, he says that “By providing students in our nation with such an education, we help save our children from the clutches of poverty, crime, drugs, and hopelessness, and we help safeguard our nation’s prosperity for generations yet unborn”. This led to the assessment of Nigerian students (aspirants, undergraduates and graduates) in justification of my subject of discussion. If we do this, we will realize that a good percentage of Nigerian students are mentally, academically and logically incompetent and unready to handle the challenges of our modern world. While some of the problem listed as affecting our educational sector could be blamed on the governments’ lackadaisical and irresponsible approach to education; the students also must take responsibility for the decline in required zeal towards education. According to webometrics rankings, Nigeria has more than 140 universities and none of them is within the first 18 in Africa; not to talk of international considerations. Nigerian graduates are now marked unemployable by private employers due to their inchoate training, demeanour and dispositions after graduation. The lackadaisical attitudes of our governments to proper fund education and ensure that probity is encouraged in administrations of universities led us to this sorry state. Most of the people attempting to commercialize education now had it cheap then even with free provisions, then why is it so hard to reciprocate? Instead of giving back to the society that did something so great for them; they concluded to frustrate the tomorrow leaders of that same society, what a pity! Youths are the leaders of tomorrow but leaders have been said to be readers, we must read a lot if we plan to lead at all. All it requires is a positive mindset.
In general, Nigerians seem to not want anything to work. It is evident we are not mentally ready to dictate ways we wish to be governed. We have turned ourselves to tools in the hand of our politicians and public office holders to do to us as they deem fit. Whenever any corrupt practice is exposed, no matter whom the culprit might be; or his antecedent, no sane citizens of any sane country is expected to defend such a person unless proven innocent. But in my country, citizens would have divided themselves along ethnic lines and started justifying why the person must be freed even if the reason is unreasonable. Well since Viktor Frankl says that “A human being is a deciding being” am not totally stunned by this. Minister of Transport, Rotimi Amaechi said in 2013 that ‘we (leaders) steal because Nigerians don’t stone us’; he forgot to add that they were celebrated for stealing. He was amazed of our demeanour cum mentality to criticize anybody trying to blow whistle on corrupt practices of public officials. Instead of giving strength to people like this (whistle blowers) we tend to criticize their antecedents; this is not good for the unborn generations. Nigerians must as a matter of urgency cum necessity discourage such practices as it gives to our leaders, tools to loot our hard earn resources effectively and without subjecting those looters to the ordinary laws of the land.
In conclusion;
The mind often receive little attention anybody but it remains, that part of us, which determines everything we do and everything we can do. We were created differently because we were expected to achieve different missions, this justify reasons why hurdles must not be allowed to mislead us; we must do everything to remain focus and resolute and avoid all forms of distractions. Anne Frank inferred that even “in spite of everything, she still believe that people are good at heart. This symbolises the reason why all our deductions and imagination must be centred on the inference that everybody has a good heart (even if situation is obstructing that fact); it is now up to us to understand our intent and expectations from everybody. Nigeria is full of opportunity but to know this, one must prayerful and think a lot. One salient distinction of youths of today and that of the past is their sense of responsibility. As Viktor Frankl had opined that “Each man is questioned by life; and he can only answer to life by answering for his own life; to life he can only respond by being responsible”. Youths of nowadays to be candid are at risk with almost everything in trend; is it the technology (phones, computers and other devices) or fashion or entertainment? The list is just endless. Though it is not an easy task but we must do whatever it takes to guard and be responsible to our own ability and in what our mind does. We all must live and think like the president of a nation (our mind) and we must not disappoint her subjects.
We deserve to enjoy the abundant resources in this country after so many years of trouble cum unrest. We deserve to be happy and united in this country. In unity, we can and we will do great things to better co-existence among distinct tribes and groups that this country encompasses.
We must never cease praying for righteous ones among our leaders and their families because it is not easy, even Student Union leaders governing at that level could testify to how arduous and strenuous leadership responsibilities could be; not to talk of governing a country as big as Nigeria. Another issue is the blackmail cum insults associated with these positions. While criticizing a corrupt public official, we must also appreciate the goods one.
Don’t forget, just your mindset is needed to experience this impossibilities.
God Bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria,
God bless the President, Muhammed Buhari.

By Ismail .A.A