[b][/b]

“I have always wanted to be a lawyer but when you sit at home for five years trying to gain admission into the university to study law with no luck, you are bound to throw your hands in the air and submit completely to the prevailing situation. Don't think I didn't put in my best. I went for private classes and read whatever was recommended on the curriculum by the examining body. But it wasn't going to be. While I was insisting on studying law, my immediate younger sister gained admission and graduated with a degree in Mass Communication. The other two younger siblings (both males) would gain admissions while I was patiently but frustratingly waiting. My siblings getting ahead of me academically moved me down the pecking order of relevance. There was a time we all put in some requests for funds. Coincidentally, my maternal aunt was on a visit when these requests were submitted to my father. Distribution became an issue because my father categorically told us he didn't have enough to go round. I remember my aunt saying to my father, 'My in-law, please, release the money to those with better plans for the future. Aliyu should wait for another turn'. It was that humiliating- this incident was one big psychological scar of those trying five years.”

Aliyu has been speaking since we drove from his office to his house.

“I got fed up with the ‘second class citizen’ treatment I was getting at home. My birthright was sold before my eyes. I was no longer relevant in the scheme of things. My father didn't even wait to be cheated out of my birthright as it happened with Jacob and Esau- in fact, he was a key accomplice. He became the orchestrator of this robbery. My siblings were then assumed to have more informed and superior opinions while mine became second class opinions. It got to a near boiling point that I decided that I had taken enough. I purchased an entry form and requested to study French in one of the national universities. Even though it wasn't said to my face, I knew that my younger siblings made a mockery of my choice of course of study. I ended up spending four years at the university studying French as a language. The choice of French as a course of study didn't sit down well with my parents. To make even more mockery of the situation, they christened me 'Charles De Gaulle'. They claimed that I took the easy way out of my misery. It was a good punch but sadly they got me somewhere below the belt”

Aliyu looked at his time. I knew his mind was on the Friday prayers at the mosque. He continued. “After graduation, I went for my National Youth Service Program- It was a program designed for fresh graduates to serve their fatherland. One day at the camp, we were informed that representatives from a multinational firm would be in the camp to conduct aptitude tests for qualified candidates for advertised positions in the firm. The day for the test came but I was not selected for the test. I was bypassed because I did not meet certain criteria. While the team was about to leave, one of them returned and whispered something to the Camp Commandant. After a short deliberation, the commandant asked for the public address system and spoke to us. He requested for those that studied French to step out. By sheer providence, I was the only one out of the multitude in the campground that had a degree in French. I later realized that they needed someone in their affiliate office in France. To summarize my story, that was how I found myself in France and I have been working with the firm for fifteen years. I am in Nigeria for an official project. I hope to be back next week”

REFLECTION
It is one thing for one to realize he is living a mediocre life but another thing to take that decision(action) that shows that you have had enough. The antithesis to change is doing the same thing, the same way repetitively. We cannot expect our present condition to change if we decide to let things remain the way they are. Aliyu did nothing about his situation until he became angry. You must be fed up with a situation that does not fit into your plans for your mindset to demand for a corresponding desperate change. If not, that compelling situation would remain by your side as a friend until you get angry and sever the relationship. You must get angry and let that situation know that you have had enough. And then take action!

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Nice write up


no fate but what we make for ourselves
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