2021 BELONGS TO YOU, TAKE IT!
( By Prisca Ojiobianu)

In the next few days, "happy new year" will become one form of our daily greetings. Indeed it is a "happy new year because we survived 2020, but we should not allow the euphoria of the yultide season to distract us from our focus.
The new year is here and it is only those who are willing to grab every good opportunity that will definitely possess the year.

From the series of events of 2020, even the "blind could see" that for one to succeed, one has to make a paradigm switch from the existing "status quo" and do things differently. It's no longer business as usual! Times have changed, businesses are now moving from buying and selling to a customer in your shop to online business where you don't need to see the buyer to sell your products.
In a country like ours, certificates like(OND, HND, BSC, MSC,PHD) etc are not the only key to success, because many have these certificates for the past ten years and more and still not employed in any company or parastatal in Nigeria.
When Nigeria youths were referred to as "lazy", the only action that showed they were exasperated were series of rant on social media and no corresponding action to show they were actually infuriated or peeved. Am not saying the government was right when they called Nigerian youth lazy, NO! But some of the youths who are genuinely without jobs should have turned the insult to result. Community services would have been applauded, joining Ngos even if there's no pay just to gain experience or getting a skill to keep them busy should have been a good step to take.
To take this 2021 and posses it, we have to look beyond the "white collar" jobs and start going for skills that are lucrative in this country, if we should x-ray what happened in December 2020, while some salary earners were complaining of unpaid salaries, mechanics, seamstress/tailors, hair stylists among others were cashing out big in the tones of thousands. Little wonder they could comfortably afford to buy most of the things the public servants could not afford.
If at this point in this country, you are still waiting for government to do something, you need to grab a seat with a basin of popcorn because you will have to be waiting for so long - if not forever.
The internet is there for us to get information, use the information and better our lives, but while some persons use the internet to make lots of money, majority of the people are spending lots of money on the internet without gaining anything.
There is no time for the "blame game", you don't have to blame your parents, your uncles that refused to help you or even the government. In as much as they have to take some responsibilities at some stages in your life, you owe yourself most of the things you desire.
You are the architect of your life. How you plan it, is how it will be. There is no magic, that your parents failed, your brothers and sisters failed doesn't mean you must fail, failure is not a "hereditary disease", you will only fail when you refuse to analyze what lead to their failure and try not to "tow that lane", or if you refuse to do things differently from how they did it.
The world belongs to you, even from the history of creation, God commanded us to be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth and subdue it ( Gen 1: 28) for some persons the only part they understood was to multiply, no wonder they keep multiplying the number of their children every year without proper plan for their future. Why can't we multiply plants and seeds, why don't we go into agriculture. Some people feel they are too big to go into agriculture. It mustn't be planting, there are other areas like, fish farming, livestock( chicken and turkey) do you know how much people make selling only chicken during Christmas period? and you are still waiting for someone to employ you in one big company? Well, we are also praying for you, but before the big job comes, can't you do something with your life?
Why wait?
2021 belongs to those who are willing to take the bold step.
Are you ready? Are you willing? It is not going to be easy. I'm not promising you a hitch- free venture, or am I assuring you that the journey will be like" a walk in the park".
There will be ups and downs, trials and errors are usually there especially for starters but don't be discouraged.
For every dream that you have that is legit, that dream is also valid.
It may take time just continue to "push until something happens". You may sweat, you may also cry but the drops of sweat and tears serves as water that waters the seed you are planting. At the appointed time, they will grow, not as seeds this time, but as fruits and leaves that will provide both food and shelter for many.
Finally as the saying goes, "show me your friends and l will tell you who you are"It is about time you disassociate yourself from people who do not add value to your life. Do not make friends with pessimists, and do not sit in the company of lazy people.
I believe in my heart and without any "fear of contradiction" that if we do our best this year, we will achieve more, just acquire a new skill( some of this skills are free, so check out for churches or Ngos that are organizing it) apart from skills we should have plan B in anything you do. It can be anything, just look out for needs in your area that you can meet and make money from there.
We should let go of fear because it's one of the militating factors to success. Let's rise above our failures, limitations, situations and difficulties. When we do this the "sky will be our starting point.
We are the giant of Africa, the lion of Africa, is about time we take the "bull by the horn" we should take hold of the future, because the future surely belongs to us and 2021 lS OURS TO TAKE.

The world is waiting for you!
Your generation is itching to celebrate you!
Stand up and be counted as the next superstar���.

Happy new year�

Written by
Prisca Chinwendu Ojiobianu.