The Beginning

How often have you said to yourself that this is the end when faced with rejection, challenge or setback?  When the year started, one of my resolutions was to get a paid speaking engagement and after month 6 of 2020, I got two international speaking engagements but with no pay. The year was drawing to a close but I felt this is it and I can’t get a speaking engagement this year anymore. I was in for a shock as someone who attended one of the workshops I facilitated for free reached out to invite me to facilitate a different workshop but this time with a fee.  

It is tempting to call it quit when, humanly speaking the possibility of a thing you believe will happen is slim but, hey you are not God and until God says it’s finished, it is not finished for you. Where is Dr Progress heading with this you may ask?  A fair question that you will find the answer as you continue reading. Two weeks ago, peaceful protesters whom previously came out daily to ‘soro soke’ – a Yoruba word that means speak up – sat at the Lekki toll gate singing the national anthem when men from the military shot at them, killing and injuring some peaceful protesters. It was a bloody Tuesday that we will never forget and their labour for a new Nigeria will never be forgotten. It may seem to some that because the protest is no longer on the street that we have given up on the fight for a new Nigeria but that is not true. Do not be deceived and think the #ENDSARS movement has ended. It will be a mistake for anyone to make what is meant to be a basecamp – the protest on the street – become the peak – the new Nigeria when we have only just begun. The rebirthing of the new Nigeria and indeed the new Africa is currently ongoing and you can be a part of it. Until our faith in the new Nigeria and Africa of our dreams becomes bigger than our fears we will remain stuck in mediocrity.  If you feel like giving up on the movement, let that line and the fear of being trapped in mediocrity push you to keep believing and fighting. You can start by asking the government through your social media platform who ordered the military to shoot? You can speak to and educate two other youths in your community about the current state of Nigeria and why they must vote come next election by being prepared today. Demand accountability from those leading in whatever capacity. The protest may be off the streets, it does not imply an end but a strategic beginning.  Let us move Nigeria and Africa forward because we can in this soro soke generation.