African Diamonds in the Rough
The Rare Gems in Need of Enabling Environment to Thrive
Diamond in the Rough is a book written by Charmaine Pauls. It is a masterpiece that gives humankind to remember that the world abounds with wonderful people everywhere finding it difficult to reach their goals and become what they ought to be in life. Britannica Dictionary defines DIAMOND IN THE ROUGH as a person who has talents or other good qualities but who is not polite, educated, socially skilled, etc. — called also (British) rough diamond. The dictionary states it clearly, using several definitions. It says that a rough diamond as a person or something that is in poor condition but that is likely to become valuable with appropriate care or attention.
Come to think of it, why are college dropouts many in Africa these days? A close observation has given the visionary minds to see that Africa has many young figures in the fields searching for the conducive, enabling environments, which are far beyond their reach in the contemporary jungle.
According to the visionary minds of Africa, certain things are naturally deposited to make man or woman great and renowned. They exist in the human minds, and the bearers need fantastic, conducive refineries to become successful in the land of the living. Mother Nature makes the provisions for improvement of lives on the Earth, but man cannot get the benefits without passing through the fire especially when there are no enabling environments for the bearers to become productive in the reality. The refineries are left for humankind to build for real, and the things which Nature deposits are generally known as value-adders. A lot of the provisions are things of the minds, and it is obvious that man’s life on the Earth is both useless and worthless without the refineries, which are needed to serve as the mental avenues for the destined preparation.
Lately, a certain college dropout saw himself in a vision battling with retarding forces in the field of learning. He saw that he was in a tight corner and as he tried to wriggle out, he suddenly saw the handwriting on the wall saying, “It is true that the souls of men lose their values when the refineries and incubators are not within their reach. Nevertheless, do not forget that your destiny is in your hands.” The message was not difficult for the college dropout to understand. He expressed his appreciation because the vision gave him to know that every person has the qualities that can make his or her life to be tick, solid, and meaningful, and it is not impossible to bring the values to the limelight when there were no enabling environments.
When the vision came, the college dropout was suffering from depression. It pricked the heart to see challenges, troubles, and hardship abiding with great number of people in Nigeria and Africa at large. The vision made it clear that a lot of people in Africa had failure and challenges as companions. They were called African Diamonds in the Rough because the challenges gave them to pass through fire in the valley of hell. Many among them were dauntless minds, facing the challenges squarely, and it was the ugly experiences that actually gave them to thrive and also came up with wise sayings and words of encouragement, which included the following: —
1. Don’t give up.
2. The down fall of a man is not the end of his life.
3. He who laughs last laughs best.
4. Failure is the stepping stone to success.
5. A patient dog eats the fattest bone.
DIAMONDS IN THE ROUGH are generally regarded as the undying in the contemporary jungle. This was because they usually turned out to become legends in the end after passing through hell to reach the targets at the top. A lot of them chose to pass through the fire in the valley because they were the souls that possessed the great values, which required the conducive refineries and incubators for good. The absence of enabling environments made the fire in the valley to become the last resort. That was why the ugly situations usually forced them to go through the valley of hell where they could get transformed into exceptional, rare gems. The lethal process served as natural refiner, and it was the upward movement that led to the end where the values were adequately prepared to come to the limelight.
One obvious thing concerning the AFRICAN DIAMOND IN THE ROUGH is that they are valuables. A nation cannot do without them because they are destined to add values to lives and society at large. Divinity uses them to foster corporate responsibility and civic development. That was why the vision featured many of them as fantastic nation builders. Insight shows that they are many in Africa these days. The college dropout finally saw the green light at the end of the tunnel, and he was glad to know that all the hope was not lost.