Earlier today as I decided to stroll through Instagram, I came across a post on @withChude’s page. It was about the ALUU4 story being made into a film by Linda Ikeji. It took me back to the time it happened. I was much younger then and certainly did not fully comprehend the gravity of the brutal series of events. All I know is that I felt very bad and really sad for the boys and their family.

Then just out of curiosity and as my dives usually get, I strayed to google to read the story again. Then I saw the movie was titled Dark October and of course I strayed further into Netflix to watch the movie. I watched the first half and then started to skip in seconds, but paying gross attention to each scenario and conversation per screen. As I got to the part where they were being accused, my heart grew heavy. Further into the parts where they were bleeding, clothes ripped, thrown to the ground and punched, I almost passed out. I had to stop because I knew for sure I couldn’t take it anymore. At the time I stopped, they had been betrayed, beaten, wrongly accused, judged, they were begging for their lives.

I had to get out of there!

Then it got me thinking of Nigeria, the seasons we have been through, the season we are currently in, and then I realised, we are those boys, we are all in different ways a character in that story. I was stunned for a minute.

As a country, we have been lied to, cheated on, beaten with economic struggle and financial hardship, we have been stripped of our rights, humiliated, faced harsh judgement for crimes that should have been mitigated by the ruling government and its forces. We have been denied by those we trusted, shamed, and left naked by those in power who were put there to help us. We have eaten the dust of our own nation, cried to the earth and begged for a little bit of mercy, hope and dignity.

I can fill a book with our struggles as country, struggles that are 90% man-made but I want to end with this — As we draw closer to the election, remember what you’ve been through, remember how time and time again the economy has gotten worse and worse and even worse, remember your neighbour, your security guard, your domestic staff, your children, your safety, your companies, businesses and local communities. Before you make a decision on who to vote for, remember the hardship and humiliation that could have been averted if we had the grace of good government. Remember that the 2023 Presidential election is a pivotal point in the history of our country. Your vote in this election is more than 4 years, it’s more than 8 years, it’s more than your pocket and your personal gains. It is our future, it is for generations to come, it is a mark, a representation of who we truly are, individually and collectively.

So come Saturday the 25th of February 2023, I urge you to come out, each of us, one at a time, and plant a seed of hope that will take root and grow into branches we will use as stepping stones to claw out of this very literal grave situation. I urge you to vote for a candidate that inspires confidence, competence and capacity, not behind closed doors or campaign skits, but one who has done so publicly and with empathy to build a better nation. That is a leader!

And if at any point you think that your voice will not matter, let me assure you, that the multitude of the people are much greater than an angry mob.

It is time to come out of your hiding places and fight for the redemption of our sinking nation. It is time to fight against greed, self-preservation, and greed (yes, I wrote it twice).

It is time to be champions of a new Nigeria.

It is time to join the fight.

It is time to vote right!

• This shouldn’t be a publicly shared topic.
• Why would anyone want to talk about this openly enough?
• Issues that come with this should be kept in or health with privately.

Hmm. I hear you, I get it, but NO! I think it’s better shared and thought through with a community that is willing to support.

So why haven’t you given up yet?

This question is one of the most frequently asked questions today (mostly in secret rooms or corner offices of psychologists).

I ask myself the same thing at least once every week (or maybe more than once) and I know I’m not alone on this table.

The truth is that life gets hard sometimes, it gets difficult to navigate, financially frustrating and even emotionally draining. It’s often never the best time to be in celebratory mood and so we mope around trying to get answers to why our lives seem so unbalanced.

I can go on and on about the things that largely justify our feelings for wanting to give up every other day, but that’s not really what this text is about, is it!

So let me tell you what we haven’t given up just yet.

1. You are more resilient than you ever thought you would be.
2. The world never runs out of problems and you are most certainly a solution to some of its issues.
3. You made promises to yourself you can’t break because the fight is really you against you and nothing or no one else.
4. Every setback is a piece to achieving the next big thing.
5. You can not afford to give up on yourself, the cost of that is higher than anything else.
6. You have a whole generation to live for.
7. You need to keep getting up and keep moving because that’s your story.
8. It will take more than just a few blows to take you out. You can be knocked down a few times but after a mild migraine you realise you can get up and deal with the mess.

You’re not alone in this wacky race called life and every phase of it adds up to the glory that is to come. You may not see it, but you believe it and you are committed to making it happen.

So cheers to not giving up and I’m glad we are in this together, fighting and winning, one horse race at a time.

KEEP GOING!!!

It is never the most popular, the most preferred or the most praised.

Bold decisions are the paths you choose to take, knowing that a lot of negativity will be thrown your way just because others don’t agree, or they don’t see any much reason and they certainly think you’re crazy for making that choice.

Truth is, these bold choices don’t show up only in personal or life altering cases, it happens to almost everyone, like when a man decides to embrace his essence and wears bold daring colours out on the street, it somehow rubs some people off the wrong way; or should a career woman choose to have long pink nails, she may be perceived as unprofessional. It’s in the home where children who choose to speak up are perceived as rude; it’s on social media where people post their authentic self images and surroundings, but don’t get as much hype as the “fancy socialites”. Scenarios to make decisions are EVERYWHERE, and the backlash that often comes from making the bold choice is in EVERYTHING!

“You can’t make decisions based on fear and the possibility of what might happen.” ― Michelle Obama

Bold choices are unpopular and under appreciated….at first!

A lot of people have steered off course out of fear for what others will think or say, should they take that bold, uncovered, unpopular, uncertain path. There’s no shame in that, we all fall short of one thing or if you’re like me, we fall short of many things. I have followed the crowd, made decisions based on fear, friends and familiarity, and a lot of these popular choices have led me down paths I would have rather not travelled.

I write this to you as much as to myself, to be encouraged to take that step, make that decision and stand by it, go down that path, regardless of popular opinion or what seems “safe”. A lot of voices may come at you in your head, voices of fear, anxiety, shame, hurt, heartache, loss, it all comes with the territory. But if you are a believer like me (or at least trying to be), you’d realise that the root voice of what made you consider that bold path in the first place carries in it more strength than any other. Hold on to the message in that voice and draw all the positive energy you need from there. Amplify the thoughts that are waiting to burst out of there to guide you through the negativity and plunge you into the reward because most often, that bold decision that was feared, criticised, mocked and laughed at will eventually, and with little effort from you, birth the best thing you could have ever done as you, living your authentic and true self.