Gbe, k'emi gbe

(Naija Monday Series. Theme: Teamwork)

It was hard for me to write this post.

I usually don't find it hard to write. I am the daughter of an English teacher, and my summer vacations were spent writing essay upon essay for my mom. I would ask her if I could go play downstairs with the neighbor's kids. She would ask if I had read 'all my books'. The few times I dared to say yes, she would say to sit down and write her an essay. Those were interesting days... But I digress.

Why was it so hard to write this? A simple reason: guilty conscience. I haven't been a very good part of a team I belong to of late. Of course life happens, and work happens, and travels are necessary, but guess what? Those are all excuses. So five or so different times in the past few days I sat down to pen an exposé on the amazing awesomeness of teamwork, and each time I felt incredibly like a hypocrite. "What right have you to write about this?" my conscience would ask me. Each time a slow reel consisting of the list of things that I had not yet done for N4C would begin to play, and I would put my laptop away, ashamed.

But that's not going to work. I cannot let myself get tied down by my shortcomings, and or let it suck out my energy and creative ability. I am not perfect. I recognize and acknowledge that. But I will not sit and wallow in self-pity. I will pick myself up, shake that dust off, and move on. So this is me moving on. This is the first small step towards me picking up my slack and doing my part. This is me rejoining the team... and this is part of the beauty of a team:

While I was otherwise occupied, my teammates have kept N4C going. They have researched articles of incorporation and tax laws, continued to encourage members and representatives all over the globe and co-ordinate projects. If I were doing this alone, N4C would most certainly have dropped into obscurity. But they were there - and I hope to be there for some of them in the future.

Man is a social being, but every now and then we are tempted to think we can handle our lives and projects alone. Unless it's a class project assigned to individuals, in which case collaborating can get you kicked out, I humbly submit that it's best to work with a team. It's amazing the diversity of ideas, based on all the unique individual's experiences, that each team member brings. I remember brainstorming sessions with this amazing group of people, strategy sessions with SWE in college, and staying up all night to finish projects for the organization my friends and I were charterring on campus at that time. Being in a team and contributing to a team teaches one so much about oneself - you get to see yourself through the eyes of others, you learn to compromise and admit that your ideas are not always going to be implemented exactly the way you want it, and best of all, you get to see the end product: the culmination of all your efforts, an achievement which, hopefully, if you picked the right teammates, is way better than anything you could have done by yourself.

Let's take this lesson from one individual's personal life and apply it to our lives in general and Nigeria in particular. Find a project you're passionate about. Find people who are passionate about it too and can come into agreement with you (so that you're not just going round in circles). Create a team, and actually be part of that team. I tell you, it's a beautiful thing, when done right.

Nigeria yii ti gbogbo wa ni.... Gbe, K'emi gbe
(This Nigeria belongs to all of us.... Lift her up, and I'll lift her up too).

Poverty in Nigeria: Blog Action Day (by Onyeka Aghanenu)

(Editor’s Note:) As part of the Blog Action Day 2008, I want us to focus on the issue of poverty in Nigeria. I can’t throw any contest, or a donation, and while what I’m going to say is not news, it’s good we, as Nigerians took time to reflect upon the one thing that has continuously plagued our continent. I’m making this up as I go along, so bear with me.

Over the past few days, even before I signed up, I’d observed things that have quite literally broken my heart. On Saturday evening, I was walking home from the shops and as I entered my street, I saw a little boy, not more than 4 or 5, squatting by the entrance, a tray of groundnuts on his head. He put the tray down, and looked at it, rearranging the little piles. I realized he was resting, and I felt bad. And angry. On a day, when most people did not even leave their homes, why would a parent or guardian send out a kid that was so young too hawk items? My first thought was that such parents should be rid of their right to raise that child. But as I walked down the street, I knew it was just a matter of condition…

Really, who wants to see their child zooming in between moving vehicles selling items? I’m not justifying child labor in any way, but one must ask what would cause someone to engage their child in it to start with. It’s not a mystery. It’s something we see everyday, from the high-rises of the Island to the slums of the mainland, they’re always there, trying to make a living anyway possible. It’s almost considered normal.

But it shouldn’t be normal. There shouldn’t be anything ‘usual’ about seeing women old enough to be my mother on the sides of the street, begging or doing some other menial, barely paying job to make ends meet. I’ll be the first to admit that whenever I see such things, I instantly picture my mother in that place, and it almost always brings tears to my eyes. There shouldn’t be anything ignorable in seeing children out on the road selling items when they should be in school. It’s a shame that we live in such a rich country, that is continuously being ravaged by greed and selfishness.

It irritates me to no end the extent to which the rich get richer, stealing, lying, decaying our already fragile society because they want more. Our leaders? Please don’t get me started on those empty vessels. I blame them for our problems. In Africa, that is our problem. All the wrong people are at the top.

Which is why change needs to come from the bottom. At this point in time, is it still wise to sit and wait for those in charge to do something about the lower class’s situation? We, the people need to start taking responsibility for ourselves. Sure, we all have our own responsibilities, we all have our goals, but we should find time, at least, once a month to go out and do something. I know I’m guilty.

I’m dedicating this post to the dependents out there that were born into a life of lack and have continued to lack because of the raging disparity between the rich and poor here.

And I’ll drop this question out there for the commenter. What can we, as Nigerians, do to help the poverty situation? Any charities, causes you’re partial to?

The original post can be found HERE.