In the words of Maya Angelou, when you know better you do better. When we are not doing better, it means we do not know better. Two things – renewable energy and education — that we can acquire easily are our passports to greatness but we must harness them. Like Maya Angelou said: “When we know this, we then can do better.”

In the words of Maya Angelou, when you know better you do better. When we are not doing better, it means we do not know better.

Unfortunately, we are still at the stage of pursuing money to the exclusion of all other virtues.

Whatever happened to society wanting, first and foremost, a sound educational foundation for its children.

There was a time when all that mattered was ensuring your child attended a reputable school and university. And the hope was that the child would go through the university, but with a bit of luck, the university would also go through the child. That now seems like an afterthought lost in the shuffle of mediocrity.

There was a period of 3 to 5 years when displaying wealth and educational achievements were in competition and vying for the top spot. In the end, money won.

The transition between when it was impressive that your child was in university, and it being more impressive that your child is driving a ‘V-boot’ is jarringly fast.

The completion of this transition occurred during the release of Oliver de Coque’s “ana enwe obodo enwe”.

The transition between when it was impressive that your child was in university, and it being more impressive that your child was driving a ‘V-boot’ was jarringly fast.

The completion of this transition occurred during the release of Oliver de Coque’s “ana enwe obodo enwe”.

The education system was already in a state of rapid decline and the pursuit of money at all costs didn’t help. It meant that multiple generations lacked quality education, ending up with a collective eroded mindset and faulty moral compass.

We have all seen the “funny” and embarrassing videos on social media showing university graduates displaying how the education system has failed them by getting tongue tied when asked a simple question. More worrying is that there is so much we are not taught in school: how to THINK critically, because we are taught instead to memorize and regurgitate what we have been taught and what is in the textbooks. Consequently, we accept views because it’s on television, or there is a video or it is being said by someone of influence. And we have become so argumentative and fail to listen or to learn something new, the other’s perspective. But instead we hear, waiting for our opportunity to make our own case, rarely listening the other.

We are not taught how to EARN money, evidenced by the fact that most of us say MAKE money – the only people that make money work at the money printing press or the coin mint. The rest of us have to EARN money based on the VALUE we bring to the marketplace. When we realize this distinction, we won’t need to beg or scam, we will begin to think of how to bring VALUE to the marketplace.

We vote people into office and we do not call them public servants, or leaders, but instead we call them RULERS (as though they are kings and we, their subjects). And yet we’re surprised when we’re treated as such.

We vote people into office and we do not call them public servants, or leaders, but instead we call them RULERS (as though they are kings and we, their subjects). And yet we are surprised when we are treated as such.

“Every people get the leaders they deserve” – Socrates. It is sad that the entire nation has been so debased. We are so blind and unwitting that we speak loudly exposing our ignorance and not even knowing we are doing so. The more a person learns, the humbler they become. This is because the more they learn, the more it becomes clear that there is so much they do not know.

In my humble view it would take at least 30 years to bring us back on our feet. The mountain of challenges is huge. But it can be done. The rest of the world is racing away and we do not even realize there is a race, let alone trying to compete. Until the consciousness and mindset of all of us is elevated, the journey for better cannot commence.

For our genius and potential to be unleashed, we must realize that doing the same thing and expecting different results is insanely illogical. We do not expect much from ourselves and from others. So, when one of us is elected into office, bribery and corruption is generally what we expect of ourselves and others. And that is what we get – bribery, corruption, mismanagement and lack of vision. But we can be better. We must.

The human resource and untapped and yet to be harnessed ingenuity are immeasurable. And this is where my hope rests. The mindset that stupidly got you in a messy situation cannot get you out of it. You have to elevate your consciousness.

To anyone that will listen, especially if you are in a decision-making position, prioritize two things – renewable energy and education.

The proliferation of renewable energy (solar power and battery storage) will within four years solve the power problem, making the country have cheap, reliable and constant electricity supply. We are fortunate to be blessed with abundance of free sunlight.

. . . prioritize two things – renewable energy and education. The proliferation of renewable energy (solar power and battery storage) will within four years solve the power problem, making the country have cheap, reliable and constant electricity supply. We are fortunate to be blessed with abundance of free sunlight.
. . . the revamping of the education system can begin – better learning environments, better trained tutors, tablets, laptops, teaching coding and computer programming from a very young age.

With the power supply issue resolved, the revamping of the education system can begin – better learning environments, better trained tutors, tablets, laptops, teaching coding and computer programming from a very young age. In one or two generations, we will have a crop of population that expect more of themselves and others.

With power and education set on the right course, everything else will fall into place – infrastructure, judiciary, healthcare, among others.

The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago, the second-best time is now.

CCO