Believe in yourself
My mentor usually say; La, money is the least of what we will have. It took a while for me to have the self-belief.
I left England for Nigeria with mixed feelings for my first official assignment in my new job two weeks ago. On one hand, I was wrought with the thought of leaving my partner and our one year old son alone for ten days. On the other hand, I couldn't have imagined a better way to return to Nigeria for the first time since I relocated.
I was flying first class back to Nigeria. My international travel allowance was almost my annual salary back in Nigeria two years ago. Everything surreal. I thought about my life and how far I've come and couldn't but trace everything back to Marcus, my mentor who I've always given credit for awakening my consciousness. My life took a different turn after my encounter with Marcus. This is what I wrote inspired by Marcus five years ago.
"I have a playlist in my music gallery that contains tracks that are very dear to my heart. I took solace in these songs during the period I consider the toughest moment of my life. They offered reassurance of a brighter day when I was down.
One of these tracks is "The Legendary Hustler" by Olamide. The song which came with his debut album featured Reminisce and 9ice. There is something I have always found inexplicably unique about this song. I did not know what it was until Olamide was no longer the upcoming artiste he was when the album came out.
Olamide began the track with an intro that has now become engraved in my heart. It is an acknowledgement that goes thus,
ID Cabasa, thank you for making me to believe in myself
One needs to listen to Olamide hit bangers nowadays to wonder if it is the same Olamide that uttered those humble words at a particular point in his life. Is it not ironic that the unstoppable and overconfident Olamide Badoo could have needed someone to make him believe in his own undeniable talent before he could soar? Is it not insightful to discover that this same Afrobeats superstar was once unsure of himself? Note that he did not say thanks for believing in me but,
Thank you for making me to believe in myself.
What am I driving at? Sometimes we need people to believe in us to make us soar to the height we are destined for. Unfortunately, not all of us will find an ID Cabasa to help us to believe in ourselves. I am lucky I had mine in Tayo Marcus at a point in my life but not all of us will be as lucky.
Therefore my charge today is that we should believe in ourselves. This is the best thing we can give ourselves in life. I am writing to some of us that have found ourselves in the exact opposite of our dreams. That dream can still come true. We can still reach that height we envision whenever we close our eyes. What we need is someone to believe in us. And the best candidate for that job is ourself. Nobody has any obligation to believe in you when you don't even believe in yourself.
The world belongs to dreamers. The system might be designed to frustrate us but we must always be encouraged by the success stories of those whose dreams have come true against all odds. The other day I read somewhere that Patoranking once lived in a house without toilet in Lagos... If these people can, forget it, nothing can stop any of us."
I wrote the piece above titled "Believe in yourself" five years after I became a direct mentee under Marcus. I am resharing it five years after I first wrote it because Marcus is no longer with me. He died a day before my scheduled departure from Nigeria.
I'm most pained because we only got to talk on the phone when I arrived. We made plan to see but now this. The one person who could truly appreciate how far I've come has gone. The one who first made me to believe in myself has left me. Now I can't afford to stop believing in myself. Believe in yourself.
Yours in Fatherhood,
I'm so sorry for the loss, sir. Take solace and comfort in the impact he's made in your life and those of others.
Welcome back to the UK.
So so sorry for this great loss!.....life itself is an unfinished platform of teaching and learning....it took me a while to find myself as I used to call myself' late bloom'....,but since I found myself, never ever letting go....unstoppable !