Having Values While Being Nigerian

My boss used to say that I'm a good learner and so I rarely make the same mistakes twice.

It's because my mind does this weird thing. I take a pictorial snapshot of important events and can recollect the feelings and sensations years later, as if they happened yesterday. I remember Ebenezers; life's memorials.

I vividly recall when I realised that certain values were becoming rare in Nigeria. Concepts like hard work, diligence, loyalty, love, honesty etc. It was 10 years ago.

I was on a date with a B-List Nigerian artiste and we were discussing poetry and life. He asked about the things that defined me and I reeled off a list of values. He looked me dead in the eye and proclaimed that if I didn't drop all these "high falutin ideas", I would never get laid.

Perhaps, he intended to shock me. Instead, he saddened me. Logically, I knew getting laid wasn't that difficult, so I was more conscious of his complete dismissal of values.

I wondered exactly how he planned to build a decent career if he assumed values weren't important. What sort of team did he hope to attract? What did that say about him too?

If you go on social media, you will find that what he expressed is true. It is no longer fashionable to do the right thing in Nigeria. Especially, when you don't have money. Wrong has become right and right has become odd. We reward evil and punish good.

However, life has an uncanny ability to reward good. Sometimes, it does so by introducing you to markets that will pay for your effort. Other times, it does so by attracting other like-minded people to you. Life also does so by blessing you with peace. And, it makes you relevant in societies that treasure the best of things and not the worst of things.

Don't give up and don't lose hope if you're good and excellent. But, expand your world. Use the Internet to interact with other cultures and communities. You are bigger and better than Nigeria. The stone that the builders rejected will one day become the chief cornerstone.