Mr Agboju
A sheep once tried to jump over a gutter – it fell inside. A passer-by rescued it. Right there again, it fell inside. This happened over and over again. Observing that it wasn’t blind, he tried again, this time placing it on the path where it needed not jump over the gutter. Yet again, to the consternation of the passer-by, the sheep, trying to jump over the gutter, fell right inside.
Then it dawned on the passer-by that the sheep just wasn’t thinking. The sheep certainly lacked the capacity to contemplate, to analyze, see with its mind. That, my friend, is the biggest problem of mankind – inability to think.
Research has shown that the hardest thing for man is thinking. Most people think that they think, but they do not, so they allow others think for them. They do not weigh issues, ponder over ideas, maul over opinions, research and come up with their own conclusions. They simply regurgitate what they hear, especially when they consider the speaker “respectable” or “knowledgeable”.
If you form the habit of going by others’ opinions about someone or a situation instead of searching that thing out for yourself, you’ll always be led by the nose. When you think for yourself, your conclusions may not always be infallible but they’ll be nearer right than the inclusions forced upon you by those who have personal interests in keeping you in ignorance and bondage.
This political dispensation started 24 years ago. Nigerians have always voted and right now are suffering the outcome of their decisions as tenure after tenure have wrought more hardship, worse than the previous.
Therefore, as you step out to vote Saturday, February 25, trust yourself, think for yourself, act for yourself, speak for yourself. Just be yourself – imitation is suicide! Remember, whoever can make you believe absurdities can make you commit atrocities. It is the quality of your thinking that determines the quality of your life. Another way to say that is: “Vote wisely.”
I must leave you now, but with the simple, sane and sensible injunction from Albert Einstein who said that it is only an idiot who keeps doing the same thing over and over again, each time expecting a different result. Think about it – only an idiot truly fits this definition. And I know that you, dear reader, are certainly not an idiot. Or, are you?
Sunny Agboju, is a Management Consultant and a Public Affairs Analyst.
