Learned helplessness. I first heard of this phraseology from Pastor Poju Oyemade of the Covenant Nation many years ago during one of the editions of The Platform, a yearly national ideation talk shop he birthed. It means a condition in which a person has a sense of powerlessness, arising from a traumatic event or persistent failure to succeed. It is thought to be one of the underlying causes of depression. In the context of this article, learned helplessness means a situation in which a set of people (in this case Nigerians) have resigned to fate, thrown their hands in the air and concluded that there is nothing they can do about their current precarious circumstances.
This is the reality in which very many Nigerians are now; they have given up, not only on their country but also on themselves, on their ability and capacity to make their lives better. It is a place of hopelessness; and it’s not a good place to be. And if care is not taken, more Nigerians would slip into depression, even worse. We have witnessed the it-cannot-happen-in-Nigeria situations in the country already, far between though they may be: people jumping into the lagoon, hanging themselves; taking deadly substances, name it. But given the level of despondency in the country, things can easily get worse. We can no longer say it can’t happen in Nigeria. Until the 21st century, kidnapping only existed in Nigeria as a word in the English dictionary. Now we know what it means; and we are nearly two decades old in this mean-spirited business. We need to do all we can to prevent a worse shade of violence called mass shootings from happening in Nigeria.
Thankfully, the dawn of a new year almost always comes with renewed hope; hope that things will get better, that the worst is behind us, that I have an opportunity to do better, make amends, avoid certain mistakes, forge ahead, start afresh, and so on and so forth. The birth of a new year today, comes with that hope. The hope may not necessarily be that our governments at every level will become sane and act in that light; but more in our individual, group and community abilities to pull together and do mighty things for ourselves.
Truth be told, the rain of poor governance did not start to beat us in 2023. It has almost always been like this only with progressive negative consequences. When Nigerians had thought that they had seen the worst in the Muhammadu Buhari regime, the incumbent’s seems to be operating with an economic horsewhip. The 2023 economic decisions torpedoed many a business and homes. So, it’s not governments and their policies or lack of it that I am talking about here. It’s about the people, the citizens and their willpower to rise above the circumstances and situations and make meaning of their lives.
As my Pastor, Godman Akinlabi would say, we need new possibility thinking. Not everything leads to an end; sometimes, it’s a bend. We have to look at the goodness in us. What can you do; what skill sets do you have; how can you commercialise it? Better for us to surround ourselves with positive people; with people who can lift us up; encourage us, see the good and the possibilities in us. It is about unleashing positive energy and making us navigate through this difficult time for ourselves.
The dawn of a new year presents new possibilities and opportunities for us to hope, hope in our abilities to do better, in our God given talents to act in ways that can make a huge difference in our lives and the lives of our loved ones, in the organizations that we serve and lead. At a symposium held in honour of Senate President Godswill Akpabio in Abuja last month, Olisa Agbakoba spoke about ways things can get better in the country. Of all the things the pioneer human rights lawyer said, the most remarkable was that he had not given up hope on the country 45 years after he started the campaign for good governance and protection of human rights. Hope is the currency of the moment for the future we seek. And as I mentioned, it is not the hope that governance will get better in the near future. We haven’t built the foundations for that to happen. Even the 2024 budget of the federal government is a clear indication that this government has yet to grasp the reality of a decaying economy. And some of us who hoped so much in the system have had our fingers burned very badly.
Now, let’s go into how we can give force to the hope we should have in ourselves to turn situations around for better!
Eat that frog! That’s the title of a book written by Brian Tracy. It’s a book that spells out 21 different ways we can stop procrastinating and get more things done in less time. We have plans; we have dreams; we have ideas, visions and aspirations. This is the time to take the very first steps toward achieving our purposes, our dreams. It would be suicidal for us to wait until things are better, things are done right because we do not know when that will be; we cannot take even the President’s word to the bank!
You have plenty of plans; this is the time to make the first moves. Don’t wait until the end of January. I am not talking about the usual new year resolutions to quit one habit or another, which you end up breaking before the end of the first week of January. No; I am referring to the plans to make your life and the lives of those under your care better. Say, for example, you have been planning to further your studies and keep procrastinating for years now. Act on that plan. This is what I tell some young people who complain about lack of money to get university degrees: if you don’t go to school for lack of money, you will still suffer for four years and have nothing to show for your suffering. However, if you go to school, you will suffer, you may even suffer a little more than not going to school. But after four years, you’ll have a degree to show for your suffering, and stand a chance to have a better life. Another thing I tell some of them is that no matter how poor they think they are, when they get to school, they will meet poorer students than them. This will give them encouragement to face the challenges of poverty while on campus. I am speaking from firsthand experience.
The same goes for a decision to get married or start a business. Borrow from Nike, the giant sports wears manufacturer’s tagline here: Just Do It! Go ahead and propose to that lady you have been eyeing. Guess what? You will have one of two answers: Yes or No! That’s all. That plan to start a business has lingered for years in your mind. You’re probably waiting for the right amount of money before you start. But research has shown that money plays a little part of the equation in starting businesses. You may have heard this: Plan is nothing; planning is everything! Have you even googled to know what it takes to run that business successfully? Have you done a market survey; have you checked out what your would be competitors are doing; have you identified a niche area you want to focus on to make a difference in the business; have you leveraged on your network of relationships that you have built over the years; have you considered the potential customers, and so on and so forth. Hardly any of the things I have mentioned above costs money.
All I am saying is: eat that frog starting from this January. Do those things you have been wanting to do; do not procrastinate any longer. Procrastination is the theft of time and destiny. Do not wait until you have ticked all the boxes, it’s not applied mathematics for those planning to launch rockets on Mars that you want to do. I used to have a boss who would labour for a document to be perfect before it was sent. Often times, she would send those documents late. My refrain was always: why produce a masterpiece when it is no longer needed!
Talk is cheap, just do it. Talk is cheap, that is why only cheap people stay on the level of talk, says Pastor Enoch Adeboye who is being vilified everywhere but the man keeps matching on, executing his plans with attendant evidence. So, one way of walking away from depression, keeping hope alive is to act on your desires and plans without waiting for all conditions to be right. The dawn of a new year is the right time to start.
Three short takes
1. The Plateau massacre
I am angry about the massacre of innocent people in three local government areas of Plateau State. Deranged individuals who are bent on sacking indigenes of the state have been on a constant mission of obliterating Plateau people. It did not start in 2023; unfortunately, it will not end with the last Christmas Eve’s episode. These massacrers have the absolute support of powerful Nigerians with the simple and endless ambition to impose their rulership and ownership over the state. It is the same agenda playing out in Southern Kaduna and in Benue and Taraba States. The Nigerian government including the army have been both unwilling and unable to confront these threats.
The army was quoted to have said that they could not respond to the 48 hours attacks because of the terrain. Terrain working against the Nigerian Army in Nigeria? But not against the murderers? However, the army eventually got to these communities to witness the mass burial long after the attacks had ended; and then proclaimed shamelessly that the situation had been brought under control! For the people of Bokkos, Barkin-Ladi and Bangu local government areas of Plateau State, the killing of nearly 200 people and destruction of property and farmlands, this was a satanic Christmas present.
2. Godwin Emefiele:
He did not set out to win the award when he was appointed in 2014 as the governor of the of the Central Bank Nigeria (CBN). Now, our immediate past CBN governor has won the title of the worst CBB governor Nigeria ever had.
He mismanaged his office and the economy. He even elected to vie for the office of the President of Nigeria while still being our CBN governor.
He deserves to have his day in court; and should have his name in the Guinness Book of Records!
3. Cash Crunch at Christmas
Isn’t it interesting that in the past one month, Nigerians have been in need of cash. A country that is still largely cash dependent especially during the Yuletide reminds one of when Emefiele decided to change the currency a year ago. I walked into a Zenith Bank branch at Lekki, Lagos some two weeks ago, and was told I could only get N5,000 maximum. Of course, I grabbed the cash; moved to Ecobank branch at Victoria Island and got the same story; and I grabbed the money. I was N10,000 cash rich! But the amount couldn’t fetch me one Christmas chicken!
Earlier I had joked that Emefiele was a very powerful man, so powerful that he stayed in detention and withdrew all the money from the banking system. A week after, his successor, Yemi Cardoso alleged that it was Emefiele’s currency change of 2022 that caused the cash scarcity in late 2023!
Now, the hundreds of thousands of automatic teller machines all over the country should be arrayed in the national museum as monuments!
Happy New Year!
Esiere is a former journalist!
