“Daddy,” a boy of about seven years of age started, “one day, I want to be a president of Nigeria.”
His dad stopped reading his newspaper and turned to his son, studied him for some seconds then readjusted his sitting position and replied, “May your road be rough.”
The boy, confused, repeated his statement: “Daddy, I want to be the next president of Nigeria.”
To which the dad replied again: “May your road be rough.”
The child asked: “Why should my road be rough? I just want to be the president of Nigeria one day.”
Now, the father dropped his newspaper, stretched his hands, inviting the child. When the child finally made his way to the father’s lap. The man looked at the son with a sunken face and said, “You cannot be Nigeria’s president.”
“Why?” The son asked.
The father replied: “you see, there are many things that would stop you from being a president in Nigeria. First, you are from Cross-river state. You’ve failed the regional test.”
The son bit his finger.
“Second,” the father continued, “look at the school you’re attending: Sijuade Primary School, Ijeshatedo. Ha, that wouldn’t sell anything. Nobody knows that school and it would not be good on your resume. No godfather would be willing to take on someone who attended that school”
“Who are godfathers?”
“I was going to get to that point. Godfathers are anybody who helps you to achieve a particular goal. If you don’t know anyone in this country, you’re finished. The recent president, ehn, what’s his name?”
“Buhari?”
“Yes, that man. Do you think he would have been a president without the support of godfathers? No. He wouldn’t have even smelled Aso Rock as a civilian. He had to bow down to some people.”
“But Dad,” said the boy, “the former president of the country had no shoes, and knew nobody…”
“You see, that’s where you missed the point. He actually had a sea of godfathers backing him. There was baba and there were other top dogs guiding him. He stumbled upon the presidency.”
“I will still become a president.”
“My son, it is good to dream but sometimes some dreams can be bad dreams.”
“But my teacher said that I can be anything I want to be in life. “
“Ask your teacher if he wanted to be a teacher. I can bet he didn’t. The job forced itself on him. Many Nigerians actually don’t like what they do. They do what they do because they have to survive. In short, every Nigerian is a survival.”
“Are you and mum survivals then?”
“Before nko? We are heavy survivals. You better be realistic and dream another dream.’
“Dad, there’s nothing else I can dream of.”
“Dream of being the next Don Jazzy.”
“I don’t want to be a musician.”
“Don Jazzy is not a musician. He’s a producer of musicians.”
“Dad, I want to be a president.”
“Son, listen to me carefully, I love you and I want what’s best for you. I want to see my grand children. If you want to be a somebody that would change the world then be like one of those entrepreneurs.”
“Like who?”
“Like Dangote.”
“Who’s Dangote?”
“You see, that’s where your teacher missed the point. Those are the owners of the country. They should be teaching you about such individuals.”
“How can a person own the country? Ah, daddy, you can lie”
“Ask your teacher if you don’t believe me. Ask him. You see, every day you wake up in Nigeria, if you are eating rice, beans, spaghetti or salt, you’re using a Dangote product. If you are not using his product on a daily basis, you’ll die. He’s the Koch of Nigeria.”
“What’s Koch?”
“Koch brothers are the owners of the largest industries in the United States of America.”
“Business people can own a country?”
“Oh yes! Every new president in Nigeria wants to align with big business men because they oil the economy of a country. Forget about being the president of the country. Focus on building a business like Warren Buffet, Bill Gates and others.”
“How do I start?’
“Start by reading hard and thinking about businesses you can start. Forget about the business of being a Nigerian president.”
“But that’s the only thing that keeps coming to my head?”
“What is always coming to your head?”
“To be a president.”
“Don’t deceive yourself my child. Forget about it. Again, look at the past presidents from the beginning of Nigeria, how many Calabar men have you seen?”
“I don’t know.”
“Go and find out. And when you find the answer then you’d realise that the people from certain regions of Nigeria can never become president. Simple. If you like don’t listen to me and keep this dream in your head, you will only kill yourself.”
The child’s face broke into sadness then slid from his father’s lap and walked away. His father watched him, shook his head and resumed his reading.
I tweet: @moshoke
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