LESSONS LEARNT FROM THE ELECTORAL PROCESS

Never ever give up! If there is anybody that ought to have given up as far as this electoral process is concerned, it is General Muhammudu Buhari. The first time he contested for the presidential elections was in the year 2003 and three consecutive times he lost. I can just imagine the pain and frustration he must have felt. The number of times he must have gotten very emotional. Can you
imagine the amount of insults he must have received all through the years? The opposition party called him names, they tried to bring him down because of his past, I am not saying that the General is a saint neither am I saying that he is a sinner, all I am trying to do, is to make you see things from the other side of the coin. General Buhari could have allowed himself to be defeated, he could have allowed past failures, actions, inactions, mistakes, fear to dictate his life. He could have resulted into self-pity but he chose the other way. He chose to have a positive mindset that most of us lack. He chose not to be defined by his past. For every dirt thrown at him, he simply shrugged it off and moved on. That is what we need to do, when we are in the pit of life and people are throw negative words at us or life presents itself as thrash, rather than feel depressed and let them win, we must shake off the pain and climb higher. Before long, we would be out of the pit and we would be moving on to victory. The message is simple, stay focused, avoid distractions, “you can never cross the ocean until you have the courage to lose sight of the shore” – Anonymous. See obstacles are ladders for success, never give up and surely you would get there.

The power of competence! My eldest brother Bamiloshin Olumide, made a statement this morning, he said “even when providence gives you opportunities, if you lack competence, you will mess up. Make every opportunity count”. This is true with the case of President Goodluck Jonathan. You will recall vividly that in the last election, President Jonathan didn’t have any difficulties attaining the presidential position because he had what Public Relation Practitioners call goodwill. The people were endeared to him because his campaign “I had no shoes” portrayed him as a man who has seen suffering, slept on suffering and definitely knows the digits of suffering. He could smell sufferings miles away and as such, was the best man for the job. But along the line, something changed, the goodwill was not working anymore because people began to see things differently. Although, he sees himself as someone who has done a lot for the country, but when the masses begin to see your failures rather than your strength, you will need a lot of persuasion to change their minds and unfortunately, persuasion didn’t work, people were tired of the transformation agenda, they wanted something different, they wanted change and change they got! This is what I am saying in essence; when you are given an opportunity, make the best use of it. Don’t always rely on luck to make things work for you, be responsible, do your work with all of your heart. So many people believe in you, they believe in your capacity, don’t make them regret having you as a friend or leader. Be the best father, mother, friend, boss, subordinate or child. Dare to be better than your yesterday. Make this present opportunity count, a success in this present opportunity might just be the right leverage and goodwill that you need to make it.

Character is everything. I have already talked about Jega’s beautiful character in my last post, so I wouldn’t talk about it again. You can click on the link and read it, it is an interesting write up. http://thewinninggeneration.blogspot.com/2015/04/the-jeganian-theory.html?m=1 . My focus on character is Professor Osinbajo, the incoming vice president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Take a close look at how he has been rubbished, the Christian community practically bastardized his name but he didn’t let that deter him. People tried to look for loopholes in his career, probably cases of fraud and embezzlement or even womanizing but none was found in him, at least, none that we know of. From this experience, I have come to learn something. Most times we complain that God is too slow, we challenge God and demand explanations as to why we are still where we are when we ought to have moved on. Little did we know that God is just trying to do us a favour. God is taking you through a process, he wants you to be well baked, well groomed, well mannered. He wants to instill in you the values needed to change the world. If you cannot successfully lead your family of five, how will you lead a nation with millions of people? The only reason why the flaws of great men are so obvious is because they are well known people. If a lowly person makes the same mistake, it might even go unnoticed. We are the leaders, we are the generation of winners, we are the ones set to make right what our predecessors have made wrong. We can’t afford to continue with our terrible character flaws, yes, nobody is perfect but we must make it a point of duty to ourselves, family and nation to be better and better as the day goes by. Rather than complain about the “little flock of sheep” that God has given you to oversee, see it as an avenue to be better, keep working on yourself, work on your skills, work on your talents, work on your character, don’t be afraid of volunteering, Tom Ziglar once said “when you combine love, integrity and skill, you create a legacy!” You asked for change, April 1st, 2015 marks the beginning of change in our lives as Nigerians. Learn to love, be a man of integrity and harness your skill, only then can you be a winner in this generation, only then can you create a legacy.

The power of association. Starting from his campaign strategist, General Buhari got it right. Do you know that United States based political strategy firm, AKPD Message and Media was behind most of APC’s campaign messages and strategies? Okay, you still don’t get it do you? AKPD Message and Media was the firm that played a leading role in President Barack Obama’s presidential Campaigns in 2008 and 2012. General Buhari associated with people Nigerians want to listen to. People who had what he lacked and people who could project him in a positive light that changes him from the one time dictatorial General to a man of integrity. Now you can understand why I say association is very powerful. When you want to get something done, go for the best, associate with people of like minds, stay around positive people and be forever optimistic.

The power of words. Jennifer Ehidiamen, uploaded a picture of the Guardian newspaper with a headline that states “I won’t stay in office beyond 2015, Jonathan insists” and her own tag to the picture is “the power of words…As he spoke, so has it become. Remember this when next you want to say anything concerning your destiny, good people.” I can’t agree any less. WORDS ARE POWERFUL. WHETHER YOU CHOOSE TO AGREE OR NOT, IT DOESN’T DIMINISH THE POWER OF THE TONGUE! We need to learn to use our words carefully. Don’t just talk because they told you to talk. Say the right things and when you make statements like the above, remember to keep it. Be a man of your words, there is no point saying something and doing otherwise. If you know you have doubts about something, you better don’t say anything rather than say something that would incapacitate your progress and limit your heights and jeopardize your future. Say what you mean and mean what you say.

I hope you have learnt a lot from the electoral process. Please share your opinions with me, I want to learn from you also. Thank you for reading, I hope to see you win in every sphere of life, we are TWG HUB we must get it right. I remain BAMILOSHIN ESTHER. God bless THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA!