NATIONAL EDUCATION

There was a convention held by the Barbers and Hairstylists of America. The convention was to let all Americans appreciate their profession. They hired one young public relations executive to package the convention. The public relations executive had a brilliant idea. He went downtown to the slums to fish out an addict that looked dirty and
unkempt.

The P.R. guy took him out of the slum, bargained with him to pay him money, then a photographer was asked to snap him the way he was. The addict was taken to the barber’s shop where he was trimmed and given a good shave. He was snapped again by the photographer. Then he was taken to a men’s clothes shop and dressed up in a suit and tie. The addict was looking like an executive.

During the convention held at the banquet hall of a popular hotel, the photographs of this guy were displayed in very large frames showing from when he was an addict to where the barbers dressed him up properly like an executive. On each of the frames, it was written, “See what the Barbers and the Hairstylists of America can do to you.” The transformed addict was positioned in the lobby, shaking the people’s hands as they were coming in for the convention.

It worked so much that a drug addict could experience such a powerful transformation within a few days. This made headline news all over the United States. The convention was a success. The manager of the hotel where the convention was held was so excited by the transformation of this addict that he wanted to get him a job.

He didn’t want him back in the slums. Eventually, an appointment for a job was fixed for the Monday following the convention. Throughout the week, the hotel manager waited but the addict did not show up. Months later, the hotel manager was rummaging through the hotel basement when he sighted the photographs of the addicted guy.

He took the photograph to the slums looking for the guy. For over an hour, it was a frantic search. After one hour, it occurred to him, he was holding the wrong picture. He then ran back to the hotel basement to pick the original photograph showing the guy as an addict. Within a few minutes, the guy was located.

The wisdom in the whole story is this, the Barbers and Hairstylists of America may be able to change the outside and physical appearance of a person, but until they change the person inside, the guy has not really changed. Change is first within, then without.

When you see the way Nigerians treat themselves, their environment, and other people, it suggests that until we invest substantially in the hearts and minds of Nigerians, there is no way we will be able to get them to live in a developed environment. True change in this country must begin within the people.

The government may budget billions of Naira to put beautiful infrastructures in place, until there is prosperity in the mind of Nigerians, there will never be prosperity on the ground. Whenever good infrastructures are put in place by the government, these infrastructures will depreciate faster because of the mindsets of the people. Until the mindsets can accommodate the infrastructures, there can never be a maintenance culture.

Our people will continue to remove street lights and railings. The greatest investment this country needs to make today is an investment in the thinking level of our people. There is such a dire need for education, information, and change in the country now. This must begin in the hearts of our people, for as he thinketh in his heart, so is he. No society can rise above the level of thinking of its people.

True change in this country must begin from the inside of our people. People can never rise beyond the level of their knowledge. In the Bible, God says: My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. People are not destroyed because of the lack of money, but by lack of knowledge. People will always rise or fall proportionate to their knowledge.

Knowledge makes the difference. The difference between human beings and animals is knowledge. We all have something in common with the animals, and this is instinct. Things that are done without thinking. Knowledge places man on a higher pedestal. It is our ability to make decisions that are not based on instincts only, but on the knowledge that makes us better.

You may feel like doing something, but if your knowledge lets you know the consequences of not doing it, you may choose to do it or not to do it. You may feel like not doing it, but if your knowledge tells you that unless you do it, you will not get the desired results, and then you decide whether to do it or not.

Animals do only things they feel like doing. We need to lift the quality of thinking of people in this environment. Until we do that, there is not going to be an improvement in the quality of life around here. You shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free. True freedom begins from the inside out.

Nigeria will Succeed!