A PAPER DELIVERED BY VEN DR SAMSON KUNLE POPOOLA JP, CHAIRMAN, PCRC OGUN STATE AT A DAY SENSITIZATION WORKSHOP ON SECURITY AND PEACE BUILDING FOR OGUN STATE STUDENTS ORGANISED BY THE OFFICE OT THE SPECIAL ASSISTANT TO OGUN STATE GOVERNOR ON STUDENT MATTERS.
1. PROTOCOLS.
2. PREAMBLES AND REMINISCENCES.
3. WHAT ARE THE REASONS FOR GETTING RICH?
A lot of us on planet Earth work assiduously to get rich and climb the ladders of success in life for so many reasons. We often think of wealth in terms of monetary and material wealth. The more possessions we have, the more wealthy we’re regarded.
However, if we trace back to the original meaning of the word “wealth,” it comes from two old English words; “weal” which means well-being, and “th” which means a condition of. So if we combine the two words, wealth really means “a condition of well-being.”
This is different from our definition of wealth today. Consider this; if someone is wealthy financially but has poor health or poor relationships, would that person be considered as being truly wealthy?
When we think of being wealthy, it’s beneficial to consider wealth in different areas of our lives. We cannot be truly wealthy if one or more areas of our life is causing us stress, turmoil, and having an impact on our physical health.
We often think of wealth in terms of monetary and material wealth. The more possessions we have, the more wealthy we’re regarded. However, if we trace back to the original meaning of the word “wealth,” it comes from two old English words; “weal” which means well-being, and “th” which means a condition of. So if we combine the two words, wealth really means “a condition of well-being.”
This is different from our definition of wealth today. Consider this; if someone is wealthy financially but has poor health or poor relationships, would that person be considered as being truly wealthy?
When we think of being wealthy, it’s beneficial to consider wealth in different areas of our lives. We cannot be truly wealthy if one or more areas of our life is causing us stress, turmoil, and having an impact on our physical health.
WHY DO WE NEED TO BE WEALTHY?
Given the choice, most of us would prefer to be wealthy, in its true sense. From my experience, the times when I have considered myself wealthy, I had good health, felt secure financially and also had meaning and purpose behind what I was doing.
When I lacked wealth, things seemed to get progressively worse and worse, and I had more negative thoughts and emotions. That’s not a good place to be. That to me is not wealth but foolishness.
Let me quickly expound
10 Reasons Why it’s Good to Be Wealthy
Here are ten reasons why I think it is good to be wealthy — financially, physically, emotionally, mentally, relationally and spiritually. These areas form the essence of who we are and will affect the quality of our life. The premise I’m adopting here is, “the wealthier we are, the better our lives will be.”
1. We can be more generous.
If we’re physically wealthy, we’ll have more energy and stamina to contribute whether that’s at work, at home or in our communities. If we’re financially wealthy, we can donate money, sponsor a child, support a cause we believe in, etc. Our generosity comes from our sense of self-worth, and being wealthy has an effect on our level of generosity.
It requires us to learn and grow. To be wealthy, we’ll have to learn new things. It could be learning about how to be financially wealthy such as becoming an investor, learning how to have better health, or how to create better relationships. These will require us to develop, grow and go to a new level of performance.
2. We are more comfortable.
When our basic needs as human beings are taken care of,we tend to be comfortable.
When we’re comfortable, we’re more creative. Comfort in this context isn’t about being satisfied with where we are in life and not being willing to challenge ourselves to grow. It’s about having our needs met so we can function well each day and be our best self.
3. We can make a bigger impact.
Take financial wealth as an example -if we’re not wealthy financially, the good we can do in the world is limited to our own physical presence. That means we’re restricted by the amount of time we can give toward a cause or project.
4. If we’re wealthy, we could potentially invest in more resources (people, technology, equipment, etc.) and leverage our time a lot better. And we don’t always have to be doing the work ourselves to have the impact we want.
5. We will have more fun. How often is money a factor in deciding whether to do something or not? When we want to have new experiences such as adventures or trips, if we’re wealthy, our decisions will come down to whether we really want to do something rather than whether we can afford it.
6. We will be a better parent. When we’re wealthy, we’ll be able to raise our kids with an abundance mindset rather than one of lack and limitation. If you’re a parent, think back to times when you decided not to buy or do something for your kids because you thought you couldn’t afford it. Wouldn’t it have been easier if financial wealth wasn’t a factor in your decision?
7. We will attract people playing at the same level as us. It’s not common for healthy people to be socialising with those who aren’t healthy (unless they’re family). The people we surround ourselves with, we become like them. Like attracts like, so we’ll spend time with people who are more like us, which is often a good thing.
8.We tend to have less stress and more free time. One of my mentors often says, “You’ll be amazed at how much free time you have when you don’t have to worry about money.” That is so true. When we’re financially wealthy, we have more choices and also make better decisions regarding our health, finances, and overall well-being.
9. It will require us to form new beliefs. To attract, maintain and build our wealth, our mindset will change, which often means we’ll adopt new beliefs about ourselves, others and the world. Our results are often a reflection of our beliefs, and to get better results, we must form new beliefs.
10. We’ll have a happier life. There’s a common belief that money will not make us happy. The origins of that idea has been slightly misinterpreted, however the difference it has made is enormous. The original idea was, it’s the “love” of money that will not make us happy. Loving, obsessing or hoarding money isn’t what it’s about. It’s about recognising that money or wealth is a means to give us what we want. It’s okay to be wealthy and have a healthy relationship with money.
If we consider wealth holistically, we’ll realise being wealthy has a lot more benefits and provides us with so many more choices in life. We can do a lot more in the world if we’re wealthy compared to not being wealthy. It really comes down to what we believe to be true about wealth.
When you critically look at the above reasons, an average human being will be tempted to belief that it is worth while to look for riches at all cost.
However getting rich is miles away from being wealthy. Being wealthy is a combination of riches, responsibility and good character. Those who are rich without a sound pedigree of responsibility and character are usually reffered to as "OLOWO IGBO".
The rising waves of ritual killings and the get rich quick syndrome that has held our youths and young adults hostage is the erroneous believe that rich and wealth are the same. Unfortunately it is not so that is why we have so many rich people around us but very few wealthy people.
In my modest knowledge of marketing, the greatest tool for expansion is advertisement, product samples and referrals.
Let me now ask,
Where are the products or product samples of ritually rich people for marketing, advertisement and referrals?
How many Dangotes, Mike Adenugas or Otedolas has been produced by ritualists.
Do we even have facts to justify this search for riches through diabolical means?. If the greatest and visible products of ritual riches are poo eating, blood sucking, walking naked in the streets or lying in caskets or even passing a lonely night at the cemetery, sleeping with one's mother or daughter and yet none has been able to match the Otedolas of this world naira for naira, then I tell them that hardwork and decency can produce a better and more peaceful results. I stand to be challenged.
There are better opportunities today to get up the ladder of life for more people than was available in yester years.
Let us now shatter the myth, why is it easier for this diabolical workers to lure people into the net without themselves or their family taking a shot at it.
Why will someone wants you to move and live in banana island while himself is still holed up in a stinking condition in one remote village... Is it not because he is aware of the repercussions and consequences of the action. No one can love you more than yourself.
There are ladders and stages of becoming rich and relevant and this can easily be discerned from the gradual but steady ascension via clothing, housing, vehicles, marriage or even parenthood. Those who refused or deliberately dodged these ladders of life can never sustain riches and character.
Every successful people today have stories to tell either in America, UK, Germany, Russia, China, Dubai or in Africa...
.nothing ventured nothing gained.
The challenge ahead of us as student leaders and opinion moulders in our own right is to decide wether we want to belong to the few who lived and their names continue to resonate like the Awolowos, Azikwe, Sardauna of Sokoto, Tafawa Balewa, Beko Ransomed Kuti, M.K.O. Abiola etc or we want to be condemned to the dustbin of history like Oyenusi, Babatunde, Anini, Rev King, etc etc..the choice is for us to make.
We need to reinvent positive role modelling based on intellectual capacity, the principle of modesty, accountability and good character..the epitome of OMOLUWABI.
Drug addiction, alcoholism, ritual and diabolism are alien to the principle of a responsible citizens.
Yes I agree that we may have failed you as parents and leaders because we wanted to shield you from the principles that produced the best in our generation and per adventure reacting and taking up arms to assist in the total destruction of our norms. However in the next twenty to thirty years there won't be many of our generation around to blame, but your generation will still be very active and in position of authority and now saddled with clearing the mess you today created..who knows wether ritualists will be your president, armed robber your Governor, paedophile your Senate president and a drug addict your speaker..I pray not to live to witness such a degredation of my beautiful and blessed country. However this will depend on the choices we make today.
You could see the smell in a poo or a manure to till the soil for productivity. It's a matter of perception.
Most parents are encouraging indolence and indiscipline amongst our children by portraying to them that our disciplined upbringing is as a result of poverty or punishment from their parents.
Our collective desire not to make our children go through the early rigours in life has brought us all to where we all are today.
Come to think of it.
1. You refuse them trekking to school and on Saturdays pay to have them do the same walking on thread mills.
2. I didn't have several pairs of uniform and today I have learnt to take care of the little I have and to treat them with care, including learning to wash dirty linings.
3. I probably have just a pair of sandals a bit oversized to last several sessions in school and today I have learnt to cherish every pair in my possession.
4. We cut grasses and even do manual labour on school farm and today working with my hands is not seen as lowly or demeaning.
5. We were thought to respect and hold our teachers in awe and today subjecting ourselves to our bosses or spouses is not a big deal.
6. Our fathers could not pay our fees in time and sometimes we have to be driven out of school few times and you know what? We learnt that earning money is not an easy task or gotten by just snapping our fingers.
7. We played the good child as a precondition for earning our school fees or clothing for festivals and this thought us not to take such things for granted , it is earned by being a good child. It's not an entitlement.
8. Some of us were stopped going to school early to allow for our seniors to complete theirs, and of course it thought us prudence and sound resource management and the one year at home has not deprived us of succeeding in life but we learnt the pains of parenthood.
9. We didn't have three square meals and today following the dietician prescription is not too tasking.
The list is endless, I looked back today and I make bold to say those who passed through that system came out more successful,more disciplined, more brilliant and more resourceful than our present day products.
So allow them to climb the ladders of life from the base...jumping the stages or shielding them from the realities of life is a disaster waiting to happen.
The stark reality of our collective failure is starring us all in the face. I wonder what country we are going to bequeath to our children and how we can stand before the throne of judgement and say we have tried our best for our children.
Probably my only regret when I die will be my inability to hand over a better country, town or home to my children than what I got from my parents, but then the fault will not be entirely mine but because I have a set of children who believed in taking liberty as license, who spoilt their today to bastardise their tomorrow, who refused to see a brighter tomorrow from the ruins of today, who refused to generate power from waste and manure from poo. I will therefore stand tall before my creator and tell Him that this day in this hall in front of this people, I DID MY BEST.
Food for thought.
Thank you all for listening.
VEN DR SAMSON KUNLE POPOOLA JP,
CHAIRMAN
PCRC OGUN STATE
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