EXPENSIVE SACRIFICE

EXPENSIVE SACRIFICE

Kikelomo olowo ori mi, talo fe fi jo? Omo tekun ba bi ekun lo ma jo (kikelomo my beloved, who would your trace the steps to? The offspring of a Lion would always look like a Lion); you must please listen to your father Kike’s mum said in a persuasive tone trying to calm her daughter from who charm was on the verge of eclipsing into a tearful rage as the tears which  was as thick as a drop of condensed milk laced around her eyelid. Professor Adeniyi Craig furious tone continued to filter from his room streaming unhindered to the parlour where Kike and her mother was. She must be joking he kept ranting; if she doesn’t desist from such saddonic plan then she ceases to be my daughter. I wouldn’t allow you to drag the esteem name of this family down the mud. That’s my decision and it’s final. Tensed atmosphere it was on this fateful day; no one had predicted or expected things to turn out this bad. Hold your breath; let me fill you in on the details of event that brought the amazing gorgeous Kike the wrath of her parents.

Kike is the only daughter of the Craig’s family, mother luck gave her an added advantage as she was the last child of the family hence assured of unhindered pampering and love. She is a description of the term genius and she possessed from childhood the aura and attitude that naturally warms her into the heart of many. She is an epitome of beauty, a feat she has sustained for years. Despite the fact she was born with a silver spoon, kike is very hardworking, illustrious and extremely brilliant. She was a pride to her parent always constantly getting a thumbs up accompanied with a boastful praise from her father like the dude that just got the latest brand of Honda product, that’s my girl is a popular chorus on professor’s lip. Kike cemented her brilliance with being the best student almost through her primary and secondary school days smashing the long record of the highest number of A’s in her senior secondary school certificate examination. Just five persons have managed to near her high score in the dreaded JAMB examinations till date. Her many trophies won at different quiz and prize giving days from her childhood days littered every corner of her room. Amazingly she isn’t one of those bookworm looking type as she was always found participating actively in other extracurricular activities. How she managed to stay top in all she was involved in is certainly a mystery to her friends. Well it won’t be a misguided fact to say she inherited such brilliant and charm from her parent.

Born into a very popular wealthy family; kike’s father a professor of medicine is a strict but loving person, a well famous respected doctor with international recognition. He was one of those that brought a breakthrough the discovery of Lactose intolerance, a knowledge that explains why milk is well digested in children and not in adult especially those that aren’t use to persistent intake. Who doesn’t know Kike’s mother? Except you don’t read the dailies and you aren’t conversant with happenings in the law world. Even if you don’t know much, the mention of the fact that she is the chief judge of a state should suggest how influential and highly place she is. Kike’s two brothers are also very comfortable; one is a pilot and the other an engineer hence the Craig family falls into the description of the high-class. Kike has always being an obedient good girl, always adhering to the rules and regulations of the house, a daddy’s girl to the core always wanting to please him any day anytime. At her secondary school days, she sacrificed her desire to study environmental management for accounting by joining the commercial student instead of the science folks just to satisfy the family fantasy of having a representative in the entire top popular field. Everything went according to plans, she gained admission into one of the top private university, cleared ICAN and ACCA in one sitting before jetting out of the country for her masters programme. Securing a lucrative job isn’t at the finger tip of the highly connected family as the only daughter got set to unleash her skills in the labour market.

Trouble started when Kike threw a bomb at the family upon her return from the UK, all hell broke loose when she informed of her intention to pursue a long time dream of becoming a professional dancer instead of practising as an accountant. Kike who happens to be a great dancer from her childhood days has silently nursed a career in the entertainment world. She wants to be a top act in the business, wants to own a modern dance school and becomes a dance facilitator. What madness screamed her father upon the confession, who placed you on a spell to have thought of such plans? Of what good is a dancer to the society the professor yelled. Kike however drew inspiration to follow her dreams from her friend in the university days; Hilary who despite being an extremely brilliant chap as well had a fling for nutrition. His dream is to own the best eatery in the country especially since the established ones are beginning to lose the feel that made them the people’s favourite. Hillary who graduated a year before kike hit the ground running focused on achieving his set plans. It wasn’t long that he met a senator who incidentally fell in love with the recipe offered by “chop up” the firm Hillary has strived to open. He was so impressed that he helped Hillary secure his biggest/breakthrough job which was handling the catering service for a summit which was under the senator’s jurisdiction. Kike and Hillary had kept in touch hence was aware of the progress her friend gradually made. His success story was what kike needed to confront the fears of selling her idea to her well learned parent.  Of course the idea sounded absurd especially considering the amount invested in her expensive educational sojourn and it’s also a total digression from the family huge top shot job standard. She is however faced with the dilemma of either satisfying her parent polished wish or her unapproved personal desires.

Life! Life!! Life!!! Filled with many proposal and option for every individual, fortunately many tows the line of the blueprint men has designed for them while few look within to follow the cry of their heart. Who is Kike Craig? Unfortunately it’s many of us. We are surrounded with life expectation for us and often times neglect the earnest cravings of our heart. Many of us has embedded dreams but has found them buried for different reasons which includes alternative suggestions and pressures emanating from public evaluation of it, the fear of taking a risk of venturing into that line or business especially if a little stream of income is flowing from a job that ties us to the four corners of a room. Some of us even take up the second option jobs because of previous failures of past endeavours or perhaps life perceived frustrations in general. Peter the rock who was one of the closest disciples to Christ also at a point left the commitment of soul winning for the fishing line because of some temporal setbacks that followed the physical separation of Jesus and his disciples. It took a re-appearance before he was encouraged to return to his God-given pool of functioning.

What’s the definition of a success? Is it everyone that has a fat account that is considered prosperous? Trust me, it’s a big NO. Don’t get me wrong, it’s definitely not a crime working for a multinational or highly placed establishment but it becomes a plus if that’s where your passion lies, if that’s who you want to be. However it becomes a minus if you got stuck for the cash. I have discovered overtime that it’s not money that brings good fortune or a promising future. It’s just a means of exchange, an accepted trading material hence when you effectively trade your ideas, you are guaranteed of a cash pay back. The successful is one who has the ability and charisma to attract wealth and not the one that spends all his time chasing it. Haven’t you heard of the many individuals that ended up on hospital beds after been sacked as experienced in the banking sector sometimes ago. The source of wealth suddenly froze and they ended in the middle of nothing. Money is just a paper; it’s what you carry within that is the real wealth. It is painful when people have great visions, abilities and dreams but suppress them because of some unimaginable reasons especially if it’s the lure of quick cash as it is in most cases or perhaps the fear associated with trying out such new things. I wondered if people like Kafi, Kelechi Amadi Obi, Tara, Otunba Gaddaffi, Ali baba etc would have commanded the strong influence they posses right now if they had suppressed their goals and passion that often seem foolish to people when its first shared. I know of guys that live large on music, entertainment, fashion, photography etc as a means of livelihood than many bankers and other graduates so it’s sometimes not about what you do but your perception of what you do. The most annoying part is seeing frustrated jobless graduates or those struggling earning peanuts when they have great resources locked up in them that are capable of amassing great wealth and heralding a strong influence only if they tap into it. If one is involved in an activity and deep down there is no form of fulfilment and satisfaction then that’s a good pointer to the fact that you are on a wrong path. Sometimes our greatest undoing is the fact that we are educated because it often cage us to believing your certificate is ultimate means for securing the dream job, little wonder a person like Bill gates turned out to be economic rulers, they activated the thinking abilities in maximising available opportunities.

Must we make money? Absolutely YES, Should we sacrifice our dreams to make it? NO. There is a wealth creating power in every idea once there enough faith to jealously guard it and the required strength sufficient for the risk.  Even if it looks rough at the starting point, just trust in yourselves because such state doesn’t last forever.

Would Kike Craig be successful in the accounting world? Most likely, would she be fulfilled and find life satisfaction? I seriously doubt. I have come to a point where I have pledged to support my children to become whatever/whoever they want to be than suggest or impose a will on them, I presume some folks would have ended up in a different field if they got the adequate support. A man can never be a genius or a celebrity in another man’s field, you can only make history when you function at utmost efficiency in your field of calling so I advise you look for it and keep working towards it. I really don’t know why i wrote this piece but I believe someone is about to or has drowned his/her dream in the pool of the world’s expectation. “... And be not conformed to the standard of the world but be ye transformed by the renewal of your mindset”. Never satisfy your visions for the fulfilment of the wishes/pleasures of others; it could not only be dangerous but also suicidal.