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WHY MY NAME WAS NOT ON THE FORBES’ LIST

                                                                                                            By lawore olufemi          


The much anticipated list finally came out last week. I couldn’t fathom the joy and bubbles of hopes inside of me. I restlessly rushed to the cafe to browse the website of forbes.com; but dejectedly and shockingly, my name was not among the first 50 richest people in the world. I was consumed with a mixture of tears and fears that after much sleepless nights and hardworking days, the whole world couldn’t count my name among the first 50 richest, it’s quite pathetic, not even before Mr Dangote- forbes’ needs to be sued. It is a sad thing to mumble over. I was not remembered of a work well done.


The second day was a relief from my captive sorrow when i turned inward to see why the world is impoverished despite huge wealth and resources. I found out that many of the rich men worked smarter while most of the poor people worked harder. Rich men make money while asleep, poor men lose money while asleep. The point of success in conclusion is not in Hardwork but in Smartwork; and with this I bet to live my other full years.


The third day was fun as I began working smart by first knowing how they do what they do to become smart and rich. I browsed through profiles and columns to search for in-depth secrets; secrets beyond the ordinary (not diabolic). As i dug further into my search, a flashed of my ancient thoughts came knocking-‘the difference between greatness and richness’. And with this I developed a quote that says,” The world is impoverished not because it has not produced enough successful people but because it has not produced enough great people.” end of quote. I thought over this for days and I figured why Africa and indeed Nigeria is poor in spite all natural (mineral and human) resources.


I counted the numbers of great people that I know of and measured it by the integral sum of the successful people seen and listed in our time and past; it baffles me that the world drives backward not because it is not successful but because the world is not great.


So what is greatness and success? Greatness has to do with the life our resources and wealth can positively impact while success speaks of our life with respect to positive impact on us. I discovered that the more successful a man is, the more he lives selfishly, and on the other hand, the more a man tends towards greatness, the more lives he liberates from all forms of enslavement. People who are great are not necessarily rich in money or materials but they are rich in purpose, justice and life impact. The more one thinks about being successful, the more one grows selfish in interest of life. While the more one grows great, the more the person grows with love for others. Let me paint pictures- we can say in Nigeria that Dangote and Mike Adenuga are successful but we can’t say they are great because they have not done what great people like Chief Obafemi Awolowo and General Murtala Muhamed has done. We can say Bill gate is rich but we can’t compare him with people like Mahatma Ghandi. We can as well say King Solomon was rich but we can’t say he was a great man like Jesus. There are no better pictures that illustrate this better.


With this thought now flourishing in my heart I pray not for success but for greatness because greatness last longer while success dies almost immediately with you. The world doesn’t need people who will buy cars, build houses, drive private jets alone- though they are interesting and comforting- all the dying world needs is a heart, body and soul ready to go as far as the end of the world to liberate the famished in body and spirit; to set free the captives; to stand tall and firm for justice and truth. To paints the town green (life) and not red (danger). All the world needs is more great people and not successful people.


To sum it all, the world around you is collapsing not because you are not striving to be successful but because you never strove for greatness. As important as all the glamour of the world is, the richest man (King Solomon) of a lasting time says- vanity upon vanity, all is vanity. Life is not a measure of your ‘haves’, it is all about a measure of your gives. There is no better way to express love to yourself, your God and all around than striving to be great. It is a nourished diet you will ever serve the world. I would end by restating that the world is impoverished not because it has not produced enough successful people but because it has not produced enough great people. God is great and He needs you to be great for this generation...thank you for reading and stay blessed

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