For some time now, I've been contemplating a most contentious issue. oyibo!
Seriously.
They say change is the only constant in life, and that they who will survive, must change; must adapt. But come to think of it, do I want to? I mean, really? Think about it: one day you're massaging a mixture of spirit and "Sulphur 8" on your chin like your life depends on it, and the next day you're running sharp objects round your chin (perhaps elsewhere as well?) in a bid to remove that oh, stubborn hair that keeps growing back.
Change, huh? Well.
But I think I've changed some. See, back in school, I didn't know what I wanted to do when I got out. Cos, well, unlike some of you who read courses that pretty much led them (albeit blindly, I say) into a defined career path (think of the poor sods who read medicine, optometry, law, engineering...) I read history and International Relations (HIR) – in Abia state University (ABSU).
Before you start "ooh-ing" and "aah-ing" at the mouthful of a course, let me just state here that the swagger of that degree was just in the title. One of the courses, study of the world languages, was a walk-through the Igbo language. Yeah man, I always knew my Igbo brothers would eventually make an impact on the whole world. Nna meen! Noting mega!
So. I read HIR at ABSU. And while most of my course mates – and even the current students – kept deceiv...sorry, encouraging themselves that they would automatically become diplomats on graduation (they did then, and still do keep calling themselves ambassadors till today) I had not the faintest clue as to where I would end up.
Ofcourse, several thoughts crossed my mind:
- Get a shop in Ariairia; or
- Employ boys that would carry market-goers across those gaping pot-holes that just filled up once it rained; or
- Become a diplomat (after all, I read HIR, no?); or
Yeah. Or something.
I just had no clue. So, with a box full of whatever I thought I might need and a heart full of hope (na, scratch that and put curiosity) I went for Youth Service – in Yobe State. I still had no plan, but hey... I had a whole year to make one up.
But I didn't want to work in a bank.
Chang happens, right? Fast forward three years, and now I'm sitting at home and typing these words off the top of my head. I've already quit two jobs (in advertising – which I must confess, I love more than a whole lot of things) and I'm on the third. In a bank!
So change happens. I decided to come back to Aba from Lagos for a reason. I decided to leave the job I love and pick up one I may one day learn to like for a reason. I didn't get that shop in Ariaria for a reason. And I'm sure as the cold wind in winter writing all these for a reason.
What would you guys say if I told you Muse waned to unveil himself?
To change or not to change. That is the question at hand.