STATE AND CAPITAL

I was asked to teach a pupil during third term holiday. She's a very smart kid but her mother was tired of seeing her in second position consistently and she believed her daughter could get used to playing second fiddle and that might affect her in life...some educated rich parents could be funny. Cynthia's headmaster and class teacher commented on her report card every term that she's brilliant and could do more but she talked too much.

From my book shelf i picked Ben Carson, John Mason, John Maxwell, Myles Munroe. I drafted motivation curriculum, in addition to the routine learning to help her belief that greatness is possible and could be sustained . But i nearly ran into trouble when i asked her to recite Nigeria's state and capital.
She gave me you-think-i-don't-know look. I stopped her half-way, I was confused, half aloud, i said 'where is Gongola state'. She replied, 'Gongo what! Uncle there's nothing like that and my class teacher can't be wrong'.
From her bag, she pulled out an exercise book where it was printed and before i would disgrace myself further, i told her to forget it but her sanguine nature continued to push her as she whispered to me; 'you mean you don't know state and...' 'shut up and listen!' i barked.

Isn't it funny that many adults don't know ground had shifted beneath them and are due to un-learn and re-learn? Many can't beat their chest to have read any book in particular since their graduation: i wonder what separate them from my unlettered granny.

We always assume we know whereas, assumption is the lowest level of knowledge. We under-play our states and lay emphasis on capital. Mathematicians can't be proud of how we have misused approximation. We are far from being accurate about the capital because we don't really know our state.

'Oh, if i can just lay my hands on two million dollar,dirhams, cedis, or naira...' many would say. If you probe the dreamers, you would know that they had not done their home work on how the money would be utilised to better their lives.

I believe so strongly that power to attract capital or solution is in knowing your state. Your financial, health, marriage, spiritual state should not be joked with; they are states that can make or mar you and ascertaining their current levels and give your budget perfection.
CAPITAL IS NOT THE FIRST THING YOU NEED TO KNOW OR SEEK BUT THE CURRENT STATES.

'One more thing' i said as she was packing her books. 'your mum must not learn about this 'she won't uncle, but can we close early on fridays so i can see my soap opera? 'Soap opera ko, lux soap ni.'

That's the kind of bargain life throws at us when we don't know our current states and forging ahead becomes climbing Nepal's Mount Everest: the highest mountain.

Odunmorayo Olalekan