by
Patrick Ogungbola
MD/ CEO, BLUEHEDGE REALTORS
This is wishing you a Happy New Month.
Hmmm, this is June 2019, the month that ends the first half of the year. Indeed, time flies.
A lot happened in the month of May, but of much concern to this writer is the rampant issue of widespread depression in Nigeria, which has led to suicidal attempts, and in some cases, suicide. This issue is becoming a norm that one begins to question the rationale behind it. A nation, which once pride itself as the happiest people on earth, is now the same nation whose most of her citizens are undergoing depression, and even committing suicide; what has gone wrong? What value do we place on our lives? What is really the purpose of life and living? It is the right questions that give rise to the right answers.
Honestly, when purpose is not known, abuse will be inevitable, as Myles Munroe once said. In other words, when we don’t know why something exists, we are most likely to abuse it. If we don’t know why we are here (on earth), we will most likely be existing without fulfilling our purpose.
Unfortunately too, the society we live in is not helping matter at all; there is unhealthy competition and rivalry among people, company and nations. Life is now about the survival of the fittest; a ‘dog eat dog world’, as someone called it. We live in a world where everyone is left to himself, the era of ‘being your brother’s keeper’, ‘being the good Samaritan’ and ‘Loving your neighbour as yourself’ are fast becoming a thing of the past; everyone seems to be minding his or her own business that we don’t seem to care about the businesses of others. In fact, you’re simply O – Y – O (on your own) as they say.
Without mincing words, selfishness and self-centredness is the root of our problem. This is the reason why a single person holding a top political position will misappropriate what is meant for the entire nation to himself; it’s all about me, myself, my accomplishments, my family, my, mine and I. We seem to have forgotten the greatest rhetoric question in life, ‘What shall it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his soul?’.
Day by day, human conscience is becoming seared and human dignity is fast eroding. A situation where someone will be robbed during broad day light and no one will seem to show concern is not uncommon. As long as the victim is not a family member nor from our village, we won’t be concerned and our conscience will be clear. Oh God have mercy! The value for human life seems to be decreasing as the days goes by. This is so worrisome because there’s never a time in history like now that we take religion to heart; whereas we seem not to practice the tenets of these religions.
We live in a world where you are majorly recognized, celebrated and applauded by the quantum of material possessions you’ve acquired. The concern of everyone is ‘how to make it’; even parents and family are looking forward to when ‘we will arrive’, because almost all our age mates have ‘arrived and are now living in their own houses at Banana Island in Lagos and driving the latest Range Rovers and Mercedes Benz’. It is so sad that is the reality in our age. Is it any surprising that the Teenagers and Youths who should be devoted to their school works are only after what will give them fast money?; they are into Yahoo-Yahoo, Kidnapping, Armed robbery, and other illegal businesses. This situation is even so bad that recently, we observed that those coming for our highly priced accommodations for rent and for sale are these sets of people with no verifiable source of income. This is the situation we find ourselves; we live in a very materialistic world and this is also reflective in our values. We value ‘things’ more than people.
Indeed, we’ve missed it; and we need to retrace our step back. We need to realize that our life does not consist in the abundance of our possessions. We must realize that what we do for ourselves die; it is what we do for others that we will be remembered forever. And interestingly, this is the whole essence of humanity and our existence – the love for others, irrespective of tribe, culture, colour and language; and the true test of love is in ‘giving’ – For God so love the world that He gave.
Looking at this more deeply, everything we do in life is actually for the benefit of others. We go to school to be properly trained and equipped to solve human problems (not necessarily our personal problems). Someone who went to the medical school and eventually becomes a medical doctor does so not for his own benefit but for others who will need his services. This also applies to every other profession or discipline. In the same vein, someone who strove to attain higher academic qualifications such as Msc., PhD, and Professorial degree, does so not just for the prestige those titles confer but for the ability to solve human problems in a higher dimension. When we look at it this way, then we can conclude that the essence of life and existence is in helping others solve their problems, and it is in the process of doing this that we get rewarded financially and in other ways. It’s a big misconception to think that our life is all about ourselves – the ‘I, me and myself’ syndrome. Indeed, our life can only be meaningful when we give meaning to the life of others; and our life can only be colourful, when we make the life of others colourful. This is similar to the law of sowing and reaping. If you want joy, sow joy in the life of others; if you want love, endeavour to show love to others; if you want money, give money to others, most especially those that are genuinely in need.
The foregoing clearly shows to us that money is not the only thing we can give to others; we can admonish, advice and counsel. We may not know how far this can go in saving someone’s life, most especially in this time of widespread depression.
For those going through any form of depression, please realize that life is a very precious gift you’ve got, and quitting is never the best solution to a problem; remember the words of Robert Schuller, ‘Winners don’t quit, and quitters don’t win’.
I want to close by sharing what someone sent to this writer few days ago:
“There is utmost despair and hopelessness ravaging the land!
The depression around us is glaring and alarming!
Our friends, colleagues, families and neighbours are silently going through a lot.
Suicidal thoughts, tendencies and persuasions are on the increase!
Speak with people with love; touch lives in your own little way!
It’s never too small, we all can spare a little of that humanity in us!
A little love … A little help!
If you have much…give of your wealth!
If you have little … give of your heart”
A little effort can indeed make a huge difference in the life of someone.
In summary, the goal to living a rich and fulfilled life is to live for the well-being of others.
We wish you the very best in the month of June 2019.
As usual, we want to remind you that we care so much about you, and that when it comes to your real estate investment and advisory, we are always here to give you the very best service you can never get elsewhere. That is our promise, and will always be.
Meanwhile, please find below the powerpoint presentations of our current properties for sale in Lagos, Abuja and Port Harcourt, Nigeria.
Thank you.
Affordable Properties For Sale in LAGOS, Nigeria
Affordable Properties For Sale in ABUJA, FCT, Nigeria
Affordable Properties For Sale in PORT HARCOURT, RIVERS STATE, Nigeria
