HONOURED

I was touched, so touched I decided to write.  

These men and women must have gone through thick and thin, not ever thinking that an award or any form of honour would come to them. A number who were mentioned were already dead, some were represented by grandchildren who were very elderly. I could recall some breakthroughs that dated back to when I was a baby and even before I was born.

The diversity of achievements simply meant that anyone could carve out his own niche and go ahead to deserve an honour, more importantly affect his environment. Some only did what they found joy in doing, some made money out of their endeavor, some invested their talents and skill and some others diligently handled the task they were given. Yet in all I saw, the awardees did their best and made this country a better place.

Perhaps some worked towards being honoured but it wasn’t obvious in any form from the titles given to them as reference to their various outstanding performances. I know what it means to be honoured, no matter how little. I have tasted it once or twice. You will feel far better than whatever gift is concealed in the token given to you. You would even wish you did more.

I won an academic award in school, also won a couple of awards for writing and programming. They may be ‘local’ awards but an honour is an honour. Some I competed consciously for and some I never saw coming. That didn’t change how I felt. I was on top of my world. I was pushed to do more and I knew that there were things that could lift a man beyond all he ever possessed, one of which was HONOUR.

It was glaring to those around me as we sat for the final year dinner during my set. I had stayed at least five years in the university and served in the Fellowship of Christian Students (FCS). The awards I received in FCS can never be compared to the growth and foundation I got while there. As I sat at the dinner, I could see my Glorious Family members full of smiles and we were happy we were graduating and doing so to the glory of God.

My table was agog with friends and family and as we spoke and listened I heard my name, called. Yes, they were calling names for awards but how could my name appear amongst these names. Certainly not the names I have been hearing all evening but I was sure of my name and I did not hesitate for too long. I rose as I heard the title for the award. “Most Gentle Male”.

I really didn’t work towards getting that award, many years later, I am still surprised that I got it. I did not even know it existed as an award until later. My roommate of all time refused to accept that I was the Most Gentle Male in the whole set. Well, as far as their standard and nomination went, I was. He said I had succeeded in deceiving everyone for some many years. He sounded so surprised and his response was more from familiarity than reality.

My award didn’t really bring about so much change and I know firsthand that I desire above many things to make a change in my environment and the youths most especially. I know it will come to pass and I would do great things for greater people but for now I will be content with the little I can afford. Whatever my hands find to do I will do it, oblivious of any award.

I keep looking back at my tutoring job, I see my role as a youth leader and a young entrepreneur and I try to weight them against what I have to give out rather than what I stand to gain. Have I really done enough? Have I invested all I should? Is my best really exhausted? Do I feel like getting more rather than giving more? Many questions plague my mind and though a lot of militating circumstances stand their ground, I am still committed to doing new things and doing the old things well too. I will do my affordable best.

A wise man once said,

“The reward for a man’s labour is not what he gets from it but what he becomes by it”. What John Ruskin meant by saying that is quite vivid. Indeed, all the awardees at the centenary anniversary celebrations have become “something” to us as a nation and even as individuals. Many died not getting any reward for their effort but that didn’t faze them. They worked assiduously and today stand as heroes, not to be forgotten.

I have a standard for my work ethic, I live to do 100% of my affordable best. Call it perfection or overdo but I believe failure is doing below ones capabilities and since I strive to better myself daily, it’s only logical that I should better my “good” and best my “better”. I urge us all to be committed to whatever our hands find to do.

People might not appreciate it or give us kudos but any righteous endeavor would birth results in the nearest future. You never know the lives you would be saving by doing your work well. I have testimonies, heard and unheard of blessings reaped from basic activities, one person to another.

Let us inflict ourselves in blindness with respect to what our country or people can do for us but possess a binocular vision with the desires and acts that we can effect in the lives of people around us and the country at large.

It is honourable to be honoured but much more honourable to be a blessing to someone. I am committing myself daily to see what I can give back irrespective or what I have received or what I am receiving. It is not that I stand to prove a point but satisfaction, I have come to learn, is more fulfilling than mere achievements.

Let the honour we seek be one that man is not worthy of giving to us. Let us be true to our little tasks. Let us face our different endeavours and save ourselves the unpaid jobs of lamenting the negligence of others. Let us make Nigeria proud. Let us make our hearts warm for now is the time to do good and right works. The grave where we go, therein exists no work, no endeavor, no honours, only one thing… nothing!

Act 20:35  In everything I've done, I have demonstrated to you how necessary it is to work on behalf of the weak and not exploit them. You'll not likely go wrong here if you keep remembering that our Master said, 'You're far happier giving than getting.'" (MSG)

Ecc 9:10  Work hard at whatever you do. You will soon go to the world of the dead, where no one works or thinks or reasons or knows anything. (CEV)