In this my sojourn on planet earth, I have been a student in different institutions of learning; primary, secondary and tertiary at different seasons and places. I have also worked with different individuals both in the civil service and also as a political appointee. In all these, I took time to observe individuals and their character and I was able to discover that most of the positive or negative issues that confront man on earth has something to do with character. Most of the time, we tend to neglect the part character plays in the life of an individual, and we go about looking for irrelevant solutions that do not work.
Heraclitus Thomas Jefferson, the third President of the United States of America, (USA), said “Nothing can stop the man with right mental attitude from achieving his goal; nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude”
In the world of today, I have seen majority of people seeking spiritual solutions to issues that are caused by their unrefined character or character-deficit issues. I have associated with a good number of people both as a student at various levels, as a civil servant and even as a political office holder, and I have seen different shades of people and their character traits and I am convinced that most of the issues that confront us are more of character than spiritual.
Recently, I was in a ceremony and a lady who sat very close to me was complaining that her senior cousin was responsible for her misfortune in life. She said she has visited many spiritual homes but her misfortune has not abated. The few hours I stayed close to her at that ceremony revealed her total character to me. She abused both the people serving food and drinks. In fact, she has one bad word for every one that officiated in that ceremony, including the master of ceremony. Many people are like this woman. They look at everybody as suspects for their predicaments when their greatest demons is their character.
One elderly local philosopher in my town, late Okolie Omesiete, used to tell my father that what we often call our destiny is truly our character, and since character can change, then destiny can be altered. In a nutshell, character is destiny. He also told my father that prayer is good, but that prayer without character is useless.
Most people are of the view that we can pray ourselves to success and get away with virtually everything, if we pray all day and night long. The truth is that there is no amount of prayer that can substitute for character. Nigerians pray more than any other country in the world, but look at our country that is blessed with milk and honey, and the citizens are dying daily because of hunger. We are suffering because of the character of some of our leaders who are in power. If they change their evil character, the destiny of our nation will change. We should not make God a liar. God has endowed us with abundant mineral and other resources that would make us great, but we have refused to use it for the benefit of all. Look at Japan, China and other Countries of the world that do not pray like Nigerians, but with men of good character, and see their developmental strides. The Bible even harps on it, when it says that when the righteous is on the throne, the people rejoice; a leader with good character is a righteous leader.
British writer and politician, Thomas Macaulay (1800-1859), said “The measure of a man’s character is what he would do if he knew he never would be found out”. What often destroys a man going to high places in life is not really the enemies that are waiting for him there, but the character that followed him there. As we pray for God’s abundant mercies, let us not neglect the place of character and our relationship with people. This is because it is our behavior and character that will actually trigger the manifestation of all that God has for us.
A story was told of a very wealthy man who built mansions and acquired great wealth that would last for many generations after him but he did not build the character of those to take over and manage the wealth, so when he died, the wealth that was built for generations to come was squandered within months.
Another story was told of a very wealthy man who secured his compound with gigantic iron wall to ward off robbers and other evil people. Apart from the wall, he provided his security men with sophisticated weapons and made sure that they were well paid. According to the story, the man always boast of how he slept with his two eyes closed. Unfortunately, one night he was woken up by kidnappers who passed through the main gate after bribing the security men at the gate. It was then he realized that he put everything in order, but neglected the need to hire men with good character. The Nigerian government over the years have imported sophisticated weapons to fight Boko Haram and other bandits, but the terrorists are still having field days in their different operational basis. The truth is that sophisticated military weapons cannot do the magic without descent people.
For our country to move from the present economic predicament to economic prosperity, we must work on our character for our character is our problem.
It’s fascinating how character plays such a pivotal role in shaping our lives and experiences. The author’s observations highlight the importance of self-reflection and personal growth. Many people often overlook their own flaws and blame external factors for their struggles. The story of the lady at the ceremony is a clear example of how character can influence one’s perception of the world. Do you think society places enough emphasis on character development in education and professional settings?