STATE OF THE NATION

It is possible for everybody to be wealthy. The definition of wealth is personal. For some people, being wealthy means being in good health, for others, it is having as much money as they desire, still for others, it is having a wide sphere of influence. How can we achieve wealth? For a start, God has put Himself inside of every person who believes in Him and in the Lordship of Jesus Christ. He has given us dominion over the earth. This implies that any person who does not exert dominion over his or her surrounding or immediate environment is not operating under the instruction that God has graciously given to us.

The wavy state of Nigeria’s economy has in a lot of ways served as a catalyst for people with the right attitude to begin to think outside the box. We are inundated with many problems such as the erratic state of power supply, increase in the price of food and fossil fuel etc. these have made our economy to look like a child’s play, hence if we really want to make significant progress in life then the right time to start thinking positively – and acting on our positive thoughts is now.

The rate of globalization has reduced the world to a global village. The time is ripe for anybody regardless of status to start thinking with a global perspective in view. It is possible to own a company in America or China from the comfort of an office in Abakaliki.

It might appear as though achieving greatness requires a streak of luck. I do not think so. Rather it comes from careful planning and working. It has been said time and again that failure to plan means planning to fail.

Our economy has gotten to a point where we cannot trust the value of the Naira. This is not the time to store up liquid cash in a saving account. Unless of course if the currency being saved is not the naira. It is in depressed economies like the one Nigeria is currently experiencing that great men and women are made. This is the time for investing. Every cash at hand loses its value daily because the economy is in a free fall.

What to invest in? The answer to this question is dependent on the interest of the investor. A group of friends, five young men between 25 and 30 years recently started a company that is aimed at installing and maintaining solar power in residential and commercial buildings. That is a classic example of investing. Young men should not dream dreams; they should be active people, ready to act and put the vision they see into action.

There is no better time to sow than the current time we have found ourselves. God gives bread to the eater and seed to the sower. The difference between the bread and the seed is the personality of the receiver. Two persons person receive a hundred thousand naira the same day, one sees it as a bread and goes for shopping; the other person sees it as a seed and invests it to produce more.

We should invest in expanding our knowledge base. Buy books and read them. With the state of the nation we are currently experiencing, it is time to seek for alternative source of income. We are supposed to have multiple streams of income. When men are saying there is a casting down, we shall say we have been exalted because we are no more dependent on the economy of the nation.

No man achieves anything great without setting goals, breaking down the set goals into smaller ones and then executing plans to achieve the smaller goals which when put together implies that the larger goals has been achieved. Norway presented a blue print for reducing their carbon footprint and dependence on crude oil which is one of their major import. The country proposes that by 2025 they will stop using cars powered by fuel. To that effect they have started flooding their markets with electric and solar powered cars. This implementation will result in achieving their larger goals at the set time.

The world is rapidly changing and the best we can do is to change the world and always be steps ahead of our generation.

Uchenna Ugah