“Life is like the oil within a lamp. It can be measured, but the pace at which it burns depends on how the dial is turned day by day, and how bright and fierce the flame is. And there is no predicting whether the lamp might be knocked to the ground and shatter when it could have blazed on a great while longer. Such is the unpredictability of life.” – Margaret Rogerson.
Life is indeed unpredictable, which means that it can be full of surprises, both good and bad. The unpredictability of life is what makes it worth living. Overall, life is unpredictable, and there’s no way to know what the future holds. However, it’s essential to be adaptable and flexible to cope with unexpected events, to find a way forward, and also to live in the present.
However, it is worthy of note, that I use the subject of ‘Unpredictability’ of life to underscore a COPIED POST that I stumbled upon as regards Senator Orji Uzor Kalu (OUK) and Femi Adesina’s working relationship.
Before I continue, I would like to share with us the profound and humbling experience, as explained in the COPIED POST below, between Senator Orji Uzor Kalu and Femi Adesina:
“Orji Uzo Kalu owns Daily Sun Newspaper, he employed Femi Adesina as a staff of the Newspaper company, for years, while Orji remained a strong member of PDP, Adesina remained an ardent admirer and supporter of then General Buhari. Femi used Orji’s Newspaper platform to promote and support Buhari’s ambition to become president of Nigeria. Orji never liked Femi’s support for Buhari, especially since his newspaper platform is being used by Femi for the same purpose. He tried to stop Femi severally but Femi’s love for Buhari wasn’t too easy to wash away. During former President Jonathan, Orji Kalu was summoned at PDP’s BOT meeting to answer questions over his inability to sack Femi Adesina despite the damages they believe he was creating for their party through the Sun Newspaper which is also owned by a BOT member Orji Kalu.
Orji came to the BOT meeting and replied with a smile on his face saying, “Sometimes we must allow our boys who work under us to think differently, that’s another way of allowing them to grow and to be independent”. He promised them at the meeting that he would continue to talk to Femi, and that he believed Femi would change one day.
Orji continued to allow Adesina to use his newspaper platform to support Buhari even though he was a PDP member and Orji was supporting Jonathan at that time. To cut the story short, when Buhari won the 2015 presidential election, he appointed Femi Adesina as a senior Media aide. When Orji was sentenced by the court for corruption allegations under Buhari’s government, Femi Adesina was among those who stood firm by his former Boss while in prison by engaging Senior lawyers and stakeholders until Orji got an unprecedented and uncommon U-turn by the Supreme Court over his imprisonment. Orji went back to active politics and he is currently a Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Those who are proud of sacking their brothers over simple and understandable political differences should learn from the story of Orji Kalu and Femi Adesina.
A person who works under you today may become your helper tomorrow, and a person who works under you today may become your children’s boss tomorrow”.
In conclusion, the key message here is the unpredictability of life. You never know what life will bring tomorrow. Therefore, if you are in the position to lead today, remember to be fair, impartial, and righteous even if uncomfortable to do so at that time. It’s called selflessness.
On a last note, it is remarkable, that history is never complete and always changing. It is subject to our own bias and prejudice and views and all manner of other human foibles. And yet, considering carefully the OUK/Femi Adesina testament, it can teach us an enormous amount about ourselves and life.
Richard Odusanya
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