President Emmanuel Macron of France arrived in Nigeria on the 3rd of June 2018 on an official visit. He was received by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Geoffrey Onyeama. While in Nigeria, he visited the famous African Shrine. He announced the launch of African Cultures Season in 2020, an event to promote African culture aimed at changing clichéd perceptions of Africa.
The visit was a homecoming of sorts for Macron. He once spent six months in Nigeria working as an Intern at the French Embassy in 2002. He was about 24 years old at the time. Perhaps, he had the thoughts of one day becoming a President, the number one citizen of his country, perhaps not. But who would have thought that a 24-year-old Intern would one day be a President?
Barrack Hussein Obama II, an American politician, served as the 44th President of the United States from January 20, 2009, to January 20, 2017. He was the first African American to hold the office. He previously served as the United States Senator from 2005 to 2008. Obama pretty much knew what he wanted, but who would have thought that the little black kid born in Hawaii would one day be United States’ Commander-in-Chief.
On the 18th day of September 2010, President Goodluck Jonathan declared his intention to contest for the presidential primaries of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP). He would be flying the party’s flag in the 2011 elections.
Explaining why it took him that long to declare his intentions, Jonathan said his story was that of hope for the Nigerian Youth. ‘I was not born rich, and in my youth, I never imagined that I would be where I am today, but not once did I ever give up. Not once did I imagine that a child from Otuoke, a small village in the Niger Delta, will one day rise to the position of President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. I was raised by my mother and father with just enough money to meet our daily needs. In my early days in school, I had no shoes, no school bags. I carried my books in my hands but never despaired; no car to take me to school but I never despaired. There were days I had only one meal but I never despaired. I walked miles and crossed rivers to school every day but I never despaired. Didn’t have power, didn’t have generators, studied with lanterns but I never despaired. In spite of these, I finished secondary school, attended the University of Port Harcourt, and now hold a doctorate degree. Fellow Nigerians, if I could make it, you too can make it’, he said.
Even in a country where impunity is the order of the day. Where past presidents ‘come back from the dead’ to be president a second time. Where the youths, over the years have grown up to be elders, while being told they were leaders of tomorrow, even though they never got the opportunity to lead. The cliché “Anybody can grow up to be president”, is True.
Everything begins with ‘THOUGHTS’. The future rewards those who press on. I’d rather reach the end and then start again than do nothing.