It is good to dream, but it is better to dream and work. Faith is mighty, but action with faith is mightier. Desiring is helpful, but work and desire are invincible. Destiny is not a matter of chance; it is a matter of choice. It is not a thing to be waited for; it is a thing to be achieved. Though, my countenance seems bereft of emotions. I was once devastated by an incident that occurred in my sojourn in life. It must be noted as a matter of priority that I have taken heart and responsibility for the good, the bad and the ugly. This event shaped many things and exposed many acts. A mild world I thought but the sooner I realised life was not fair; the earlier I reach emotional maturity. There is a troubling gap between the magnitude of my challenges and the smallness of the politics we play in faculty of law. This is my story and this is your lesson.

A great city is a battlefield. You need to be a fighter to live in it, not exist, and mark you, live. Anybody can exist, dragging his soul around behind him like a worn out coat; but living is different. If I were you I would rather ask God to give me a barren wife than a barren mind. I was asked by a friend that would I contest for any political office in this school. Yes, I said to him. He then advised that I must purchase the form for the Students’ Union President when it is out. I told him vehemently and passionately that I wasn’t interested. I would rather become the President of the Law Students’ Society than become Students’ Union President. I said this with a mind full of hope. Man they say proposes but God disposes. I have had the interest to do so from my earliest days in the faculty and this to a large extent everybody was aware either by my words or by my actions. I never knew that the moment you make your dream or aspiration known before the actual time, someone is somewhere planning your downfall. Guess what? The Law Students Society’s tectonic plate had shifted. Politics was no longer a simply pocketbook issue but a moral issue as well, subject to moral imperatives and moral substitutes. And politics was decidedly personal, insinuating itself into every interaction whether between members of the faculty and implicating itself in every assertion or rejection of authority. It required tough choices.

I purchased the form for the presidency, but it never dawned on me that I am about to sip a drink from the trouble water of politicking. Whether politics actually encourages the trait of credibility or simply attracts those who possess it, is unclear. Someone once said that every man is trying to either live up to his father’s expectations or make up for his father’s mistakes, and I suppose that may explain my particular malady as well as anything else.

Like all other aspirants, I started my campaign moves by firstly declaring my intention publicly especially to fellow classmates. There on that floor, I started noticing what I refer to as the beginning of conspiracy theory by some set of friends. I know that some busted into laughter, while some told me to my face that am going to lose. I never took them serious because I was determined. Any man who can drive safely while kissing a pretty girl is simply not giving the kiss the attention it deserves. I always believed no matter how loose, persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. I know my destination and an exciting destination is like setting a needle in your compass. From then on, the compass knows only one point-its ideal. And it will faithfully guide you there through the darkest nights and fiercest storms.

After the declaration, all odds were against me. It was clear that those that I started with as friends were now against me. This I thought was a product of fate and circumstance. The future is not in the hands of fate, but in ours. To muddy the issue, they went as far as going to the junior and senior classes to murder my character. Whether am efficient and credible for the job is not their priority but my failure at the polls is their ultimate goal. As hard as they pushed me to step aside, I never did. I showed courage. You learn you can do your best even when it’s hard, even when you’re tired and maybe hurting a little bit. It feels good to show some courage. I showed courage and dared the haters. Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication. I started campaigning with friends. We met people one on one. Some gave good response and the others otherwise. I noticed that everywhere we went, there was always a complaint or the other and this was premise on what someone told someone about me. The striking one came when I met this girl who never hesitated to show her hatred for me. Her hatred reflected in one of her sentence to me when she said ‘Is it because you are contesting that you dressed as if you are going for a wedding. Whyte, you will never be a winner and may God forget you, keep trying but you will always fail.’’ I never uttered a word. I left her with my eyes full of tears. I am going to step aside, I told a friend. He said to me, start praying and tell God want you want. I must thank you Olatinwo for that advice. You are indeed a friend and a brother.

I took passion in meeting God for this purpose. I prayed alongside with friends and God showed himself to me. I saw a manifestation three times in a dream that I lost the election. I was shocked and I kept it to myself. I believed it was a mere dream which can never determine my destiny. I never knew that was one of the means God chooses to communicate to his beloved ones. The final day approached and pressures mounted. At the end, I lost the election. I received best consolations from those that worked against me. A stranger stabs you in the front; a friend stabs you in the back; a boyfriend stabs you in the heart, but best friends only poke each other with straws. What a life. I lost the election but I never lost faith in God.

I remember that after the results were declared; some of my friends came to pick me up at the student union building where I was consoling myself. We walked down from the union building, passed by the clinic and stepped into the faculty. As I entered into the faculty, something happened again, I saw her with my two eyeballs as she passed by me and said sarcastically, ‘It’s even good to taste victory at times’’. I was shocked though I knew she hates; I expected a kind of respect for my moment. The failed moment I mean. I could not cry.

As if that is not all, the worst of the shocking moments came when I was approaching the notice board with couple of my genuine friends when I saw another cynical electorate shout, ‘Whyte!!! Where are you? You are finished and all your shakara has ended. Thank God you lost this one. She danced towards the board and came around me. I felt real hatred in the face. It was like a palaeontologist coming face to face with a dinosaur. You know what that means? The gain of the whole politicking was the two three statements above. They spur me to being a better person. It simply means that I have more reasons to thank God after the exercise.  It shows that you keep away from people who try to belittle your dreams. Small people always do that, but the really great ones make you feel that you, too, can become great. Winners lose more than losers. They win and lose more than losers, because they stay in the game. I stayed in the game and my friends were supportive.  Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all. I pray everyone have a Dolapo and an Aisha in their lives. A slip of the foot you may soon recover, but a slip of the tongue you may never get over. Their words would make you think and spur you to success. I mean real success. It would come when you surround yourself with only people who are going to lift you higher. Two set of people can make you, the haters and the real men. I pray you have one. As for me, loosing election was not losing the life that makes me human. Today I know that faith in God brings meaning to human life. I failed at the poll but God never forgot me. It was a new dawn. A new dawn indeed! A man is not finished when he is defeated. He is finished when he quits. Don’t ever wrestle with a pig. You’ll both get dirty, but the pig will enjoy it.

@whytehabeeb