By Abdulwarees Solanke
I have been called upon to elaborate on HOPE, a word that is open in definition and in common everyday use. “I hope to..”; “I have hope in…”; “I’m hopeful of…”; “I’m full of hope that….”
In the perspective of grammarians, hope is either used as a verb, as a noun or as an adverb relating to what one wants to achieve in the future one’s expectation of the future, desire, faith, aspiration, expectation, prospect, promise and conviction for or about the future.
So, discussing HOPE in this context would mean we have come to an awareness that something is amiss somewhere in our lives and we now long to redress that deficiency and return to a noble past or that we are supposed to be somewhere but held down by certain forces which prevent us from reaching that height.
Our longing to be unshackled from the restraining forces, our aspirations or expectations to put behind our odious and uninspiring past to progress to an endearing future therefore represents our HOPE.
Consequently. I will be looking at HOPE from the perspective of Four Variants. The first variant is that of Personal Achievement. As individuals, what is our appreciation of our past or background? Is it something to be proud of? Is it rosy? If not do we want to continue in its uninspiring form? Do we desire for a change or improvement? What type of change? Our desire, aspiration or expectation of the future represents our HOPE in this regard
The second variant of HOPE is Public behavioural, Systemic and Institutional Change. Here, we have to raise questions about our public morality and behaviour, conduct, order or processes.
So, our aspiration, expectation and hope is that public morality improves; that there is a change in the perception that our systems, processes and institutions that are non-performing are performance-driven, corruption-free,
The third variant of HOPE may be spiritual in nature. It’s about redemption, the HOPE of meeting God, the hope of being accepted for God’s mercies despite your past shortcomings, despite your iniquities. Applying this to our public life, we get an impression that despite the malaise, there is hope of being a partaker in the kingdom.
The last variant of HOPE is the hope of national rebirth and progress. Here we can romanticise the prospects of a fresh start, a new beginning and an inspiring future.
What Inspires Hope?
You do not build Hope or expectation on emptiness. Because hope is also about certainty, faith, assurance of a future and confidence, there are certain values that power or give hope. The first of which is what was possible or achieved in the past. Second is the prospects promises, or possibilities given the experiences of others, learning from others in similar situations and following their footsteps.
Other factors that inspire hope are the depth and originality of the plan outlined to address a public issue or problem. This is in terms of policies, programmes, projects and initiatives and their implementation. Equally.
the extent of engagement. Aligned with this is the faith in those operating or implementing the programme. It is their knowledge or education, experience, expertise and their integrity or credibility.
When the best foot is put forward on any issue, we have a guarantee that something good will come from it which is also about the guarantee we have on the basis of the aforesaid.
Hope is also built on the currency of performance. In short is built on what was, what is and what will be because of evidence we see, experience we have and what we see or learn from others in similar circumstances like us and were successful ultimately.
ABC of HOPE: What hope gives. Let me just itemise them simply. There is a Yoruba saying, Baoku ise o tan (Once we’re alive, it’s never the end).
Hope is a value that inspires in one A – ability and assurance. Hope is a value of life that instil in man a degree of B – Boldness to trudge on in the face of odds. It imbues in one C – confidence of some level. Because of these ABCs, one is led by D – Discover.
It is something that E – enhances Energy and nurtures F – Faith, which, ultimately leads to fortune and G – Grace. Consequently H – Health and I – an Improvement because it is a value that thrives on inspiration. And the one with Inspiration will not lack in good J – Judgement.
For me, I have hope in Nigeria. I recently argued that we should change Nigeria to the New Graceland Republic (NGR) because of the hope, prospects, fortune, possibilities, riches and untapped resources. All we need in Nigeria is to trigger a new consciousness of pride, faith and love for the country. These will see us reclaiming our Destiny of Greatness.
We are a country of talents: look at our ability as a people, look at the creativity of our people, see how our diversity can become our strength and see the productivity of our countrymen elsewhere, dictating the pace of everyday life wherever they find themselves.
Second: look at the magnitude or abundance of resources God blessed us with and we are still discovering more. Let me end my discourse on HOPE by narrowing it down to the Hope we should all have in Nigeria. We see this even in the names we give our children. They are all anchored on our hope.
Therefore, aligned to Hope is FAITH. We see this in the choices and decisions we make.
The Final thought on HOPE is the spirituality of Nigerians. Nigerians are generally God-loving. We see this in our devotion. We see this in our prayers.
To have HOPE, you must have preparation in the consciousness that you’re sowing for the future because Hope is a futuristic value.
In all circumstances of life, if we must succeed, we must first do the needful I enumerated at the beginning of this discourse. Hope has a basis. It must have feet to stand on. Hope is not wishful thinking.
Someone who is not hopeful loses faith. He who loses hope loses motivation. He who has no motivation cannot achieve.
Another value we must understand that aligns with HOPE is patience. With the abundance of our talents in Nigeria, I have hope that we can achieve greatness
Let me say here that HOPE is POSSIBILITY.
Hope does not build on emptiness. Hope is only valid if you’ve done something great before and you can replicate past experiences, all things being equal. I have hope that we can return to our glorious past in Nigeria.
I have the confidence and the assurance that with what God has blessed us with, Nigeria is the new destination. Welcome to the “New Graceland Republic” (NGR)
I have the HOPE that this giant called Nigeria will rise and shine to the glory of God. I also have HOPE that we can regain or Recover what we have lost before if we work hard like before.
Abdulwarees of Voice of Nigeria studied Mass Communication at the University of
Lagos and earned a Master of Public Policy at the Universiti Brunei Darussalam as a
Commonwealth Broadcasting Association scholar.
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