THERE are so many definitions of life but for the purpose of this piece, we could define it as a condition that distinguishes animals and plants from inorganic matter, including the capacity for growth, reproduction, functional activity and continual change before death.
Of all creation on Earth, man is the superior being as only man has self-consciousness in addition to highest consciousness of the world. Homo sapiens, the sole living representatives of the hominid family are distinguished by notable development of their brain with a resultant capacity to articulate speech and abstract reasoning. We are considered to be the most intelligent living organism, as we have ability to think and react to situations.
We possess many cognitive capacities not seen in other animals like language, reasoning and planning. Hominid family consists of all modern and extinct Great Apes (that is modern humans, chimpanzees, gorillas and all their immediate ancestors).
Every development in the world today is originated from human brain, in reaction to reality, to make living easier for us.
Every innovation is designed and targeted at enhancing the living condition of human – no more, no less. Every human effort is geared towards making the Earth a better place for human beings – making foods abundant with less efforts; making movement from one point to another easier, faster and leisurely; making light available where there is darkness; making means of accessing goods and services easier and making us well and healthy when we are sick among several others. Researchers have revealed that our ancestors, Homo Sapiens, stone and Middle Age humans evolved and moved across the landscape, interacted, exchanged and improved their technology towards improving their lives.
There is an administration/government in each household. However, there is a need for a central body that will administer the society – Government. Government provides parameters for everyday behaviour of the citizens, protects them from outside interference and often provides for their wellbeing via public services. Simply put, government maintains order, provides security and defence and provides public services.
However, for government to exercise the aforesaid duties, it has to educate its people whose knowledge acquired will be transferred to develop the society. Simply put, the government has responsibility to develop society. To achieving this, it has to give free and qualitative education to its citizens who will eventually translate this knowledge and consequent skills to developing the society in all areas of life. Government does not do its citizens any favour if it provides them free and qualitative education. No! It is just a means to an end as they are the ones that will be in charge of intelligence and defence; hospitals and research centres; agriculture and manufacturing; automobile and aviation; sports and entertainment, etcetera, having acquired quality education and skills.
In fact, ability of the ruling elite to coordinate human beings towards achieving developmental goal determines its advancement or backwardness.
In the process of these engagements, virtually every member of the society will work to contribute his/her quotas to the collective advancement and earn his/her legitimate wage for the services rendered. Leaving a society better than we met it is a function of value added which ultimately will make us healthy and guarantees longevity before death takes us to join our ancestors.
Death, therefore, is the end of life of a person or organism. For a human being, it is irreversible process where someone loses his/her existence as all organs are shutdown. It is absence of life.
Since death is inevitable as it will visit one day no matter the resources and wealth in one’s procession, what is the problem with black people lagging far behind in making our society better, for a qualitative and long life for majority?
As we have come into existence empty, so shall we go empty. While black people, especially the leaders love good environment and things of live, they do little or nothing to creatively and organisationally engage their citizens in innovation that will bring forth development in all areas of life.
Instead of emulating their forebears in striving for a better society, the contemporary black leaders steal and crudely accumulate resources meant for development. The killing of their colleagues by the dreadful Coronavirus, also known as COVID-19, which does not discriminate between the poor and the rich, is supposed to be a lesson to black leaders. How many of their colleagues killed by the virus went with the stolen money? Perhaps, if the condition of wherever we go after death is as precarious as our situation and that their crazy and crude accumulation of wealth will give them comfort zone hereafter, one could reluctantly pardon them.
Interestingly, they still convert resources meant to curb the spread of the disease and cushioning its effects to private money-making! Despite the fact that the people quickly forget the dead, the memory of those with good deeds reverberates in our heart several years after they have gone. We are stupendously blessed with everything required to excel. I am not sure of a second chance. For the privilege of being alive today, let us make our land a better place than we met it: a new Nigeria, where poverty, misery and penury will have no place. Contributing to that is the essence of a life well lived and far nobler and unforgettable than a lifelong career in vanity and property accumulation.
