Celebrating the Hard Work Boulevard

I recently read a post online where the best graduating student from Bells University of Technology, Ota, Nigeria (CGPA 4.89 out of 5.0) had been interviewed. The content of her interview or her responses to the questions asked is not what I intend to discuss on this post. Rather, it is the responses of people to her success that I would like to address. There were many comments about how easy it must have been for her to graduate with a first class because she attended a private university. Others were sure that if she had attended a public school, she would probably have graduated with a second class  lower degree at the most.  They undermined her success forgetting that in the same graduating set, 86 students had graduated with a third class degree,     119 had second class lower and 123 had second class upper degrees. Of the 28 who made the first class, this girl had come out tops. The comments not only baffled me but also started to infuriate me as I had seen and heard this line of thought over time.

I remember one time I was having a conversation with someone ( a University lecturer) who told me that schooling in the UK was easy and I must have passed because there were no challenges. He was comparing that with schooling in Nigeria but he knowingly or unknowingly had tried to undermine my success as being on a platter of gold - like it didn't require a pinch of hard work. I can only imagine how the recent best graduating student at the University of Lagos ( CGPA 5.0 out of 5.0) must have felt if he read some of the online comments that seemingly rubbished his success in Psychology. Someone actually wrote that he would probably have been an average student if he had studied Engineering ( trying to make it seem like Psychology was not challenging enough and didn't require work).

Folorunsho Alakija, the second richest woman in Africa has been criticized many times for getting her wealth through an oil block that was 'gifted' to her by the Nigerian Government. I recently watched her speak at a conference on how she got the license. She said that she had applied for the license like everyone else and didn't even get it the first time she did. She made 3 different applications which were rejected - that is, 3 different petroleum ministers. She also mentioned that after she finally got the license, it took her company 15 years to find oil. I do not know the details of her dealings with the Government but one thing is clear - she is a hard worker. Hers isn't the only company in Nigeria that is involved in the oil drilling business therefore, there must be something that has stood her business out to generate that much financial returns. Her achievements have been often dismissed by many as a result of luck and connections rather than hard work, diligence or perseverance.

Many of you might also remember that the Facebook CEO, Mark Zuckerberg was in Nigeria some months ago. His visit and consequently his business and success was discussed on the pages of the newspapers and on online platforms. There were some comments about how he might not have been able to build the facebook brand if he lived in Nigeria. While some commenters painted a picture of Nigeria being a hostile environment for start-ups others actually undermined Mark's success by claiming that it was 'easy' just because he is American. These comments again failed to take into account the countless failed businesses in the USA.

I believe that you attract what you celebrate and that if you sincerely celebrate the success of others, success comes to you too. This way, you are able to influence a positive impact in your own little corner.  

Celebrate someone today.