First Gentleman with Wilson Orhiunu
Email: babawill2000@gmail.com Twitter: @Babawilly
The windfall is that great harvest that a beautiful wind brings within reach after wrestling fruit off the fecund trees of life. We all get windfalls but the time they come is beyond our control as is the frequency of their appearing.
First we must deal with the elephant in the elevator. There is an ill wind that rubs everybody the wrong way. The breeze that makes the average Naija man click his or her fingers and mutter, “God forbid”.
Fela sang it well in the song ‘Overtake Don Overtake Overtake’.
When I see say our lives dey roll
Like one yeye ball
Wey one yeye wind
Dey blow from one yeye corner
The truth is, the yeye wind blows in the bad luck and always sends the victim to the yeye corner and with time the victim embodies yeyeness. Not your portion my reader.
Now back to the windfall. The easiest windfall to understand is sudden unexpected and perhaps undeserved mighty cash. The kind that puts a sudden smile on the face and a thousand options on the mind.
Sudden wealth is usually squandered away in keeping with the economic theory of easy come easy go. A survey of lottery winners proves the point. A select few however make good use of the opportunity afforded by favourable winds. These are the ones who set sail to their desired harbours while the advantage still exists.
The late Leonard Ravenhill is quoted as saying “The opportunity of a lifetime must be seized within the lifetime of the opportunity.”
Every windfall is an opportunity of a lifetime and there is always a time limit attached to it. Fruit that conveniently falls by a person will rot on the ground if not taken away in baskets.
Types of windfalls
Strength
The youth hits the teenage years and suddenly develops increased muscular bulk and strength; an anatomical windfall of sorts. With a strong back and a sharp mind he can do long hours of physical training and at the same time undergo rigorous intellectual stimulation and training. Unfortunately, there is an increased desirability to the opposite sex around this time which leads to a conflict of interest. No wonder that youth gets wasted.
Time
A young and single person with a lot of spare time has options. Hobbies can be explored and new experiences sought. Some people waste time hoping to meet someone who then robs them of all their time. That is when people look back with regret at the holidays and adventures they could not take when they had no kids.
Health
A long spell of good health is pure gold. Health means no trips to doctors and an ability to push yourself physically to the limits of endurance. A healthy body can also be abused until all health or even life itself is lost
Peace
War or conflict free periods should usher in an era of prosperity if the peace is taken advantage of. A conflict is a major drain on resources. Conflict in homes and families drain emotional and creative energies causing people to look back at the years and wonder where all the months went and why there has been no tangible achievement.
Some people just cannot stand peace. They have no ambitions to progress in any field or direction and when things get too quiet for them, they stage a fight. These are the people to run from for they are always in need of sparring partners.
People with great dreams seek peace for creativity thrives when one is not distracted with who said what and who stabbed who.
Countries in turmoil do not to win any Olympic Gold medals for obvious reasons. Nightmares come true in lands devoid of peace.
Wise people set to work when things are peaceful. Natural disasters that might disturb the peace suddenly have to be prepared for long before they occur. Some countries are not prepared for major floods, earthquakes or fires.
Natural resources
Some countries stumble upon geological bonanzas from time to time. Minerals in the ground which are mined and sold for a King’s Ransom. This ‘boom’ creates a feel good factor and instantly three options arise, a. invest for the future b. spend for today or c. pilfer and establish a legacy of corruption.
The clock is always ticking on natural reserves as the minerals may run out or the price paid for them may fall. No boom lasts forever, hence the other economic theory – make hay while the sun shines.
Agricultural surplus
It is usually wise for a country to have stored food in case a famine or natural disaster occurs. That means surplus food needs to be dried and stored. One years’ worth of food is always a good idea. Unfortunately, in some countries a bumper harvest means that fruits rot away as there are no means to store these agriculture windfalls.
Natural talents
Some regions of the world have a natural gift for some activities. It might be running long distance races, athletics, science or music. These talents need to be nurtured so that individuals achieve their potentials. Parents alone are not able to do this for as the educational theory goes – it takes a whole village to train a child.
If 400 children in an area are gifted in writing computer codes, and the area has no computers and no electricity, that talent is wasted.
There is a narrow window in which a child should be steered towards computer literacy for their genius to manifest. If nothing is done by the village or country, rather than be the next Windows or Apple CEO, the child will be cleaning windows and hawking apples on the street.
As a matter of immense urgency a country must desperately desire to develop any talent it finds within its borders.
