Life is a journey, and we are all travellers in it. That’s why there is a start and end date to it, which is one of the things we do not
control.
There are however things we can and do control, like roads we take, provisions, company we keep and memories we make along the way.
Journeys are always planned; I have not met anyone who does not plan their journeys.
But they are not always predictable because there is no assurance that your plans will go accordingly. There is always that possibility for unexpected outcomes.
Such outcomes can lead you totravelling through the same road twice or even more or going back to the place where you started for you to take another route that will take you to your destination. And that is quite okay. We just need to embrace such outcomes wholeheartedly, pick the lessons, the messages from the experience and make the best use of them.
I began my journey with Blueprint at its conception; thanks to Ibrahim Shame the Editor who had been my mentor for a very long time. It was he who patiently groomed and mentored me to continue writing, often sending back articles to me with instructions to re-write sometimes more than four times.
He it was who encouraged me to keep writing until he no longer sends back an article for re-write. I continued to write every Thursday until 2014 when I became ill and pregnant with my last child. I remember those times with (wonder at how I was able to multitask and nostalgia at how I did them effortlessly) when I will
stay up all night to get my article done in time for publication after a hectic day of work, school runs, taking care of the children’s needs, cooking, cleaning, homework et all, and the immense feeling of joy seeing my name and face plastered on the national daily.
As at that time, I was just writing because I loved writing (still do)
and it is the only channel I had to share my thoughts. I did not even know that I had an audience, and I was being heard. It was not until 2 years ago when a friend in the UK sent me links of feedback written about my articles years after they have been written (and lost to me
too) that I realised that my words and voice mattered even when I did not know it did.
And as at that time, I was writing from a place of ‘need’ not a place of ‘conviction’. The need to speak up about issues that no one was talking about even though they were so glaring.
“I felt obligated to voice out for ‘reason, urgency, compassion, and justice’ in our society which seemed to be on the roller coaster headed straight to the pits”.
This obligation came not just from my journalistic training, but from the injunction of the holy prophet Muhammad to all his followers to never do nothing in the face of injustice. I had no idea I was making a difference.
Today, I am here, coming back through the same route once again after 11 years, to walk through the same road and I am deeply honoured to
have this privilege. I shall travel this road with diligence, courage, truth, and honesty because I believe our society is in dire need of these qualities now more than ever. This time, my journey will be a little bit different because I am coming from a place of ‘conviction’ in knowing that the world especially our society needs my voice and that of many others.
We have never been in a more precarious situation as we are now, both
politically and socially. This is the time when voices, actions, inputs, and efforts are needed.
Voices, actions, inputs, and efforts to geared towards rubbing minds, sharing ideas, proffer solutions, analyse, critique, and learn from
one another for the betterment of ourselves and society because we are all in this together.
Dear you, I would like to encourage you to embrace your journey even if it brings you back through the same route. The most important thing is not the road you take, but where you are going.
Welcome to the DISCUSSION
