WHO ARE YOU?

Who I am? Yes who are you? Who do you think or know you are and who do people know you to be? This is a question we must ask ourselves and meditate upon anytime we are about to say or do anything. By this question, I do not mean who are you in terms of sex or race but rather the image of whom you project and the characteristics of who you exhibit as an individual.

It is pertinent we know who we are as this knowledge is a crucial factor in determining what we can do or say and are supposed to do or say given the class of personality we think we project to the world. If you have a clear definition of your person or the person you want to be, you will be guided by this realization in whatever you do or say as you will be inclined to conform to the standards of the class of people you belong.

If you know within yourself that you are an important and respectable person for instance, you will tend not to involve yourself in anything that will smear your reputation and make the world to see you as an undesirable element. In the same vein, if you see yourself as an irresponsible and unworthy person, your utterances and actions will definitely be in line with what people in that category will naturally say or do.

Whatever you will do or say will be similar to what other people in the category you perceive yourself to be will often say or do. The prevailing conditions and circumstances notwithstanding and no matter what people think you are by virtue of the position they place you, you will always act your personality. This explains why some people who one way or the other are in leadership positions behave irresponsibly. Deep within such people, they know that they are not worthy of the position that society has placed them and playing leadership role is never in consonance with their personality.

Important and responsible people, no matter their social and/economic status will always exhibit good behaviours and conform to internationally acceptable code of conduct even when faced with unpleasant realities. The reverse is the case for useless and foolish people. It is easy to distinguish a normal human being by his actions and utterances rather than by anything else. A political leader, a Professor or a military top brass can be stupid while a bus conductor (driver’s mate), a gardener or a street urchin can display exemplary characters. It is all about personality.

Every individual must first identify who he or she is as this forms the basis of how we behave. The positions we find ourselves or what people think we are has nothing to do with the way we conduct ourselves. The appellations such as His Excellency, Distinguished Senator, Honourable, Reverend gentleman, Alhaji etc will only be meaningful if attached to people with traits of normal behaviours.

Sincerely yours,