Lesson From Grandma.

When mama gained admission and left for ABU Zaria to study for a degree, my five siblings and I moved, from the staff quarters in Villanova,  to the notorious Hwodi Pare, a neighbourhood in Numan, to live with our maternal grandmother. It was way back in 77 and dad had been dead for about 2 years.

Soon after, both Vidiyeno and Dadi (my older brothers) left for secondary school and I, taking to delinquency, dropped out of school for over 3 years. During that period, I tried my hands in animal husbandry (Pig rearing) and farming, mainly helping out grandma Margie Shittu. 

It was during this time that I learnt a very powerful life lesson from the wise lips of my gentle, but strong, grandmother.

You see,  helping her with the harvest (she cultivated maize, Sorghum, Garden egg, some vegetables, etc, mainly for subsistence purposes), I noticed she carefully took out the best produce (biggest sizes, well-formed seeds,  deep colours, infection-free and so on) from the rest of the lot, carefully prepared and hanged them out to air and dry properly. This means they will not be eaten but will be used as seeds for the next farming season. 

My adolescent mind could not work out the logic behind this practice. My thinking was that the biggest and the best should be eaten and enjoyed,  while the smallest and the wilted can then be preserved as seed. 

My grandmother pointed out to me that it did not work like that. The quality of what you sow, barring weather and natural interference beyond human control,  directly determines the quality of your harvest. If you sow malformed and wilted seeds, you will reap a mediocre harvest. If you sow well-formed and healthy seeds,  you will reap a bumper harvest.

Now I understand,  both from personal experience and study, that the quality of the harvest (output)  is in the quality of the seed (input). It is a simple but powerful universal principle. 

If you sow rofo-rofo, you will reap multiplied rofo-rofo. If you sow goodie-goodie, you will reap multiplied goodie-goodie. If you sow bwaraune (Ubuntu), you will reap multiplied bwaraune. Life is a boomerang: what you throw out eventually finds it's way back to you, for good or for bad.

The Bible also teaches that "...Whatsoever a man soweth,  that shall he reap... " (Gal. 6:7).

This principle I learnt from my grandma guides my actions now: I always put forward my best foot in all things and at all times. This has resulted in a productive life, from a delinquent one. It is a principle I am sure you will find very useful. 

Always give the best to life and you will get the best from life. 

It is Agoso Bamaiyi, your friend for a greater Nigeria and the best things of life.