BRIDGING THE KNOWLEDGE GAP

stumbled on Ben Carson's Big last week, of course I had seen it before then, but i guess the one i saw is a new print, i sudden fell in love with it though i wanted to buy some other books i bought it too. I have fallen in love with Ben Carson, his story is simply great.



“Every man who knows how to read has it in his power to magnify himself, to multiply the ways, in which he exists, to make his life full, significant and interesting.”
- Aldous Huxley

There’s this story of a former Military administrator in a South-West state who wanted to find out first hand, the true position when confronted with a report that the educational standard in the state had fallen.

The former Military administrator approached a school, on getting there, saw a young boy who he asked, “Who wrote Macbeth?” The boy in fear replied, “It is not me.” And from the boy who did not write Macbeth to the teacher and Principal, “Who promised to fish out who wrote Macbeth.” The search for who wrote Macbeth went on.
The traditional ruler said, “The boys always lie. It is one of them who wrote Macbeth.”
The Military’s administrator’s wife who feared for him asked, “Didn’t I tell you not to take this job. How long have you stayed there that they are already writing Macbeth about you?” The next day the Commissioner of Police announced, “I am sorry about all that happened yesterday. I can assure you that this will not happen again. We have arrested who wrote Macbeth and he confessed to writing Macbeth.”

The story is certainly a fable but yet it can’t be disregarded, I remember mentioning the word SAN, in a discourse with a part three law student and believe me she didn’t know what the word meant. While writing this article I met an international relations student who had no idea of the author of Macbeth. Peter Umez, Author ‘Sammy and the Wallet’ rightly quipped that, “Over 35million Nigerians own GSM handsets, and out of that number most of them have not read, ‘Things Fall Apart.” More people are comfortable sitting close to the TV set than flipping through the pages of a book. “The world of books is the most remarkable creation of man; nothing else that he builds ever lasts. Monuments fall; nations perish; civilization grows old and dies out. After an era of darkness, new races build others; but in the world of books are volumes that live on still as young and fresh as the day when they were written, still telling men’s heart of the hearts of men centuries dead.” (Clarence Day)
My fear for this generation is that our education isn’t skin deep. There is no substitute for learning, by that I mean the urge to continually improve our knowledge base. Sincerely I am afraid for our generation because we are giving our time to frivolities other than improving our intellectual capacity. Books have the ability to open us into a world of great possibilities, its funny how we grow up learning to read and write, and then suddenly think that reading isn’t that important anyway. I agree with Abraham Lincoln, whether you are 18 or 80 the moment you stop learning you are old. The mind is like a muscle, the more it is exercised via reading, studying, meditation and other forms of intellectual work the better it functions.
The barbers and hairstylists in America wanted to have their national convention; they wanted to give their customers a good image of their profession, so they employed a PR to take up the job. The young man went to work immediately; he got a tramp from the slump and took him to the Photo Shop for some snap shots. He also took the tramp for a hair-cut, steam-bath and a face lift. By now the weird looking tramp had been transformed completely. The PRO did not stop there; he took the tramp to the city and got a suit and a pair of shoes.
Finally on the day of the convention, he placed him at the lounge of the hotel to shake the delegates as they came in for the convention. The gambit worked and the convention was successful. At the end of the convention, the Hotel Manager who was obviously impressed, ask the tramp to return the next day for a job placement. The tramp never returned.
The barbers and hairstylists had succeeded in changing his outlook but not his mind. When you give yourself to reading, you avail yourself the opportunity of interacting with superior minds which inevitably makes you a better person. Ben Carson, world’s renowned neurosurgeon was stopped from watching TV regularly as his much compelled him to read two books every week, for which he was also suppose to write a report on .In a space of time Ben had moved from the last spot he occupied while at grade five in school to one of the best kids in his class. He once said that, “Within my grasp, lay the ability to extricate myself from a poverty stricken environment.” Reading is what gives us the power to live beyond limits.

ydi oau chapter

i hail all my folks at Young Disciples International, Obafemi Awolowo University Chapter, wish u guys all the best in your exams.

my people

been quite a while, i am currently writing school exams. I have also been learning a lot, studying, experiencing and doing some deep thinking and decision making. I love what Joshua Awesome said, " The easiest to predict your future is to create it." Let me ask you a question i have been pondering upon, When you have what you want, would you want what you have? have a great day