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Letter To Uhuru At Three: Remember When Tomorrow Will Never Come By Sulaimon Mojeed-Sanni
Dear Uhuru,
As against the tradition, I missed last year’s letter not out of disregard but rising foreboding in the polity. A virus was knocking the world out of its consciousness, I was far from home and was wondering how your mum would handle the coming storm. Truly, it was a fear foretold, less than 60 days after, on March 30, 2020, Lagos, Abuja, and Ogun kicked into a lockdown as a precautionary measure to mitigate the spread of coronavirus fast bringing the world to its knees. As of today, 125,303 cases have been recorded in total with 100,193 recoveries and sadly 1,537 deaths.
Dear Muqeet, that is 1,537 families in Nigeria and millions around the world who never imagined an unknown virus would wipe them off tomorrow. But our Lord is an All-Knowing, All-Powerful (Al-Muqtadir), He knows what every tomorrow holds, so, as you welcome a new day, a day once called tomorrow embedded with hopes and foreboding, know that every man would account for what he does today tomorrow.
Read also Uhuru’s Homecoming After The Night Watch (A One Year Birthday Note) By Sulaimon Mojeed-Sanni
Dear Tiwalade, today makes the first of a new year and a great determinant of what the next 345 days hold. Many a time, our lives are built around a day like this, a day we presumably believe will mark a departure from our immediate past, present to us fresh opportunities, and make true our innermost desires. Because the human psychological construct is built around the elements of hope and fear, we make copious postulations for every coming day and label it tomorrow.
Like the ocean surge that takes a deep kiss at the base of the shoreline a million times before disappearing in a tiny line of waves, a day will come when tomorrow will never come. This day many will witness in absolute ignorance, not knowing what is in the belly of a day that never comes to pass.
Read also Letter To My Son (Ubuntu) At Four: What Is Next? By Sulaimon Mojeed-Sanni
Dear Uhuru, many a time people wish to see tomorrow but their hopes are cut short by the elements of circumstances. Father lost daughters, mother lost son, dreams were cut short and expectations met bulwarks of unimagined proportions. When those times come, son, never be weighed down, understand it is your reality, live with it by dealing with it. I am your father, many times, I have had big dreams and put my trust in people yet I have been disappointed but I have endured to live through the times to write this note of caution.
Know that every day of our life is embroiled in hope, waiting, and wanting, then the fear of what happens if our hopes do not come to pass, our waiting is in vain and our wants aren’t satisfied. Dear Son, the reality is the reality even when you choose to be deceived by your foibles. A science fiction writer, Philip K. Dick (1928-1982) once put it succinctly when he said, “Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn’t go away.”
Son, there is what is called practical Reality, where you cannot lie to yourself and the people at the same time. Even when you do, you will be living in a fool’s paradise. Hear my warnings, live within your reality, believe in yourself before believing in others, because in the end, your life shall be gauged in the proportion of truth you told yourself.
To live above the welter of anxious faces I foresee to bedevil your generation, Son, you must be firm in thought, nothing will come to you easy, some decisions you take will have grieve consequences. At times, you will make decisions which maturation time is not ripe, at other times, it will be too late. During all these times, remember, you are the architect of the chances that come to you, you are only a tool in the actualization of things.
Hear the warnings from me, your father, listen to the counsel of your mother, remember the son of whom you are, respect your brother Ubuntu and love your brother Upendo. Be Safe
Your Father,
SM-S
