While I knew nothing about cricket, apart from it being a noisy insect, many of my Pakistani friends were busy writing lengthy essays on it, claiming that playing cricket was their talent.
That happened in a writing challenge I partook in two years ago. Their assertions were a bit strange to me, a Nigerian young man who's yet to meet any of his contemporaries who see playing cricket as his talent.
My curiosity led me to conduct a quick research just to unearth Pakistanis' relationship with the game of cricket.
The right keyword punched into Google's search bar gave me all the answers I needed—Pakistan is the reigning champion of the ICC (International Cricket Council) tournament, which is the biggest tournament in the game of cricket.
Obviously, the citizens of Pakistan are exposed to the game, hence their love for it. As a result of the exposure, they have been able to see many successful cricket players. That is enough for them to want to model after those successful players.
That discovery led me to propound that:
It's almost impossible for people to discover their abilities in fields they have not been exposed to.
Until you're exposed to it, you'll never know how good you are at it.
Having a successful model or models makes it easy to get into, stay in, or grow in any field.
I remember how many talented young boxers sprang forth from the shores of Akwa-Ibom state just after Samuel Okon Peter won the WBC heavyweight title in 2008. Such talents have long been stifled, and the reason isn't farfetched.
Many of us are doing what we are doing today because we knew or still know people who are successful in it.
The surge of any virtue or vice in a society is always preceded by successful role models.
There's no secret to a certain tribe being reputed for its business acumen.
There's no secret to the recent increase in the number of skit makers.
There's no secret to the affinity of some youths for internet fraud (Yahoo, Yahoo).
There's no secret... Someone made them look cool.
Just like what Mercy Chinwo did to the wearing of berets. (I digressed)(You won't get the joke if you're not up-to-date with happenings in the Nigeria Social media scene.)
(An image of trying to make the wearing of berets look cool)
I can't think of a better way of providing direction for people than providing them with the right models.
It is this understanding that led me to assemble a team of some of the most creative and inventive people I know, with the aim of working out ways we could provide sane models for young people.
The result was that we ended up creating channels across many social media platforms with the name GODITEL.
Our first creation would be a show we tagged, "Find a model with Mmykel." (Mmykel is my brand name).
We'll be linking up with people who are successful in any legitimate venture. They'll tell us their stories and also educate us on the best way to venture into similar crafts.
We'll be starting with those doing wonderful things in the tech and digital space. That's because my two team members are big players in that space. Talk of starting with what you have.
It will bring clarity to anything pertaining to tech and monetization in the digital space.
It will be educational, inspiring, and fun.
Follow us and subscribe to all our channels. Share it with your friends, children, nieces, nephews, neighbors, enemies, pets etc.
YouTube @Goditel Kreationz
Facebook @Go-diTv
Twitter @goditelk
Mail us @goditelkreationz@gmail.com
Join us. Let's trigger a revolution together.
Also, recommendations on who to have on the show are welcome. You can also recommend yourself.
All forms of help would be highly appreciated.
I've not figured out everything yet, but I have chosen to tow this path.
Please share.
You're welcome.
All images are originally mine.