When I was in graduate school, I used to advice the younger boys to rejoice and thank God whenever a girl rejected them. It occurred to me in my undergraduate years that the pressure was on the women to find a good man quickly. Our job was to position ourselves in such a way that only the good girls who believe in marrying early would be interested in us. In my younger years, I would talk to women who I considered pretty or had the right “meat” in the right places. It was not long that I realized that many of them got pregnant intentionally, dropped out of college, gave their men police situations, or drained the men’s resources. It becomes obvious to me that these women rejected me because I was not their kind. So rejection is not bad at all. Rejection is actually a blessing to get us to where God truly wants us to be as long as we are observant and listening. It is not necessary something we should challenge or fight because it could actually mean that you have the wrong job, living in the wrong location or you may have to go back and develop something about yourself.
After I graduated and started working, I noticed that in the south of America where I live, the Whites enjoyed paying Blacks less. They seemed to enjoy the fact that they still had the power of putting Blacks in their place by paying a Black college graduate less than a White with just a high school diploma. At first, I took any job just to pay the bills and hoped that something better would come my way, but nothing but worse jobs kept coming. I have always understood that humans were more of a spiritual than a physical being, and God will never elevate you until you pass the test at your current level. Soon, I got a job interview and it was for a job that was beneath me. I dressed up and went to the interview to impress and dazzle them. I told my wife that they never called me for the good jobs, but the useless jobs always wanted me by all cost.
Within a few days, the stupid job called me and told me that I was the best thing they have ever seen, but I turned them down. A Federal job also came along for a senior management level. I went to the interview and passed all the physical, mental, and technical exams beyond imagination. They later called those that passed to offer them the job. The White man came to me and said he would offer me a lower management position because that was all they had available. At first I took it, but when it was time to start, I rejected it. It was after I did these two rejections that God put me in two different positions in an entire different career field. The point here is that we do not know where we are actually going; it is our job to build our spirit to the point where God can elevate us to where we need to be. I did not only break the bad spirit spiritually, but I was also able to reject mediocrity at a time when I had nothing. But how does this affect us as a people?
There is a player that many Nigerians like to worship, but he has not impressed me in recent times. His name is Kanu and he plays professional soccer in Portsmouth, England. Many Nigerians are so emotional over him because of what he did in the 1996 Olympic Games and how he played before he had heart surgery. Well, we are in 2008 and what has he got to show? Yes, Portsmouth team won the FA Cup this year and Kanu scored the only goals in the Semi-finals and finals, yet his team always gives him a one-year contract to show their appreciation for the past 2-3 years. This same Kanu is not only supposed to be Nigeria’s current Captain, but he has being begging and fighting Portsmouth to show him more respect by giving him a lengthy contract. I actually think that Kanu is old and it is time for him to follow Okacha into retirement with honors. I do not want him to end up like Okocha, another former Nigerian and Bolton Captain, begging to play with Hull City in the Premiership, but only to the turned down by a division two coach.
When Okocha was dropped by Bolton, not one European team came for him. This meant that he was expired. Now Kanu cannot even secure a two-year contract with ordinary Portsmouth and no other team came to snatch him. Instead of truthful and well meaning Nigerians to pull Kanu in the ear and encourage him to retire, they are telling him that it is racism and that he his still a superstar. Even if Portsmouth’s coach is a racist, what about the other teams that need to win and improve their standing? If Kanu truly believes that he is worth more than a one-year contract, he should go to the Portsmouth management face-to-face, reject the one-year contract, and walk away without conditions. If after two week, not even a respectable team in the first division that is lower than Portsmouth even come to get his signature, then he must be a man and retire. I am tired of the so called “Nigeria Captains” roaming around Europe begging for contract. I do not know why they must allow themselves to fall to grass from glory. It is the man that is able to walk away from anything with nothing that is valuable, and not the one that accept anything to remain relevant. This is a problem of the Nigerian or the Black man.
