THE SURVIVORSHIP BIAS: BETWEEN ME AND LINDA IKEJI

An old classmate recently tagged me on a group photo on Facebook. It was an old picture that was taken when we were in college many years ago. Out of excitement and more out of curiosity, I decided to view the profile of all my classmates who were tagged in the picture. My concern ranged from what they currently looked like to how their life had turned out. Have the ones who were really exceptional in school turned out to become the most successful in life?  

Back in college we had students who were top performers. They were the A students and the envy of all at every prize-giving day. The rest of us would sit back and watch them as they collected award after award. They were hailed as the stars of the future and they were treated specially because of their brilliance. And by every standard they were successful at that level and got all the attention they deserved.

As I clicked on each and every person, I was surprised to see that not every person turned out as was expected. Remarkably, passing examinations were no longer the basis for distinguishing between success and failure. That day, I learnt the incredible lesson that intelligence has little or no survival value. The measurement of success is not based on intelligence. In a layman’s language, a high IQ doesn’t translate to a high net worth.  

WHATEVER HAPPENS IN LAGOS STAYS IN LAGOS

It was one of those cold and gloomy Friday evenings. I wasn’t particularly excited like most people do at the end of the last day of work. A lot had happened to me during the week, and these episodes reminded me of the fact that I still lived in a world that keeps turning in circles. Tragedy, joy, defeat, fulfillment, grief, breakthrough and frustration; one emotion or sometimes more at a time.

On my way home from work that evening, Celestine Ukwu’s powerful and philosophical highlife tune from the 1970’s “Ije Enu” kept intercepting my thought flow. You know how a song just thoroughly captures your emotional state, almost perfectly. The song was a deep reflection of the journey of life and a reminder that our current emotional state is only temporary.

I quickly plugged my earpiece, scrolled through my highlife collection and let the song do justice to my emotions as it pleases. It turned out the song was the inspiration I needed to gradually snap out of the dark place my mind was persuasively taking me to. Its powerful message and melody brought sparks through my entire being. All I wanted to do was to recline on my sofa, be still and feel the anointing from the song until I became whole again.