In
Chinua Achebe’s book, Things Fall Apart, Okonkwo was scolded by the wise words
of an elder, “those whose palm-kernels were cracked for them by a benevolent
spirit should not forget to be humble”. One of the most captivating and
motivating stories told today are stories of a person’s rise from poverty to
opulence - aka grace to grace stories.
A
grass to grace story is actually a real life experiences that talks about how a
person rose from a poor background to become a person of repute. Most time,
they show the tenacious, courageous and hardworking never die attitude of the
person. When told, hearers are inspired with an “It doesn’t matter my
beginning, I can get to the top” attitude. But while many hope, the question of
their ability to go on to have their own grass to grace stories arises.
Nollywood’s
Joseph Benjamin once was a bus conductor in Lagos. Kunle Sorinyan was a school
dropout. Today, Benjamin Joseph is a popular actor and Kunle, a big figure in
the public speaking circle.
 |
| Joseph Benjamin's grass to grace story |
Recently,
I was watching the late night repeat show of Your Views an all- female newspaper review panel, they talked about the new Lagos state house of Assembly Chairman, Rt. Hon. Ajayi Obasa who was
once did odd jobs like carrying kpom kpom (head pans) to earn
a living so he could send himself to school, that was years ago, today he is
the current Speaker, Lagos House of Assembly.
 |
| Kunle Sorinyan |
My
concern however is that these “grass to grace” stories
have become too frequent
that they are getting common and losing their potency to strike the heart of hearers.
The average youth now looks up to entertainers and ‘yahoo yahoo’ guys who make
quick money - they too have their grass to grace stories, just that it’s not
what one can really look up to. Another concern is the fact that some grass – to
- grace story owners have really not lived up to expectations – they make grass
to grace experiences something those in their grass phase wouldn’t want to go
through.
Will
these stories make impact again when told? Would it resound in the hearts of its
hearers to create minds who have resolved to ‘do all it takes, even the odd
things’ to succeed. Men who believe the road to success is a journey and not a ‘get
it quick’ thing. I think the answer lies not with the stories but with the
impact those who have had such experiences now make after the experiences of
their past.
The
most disappointing grass to grace story undoubtedly belongs to a gentleman who
as a child wore no shoes, when he grew and became an important figure in
society, some children have gotten less than shoes - they are lost forever, captured by evil men somewhere in the north.
The
moral of this write up is to stress that it’s no longer a matter of storytelling,
rather its now about impact making. Those who have been blessed after their hard
labour should remember to make life easy for the commoner. They should make
impact, that is the only way their stories will make the impact; from grass to
grace.
Image Credits:
Intro pics - From Grass To Grace
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