Time and chance for the dancing Senator

Late Isiaka Adeleke was a former governor of Osun State. He became a senator representing Osun West Senatorial District election in the Nigerian Senate. He died on the 23rd of April 2017. As expected, there was a need to replace him in the senate.

Ademola Adeleke is Isiaka Adeleke’ s younger brother. He was largely unknown in politics but he got an opportunity to replace his brother in the Senate. Ademola didn’t get the ticket of the ruling party in Osun state. In less than a month before the election, he joined the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and ran for the senate seat.

Ademola Adeleke pulled a surprise victory in the election. He won in nine of the ten local governments in the senatorial area winning with 97,280 votes. Ademola, largely unknown as a politician rode on the people’s sentiments for his late brother Isiaka Adeleke and became a senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Isiaka Adeleke is the dancing Senator knows for his dance moves.

Wise King Solomon argued that things happen because of time and Chance (Ecclesiastes 9:11). I believe Ademola Adeleke understood the concept of “time and chance”. He knew people will not be sentimental of his brother’s death forever. He understood that emotional connection will not last forever. He knew the time for the sentimental votes was now and he took a chance on it. He won!

The big issue for me is that sometimes people don’t know when it’s their time and therefore probably won’t take a chance. Maybe the strange thing about time is that you may be the person most suited to your time. Others may not. Ademola Adeleke knew it was his time and approached his late brother’s political party, the All Progressive Congress (APC) for the party ticket. The APC seemed not to see and understand the issue of timing and went on to deny Ademola Adeleke the ticket. What Adeleke knew, they didn’t. Adeleke was a greenhorn, he was new, he was inexperienced. The elders in the APC knew the game, they were elders and had experience. But they didn’t know about Adeleke’s timing. PDP understood the concept of time and chance, accepted him as their candidate and capitalized on him.

This is another reminder of another event, the famous duel between David and Goliath as recounted in 1 Samuel 17. David felt he could face Goliath in battle. He felt it was time to take a chance and announced his plans. The first person to give him a feedback on his plans was his elder brother.  His brother spoke harshly to him saying he was proud and arrogant.  When the king heard about David’s plan, he discouraged him too. The elders have spoken, they didn’t want David to go ahead. These are no common elders, they were older, more experienced and understand the terrain. Perhaps they even had a higher stake in Israel.  But David knew it was his time. He refused to listen to the elders, confronted Goliath and got the victory.

This is not n call to disrespect elders or their counsel. Neither is this an endorsement to not seek for feedback. Rather it’s the need to prioritize your understanding of the time well. It’s your time, not theirs!

We must all understand, when your time comes nothing can stop you. Your time is your time. Many people may not see it. They may encourage you not to take the chance because you will have a second time or chance. Sometimes, there is no second time. You may only have one chance, so go for it.

I have seen friends stand for election and decide to step down for others. I have seen people not try for jobs because they believe another advertisement will be released. I have seen men postpone proposals to ladies because they believe they have all the time. These folks took those actions because they believe another time and opportunity will come. I have also seen that sometimes, time waits for no one, they won’t get a second chance. An epitome of an inspiration from the wise Jesus is stated in John 7:6: “Therefore, Jesus told them, “My time is not yet here; for you any time will do.” Jesus clearly showed he knew his time and won’t let anyone encourage him to either jump the gun or be slack. Fact is, any time won’t do. Some even postpone acting for religious reasons claiming they are doing it for God. Remember, there is a time for everything. Take your chance!

It was Steve Jobs who said “Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s life. Don’t be trapped by dogma – which is living with the results of other people’s thinking. Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary”. Take your chance!

Another ridiculous issue about postponing acting now or procrastination is that we assume there is a tomorrow. No one knows about tomorrow. You are not sure who will be alive, if the country will be the same or if the conditions will remain the same. In an uncertain world, today may be the surest for you. Isn’t that the basis for discounting future receipt of money compared to what we can receive now? Another wise word from Steve Jobs “Remembering that I’ll be dead soon is the most important tool I’ve ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything – all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure – these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.” Follow you heart. Juts do it.

In 1999, Nigeria had a transition to politics. Many people hesitated and didn’t join the race. The few that understood the time took their chances and won easily. Many who didn’t know their time later realized their error and regretted their inaction.

I wish we had a sensor that could tell us our time with exact precision like a clock does. Unfortunately, there is not clarity on when it’s your time. It’s a sensing, a feeling, an intuition. Perhaps that’s why Soren Kierkegaard said that “Life can only be understood backwards; but it must be lived forwards.”

Ademola Adeleke seems to be taking another chance. He wants to run as governor for Osun State in 2018. Perhaps he has sensed it’s his time. As expected, we can’t determine if this is his time (again). If he wins the election, we will then know it’s his time. But he has to take a chance for us to know.