“Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present are sure to miss the future” [John. F. Kennedy, 35th president of the United States.]
Since the 2015 general elections, change has become the buzzword and a cliché of sort in Nigeria’s political landscape, probably because “change” was the campaign slogan of the APC, the political party on whose platform President Buhari came to power. Everybody is now talking about change! But do many have a good understanding of change? What is Change? Why is change necessary or why do we need change? How does change come about? What are the signals and triggers of change? What are the different types of change? What are the benefits or dividends of change? Is all change positive and progressive? Can change be negative and retrogressive? What are the barriers and obstacles to Change? Who are the enemies of change? What are the challenges facing a change leader? What is the leadership factor in change? All these and more will be addressed in this four-part insightful series of articles on change.
Change is a constant episodic process of life. Whether we like it or not, expect it or not, accept it or not, change is sacrosanct and inevitable. In the words of John Patterson, “Only fools and dead men don’t change….Fools won’t and dead men can’t”. Change is a ‘living thing’ and a natural evolutionary progression. According to renowned essayist, Gael Sheehy, “If we don’t change, we don’t grow. If we don’t grow, we are not really living”. Those who refuse to embrace change are living in self-denial. And those who live the life of yesterday today are living in a fool’s paradise! Change is divinely ordained and God’s indubitable idea which is why the world is in a state of constant flux. That explains why we have different seasons in different parts of the world; dry, hot, wet, harmattan, as well as summer, winter, fall and spring. “One generation passes away, and another generation comes; But the earth abides forever. The sun also rises, and the sun goes down and hastens to the place where it arose. The wind goes toward the south, and turns around to the north; the wind whirls about continually, and comes again on its circuit. All the rivers run into the sea, yet the sea is not full; to the place from which the rivers come, there they return again. [Ecclesiastes 1:4-7, Holy Bible, [NKJV]. “To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under heaven: A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted; A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace” Ecclesiastes 3:1-8, The Holy Bible, [ KJV]. Everything in life is susceptible to change. Indeed, the human life is full of changes. Birth is followed by infancy, childhood, adolescent, youth, adulthood, middle-age, old age and ultimately death!
Change has different meanings, connotations and interpretations to different people at different times. However, whichever way you define or look at it, the underlining prism of change remains the same; that of a metamorphosis, transmutation, transformation or departure from the old to the new. Change is a paradigm shift from the established, conventional way of doing things. Change is the harbinger of a ‘new order’ and precursor to modernisation, growth and development. Change is a clean break or clear departure from the norm; something fundamentally and visibly different, something novel, a change from the status quo which ultimately signifies the end of an era and the beginning of a new one. Change is to learn, imbibe, introduce and adopt new order of things and to unlearn, discontinue and discard the old order of things. Albert Einstein once remarked that the problems we have today cannot be solved with the same thinking and mentality that created them. In other words, we cannot continue doing things the same way and expect a different outcome or result. The implication of this is that, to move forward, there is the need for a new thinking, new mentality, new mind set, new approach and new attitude all of which call for change. The notion of change is to break new grounds and bring about a vista of new horizons and new frontiers. Change is a repository of new opportunities and receptacle of fresh possibilities. Change represents a new beginning, fresh start, new lease of life, a different and better way of doing things; new vision, new thinking, new ideas, new agenda, new plans, new mind sets, new mentalities, new initiatives, new perspectives, new habits, new attitudes, new processes, new methods, new systems, new strategies, new tactics, new approaches, new practices, new hopes, new options, new choices, new solutions and breakthroughs.
To be continued next week
KAYODE OLUWA
