There Is No Knowledge That Is Not Power

After our very inspiring talk with Mr Taiwo Akinkunmi, we spent the first 20 minutes of our next Wakose Executive meeting talking about the conversation with Mr. Taiwo. At the end of the meeting, we each got different action items revolving around making learning more affordable, accessible and desirable in and around Nigeria.

The conversation stayed in my mind for a couple of days, and I thought about a sentence many readers around my age will be familiar with "THERE IS NO KNOWLEDGE, THAT IS NOT POWER".

This sentence was popularized in the Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 game, Back-Back-B anyone? But how true is this statement? To be more specific, how true is this statement in Nigeria?

If I know a hen lays an egg, and egg becomes a chick which grows to what we call chicken and which ends up as chicken peri-peri, and I'm still starving, doesn't that mean there is some knowledge that is not power?

If I know that I can plant maize and it's going to sprout and grow into a full size plant, which gives me a full cob of maize and I'm still living in hunger, doesn't that mean there is some knowledge that is not power?

If we know that "United we stand and divided we fall", yet we only care about ourselves and our families, doesn't that mean that there is some knowledge that is not power?

If we know "A hungry man is an angry man" and yet we expect peace and safety in the midst of hunger, doesn't that mean that there is some knowledge that is not power?

If we know that "an idle man is the devil's workshop" and yet we admonish our youth to despise crime instead of providing meaningful activities for them, doesn't that mean that there is some knowledge that is not power?

If we live in an age where any knowledge we seek is just clicks away and yet we endure solvable problems, doesn't that mean there is some knowledge that is not power?

If we live in a nation where we have lots of engineering graduates and with tons of information available online on harnessing renewable energy resources like wind and solar but yet we have no electrical power, I KNOW there is some knowledge that is not power, at least electrically speaking.

The Way Forward

The way forward is simple. We need to act on what we know. Notice I use the word "simple", not "easy" because it is not going to be easy; in fact, it's going to be long and arduous.

There will be days where you will feel low on energy like I had been last couple of days (I was supposed to turn in this article last week), but in the end, if we join forces and act together, we can make our nation the great nation we KNOW it should be.

Remember the Parable of the Talents? What are you doing with the knowledge and talents accorded to you? Is it one, five or seventy?Are you burying it or putting it work?

Wakose Academy is here to help; if you have any actionable ideas to help create a better nation and need some advice on planning and/or execution, please let us know at wakoseblog@gmail.com and we will strategize with you.

All sabi sabi and no action na just story.