Mfonobong Inyang: My Reflection on The Past Years & The New Year

Fate whispers to the warrior, “You cannot withstand the storm.” The warrior whispers back, “I am the storm.”

2023 was a wrecking ball but I took it in my stride like it was nothing. For basketball heads, you know what it means to play 48 minutes on a torn meniscus. I still went hard in the paint even when the game was rigged. Yes, I am still standing on business but there were a bunch of feelings I couldn’t shake, disrespect that I shouldn’t take. These days, I sit on my balcony and reflect on the past year – what worked for me, and lessons learned, and this new year.

Little Miss Consistent

If there is one thing you must hack this year, it’s the discipline of consistency. One way I define maturity is the ability to maintain momentum. As a child, whenever you felt sleepy, you continued to lie down in bed. However, as an adult, you know the consequences of a little sleep and a little folding of hands – hence you wake up even when you still feel sleepy. You cannot be great at anything if you only do it when you feel like it or only when it’s convenient. Eccentric entrepreneur, Elon Musk, has a rather interesting name for one of his business interests – The Boring Company. I am not as fascinated by its operations as I am with its name; it underscores the point that some of the brilliant innovations or outcomes we enjoy today were underpinned by putting in hours of work on something seemingly boring. Engineers drawing up designs for cars might appear boring to you but driving a V8 car is never boring.

My BTS is full of doing boring stuff like watching stuff on YouTube for hours, reading big books, practising my craft or attending masterclasses but my creative output is never boring, no cap. People are shocked when I tell them I am not a great writer but rather a consistent writer – I write whether it’s convenient or not. At the end of last year, I checked my column on the backend and I realized in four years, I had churned out over 100 essays on BellaNaija. I never would have thought of doing that much when I started but I achieved it one essay at a time. Intensity is doing too much, consistency is the new cool.

Wetin Man Never Talk?

In reviewing some of my previous pieces to see how I can improve and better serve the community, I inadvertently saw some very stark predictions hidden in plain sight. All before-the-fact.

In April 2022, I penned a paragraph that aged rather well, “They will cry and complain about their economic challenges but when they see a savvy candidate, they will say “this one dey speak too much English, shey na grammar we go chop?” In July 2022, I wrote, “Maybe the establishment calls you naïve because the structure it is bragging about is a political euphemism for election rigging, rented crowds, voter suppression, thuggery, and vote-buying.”

In October 2022, I shared that “those who allow themselves to be divided by religion and ethnicity during the electioneering season will be reunited in their poverty after the elections.” As a cap off, I wrote  about the post-election behaviour of your favourite intellectuals, influencers and political jobbers, “What they won’t tell you is that they have cashed out on the low and will move to a country where things work to continue enjoying the life of their heads.”

Allow Me To Re-Introduce Myself!

We all know that most brands or products inevitably undergo some kind of evolution or iteration but we somehow don’t think such a concept applies to us as humans. Recently I listened again to HOV’s monster verse on DJ Khaled’s God Did. It wasn’t just rhythm-accented poetry, it was cloth talk on a very profound level. Shawn Corey Carter shared a bit of his life’s story in the most artistic way possible – the book of Hov. Hidden behind the entendres, witty references and soulful rendition were gems. Hov evolved from living at Marcy Houses to being a household name, from living in the projects to producing one of the biggest music projects in the sporting world, like the Super Bowl Halftime Show, and from being a hustler in Brooklyn Bay to being the businessman.

“Please Lord, forgive me for what the stove did” – Hov acknowledges his not-so-pretty past and seeks redemption, perhaps not just for what he did but for the damage it may have left in its wake. It’s okay to have done stuff that you might not be proud of but hiding it and pretending it never happened will only hurt you. Take back your power by owning what you did while also sharing how you have turned a new leaf. “I just got a million off a sync, without riskin’ a million years tryna get it out the sink” – this is OT from the OG. Hov shares how he had since gone legit, and now makes more money with relative ease and all without the occupational hazards that come with the gangster life like Lucky Lefty. Although he still has his street smarts, he explains that his business model has changed – offering hope to those looking to leave that life. Everyone has a backstory, never allow yourself to be defined by your history but by your destiny. Now, back to our regularly scheduled programme.

Tomorrow Is More Expensive

Nobel Prize winner, Milton Friedman, had a very graphic definition of inflation: “Inflation is the most destructive disease known to modern societies. There is nothing that will destroy a society so thoroughly and so fully as letting inflation run riot.” You could almost swear that he was referring to Nigeria here because last year we all saw our purchasing power greatly eroded by inflation numbers that had never been seen before in modern history. Inflation is a thief of value; effectively ensuring that you need more money to buy the same basket of goods and services. One of the signatures of money is its capacity to be a store of value. Unfortunately, our local currency cannot pick a struggle. Why our Naira is almost not worth the paper it is being printed on is not just that it’s weak but also because it’s volatile. That means, it’s bad enough that the value of the Naira is doing badly against major global currencies like the Dollar, Pound Sterling, Euro et al. It is so bad that its weakness cannot even be relied on; one day it’s extremely bullish, and the next day it’s extremely bearish.

What this means amongst other things is that prices of especially consumables have gone through the roof and your savings cannot save you because while it’s safely tucked away in a bank vault, inflation has stolen most of its value. These voodoo economic policies aren’t helping either; instead of moving from consumption to production, the political class has doubled down on its mindless profligacy. This may sound unpatriotic but it makes economic sense; if you can, avoid having large amounts of money in Naira. Look for low-risk liquid securities or assets to protect your wealth. So if you want to buy something now, you might as well go ahead and get it because yesterday’s price is not today’s price.