By Hon. Matthew Ochada (HMO).
There is something about our political sphere that makes patience look like a punishment. We are a people who constantly measure our journey against that of others. Someone rises and instead of celebration, the first reaction is suspicion: How did he get there? Why not me? It is almost as if Nigerians believe destiny should operate like a government promotion list, strictly by seniority.
The Nigerian mind has a peculiar difficulty with the idea that life unfolds according to a script not written by us. We like to believe that human calculation controls everything. We worship strategy, networks, and political arithmetic. In our conversations about leadership, we speak as if God is merely an observer taking minutes while politicians conduct the real meeting. But life has a way of embarrassing that assumption, as history repeatedly reminds us that elevation often ignores human expectations.
Consider the quiet philosophical lesson embedded in the journey of His Excellency, Alh. Ahmed Usman Ododo. During the political season that produced him as governor, he was not alone in the arena. Nigerian politics is never short of aspirants. In fact, if ambition were electricity, Nigeria would never suffer power outages. There were seasoned contenders. There were veterans who had waited patiently in the corridors of power. There were strategists who had memorized every turn of the political chessboard. Yet history, like a mysterious examiner, picked its own candidate.
What lesson does that teach us? It reminds us that destiny does not always follow the timetable of human impatience. Elevation is not always about how long one has waited or how many attempts one has made. Sometimes it simply arrives when God decides the moment has come.
My grandmother, God rest her soul, used to say that destiny behaves like the village masquerade. You may hear the drums announcing its arrival, but you will never know which compound it will stop in front of. The masquerade chooses. This is where Nigerians struggle. We want destiny to operate like a government file: stamped, predictable, and moving according to bureaucratic order. But destiny refuses to join the civil service. Instead, it behaves like grace, mysterious, surprising, and occasionally scandalous.
You must remember that human beings measure life with clocks. God measures life with purpose. That difference explains many things. It explains why the farmer who plants early may still harvest later than the farmer who plants after him. It explains why the student who struggled through school may later teach the class of those who once mocked him. It explains why leadership sometimes emerges from the most unexpected corners of the room.
So when someone rises today, it should inspire hope rather than bitterness. Life has a way of testing our patience, especially when we begin to measure our journey against that of others. But one truth remains constant: only God Almighty determines the course of every individual’s future. We all exist for a purpose, and that purpose unfolds at the time divinely appointed.
A seed buried in the soil is not forgotten. It is being prepared for the day it will break the earth and meet the sun. That is why the story of leadership, whether in politics or in life, must always remind us of a humbling reality: elevation often arrives at the moment we least expect.
You may wait years. You may try repeatedly. You may watch others move ahead of you. And then suddenly, destiny clears its throat and says the most powerful word in the universe: Now.
That moment does not consult our impatience. It simply arrives!
If someone is favoured today, it is not by accident or mere human arrangement. It is by God’s will. And if another person receives that same favour tomorrow, it is still part of His perfect design. No two destinies are identical, and no timeline is ever the same.
And anytime I listen to the musical track “Ikó Ójó, ch’ómemelé” by legendary Alh. Abdul Ayoky, a reminder that God’s time is always the best, I am persuaded again that in all we do, the most important wisdom is patience. For when destiny finally clears its throat and says “Now,” no power on earth can postpone it.
So to the youth, to the dreamers, to the strugglers navigating the complicated labyrinth called Nigeria, hear this clearly: your season has not been cancelled. It may simply be loading.
Celebrate those who rise today. Their elevation is not a verdict against your future. It is merely a reminder that time has many chapters.
After all, the Author of destiny has never missed a deadline.
— Hon. Matthew Ochada (HMO)
House of Assembly Aspirant from Omala LGA, Kogi State.
