We Rise By Lifting Others

By Bariister Monkey Jacket

What started as a joke, has earned Davido a popular Nigerian artiste, a whooping sum of N200 Million (Two Hundred Million Naira) in one day i.e the guy was able to raise N200 Million from fans and friends under twenty-four (24) hours (burst brain bah). The Nigerian artiste had on 17^th November, 2021 announced a N100 Million birthday challenge asking friends and fans to send N1m (One million Naira) each ahead of his birthday.

Davido said “we rise by lifting others abi? Me I don dey rise dey lift others for the past ten (10) years now. So, I want to know who my friends are…”, and then proceeded to drop an account number online. In less than four (4) hours after this message went on air, the artiste received N53 Million (Fifty-Three Million Naira), and N200 Million (Two Hundred Million Naira) in less than twenty-four (24) hours (wow).

On 20^th November, 2021 he went further to gift out the entire sum to orphanage homes across the country, establishing a five (5) person disbursement committee chaired by Mrs. Titi Adebayo with term of reference to compile a list of orphanages across the country, determine the number of children and then divide the funds accordingly.

Knowing Nigerians with our talk, talk, this act by Davido sparked reactions from different angles, someone said “Davido should start acting like the A list celebrity he is, asking fans for money and calling out people to send you money on social media seems degrading to me”, another person commented “This life no balance oooo. If na me ask for 2k now, nobody go reply my chat again… hustle oh, make your friends no dey ignore your chats when you greet them becos dem go think say you want beg for money”, another one commented “Funny I must say, I don’t see the impact of giving to someone who has, not just has, but someone who has it in abundance, I see no good deeds here, there are thousands of Nigerians in dire need of money less than N1million and yet don’t get assistance” and so many comments like that.

A wise man once said, “one pesin go dance for market, dem go give am money, another pesin go dance for market, dem go throw am stones”, the same is the fate of many Nigerian youths during hard times in this country. It is easier for Davido to raise N200 Million in one day and practically impossible for another youth to raise N200,000.00 (Two hundred Thousand Naira) in three months, even the urgent 2k is no longer forthcoming for some. Sadly, the system is wired in a way that makes it difficult for a self-employed entrepreneur to assess Grants and other governmental financial assistance to feed his/her business.

See this life ehn, no matter what you do in this life, people must talk, so don’t pay attention to what people would say if you want to do something, if you feel it is right and just, go ahead and do it; There is no shame in asking for help from friends no matter the level one finds himself, for a friend in need is a friend indeed, the only problem is when seeking for help becomes a habit opposed to working for self; People with a heart of gold would always give once they become aware that you are in need of financial assistance for a genuine purpose, and lastly, in whatever you do, bear in mind that this life no balance, so don’t expect too much from people.

This brings me to the purpose of this article, I have an unpublished book (‘The Young Advocate’ a compilation of all articles written by Daniel Bulusson, Esq, from April 2013 – 2020) lying in my file cabinet for lack of money to finance a publishing house to edit, print and market to the general public and need somebody out there to lift me to publish. However, not every help is monetary, if there is a publishing house out there interested in publishing content for the legal industry and ready to bear the cost of printing and work something out from sales and proceeds, am 100% game, the idea is to get the book published and available to the public.

This writer is in dire need of upgrading his professional tools to advance content creation and dissemination to the public, and create a hub where non-lawyers can easily assess to seek legal advice on breach of their fundamental human rights, irrespective of location. Simply put, tools required to advance a digital media platform that will bridge the information gap between lawyers and non-lawyers, upgrading already existing platforms like ‘Young Wig’, and ‘Know thy Right with Barrister Monkey’ into a blog, website, and eventually an App, to bring the people (non-lawyers) closer to the modus operandi of Nigerian lawyers.

The truth be say I don dey run am on my own and e hard me, now I need support from the outside world to make the dream of service to humanity a reality, so like Davido, my account detail is 6032556351, Keystone Bank, make una surprise una boy, and God no go shame us.

To chat with Barrister Monkey Jacket, send ‘Hi’ to +2348087208546, you can also follow-on Facebook @fb.me/barristermonkeyjacket on Instagram @barristermonkeyjacket or send comment(s) and contribution(s) to barristermonkeyjacket@gmail.com