Anytime I visit the Western world, I realize that making money is not an easy task. That is why I always channel my little resources towards charity. The best thing you can do in life is to be involved in charitable causes.A Yoruba adage says, "Owo dun ni, sugbon owo soro na." (It is good to have money, but it is difficult to spend it.)
The African mentality towards charity is quite different from that of the Western world. That is why we must appreciate the likes of the late Abdul Azeez Arisekola Alao, Chief M.K.O. Abiola, and Alhaji Mufutau Olanihun, all of blessed memory.
These men sacrificed their lives to uplift the lives of hundreds of people. I still believe they have not been recognised enough, especially Chief Mufutau Olanihun. He single-handedly built a school where uniforms and feeding were free. I consider him more deserving of recognition than people who merely sponsored others to Mecca or Jerusalem.
One painful lesson I have learned in life is that some people who receive unmerited favour are often the first to insult the very person who lifted them. Gratitude has become a rare virtue. That is why I believe people should work for every penny they receive. What comes too easily is often valued the least.
Some people simply cannot accept that life does not hand us everything we desire. They want it all, and they want it now. They conveniently forget where they were yesterday—how empty their pockets were, how hopeless their situation looked, and how desperately they once needed help. Memory becomes very short once comfort arrives.
The tragedy of human nature is that our hunger for more never ends. Even after a feast, many still walk away complaining. Yet I remain grateful to God for His uncommon favour. It is a blessing I never take for granted.
Look around you. Politicians—both men and women—are working day and night. They are lobbying, negotiating, building alliances, and fighting to secure party nominations. While they are awake chasing opportunities, some people are fast asleep, snoring away their future. Then, when others succeed, they suddenly claim, "It was my prayer that brought them this far."
If your prayers are so powerful, why not first use them to change your own circumstances?
Dreams alone have never built fortunes. Faith without effort has never produced lasting success.
Recently, I watched some of Nigeria's biggest business figures—people like Aliko Dangote, Femi Otedola, and my dear friend, the young billionaire Igho Sanomi—walking out of Transcorp Hotel in Abuja. Success leaves clues. These men did not arrive where they are by sleeping through opportunities. They surrounded themselves with ideas, talent, strategy, and relentless hard work.
They understand one simple truth: before you can receive value, you must first create value.
Many people are not showing off on social media as your failed life may make you think they are. Some are simply thanking God for their lives. It is those who are unhappy with their own lives and become jealous, instead of being creative and learning from the success of others, who constantly complain about other people's success.
If all you do is sleep, complain, gossip, and envy successful people, do not expect wealth to knock on your door.
My mother, of blessed memory, always told me an adage: "Aburo re lowo lowo, o le se fayawo; kilode ti iwo naa o feyin wo?" (Your younger brother is wealthy, yet you keep questioning the source of his income. If you truly know the secret, why are you still living a stagnant and frustrated life?)
As we say in Yoruba, "Better carry your leg go meet your destiny helper." Movement creates opportunities. Sitting still rarely changes anything.
Life rewards those who think. If your brain cannot create wealth, then your legs must carry you to where opportunities exist. A man must never run out of ideas. The day ideas die is the day progress stops.
Look at the world. Indians built global businesses despite their different religious traditions. Germans became an industrial powerhouse through discipline and innovation. Japan transformed itself into one of the world's greatest economies through hard work, technology, and sacrifice. Their success was built not on excuses but on determination; not on religious sentiments but on technology.
Whenever I see any state governor sponsoring religious pilgrimages without first building a first-class technology hub in the state, I know that the governor has run out of ideas. The best way to manipulate people is through religion.
Last week in Dublin, I asked a friend why she refused to help many of those who constantly asked her for money.
Her answer humbled me.
She said she grew up in extreme poverty. According to her, the sacrifices she made just to get through university were unimaginable. Ironically, many of the same people who once mocked and criticised her are now the very ones seeking financial assistance from her.
I had no words.
Instead, my respect for her grew even deeper.
There is a lesson in that story.
Many people spend their time criticising those who are striving to succeed, forgetting that one day they may stand before those same people asking for help.
Success rarely comes without sacrifice. Wealth does not fall from the sky, nor does it grow from one's hair. Behind every successful person is a story of pain, discipline, difficult choices, persistence, and resilience that most people never see.
Stop envying. Stop complaining. Stop waiting for miracles while ignoring opportunities.
Stand up. Think differently. Work harder.
Because, in the end, life rewards those who create value—not those who merely watch others succeed.
Mogaji Wole Arisekola writes from Ibadan.
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