…Says a wise society is where old men plant trees they have no plan to harvest

When Anthony Akpan, a retired oil engineer clocked 75 few days ago, he not only spared a drink and meal to very close family and friends but also spared a moment with newsmen.

Akpan who sits on the board of Showers International Schools (Christian Schools) talked about the changes that age and time bring to a person, and quoted an author who said the difference between next five years of a person is just news persons one met and books one read.

He wasted no as ever to mourn Nigeria’s apparent lack of vision and definite plan to puruse one.

Few years back, the retired Total Energies engineer lamented over how Nigeria missied its opportunity in the oil journey. He had told newsmen thus: “Around the time that Nigeria discovered oil and the oil boom started in the early 1970s, Saudi Arabia took a position and increased the price of oil from about $3 to over $20 per barrel. Kuwait used the windfall to establish refineries in many countries. They started refining their crude outside their territory and selling, but Nigeria did not know what to do with their own money.”

At that moment, he felt sad that Nigeria missed a great opportunity to secure its future and join the league of highly developed and respected oil powers.

Now, at 75, Akpan who seems to be an avid reader, released his counsel to Nigeria, even if he sounded pained that things may be getting late for the nation in the hydrocarbon industry.

He hinged his counsel on the need to plan for the future and the consequences of not doing so, either for a country or an individual.

He said: “My advice at 75! I came across a book called ‘The Hard Thing About Hard Things’. It was about a man building a new business; how much he fought to build it. Attempts failed until the third time and he succeeded. The thing about us is that because of loss, we are unable to do hard things. This is about learning to have patience as part of our investment into any project.

“The other book I saw said ‘Begin with the Hardest Thing’. If you have many things to do, begin with the hardest one. If you overcome it, the rest would be easy. Starting with the easiest is procrastination.

I came across an old problem; the Ancient Greeks said a society grows when old men (and women) plant trees that they do not plan to sit under or eat of their fruits. So, all of us should plant for the future. We must plant what we do not live to eat. Part of the present challenges is the need for immediate gratification. That is where corruption comes in. It is driven by the need for immediate gratification. If you are prepared to invest for the future, you will not have the need to grab today, because you know that if you eat your seed today, you won’t have crop to harvest tomorrow.”

Akpan thus advised thus: “Let us, old people, begin to do things for our children children’s sake. Let’s plant seeds for tomorrow. It reminds me of a book on ‘The Man That Planted Trees.’ It is a live story told at an international seminar. There was a man who traveled to many countries. On one of his trips, he was just walking across the country. He was amazed and passed the night with a shepherd who was sorting seeds all night. He followed the man the next day and saw how the shepherd went about with his herd but was stabbing the seeds into the soil as he walked. Years later, the area was full of trees but nobody knew the planter. The innocent shepherd did not even take credit for his work, let alone live to harvest them.”

The story went on to say that the traveller later visited the area much later and saw miles of trees. Streams came back there because of the trees planted by an unknown man. Eventually the Ministry of Agriculture saw it and theorized that it was nature at work, not knowing that a shephered planted them without care for recognition nor for reward. So, my advice is, plant something and let God be the one that will judge and reward you.”

He urged people to plant things that will outlive them, and to plant in the lives of people, in the neighbourhood, in your community, in your city which will benefit future generations.

Akpan said the philosophy had deep conection with motive for running Showers Schools. “It is an example of planting for tomorrow. We are running the school as a social service, not as a profit centre. In fact, over the last 10 years, we have run at a minimum loss of N10m per year. More than 70% of the students is on scholarship. We see that as an investment, not a loss. We hope that someday, some people will see it. Some have come to say, thank you, you made me.”

His last word at 75: “Let’s look to God because He alone decides. He knows the beginning and end of our lives. It is important to live our lives on earth in such a way that when it ends here on earth, we will be able to progress to the other side under good circumstances, else, it will be life in indescribable horror without eternity.”