Delayed Gratification

VIRTUE OF DELAYED GRATIFICATION By Seye Adetunmbi, first written in 2008 and published in MINDSET in 2012

Was still contemplating on the theme of the message to share with the distinguished members of Ekitipanupo village square, an indigenous intellectual roundtable which marked 3 years anniversary on the cyberspace on March 6, 2008 when I recalled one of the observations of Dr Dotun Sulaiman that caught my attention deeply while reading his interview in the Guardian newspaper of February 29th 2008. He was onetime the CEO of ACCENTURE (formerly Arthur Anderson). Though I have known him through a number of my friends who passed through his mentoring in Accenture where he worked for 28 years, my most recent encounter with him was when we met again at the at the instance of the CEO of a financial newspaper who wanted to constitute an editorial advisory board. Naturally I like listening to him because of his rich thoughts and in-depth knowledge of contemporary issues. Thus my curiosity arose to explore more issues surrounding ‘delayed gratification’ which he mentioned among many other matters he discussed in the published interview. I try to relate it to my thoughts on the imperatives of delayed gratification briefly here.   What readily crossed my mind on the need to inculcate ‘delayed gratification’ in our individual endeavours and national polity is the impact of a system that is almost institutionalizing inappropriate "instant gratification" or what I call "upfront benefit/gain" in virtually all our human endeavors which had eroded our value system. It is the same syndrome that is responsible for people to sell votes, rigging of elections with impunity, lie against fellow kinsmen and childhood friends for transient political power, desecrating communal values for momentary personal political gains, avoidable family disputes, elected officers lining their pockets before giving the electorate or their constituency any consideration, company executives engaging fraudulent tactics to short-change shareholders, custodians of public and corporate policies concocting strategies that will benefit few rather than the masses, eligible bachelors and spinsters with challenges of getting suitors as a result of misplaced priorities, governors and federal ministers who are EFCC guests, disgraced government officials forced to resign their appointments etc.    This reminds me of two quarters in Ilorin called Olorunsogo (instant miracle) and Surulere (virtue in patience), the words which people often use in lighter moods. If you dare preach anything contrary to the person whose expectation is instant miracle, you are on your own. Like Baba Awolowo as a philosopher observed on ego as being responsible for people’s actions. This is what makes few elements manipulating prices of moribund stocks to the detriment of unsuspecting innocent investors on one hand and co-travelers in greed on the other hand. When negative influence controls one’s ego, it does not matter whose ox is gored and how terrible the act is; the desperate misguided element will do things that will gratify him at that point in time. It is the same endemic indiscretion that makes supposed decent people dine with the devil or take appointment from thieving anomalous governments. We have several cases of people who could not delay their gratification and lost all they have laboured for over the years for an ephemeral ill-gotten gain.    Albeit this is not about dwelling on a relatively common dismaying phenomenon; but to rub it more on the collective consciousness of everybody on the essence of imbibing the lasting culture of delayed gratification. More people need to invest in enduring values. This I will liken to what Waziri a younger relation of mine recently said they call value investing in his American business school when we were exchanging notes on Warren Buffet, the oracle of wealth creation. Value investing is a topic for another day. Since what I tag "delayed gratification culture" can not be legislated, perhaps talking about it and bringing out the lasting benefits of it would encourage the youth to imbibe it for their own good and that of the society at large. Also celebrating people who represent this laudable virtue may encourage others too. More importantly any leadership that does not subscribe to delayed gratification culture would be lacking in the stewardship leadership principle. This is my charge to all Ekitipanupo chieftains as the watch word and an integral part of the creed for the eminent aboriginal intellectual roundtable. As a body we must practice it in a manner that would in turn influence every member who finds himself or herself in a place of authority and power to serve as a worthy example to others.    I must state here that due to anxieties resulting from the political reality in Ekiti State at present and Nigerian situation in general, so much is being expected from Ekitipanupo. However, it is important that people understand the fundamental nature of the native intellectual roundtable, what it stands for and capable of doing as an entity. The first hurdle we crossed was the creation of a melting point irrespective of political leanings or varied interest. All the local governments and over 100 main towns are villages have a son or daughter on board. The e-interactive platform which has over 1000 subscribers is a medium to exchange ideas and advance individual knowledge on contemporary issues coupled with ability to facilitate socioeconomic and political interest initiatives. Individuals may express highly volatile political statement, for as long as no communique is issued by the executive council such opinions should not be attributed to Ekitipanupo official position.    On April 7, 2007 we held a successful debut public lecture at Ado-Ekiti and Dr Joshua Ayo Ajayi (JAA), onetime Managing Director of UACN PLC was the Guest Speaker. Also the maiden Ekitipanupo magazine was launched on the same day. With every sense of responsibility, members must accept the fact that Ekitipanupo is not the solution to all the challenges facing Ekiti State. The elitist think-tank initiative is a means to an end as an entity and it is the responsibility of everyone on board to ensure that our collective goals are met. Hosting of the official Ekitipanupo website for 2 years and the domain name for over 5 years was facilitated and the website was improved upon in order to serve the forum better. My prayer is that we will all live to celebrate more anniversaries and Ekiti State will attain greater heights in its affairs and occupy its rightful place in the scheme of things in Nigeria.    May I also use this opportunity to wish Dr Ayo Ajayi one of the leading lights of Ekitipanupo initiative happy 60th birthday. What a refreshing coincidence, Ekitipanupo also marked three years old on the same day, 6/3/08. On this note I dedicate this article to oga (JAA) because his 35 years career without blemish symbolizes the virtue of delayed gratification, what it stands for and the essence of value investing and the accompanying benefits to those with enduring principles. This among others makes him to be among the very few who stand out in the contemporary Nigerian corporate world. May more Nigerian indigenes do us proud.