The Jos base king of soul, folk and blues, professor to be, Dr. Doug Kaze shared an inspiring article about the things he wish he had done in his 20s that would have made the great man greater. It will excite you to know that the university of Jos, English Dr. Has over the years influence positively the art, culture and creativity on the plateau. He is still a great influence penetrating nooks and crannies of the country imparting the life of this generation.
take a look at the message that will change your life for a better. Happy reading.
- Learnt more skills. I started an apprenticeship at a barbershop shortly before I started university at age 17. But I foolishly left it the moment the strike that kept us from starting the previous year was called off. I think about it a lot these days, regretting my foolishness. I still would have been able to study while mastering the hair business, and would have gone on to have my own place after a few years. My parents didn’t see any need to encourage me. My father particularly felt I was the book-office kind and never encouraged me to learn a trade. Other things I should have mastered during this time are Microsoft Excel, music production (being an artist) and the music business.
- Read wider. Although I read quite a lot in my 20s, I read mostly works of literature, some history, motivational and religious literature. I did read some of my father’s psychology and psychiatry books, but I wish I was a bit more intentional about that. I’ve never forgotten my professor’s advice to read widely and not limit ourselves to works in our field. Now I wish I read more in politics, economics, philosophy and history. Not to be a jack of all trades, but to have a broad understanding of life and society.
- Travelled more. Traveling is one of the fastest ways to gain knowledge. I still can’t say why it didn’t occur to me at that time to be more intentional about seeing the world. I was comfortable in my zone I guess. Before my twenties, I was only able to travel to Pankshin (my family lived there for a year or so) and Keffi, when I studied for IJMB at SPS Keffi, now Nasarawa State University. Okay, I went to Enugu for a conference in my late teens. My father didn’t even want me to go because it was far. Funny enough, he had lived there at some point. That’s all 😂 In my twenties I only went to Abuja, Kaduna, Kano and Katsina, a village in Niger Republic (these two via NYSC). It’d shock you to know that my first time in Lagos was just 2014, when I was returning to Nigeria for a break from my doctoral studies in South Africa. 😂 More shock? My first time in Bauchi (just an hour from Jos!) was 2017 in the second half of my 30s when I had my first tour 😂Gombe was much later!
- Related more with older people. Most of my friends were my age mates and younger. Of course, there were adults in my life that mentored me and taught me, especially in the area of faith and family, and I remain for ever grateful for these people. I’d have made a mess of myself. I however realized that I should have also made friends with other older people in the areas of my interest – academia, music and writing. I keep realizing that if I’d spent more time with some of these people, especially my lecturers, I’d have been far ahead of where I am right now. I should have built friendship with some other elderly people around me just for the sake of it. Talking with some of these people would have been like reading rare books.
- Spent more time with my father and grandfather. At this stage of my life, sometimes I just sit and try to imagine what life was like for these people when they were growing up. Of course, when they were alive they talked about their past lives, but now I have more specific questions I’d have loved to ask so I could reconstruct their stories and the spirit of their times. Also not knowing these things make me feel like a part of my story is missing.
- Had friends from other faiths & worldviews. Later in life I realized that friends are like books. You learn from them. I realized that my friendship in my late teens and twenties was basically centered around the church. That was very helpful for me because the friendships helped me to be around the things that mattered to me the most. But I should have had friends from other religions or worldviews as well. I feel that would have widened my perspective about life and made me a more understanding person. That’s not to say I was bigoted, but being with others who saw the world differently would have enriched my understanding of the world in some way.
- Built a better understanding of money. I wish I understood how money worked during that time of my life. I wish I knew how to generate income from my skills – I wrote, edited people’s works, gave English lessons, did music, all for free. I’m not saying everything is about money; but I should have sensed when my apprenticeship was over. I should have also learnt basic things like budgeting, scale of preference, and some accounting in my early twenties. Thank God my wife and I developed some of that from the beginning of our marriage in our mid twenties. I should have learnt about saving and investment too. Yes, I was not earning much as a private school teacher, and a young family man, but there would have been a way out if I was more intentional.