Social Capital: A Means of Thriving in Nigeria

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 When I meet clients who complain of being financially challenged and cannot pay to do essential medical investigations or buy medications, I often remind them that they are richer than they think.

"Doctor, I have nobody from whom I can get financial assistance," some of them reply.

"Should you die from complications of your disease, wouldn't family members, friends, and members of your religious community contribute money to bury you as a token of final respect?" I ask.

All the clients who claim to be poor do not respond to the question. They know I am right.



There are still many good people in Nigeria who would stop at nothing until they have assisted others to live productively.

Many people experience undue hardship in Nigeria because they want to prove that they are independent and can excel without help. It takes a modicum of humility to identify good people and seek help from them in time.

While it's encouraged for everyone to work hard and plan efficiently, none of us has absolute control over our fate. Nature is designed in such a way that we need one another.

Many persons have invested in lives of people in numerous ways without knowing it. Their beneficiaries are just waiting for an opportunity to pay back. A few beneficiaries will appreciate their benefactors without being asked; most of them do so when compelling circumstances like financial distress, ill health, and other inconveniences of life present themselves.

I encourage people not to suffer in silence, especially in health matters. So long you are not a burden to people, it is wise to seek help when the infrequent need arises. 

There are many preventable deaths in Nigeria because we don't want to ask for financial help. 

An African proverb says, "He who has people is richer than he who has money." When someone admits being helpless and cannot get assistance anywhere, I muse, "Are you sure you a good person to others?"

Since the Nigerian government and the various systems do not make the country conducive for everyone, we need to grow our goodwill and take advantage of it.


Shalom!

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