Money means different things to different people. It can be a legal tender, it can be used as an instrument to call things forth or better still conjure them, it can be used to change something from one colour to the other, it can be used to facilitate processes quite easily and so many other useful things.
Money is as old as the word history itself as different tools and objects have served as a means of exchange. However, I don’t want to bore you with the history of money as this is not the crux of the matter. As stated earlier, money means different things to different people and in this part of the world, we have carved a niche for ourselves as people who tend to appreciate the value and worth of money.
The power and authority money possesses has being seen from time immemorial as it can move mountains literally. What the white people describe often as CORRUPTION, has being viewed in a different light in this part of the world as they have failed to understand that there is a culture that is inherent in our genes that the white people don’t know about. This culture is universal and is homogenous in this part of the world. This culture breaks the barriers of language, tribes, ethnicity, religion e.t.c.
This is a culture that has not gone extinct neither is it in the brink of going into extinction anytime soon. This is the culture of APPRECIATION. In Nigerian parlance it can be termed watering the ground, greasing of palms, shaking of body, dropping for boy’s e.t.c. Whatever name you call it, it is understood by all and sundry.
This culture of APRRECIATION has being found to make things go on smoothly and paves way for other things to come forth and answer as they are called. However, like every lake is bound to dry up at some point, the fountain of APPRECIATION can go south and this usually causes a turnaround in the fortunes of some people that tend to rely on APPRECIATION.
I had a personal experience some years back on my way to the eastern part of the country with my uncle (a place with a reputation of those that love money); and on our way, we were stopped by a police officer who wanted to carry out a routine check. I must say he was looking unusually smart in his uniform and his command of English was quintessential. He asked for our papers and all other supporting particulars of the vehicle and when he was done, my uncle brought out some money and I remember vividly he said “Officer I am not bribing you I am just APPRECIATING your work”. My uncle uttered the words APPRECIATION but in a different form.
I want to issue a disclaimer at this juncture regarding the essence of this write-up which is not to venerate the culture of APPRECIATION in this part of the country and justify it for any reason whatsoever because people can be appreciated in several ways especially by the words of our mouth but in this part of the world, due to the high rate of poverty and corruption in the system, appreciation has gone past words of the mouth or words of admonition which is also very popular in this part of the world such as You will marry a good husband, God will provide a job for you, Your future is blessed e.t.c as if we as individuals don’t pray for that every morning and at every Sunday service.
The rate of poverty in this part of the world is not just a factor but the major reason why this culture of APPRECIATION still exists and has refused to die. It is not wrong in the eyes of certain people and it will be called what it is by some others as they will refrain from sugar-coating it. Certain individuals will not be bought regardless of how much you want to APPRECIATE them because of their level of honesty which I admire strongly.
APPRECIATION is very good; in fact it is very important that we appreciate the good works of others no matter how little but like a fountain, it can dry up and the moment it does, it can spell doom for several people. Words never die; they build people up and can carry one for eternity. They are transferable and can be translated into different languages which will meet several individuals in several parts of the world.
The words spoken by Martin Luther King Jnr. of blessed memory are still used till today and can be translated to Greek, Spanish, French, Russian e.t.c to meet the demand of those who speak the words but money spent 100 years ago cannot be spent in this time and age; and currency spent in this part of the world 60 years ago cannot be spent in this time and age.
The world as we now see it is global and the correct way of doing things should be adopted everywhere but the way it is going in this part of the world, the culture of APPRECIATION will take a long time to become extinct.
