BOOK REVIEW_ DRIVE BY WALE AKINYEMI

A BOOK REVIEW OF DRIVE BY DR. WALE AKINYEMI

It’s a slow lazy Sunday and the passengers on the outbound mid-morning flight seem to be eager to fly to the coast away from all the capital frenzy, in my hands I have two passports with a familiar name.

“Excuse me are you the writer?”

“Yes I am”

“Do you have any of my books?”

“No”

“Okay”

He instructs a young man probably in his teens who looks like his son who chucks out a book. My true feelings can only be expressed by a cardiograph as I wait patiently. What a day what a moment what a gift. ” Keep winning” he autographed, well it seemed like a magical spell had been cast but I have never understood why such moments never actually last long and why they happen so rarely in our lives. It’s really important for us to be much vigilant of opportunities and on such an occurrence then I can now affirm why one philanthropist said success comes in odd hours. Five years ago I made an inter campus transfer to the capital and the reason behind this move was to hunt for the massive opportunities.” Mji ni shule “I can affirm but here how savage you are will save and prolong your survival, it’s means and stay.

Well this book has just come at the perfect moment and it met me at crossroads. Our minds seemed to like have synchronized in a kind of advanced telepathy even before he arrived or before we thought of it now. The passengers are a bit loud in small groups having a snack or some coffee over the other side of the lounge but this man’s attire can talk louder than all. Being a rich educated man you expect wealthy western sophistication around him but he is deeply buried in simple Africanism. He dons the Nigerian national fashion with the highest African simplicity.

Drive is the title and this being the second last month of the year I surely needed some inspiration and motivation to push a thing or two harder, the last ten of them have been almost a total flop almost for 90 percent of the humans on earth. Our reality has been altered and we’re standing on shaky grounds. It’s not been easy swimming in these waters though happenings of events has two perfect opposite outcomes. When one dies another is born, a win is accompanied by a loss. As a young savvy African I’m passionate about winning and when I win I like to shift my goals and dream bigger. However it’s always suave until you finish paper work and reach the ground when you discover “ vitu kwa ground ni different.” However being soldiers of the same struggle we were born to last and win.

Sometimes all a man needs is a pat on the back but most importantly is drive and passion.  Sometimes the passion is there but the drive is not. These are the moments you just drift in the winds of life going where they take you. We always have to have a force that propels us forward just as an engine needs fuel, however do we know the source of the energy of our goals? Is it innate or is it extrinsic. I agree that the graveyard is the richest place full of treasure. Many rich dreams lie dead buried in there. The solution to this problem can be solved by a simple question I believe. “How do I get my drive?’ You may be vicious or ambitious but how long does drive take you?  Do you rely on faith or hope?

Years ago I used to watch dad read the dailies once in a while and I must confess I liked wafting through them staring at pictures and subtitles. Over the years as my language skills grew the passion for some columns also did and here look I met a notable columnist for the East African. Writing and poetry came to me from chaos or let’s just say by “chance”. I loved essays in school but never knew where they could take me in adulthood. Writing was an unknown career however now that I’m here trying to overcome this turbulence I need some serious drive. They say if you picture it you can drive it and if you dream it you can achieve it and surely drive will take me there.

My intent has always been to inspire and awaken to A NEW RACE AND RACE. Nothing gives me joy than development, progress, folks just winning, society, CHANGE. We all are after success but we should remember that success is a moving target and we need to refuel frequently that we may never run out of gas. It is for a fact that turbulent times come and go but who are we after passing through the fire of adversities? What lessons do we retain? Staring at the DRIVE whose sub title is Intentional Living for Exceptional Leadership I promise my mind “nitararua hiyo kitu” and true to my word in two sittings of almost eight hours and  under 24 hours came this review. This is one of those titles you pick up and not wanna put down till you get through.

Picasso effect. Life is about evolution the smartest who adapt less risk dying out and to put it more simply your dreams are not for every ear around you. Just get out there and put your shit together in the best way possible. Dream and make it work, slide out of your comfort zone in what Dr. Wale calls the big swap. Indeed we must lose sight of the shore and evade the risks that come to us for not taking a risk. As we now take course or plan to, then we have to be cognizant that dreams are costly but it’s a fact many aren’t built to pay that cost. For many of us we are always rocking in the same spot but never making progress for I presume we are anchored to the little pleasures and are therefore afraid of losing these comforts.  Most times we underestimate our value and let other people define and set standards for us and this makes us forget the potential of our purpose. We therefore should brand our minds for legacy.

Web density. An unattended to house eventually becomes covered by a network of webs it’s therefore important for us to keep evaluating ourselves and moving our target constantly. One of the things that hold us from progress is stereotypes and unless we walk out of them then we can be assured of stagnation forever. We are currently facing stagnation because we are making decisions from within “WALE’S TRIANGLE” and what we ought to do is step outside of this triangle where there are no limitations and there’s where drive is. If we limit ourselves to what already exists we become imitators. Our advantage therefore lies in our difference with all others. We must therefore take risks and break stereotypes.  Drive is what produces power to act and without drive ideas remain ideas while on the other hand ideas that have drive change the world. If indeed we need to increase our drive potential  we need to unclog our minds of the web density in our minds.

Finality thinking. This book not only tells us where our problems are but also provides solutions to most of them too focusing greatly on our motherland; the research is well conducted accompanied by furnished examples. Having progressive minds will help us see a chance to start once again and oversee failure. As we do this we have to keep a flow and vision that leaves impact. People with finality thinking lack drive for they are convinced that there are no opportunities. To make it out in the current competitive world we need a growth mindset. There’s no ultimate destination in life, we are always in a flow as a stream, the gases of the ether, or the blood in living organisms, and everything has a purpose.

Chapter six talks about leadership and the purposeful leader.  As always Wale pokes those holes but I expected him to go savage on these oligarchs for he is a powerful writer who enjoys a very wide readership across the continent and globe. He has however molded a perfect sculpture of who a leader is. Offices don’t make leaders. A leader is a person whose vision of tomorrow can move men to leave their present in pursuance of that future. No man is to be underrated just as in battle of two equal beasts, terrain determines the outcome. He awakens using faith, of tales of people from nowhere to somewhere and this reminds us from the other chapter that finality thinking is the killer of dreams. Leadership starts with every individual and we should always see ourselves and be part of the solution. What do I say more?

The African Curse. I wouldn’t share a lot on these but everyone ought to have their own thought on this. Africans what’s wrong with us? Till when are we going to play ourselves? Colonialism stripped us of our identities but it is absurd how we’re now shedding Africanism embarrassingly and succumbing to westernization.  Pan Africanism is well rooted in this book, the key major problems and their solutions too. We have been conditioned to memorize than to think or imagine and this has hindered progress or advancement. We must develop a culture of transformation and change the world or ourselves. Imagination is the father of invention and here we are talented but our drive to achieve big dreams like global African brands seems to have been washed, brainwashed by religion. However I differ with him on the aspect of voyage as the human DNA tree shows Africa as the root home of humanity therefore Africans might have made voyages just as the TWA who inhabited Ireland and the black moors who ruled over Europe.

Over the years I have always seen capitalism as a monster but this book introduced me to another perspective of it that’s compassionate capitalism. Humanization of capitalism is also one integral thing we should do. We therefore have to work hard and multiply what has been given to us instead of hating on the successful. Above all compassion is the greatest thing we can give for it’s the language of the heart that the deaf can hear and beauty the blind can see.

Just as I had mentioned earlier this book was a gem and it came at the right time personally and I am very certain that its influence is going to ripple even further. It has simple easy to understand language and vivid examples and polished research. It is a book that will indeed provoke you to rethink of your purpose as it also tries to look at where the rains started beating us. Though it offers us solutions that will help Africa out of its problems I definitely believe that it should have gone a little deeper on the matters of corruption for this has been one of the biggest monsters to the prosperity of the continent and its brilliant minds. Maybe an example or two policies that we could enact for better governance and leadership. 

I would highly recommend this book to policy makers, strategists, professionals and basically every individual for its contents is all inclusive from that barefoot village dreamer to that corporate swinging in his high end seat. It is well written and above all has accomplished its mission of provoking, awakening, inspiring and creating change to a soul and souls I believe. Awaken your sense of direction for only you knows where you are going. Just remember “many times reading has always made the future of a man”, Ralph Waldo Emerson. As Wale puts it “If it’s intentional it will always be exceptional”.