Ant in the sugar bowl

Well, people say Yoruba people love partying and all. Even other tribes refer to partying as “owambe” now, meaning literarily, it is there-if I lie talk it out oooooo, ehen. When we, we because I am a Nigerian of the Yoruba stock, want to classify that someone is enjoying or someone should enjoy or I want to enjoy, we say, abeg chop the life of your head o jare. And if someone hits some unprecedented levels of enjoyment, we say mehn, this guy is enjoying like an ant that fell into the sugar bowl. I use bowl as opposed to jar because ant in the sugar bowl sounds sweeter than ant in the sugar jar, abi? What do you think?

Back to my where I am going to. I want to focus on that expression that someone is chopping the life of their head like an ant that fell into a sugar bowl. Seriously, if you consider the size of an ant compared to the bowl in question, that is na be enjoyment without end. This appears to be the mindset of GEJ and his cronies, especially his Damn oops not again I keep mixing up Dame with Damn. My bad, overlook the error as I don’t have time to backspace or delete it. Anyways, let me leave the political discuss to other more matured minds who are able to control their emotions and focus once again on where I’m going to.

Ehen, we were looking at an ant’s size, compared to that of a bowl. I am not so, so, so good at math but I can exaggerate but in this case, leaving it to our collective imagination, the difference is more than Fido Dido. The disparity mega, hence I can understand and appreciate the allusion to the ant in the sugar bowl expression when we want to explain how big someone has hit it. Me too dey look forward to the day when I go land am that big. For your mind, I hear someone saying. Let’s watch and see na, abi? No more digression, I hope to promise as I need to get to where I am going with this.

The ant in the sugar bowl expression can be appreciated by us humans wella, as the highest level of enjoyment or abundance one can attain. The ultimate satisfaction, but, have we ever stopped to consider how the ant views its situation? I have read a bit about ants and how they function and although I can’t say I am an Antist- I hope that’s what they call people that study ants oh, whatever, but I’m a thinker, a questioner, a seeker without a confessor ooooo before you build a legend around me. And, I wonder, how does an ant feel in a sugar bowl? Now take a looooooooooooong pause here and consider that question while I take a short break.

I should have said a commercial break, anyways, welcome back. What came to your mind? Well let me share what came to my mind. The ant fell in the sugar bowl most surely not by accident but by design. The ant left its place of abode for one purpose, survival which implies sustenance, that is, food and here is the catch, food for the community and not for itself.  I am certain that ants don’t see the way we see so the ant may not have even noticed the bowl or even the amount of sugar in the bowl but according to my studies and Professor Google can attest to that, I’m sure, the ant having located the source of food, marks the place and goes to inform others. The ants that are assigned to forage for food now organize themselves into work forces that move the food back home where it is needed. One ant discovers, but it does not build a palace there and turn the sugar bowl into its domain to eat and eat and eat and die eating.

I learn three things from the ant and there are more lessons to be learnt, but I pick three;

1.     Focus- the ant has one thing in mind, the survival and in effect the sustenance of the community as in, the whole community.

2.     Selflessness- I am almost certain that selfishness is not in the ant’s dictionary- well that is if and assuming they have one but you geh the point sha? No be family affair as in Perm. Sec. things plus Road naming things…

3.     Teamwork- isn’t that obvious to all? At first, it is the one ant et! Voila! Other ants show not to come and enjoy the life of their head with their friend but to help move the food home where it is needed as in, community things.

Little wonder the Bible in Proverbs, advices us to go and learn from the ant. Perhaps if GEJ and his cronies and don’t let me make that mistake twice- paid heed to that particular verse in Scripture, let your imagination run riot. But alas! It is the chopping the life of their head like an ant in a sugar bowl version that they hold on to.

And we gan sef, have we stopped to seriously and objectively consider which side of the sugar bowl we are at? Are we looking into the sugar bowl or are we looking out from inside the sugar bowl? If we are looking into the sugar bowl, then all we see is that hmm, this ant is enjoying ooooo ahn ahn. But if we are looking out from inside the sugar bowl, then, there is hope for Nigeria.

*NOTE* just in case you are wondering where in scripture I referred to, actually I’m doing this more because I hope somehow, GEJ and his cronies and especially-you know who- will get to read this, I have pasted the Easy to Read(ERV) version of the portion of scripture below.

Pro 6:6  You lazy people, you should watch what the ants do and learn from them.

Pro 6:7  Ants have no ruler, no boss, and no leader.

Pro 6:8  But in the summer, ants gather all of their food and save it. So when winter comes, there is plenty to eat.

@SegunOmjola

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