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«.. Looking up to the sky, with a burning passion within to leave his name in the sands of history
of his land, he cried out for an opportunity to make a change, it was just then, that he saw an
adolescent male trying to cross the great lake, dividing his land from one of the most
economically successful lands ever known in the history of man, with great difficulty, it was
then that he noticed an opportunity for change. He had always seen people try to cross this
great lake to get to the other side of it for various reasons, the King of his land, had also gone
through such pain to get to the village at the other side of the lake, for great festivals and
events, he too had been involved in one of this strenuous and unpleasant adventures which was
one he wouldn·t like to repeat, but he had never really noticed the legacy which be formed out
of this existing problem, but until now. He was going to build a bridge connecting his poor land
to this rich land at the other side of the lake so as to increase the effectiveness of the wealth
distribution in both lands.

As his faced beamed with joy and excitement at this new innovation that would totally
transform the way things are generally done in his village, he recalled what his father always
told him, ¶·there·s always a legacy at every end of a problem··. He wasn·t the richest amongst
his people, neither was he the most educated, in fact, he lacked a complete formal education
due to his poor background, his father didn·t make much in terms of finances and his mother
sacrificed her life for his during child birth, so he was totally the least qualified. But all he had
was his passion to cause a change. The upbringing he had, was centered around the theme of
change, he father often spoke words of principles to him instead of the customary folklores at
the evening leisure activities, His father always told him, ¶·greatness is all about significance,
and significance is achieved when you reach out into other people·s problems··. His father
was the least qualified to give him such advice since he was a poor old farmer trying to make
ends meet, but he spoke out of his observations and experiences he had had during his early
lifetime, and his words did not fall on deaf ears. At a very young age of 13, he had already a list
of mind-blowing actions to take that will leave his name in the heart if man forever. Some
materialized and others where procrastinated out of reality. But here was another plan, a
fresher one and a greater calling, that will make all his previous activities of change look like a
child·s play, a plan that will affect not only his entire village (in all the sense of the word) but
also the great village at the other side of the lake.

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Kings, and the honored of the land, had been born and all died leaving the situation of the Great
Lake the same way they met it, and here was a young man, not the richest and not the wisest,
who was going to make the change. ´Could this be possible?·· he wondered, but he remembered
that doubt is ability in question, with this he shrugged off this negative thought, and filled
with passion and zeal he headed for home.

From his past experiences in making a difference one problem always stood in the way, and it
was not the mockery people gave him in the humbling process of change, rather it was the self-
imposed problem of procrastination, so, determined to see this dream accomplished, he began
drawing up a plan for its actualization. This plan consisted of the processes he would adopt in
the construction of this great bridge, ranging from the labour to be used to the construction of
the bridge. This mapping, took him all night but he didn·t care because he had a burning dream
to fulfill. ´A dream is given to one man, for the accomplishment by a network of people
thinking in the same directionµ was one of the nuggets of wisdom his father relayed to him,
and this was exactly how he was going to make this dream a reality, but now, the question was,
´where would this labour/network of people come from?µ, after much thinking and wise soliloquy
he realized that the one person who could organize such a productive work force was the King
of his land, so at the dawn of the day, he headed out to the Kings Palace which was some miles
away from his house.

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 His presence in the Kings Palace, on a business visit reminded him that a man of change
doesn·t stand before mere men, and also imprinted in his heart that he was about to enter a
stage of no return. As the King listened carefully to his proposal, which stated the effect of
the bridge on the economy and general development of his village, the King caught the zeal and
passion for this project and immediately sent for all the youths in the Village. Now, lacking in
sufficient knowledge, he couldn·t really solely devise the perfect plan for the construction of
such a Great Bridge as this. So he suggested to the King, for a one week private meeting with
the wisest of the land, in order to jointly devise a plan that would work. This was readily
accepted by the King. And with a total number of 20 elderly men, locked up in one room for one
week, with one passion and purpose, they devised a great 3D plan which addressed every
possible process to the successful accomplishment of this dream. On hearing this, the King
became really excited and released the best of his quarters to this man for temporary use.

With the plan all marked out and categorized into attainable stages, the next was to assemble a
united labour force. The King, in this great enthusiasm ordered all men, young and old, who are
able to work to join the work force for the establishment of this dream. Though this seemingly
perfect approach, to involve all the men of the land, was however subject to criticism as this
will definitely stagnate and hinder further economic development of the land and thereby
leading to a reduced supply of products into the King·s Palace due to the direction of all male
work force towards the construction of this Bridge. But the King didn·t care, He didn·t put his
own agenda before the wealth and prosperity of his people (as his predecessors had done)
nor did he isolate his prosperity from that of his people. He too, was eager to do something
different and praiseworthy, for his people, but for this to occur, there must be a sacrifice, and
this was it and he willing to take this sacrifice.

The construction started in earnest the following day, with the total able-bodied male
population in attendance (with the female population working in the farms to balance the
productivity), with the wise contribution of the elders, he divided the construction process
between the males in attendance, and with a joint and united effort, they completed the first
two stages of the Bridge Construction, which was originally scheduled to be completed in a
weeks· time. In the excitement of this achievement, the elders suggested a one-day rest for
the workers, but he vehemently opposed this suggestion, replying, ´a man who sets out for a
days· journey, will only prolong if not kill his arrival to his destination, if he decides to
rest halfway through. ¶·Mid-way rest·· begets procrastination, which eventually, either
stagnates the process of change or totally defeats the zeal for change.·· With this, the

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work continued the following day, with lots of youth showing up before the scheduled time of
arrival, because they had caught the zeal for the project and were currently acting on this zeal,
as a wise man says ¶·prolonged delay of action wears out the zeal for change··, with the
process of assembling and joining the previously cut down wood, the construction process was
nearing an end. But this was the stage they all feared was to be the most difficult and
strenuous. It was not due to the insufficient labour, no, actually the labour was more than
enough, but it was due to the lack of fastening tools to be used. The fastening device the elders
planned to use was demanded for, from the great town across the lake, which later ended up
being a fake after a stressful first try. This greatly dampened the spirits of the laborers· as
they all thought they had come all this way for nothing. While everyone was in disorder, and
with great grumbling being heard from amongst the people, a young teenage male walked up to
one of the elders and said, ´Sir, we·ve tried just one option and it failed, shall we stop trying
because we failed once? I know of a tree which produces a very strong vine, so strong is the
vine that it can be used to lift a relatively heavy load without a crack or break in it. Is it not
possible for us to use such vine? Or must we always rely on the technology of the town beyond
the lake when we have other comparable alternativesµ, the elder listened carefully, and urged
the boy to get this ¶·vine·· for inspection. And of a truth, this vine was a fine comparative to the
fastening tool they had previously bought, and with great excitement, the elder, ran to the
center of the work site, where he stood on one of the piece of scattered wood, and when he had
gotten everyone·s attention, he spoke, ¶·for years we have relied on a foreign technology, the
technology of the land beyond the Great Lake, this has led to our economic stagnation more
than it has improved our land. But now, we are going to build our future with the tools from our
land which are by far a comparable alternative, though crude, we·ll refine them. And now, we
have received our first benefit from our land, this vine, the strongest I have seen, when tied in
a bunch can hold if not anything, this is our hope, and this is one amongst our various natural
resources untapped.·· The end of his speech was greeted with an uproar by the people, and soon
after this, they all searched in groups for more of this strong vine.

Towards evening, when the men had returned from their search, they realized a great quantity
of vines which were taken in bunches of 5·s for the assembling of the wood. The King paid a
surprise visit to the labourers and when told about the vine, he closely examined the vine, and
indeed it was a strong one, then he said to the elders who surrounded him, ¶·Yes, this is a strong
vine which when taken in groups would hold the logs together, but shall we make use of our
crude natural alternatives when there are other better and stronger solutions. Remember this
is a vine and thus, subject to rot by termites, shall we then put the lives of those crossing this
bridge in danger because we have found a natural alternative? No, send 54 of our most able-

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bodied and wise men to the land beyond the Great Lake, where they will study the wisdom of
the people of this land, and when they return after a forts night, using this natural alternative
combined with the knowledge they have acquired from the land beyond the sea, they will render
a better and more effective solution to us. ror what is worth doing, do it right so that you
would not have to do it again in future.·· With this, this, the work was temporarily suspended
as the 54 youth travelled to the land beyond the Great lake, on the sponsorship of the King, to
study the wisdom of the Land beyond the Lake, and he, was one of them.

They were all eager to return as they were filled with the passion of patriotism, as they were
eager to use this acquired light to lighten up the darkness in their land, but a few of them (4 in
all) thought it a better option to shine their acquired light in the already bright world of the
land beyond, but he always kept telling this few that ¶·Life is all about posterity and not
prosperity, but, posterity is all about leaving your footprints on a path never walked
through before and not on the path where you find lots of footprints·· but they paid deaf
ears and settled down in the Land beyond the Great Lake. The other 50 youths returned to
their land eager and ready to explode. On reaching the village, everyone greeted them like
kings, they headed to the Kings Palace, where they laid down their plan to the King and the all
peoples present. The crowd was quiet as they listened to the words of wisdom of these youths,
their plans not only addressed the situation of the fastening tools but also the solutions to
several unknown problems which will be encountered on the short run. When they were done,
they scheduled the recommencement of the work in two days time.

The work started with a touch of extra sophistication, as minor problems which seemed
somewhat difficult before were tackled easily. The work didn·t continue from its assembling
stage, as lots of mistakes and miscalculations were identified by these youths, this didn·t
discourage the workers at all, rather they enjoyed correcting the mistakes of their past in
order to provide a more pleasant and stress-free future. By the end of the first day, they had
made the woods stronger and more accessible but flattening it, using the tools made by their
youths. The Next day was even more promising and exciting, as the ¶learned youths· introduced
and explained the use of these fastening/holding devices they returned with from the Land
beyond the Lake, they also used it in a perfect harmonious combination with these strong vines,
and thus proved 3 times better than those found in the land beyond the sea. With this, the men
set out to work, each man being supervised, as they constructed this 15#44meters Great
Bridge. Amazingly, this didn·t take as much time as was anticipated, as even a few number of
women participated in this process. Now, all that was left was to join this bridge to the land
beyond the Great Lake. This proved quite strenuous, but with the erected structures on the
Great Lake the bridge was pulled through the Great Lake, thus, connecting the two lands
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together. The whole village present and in participation, at this final stage gave out a loud cry
of joy, women embraced their husbands, the King was still amazed and still trying to fully
understand what this change meant to his Kingdom, everyone was in a state of frantic joy, and
he, the originator of all these, couldn·t keep the tears from running down his cheeks, he looked
up to the sky and said, ¶·thank you for the sign··.

The following 3 days marked the official launching of this Great Bridge across the Great Lake,
this occasion was graced by the Kings of the two lands now in connection. After all the
celebration and entertainment, its was now time to cross the Bridge, a sign that reassures the
people of the safety of the Bridge. This customarily was to be done by the King alone, but the
King insisted on going with him, the changer. As the both took steady and long steps across the
bridge, everyone was literally keeping their fingers crossed, but when they took the last step
from the Great Bridge to the Land beyond the sea, the people of the land shouted in
excitement and victory. The next people to cross where the 50 youths who sacrificed their
¶·potential·· happiness to come and use their wisdom for the success of their people, and
ironically, the 4 who stayed back to enjoy the Land beyond the sea were not in the success and
glory they all had presumed, this immediately reminded him of what his father once told him,
¶·Those that are remembered in life are those that sacrifice for others and not those that
enjoy from the sacrifices of other·· also, ¶·The tree that gives shade to people was planted
by someone, why don·t you plant your tree so that others can benefit?··. And soon after
this, the whole village crossed the Bridge in groups. From then onwards, the economy of this
land rapidly grew, as they started getting involved in education and Industrialization. And soon,
several resources where found and tapped to further develop this land, due to this, people
began to flock into this land, bringing with them the wealth of the Land beyond the sea and
establishing it on this land. And soon later, the wealth and glory of the Land beyond the sea
shifted to this poor humble land, all because one man changed his world. This man, was not
only remembered nor celebrated, but he lived the rest of his life in the palace of the King, he
also got involved in the Industrialization of their land and also greatly improved this Bridge
which he built after series of technological advancements in his land. This is how, this land
became a notable authority in the world, and also became the center of power of the world. This
land is Africa.

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This man who changed the world is you.

The workers/labourers in this change refers to the nations of Africa.

The females who stayed back at home speaks about a few number of people who would not
participate in the change of Africa for some ¶·good reasons··.

The land beyond the Great Lake refers to the 1st World Countries;

The strong vine refers to our comparable natural abilities.

The King speaks of the nation that will begin this change process.

IT IS TIME TO BRIDGE THE GAP.

Change is what writes you in the records of time, and remember there is a legacy at the
end of every problem. Find the problems that stir up anger in you the most, and identify the
possible legacy to be formed from it.

Legacy is the Response to a Call.

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