The difference between Nigeria and the western world is mindsets —Songonuga, IT Consultant

Tope Songonuga has been an information technology (IT) Consultant for more than three decades. She is the founder of Mindset Makeover Mission. In this interview, she shares her challenges growing up, breakthroughs, and other issues. SEGUN KASALI brings excerpts:

WHAT birthed your initiative ‘Mindset Makeover Mission?

This vision was borne out of my personal experience. At age 15, I suffered a home gas fire accident. I still have the scars and for two decades after the incident, I was not myself as I allowed the world to tell me how to show up. I was not showing up as my authentic self. But, when I got to my thirties, the Lord awoke something in me that there was more to life than physical appearance. The world judges people based on their physical appearance but the Lord sees the heart as the bible tells us. The Lord started speaking to me about helping people with their mindsets, because it was my mindset that held me back. My mindset made me to give permission to people to judge me. I eventually got liberated from it and I am now able to show up as my most authentic self. So, now I can go anywhere. As a result, my ministry was birthed to help people get liberated from their mindset.

 

At what point did you get yourself back and how did it happen?

In my thirties, it was through spending time with God. The penny truly dropped on a day I was with my pastor, while we were hunting for properties for the church. We started chatting and she told me about her grandmother who was in her nineties at the time, was still very active but always wished that God should take her because she was fed up. It was at that time that I thought that if a ninety-year-old woman can believe that she had lived all her life and was ready to die, I in my thirties didn’t feel that I had lived at all then there was need to have my mindset changed. At that time, I was barely existing. I realised that if a doctor was to tell me then that I had only a few months to live, I would have found it very painful but the same news wouldn’t bother me today because I am now living, and abundantly too. My mindset was all that changed.

 

How have you been impacting lives with this memorable experience?

I have been doing this in different ways. A lot of people over the years said I need to pick an area to focus on but I said no. A mindset underpins everything we do. Every area of our lives can be lived well or sub-optimally, based on our mindset. So, every opportunity I get, whether it is in my day job, walking down the street, having a conversation with anyone, the topic of our mindset comes up. If someone tells me they can’t do something, I always asked them immediately, ‘why do you think you can’t? Often, the response is ‘I don’t know’. They have just concluded that they can’t but don’t have facts to back up that perception. I usually take such opportunities to challenge people about their mindset. When they say things like that, it is apparent that they are not going to make the effort. They have a dream or vision and are not doing anything about it because they have concluded that they can’t achieve it, even without trying. I call that ‘living life accidently instead of intentionally’. This is how someone will end up on their 70th birthday, filled with regrets.

 

Can you give instances of people who have benefited from your work?

I coach and there are people who within maybe 6 months of coaching them have started doing what they had been thinking of doing for about 10 years. Can you believe it? The reason it has taken 10 years is because when did we start January and I am seeing Christmas decorations and that is how life happens. All the people that I am coaching have said that they change because we evaluate. We may say how do you feel when you started this journey? They may say one and we assess and said how did you feel now? They say 7. From 1-7 under a year. What changed is their mindset. Nothing has changed in their life, they go out of their own will. I want to become something, I want to become a writer.

 

Do you think this space of yours is also applicable to Nigeria as a body?

Yes, I think it is most applicable to Nigeria because Nigerians have what we call ‘the Naija mindset’ or ‘the Naija mentality’. There is a lot of challenges we have with our mindset. We compare our lives with that of others. We compete. We are money-motivated. Most people don’t want to work hard, they want to make quick money. They go into all sorts of things they are not meant to be doing. The Government doesn’t have the mindset of serving the people. Even the people themselves, they don’t have the mindset of helping one another. I am a Nigerian at heart and even though I don’t travel to Nigeria as frequently as I should, I still have the mindset that we need to start having this conversation. We need to get away from the mindset of just complaining, to start having the necessary conversations to challenge one another and begin to sow the seed of mindset shift. This is especially necessary for our young people to begin the internal transformation journey, so that they can value life more than money. This is because if you value life, you will want to do things that will make your life meaningful. You will make impact and not just make money.

 

What are your suggestions to the government to ensure that people’s mindsets are changed for good?

For example, the Emirates – UAE – has a Minister of State for Happiness and Wellbeing; that country clearly understands and appreciates the value of social wellbeing. I heard the President of Nigeria, in a recent press briefing, stated that Nigerians needed a mindset change. He clearly understands this need and we should all do. Individually, we talk about our mentality. Nigerians abroad still carry that mentality with them. My vision for Nigerian schools is that mindset clubs, where students get together to talk about and challenge one another on their mindset, will become an extra-curricular activity. This will make their learning experience more meaningful and valuable, helping them to adopt the right mindset. For instance, people don’t need to compete with one another because your life and destiny are unique to you. You know in the UK, they have well-being programs, because it is a well-being issue. Mindset is the reason some people don’t get help when they have mental health issues or challenges; they think it is not an illness because it is not physical. Everybody has a mental side to their health, they need to look after their mental, physical and emotional health.

 

Tell us about the correlation between mindset and corruption as it relates to a country’s development?

In terms of resources, Nigeria is richer than the UK. In terms of academic strength, Nigeria is higher. For us, education is our default mode, until you cannot afford it. In the UK, they can drop out anytime. This is why the UK government mandates that children must attend school until age 16, or the parents/guardians risk jail time. What is the difference? Why are they more advanced than us? I believe it is because of their mindset. Their mindset is about improving things and our mindset is about tearing down. I am sorry to say. Corruption means someone does not care about the other people. So, the money that someone is meant to use to develop an area, he puts into his/her own bank account, so that their life and those of their children are brighter and they can say I am richer than so and so. Whereas in the UK, we pay our taxes. Yes, we pay a lot of taxes but those taxes work for us. In Nigeria, I don’t believe they pay as much. The difference between Nigeria and the western world is our mindset, considering that Nigerians are more academically inclined.

 

What is your advice to Nigerian leaders about mindset?

They need to change their mindset. If they don’t change their mindset, there will be no meaningful development. It comes from the top-down. The leaders need to change. They cannot influence the ordinary people with this way of life. They are the ones that can say this is the money that has been allocated for us to use, let’s not use it for something else. If they do the right thing at the top, then we can try and educate people at the lower wrung of the ladder. Gradually, we transform the systems and ultimately the society.

 

As an organisation, how have you been living your dream?

I plan to host a conference next year in Nigeria. Entry is going to be free, so we need all the funds we can get. Now, we are only planning for two venues – one in Lagos, one in Ibadan. It is titled “Renew your mind, Transform your World”, scheduled for June 22nd in Ibadan and June 29th in Lagos. We want to provide food because we understand the economic situation of the country.

 

Are you soliciting for any partnership?

Yes, ideally since this is going to cost a lot of money, we need any organisation that can donate towards this program, in whatever area they think they can because it is only collaboration and partnership that can make things work faster. We all know that the government cannot do it alone. Yes, we are already collaborating with ministries like ‘Pass the Baton’ but we want more.

YOU SHOULD NOT MISS THESE HEADLINES FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE

Nigeria has highest cement price in the world — Producers

FOR about 10 years now, Nigeria has remained the country with the highest cement price in the world, national chairman, Cement Producers Association of…

Kogi: INEC to hold fresh elections in 59 polling units Nov 18

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has disclosed its intention to conduct fresh elections in…

Twins who graduated First Class in UNILORIN say school separated them during exams

Taiwo Hassanah Subair and Kehinde Aishah Subair are identical twin sisters and First Class graduates of…

FULL LIST: ‘Shanty Town’, ‘Herdsmen’, ‘Underbelly’ top BON Awards nomination 

Best of Nollywood Awards has officially released nominations lists and categories for the 2023 Nollywood award ceremony. Stylised as…

Helen Paul and other bastardy stories

Everyone has a history; how you act and tell your story defines you. Ace comedian and celebrity, Helen Paul, trended wildly last…

Nigeria will host befitting African Canoe Sprint Championship — Porbeni

President Nigeria Rowing, Canoeing and Sailing Federation (NRCSF), Rear Admiral Festus Porbeni (rtd) has…