“Alagidi ni ọga alagbara” is the Yoruba saying that translated in English means “The stubborn one will conquer the strong one.”

There is this argument almost as old as time itself. Is success a product of nature or nurture?

The Alagidi is the stubborn one. Mr Never Give Up. Miss Never Count Me Out. The fellow who even when they are staring defeat in the face are still willing to give it a go.
They tackle the seemingly impossible. They are not scared of failure because they believe it is just one more stop on the path to success.

The Alagbara is the strong one. Mr No One Is Better Than Me. Miss Second To None.
They are talented. They are good and they know it. If you allow them, they’ll rub your face in it.

When push comes to shove and success seems elusive, Alagbara relies on their strength and talent. Alagbara relies on persistence and effort.
A common problem is that the talented fellow often fail to innovate. They know “this” is how it is supposed to be done. But when “this” is seeming ineffective against the problem, they keep repeating the same solution until they get stuck.

Failure to innovate is often their undoing. A lack of patience and disrespect for process and systems often cost them too.
Alagidi on the other hand, though not as smart, intelligent, talented, or endowed as Alagbara is still willing to take a chance.

When you take that chance, don’t do it blindly. Do your research. Be flexible. Try and try again. Innovate.
As much as we pray the odds are always in our favor, when they aren’t, we must still give it a go. At the same time, don’t allow the lessons of history be a burden to you.

Sometimes we are scared of repeating the mistakes of the past, and because of that we never do something new. Learn from the past, but still face the present.

Remember, “if you faint in the day of adversity, your strength is small.“ At the same time, “the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men of understanding, nor yet favour to men of skill; but time and chance happeneth to them all.“
So when Nigerian UFC champion, Israel Adesanya calls himself Mr Alagidi, just remember, Alagidi ni ọga Alagbara.

Wilson Joshua is a Video Editor, Content Creator, and Creative Writer.
Follow him on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. @IJOSWIL

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