Foresight (Word For The Week)
Foresight is defined as the ability to foresee or prepare wisely for the future. It is being able to extrapolate the future based on the present, while factoring in expected variables.
Foresight is why Abraham followed God’s leading by being willing to sacrifice his son, knowing that the God who gave him Isaac, and had promised him children as much as the stars in the sky will definitely know how to fix the situation.
It is why Joseph after interpreting Pharaoh’s dream also gave him a recommendation on how to store grains in the seven years of plenty, to take care of the seven years of famine.
Foresight is why Moses refused to be recognized as Pharaoh’s grandson, choosing rather to be associated with the descendants of Jacob.
Foresight is a gift from God to every man. It is a character of God that is present in man whom He has created in His own image. It is a pity some people have chosen to ignore this attribute.
As Nigerians, we can all remember visionary leaders like Obafemi Awolowo, who looked into the future and realized that basic education would be a key in unlocking the potentials of those he governed. Anthony Enahoro who raised the motion for the nation’s independence, with a foreknowledge that self-rule in any form should always be more beneficial than colonization in any shade.
We have seen people outside the government selflessly give of themselves, with the foresight that the greater good is of more importance than personal interest or safety. From the Great Stella Adadevoh to Fela Anikulapo Kuti, Gani Fawehinmi, Dora Akunyili, Kudirat Abiola, MKO Abiola, Beko Ransome Kuti, Margaret Ekpo and living legends like Lateef Jakande, Olusegun Obasanjo, Yakubu Gowon and others.
In this day and age, it is disheartening to witness people set aside character, knowledge and foresight in exchange for monetary gains. People trading Nigeria for Millions and Billions of Naira the way Judas did our Lord.
For the rest of us, the foresight of what the future holds for us, our children and generations to come is why we must come out of our comfort zones, to carry out our civic responsibility by electing leaders we believe in.
It should not be that twenty-five to fifty years from today, while we complain to our children and grandchildren about how things have kept going downhill for the last decades, they’ll ask us “what did you do to stop it?” And we will say “Nothing“.
So teach us to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom. (Psalm 90:12 KJV)
Wilson Joshua is a Video Editor, Content Creator and Creative Writer.
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