Pictures of Dead Men

Inexplicably from nowhere I'm standing in the midst of nowhere. I feel like a dead man... Until I reach for my pocket and feel my bulging wallet. I bring it out and on opening it, I see countless pictures of dead men's faces (I'm talking portraits of Aliyu and Clement).

I love Aliyu and Clement!!!!!!!!!!

I feel alive again. I feel whole. Then all of a sudden, a nice Porsche drives up to me - to take me somewhere nice I guess. At least somewhere away from where I stand. Beautiful houses spring up everywhere as if giving 'my'
Porsche a springing-up ovation. On entering the beautiful Porsche, what seemed like reality melts to imagination as I wake up from my well-crafted dream. My waking up reawakens me about what these pictures stand for. Still doubting the annoying presence of reality, I reach for my wallet lo and behold! There’s is just the pictures of Murtala and Awolowo! 

Can someone replace these pictures with that of Zik??? 

I get up from my bed to get into the hassles of everyday life thinking about their pictures. It’s what I’d like to call the Quotidian Order. And I am a dedicated Friar in that Order.

What really matters now is the answer to this seemingly enigmatic question bugging my mind...
On what island will this Ocean of Hassles lead my Ship of Struggles to? Just when you think you have answers or an answer at your finger tip, a sister question pops up in your thought:

What is happiness to me? This line of reasoning and its outcome(whether the question is answered appropriately or not) covers the spectrum of what hope stands for in this life time. No matter how insensitive it may sound, we are all in the Pursuit of Happiness. What exactly is happiness??

I'm Happy... That's a  GARGANTUAN LIE

 No singular event, person or thing can be used as a poster child to describe exactly what happiness is(as this varies from one society to the other) however, a central factor determines it. This factor I categorically christen as 'The Pictures of Dead Men'. To a large extent this factor is unarguably the underlying basis for happiness world over, even though the degree of the veracity of this thought varies with the variegated structure of societies globally.
Accordingly, I speak with a good measure of confidence in what I stand for as an African living in Africa; we live and die for The Pictures of Dead Men. As it turns out, it is a global endemic and
they are also not unaware of what these Pictures entail... Hear what they have to say....

 "All I ask is the chance to prove that money can't
make me happy." Spike Milligan.

No one would remember the Good Samaritan if
he’d only had good intentions. He had money too. — Margaret Thatcher

 When people ask me if I have any spare change,  I tell them I have it at home in my spare wallet. —
Nick Arnette

"When I was young I thought that money was the most important thing in life; now that I am old I
know that it is." - Oscar Wilde

Money is a headache, and money is the cure.
~Everett Mámor

"Money is not the most important thing in the
world. Love is. Fortunately, I love money." - Jackie
Mason

"Lack of money is the root of all evil." - George Bernard Shaw

It is often said that ''Money is not Everything''..
Well I now say that I don't need Everything I just need Money! —Anonymous

 "Dogs have no money. Isn't that amazing? They're broke their entire lives. But they get through. You know why dogs have no money? No Pockets." - Jerry Seinfeld

 "Someday I want to be rich. Some people get so
rich they lose all respect for humanity. That's how
rich I want to be." - Rita Rudner

"Money is the best deodorant." - Elizabeth Taylor

"I was so poor growing up...if I wasn't a boy...I'd
have nothing to play with." - Rodney Dangerfield

Women prefer men who have something tender about them - especially the legal kind.

~Kay Ingram

When shit becomes valuable the born will be born without assholes- Henry Miller

”Money is not everything in life,….there are
stocks, bonds, real estate, gold, and silver…” —Anonymous

 A man who has money, only wants one thing
more... More money —Anonymous

We live by the Golden Rule. Those who have the
gold make the rules. ~Buzzie Bavasi

 It's a kind of spiritual snobbery that makes people
think they can be happy without money. ~Albert
Camus

These guys are insane! Apology to those trying to make a point..It seems now like the only thing we think about is Money, money, money... We
cherish the pictures of these men more than we do our loved ones... On a more thoughtful note, I
think we should ruminate on what these other people have to say.

''Only when the last tree has died and the last
river been poisoned and the last fish been caught will we realise we cannot eat money''. ~Cree
Indian Proverb

"It is pretty hard to tell what does bring happiness; poverty and wealth have both failed."
-Kin Hubbard

 "It's good to have money and the things that
money can buy, but it's good, too, to check up once in a while and make sure that you haven't lost the things that money can't buy." - George
Lorimer

"Make money your god and it will plague you like
the devil." - Henry Fielding

"Don't tell me where your priorities are. Show me
where you spend your money and I'll tell you what
they are."-James W. Frick

"Formal education will make you a living; self-education will make you a fortune." -Jim Rohn

"Money never made a man happy yet, nor will it. The more a man has, the more he wants. Instead
of filling a vacuum, it makes one." – Benjamin Franklin

"Too many people spend money they haven't earned, to buy things they don't want, to impress
people they don't like." -Will Smith

"Time is more valuable than money. You can get
more money, but you cannot get more time." – Jim Rohn

These guys have almost said it all... I think it is
pertinent to understand the fact that life is
REALLY NOT about The Pictures of Dead Men. It is believed that money paves the way for things
money can't buy. I laugh within me because it’s quite simple... It is not love that comes from wealth but the impression of love. But hey that’s my opinion.