By Agba Jalingo

The person who built the first car surely did not have luxury in mind. The idea was to facilitate the faster movement of things and persons from place to place. To replace the use of carts and animals with a faster means of transportation. The first self propelled steam engine cart, built by Frenchman, Nicholas Joseph Cugnot in 1769, could only move at a walking pace of 3km/h and had to stop every 20 minutes to build a new head of steam. But it was the fastest and could carry the heaviest loads at the time.

A house, before it became luxury was only meant to be a safe place from hazards outside. To protect us from the elements. The famous Oldupai Gorge site, in Tanzania, still holds the oldest archeological evidence of what could be called, the construction of a house. It is a 1.8million year old, 13 feet diameter circle of stones surrounding a slightly sunken spot of earth. Nobody knows the human species who built the ‘houses’ found in Oldupai, but it is mostly agreed that the stones may have been built for shelter and fortress.

Like a house, clothes were equally made to protect us from the environment. Hazards like cold, insect bites, sun rays etc. From the time of animal furs and skin to when fibre was discovered, the primary essence of clothing was to cover our stark nakedness and protect us from environmental hazards. Then, it became luxury and labels.

Before food became luxury that is now graded into top notch classes and buzz names, food as one of the most basic needs of living things, is only meant to provide energy for us to sustain our lives. No matter how luxurious the food you eat is or how glamorous the table you eat the food is, the end goal is to provide energy for the body to proceed on its activity. Same thing with the person who eats in the dingy room, the goal is to get energy for the body.

Likewise Education, before it became luxury, the educational system, from its crude form, was created primarily to ensure the discovery, survival and transfer of accumulated knowledge, skills, values, and traditions over generations. What were called schools then, held under the tutelage and servitude of sages and philosophers, under tree shades, barns and in caves, until it became a luxury.

The gradual transformation of these basic human needs to luxuries is not bad and it has come with its benefits and challenges. It created a surge in innovation and jobs and also created a class society that has left a large chunk of citizens behind. It has also created social turmoil and exacerbated inequality; leaving most people hollow, even in the midst of the luxuries.

Yet, to find our path and return to happiness, we must learn to enjoy these things with their original purpose on the top most of our minds. We need to always remind ourselves of the original purpose of the things we own, anytime we enter into them. As you wake up nude or in your night wear, remind yourself of the original purpose of the clothes on you, the house you woke up in, the car you will drive, the schools you send your wards to and the food you eat. If you keep that in mind, it will keep you humble and save you the stress of the world. It will also inspire sympathy for others and make the world a more lovable place to live.

Yours sincerely,
Citizen Agba Jalingo.