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“The lizard that jumped from the high iroko tree to the ground said he would praise himself if no one else did.” — Chinua Achebe, Nigerian author
From its perch, a bright patch of orange rises, anchored by clawed limbs. The male agama lizard just got here, but its eyes — scanning the environs widely — already seek the next stop.
The lizard lives a threatened life, preyed on by a range of fellow animals — from some that slither and strut to others that fly and creep. For our cold-blooded friend, these streets just ain’t safe. And if it finds itself in this part of the world, where little boys are only too zealous to pelt it with stones for sheer sport, the risk is even greater.
It’s probably why the lizard is always on the move; the longer it remains in one spot, the easier and more vulnerable a target it becomes. To steer even clearer of danger and boost chances of survival, however, there is one skill that the lizard has to master: the leap.
Timed well, that could prove the difference between life and death, between a safe landing and ending up as some grateful, ruthless predator’s dinner. In a lizard’s dangerous world, then, timing is everything.
That’s just as true in man’s world. Like the lizard, we’re constantly on the move, always seeking the next big opportunity. Knowing how to make that leap isn’t exactly the hardest part, though; it’s knowing when to. In pursuit of a target — love, money, etc — we often move too fast or too slow, messing up or missing out entirely.
Time it right, however, and our satisfaction over attaining the objective is akin to that of the lizard Achebe’s famous protagonist, Okonkwo, referred to in the classic Things Fall Apart novel: proud, even with nobody noticing or offering any praise . . . or with photographer Dada Oliseh‘s well-timed camera lying in wait.
Text: NY Frimpong
Images: Boakye Buckman
Source: Daily Mail GH
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