This is my 5th half-term article and it is rooted in my recent trip to Africa over the Easter holiday. I spent a week in Nigeria and a week in Uganda. Now, I am writing from a place of conviction, reflecting on a mindset shift that hit me deeply. You cannot be in Africa and just be complaining – There is no time for that. That is what I realised. And now that I am back in the UK, these experiences have reinforced one core belief. True leaders, trailblazers and changemakers cannot be people who sit in the habit of excuses. Unfortunately, that is exactly the theme far too common in our Western way of life.
Let us start with Nigeria. I will be honest. My sample is small, and that is by design. I immersed myself in the high life of Victoria Island, a very affluent part of Lagos. Some might say this limits the scope of my reflections, and that’s fair but everything I share is based on my lived experience of Nigerians, their culture and a unique sense of self-belief. There is a kind of healthy flamboyance that Nigerians possess an ability to redefine things, take ownership of them, and run with boldness.
Victoria Island felt like a bubble. So much happened in such a short space of time that it all feels like a blur now. But what I do know is that in this environment, the playing field is not equal. Democratic structures are not always fair. Still, people carried a deep belief that they could become anything they wanted, regardless of the obstacles. It was fast. It was driven. It was an environment where you could find a solution for everything, and a job for everyone even in areas where the moral compass might be questioned. Solutions were the priority. In fact, it made me think that maybe this place is already operating in the future I genuinely likened it to like being in a game of ‘Sims’, seriously !
During my short stay, I connected with a number of influential Nigerians. One conversation stood out my call with Kemi “I Don’t Care” Oyesola – Her work focuses on empowering Black women into senior leadership roles and helping CEOs build stronger leadership cultures. We spoke about Nigerian culture and the idea of optimising your life. In Nigeria, it is not about waiting for better circumstances. It is about taking control, taking responsibility, and moving forward no matter what.
Forget your surroundings. Forget excuses. Be a force. Be a presence. Be exceptional no matter what. That was the energy. On a personal level, I have many Nigerian friends who operate with this same thinking. There is no room for mediocrity. They are always thinking ahead, thinking bigger. They do not accept what the system offers they create their own alternatives. That is what Victoria Island felt like to me.
What I discovered, and what I generalised from all of this, is the way Nigerians ‘think’. The mindset. It is a deep inner belief system that removes ‘doubt’ and ‘fear’. That mindset has produced world-leading figures across music (Burna Boy, Wizkid, Davido), film (the entire Nollywood industry), entrepreneurship, education (such as Dr. Dayo Olukoshi at Brampton Manor Academy, UK) and beyond.
It is not by coincidence that Nigerians are making waves all over the world. This level of success is not accidental. It starts with a cultural mindset shift. And that left me wondering how can we begin to intentionally teach this ideology to our young people in the UK?
But before we get to students, we have to begin with the adults. It starts with us. We have to be honest about how our own internal beliefs might be limiting the ways we advocate for our young people. If we are not challenging those barriers in ourselves, how can we help our students become the trailblazers they are meant to be?
Let me put it this way. You could not survive in Victoria Island if you made excuses. You would get eaten alive. There is no time for self-pity. That same energy, that brutal honesty, is exactly what young people in the UK need and frankly, it is what we all need. Yes, our democratic system here gives us many protections and privileges. But on the flip side, it encourages a kind of relaxed, detached mindset. What I would call a ‘mindset epidemic’.
I believe we are in the middle of a mindset crisis. A culture where our values and beliefs are shaped not by intention, but by the noise around us. Social media has replaced deep thought. The COVID pandemic made this even worse. For two years, people paused the natural development of social and emotional growth. They replaced that cycle with digital habits. And reversing this is going to take some deep, honest, intentional work. And now, we are wondering why motivation has dropped? Why aspiration feels diluted? This is not a coincidence. This is the outcome of unchallenged, inherited mindsets.
Nonetheless, let us talk about Uganda. Being Ugandan is the greatest blessing of my life. Uganda truly is the Pearl of Africa. I love our culture. I love our humility, our warmth, and our unshakable sense of community. But in comparison to Nigeria, Uganda lacks a certain urgency. The drive is not always as sharp. People do complain, and often with good reason, but the solution-focused thinking is not always there in the same way.
I went to Uganda to launch the pilot phase of the Uganda Microcomputer Initiative. This project is designed to bridge the information and technology gap in education. It provides offline educational resources (giving access to the internet without any live connection) that can be used by teachers and schools in low-resource settings. The goal is to support better teaching methods and ultimately improve engagement, attainment, and outcomes similar to what we aim for here in the UK.
What stood out for me, above everything else, was the attitude to learning. Both teachers and students showed a deep hunger for growth. We worked in Kansanga, an urban slum in Kampala where people face real issues like poverty, poor sanitation, flooding and more. But these challenges did not stop them. Teachers turned up. Students turned up. They were ready to learn and determined to get better.
Students came with equipment. They took pride in their work. They listened. They contributed. They engaged with the lesson. It moved me deeply. It was clear to me they knew they were at the bottom of the ladder, and they wanted to climb. Every single day without any compromise.
Too often in UK schools, we make excuses for students not having basic equipment. But when I saw students in Kansanga showing up with scientific calculators, eager to contribute, it reminded me no student should come to school unprepared. And we should never normalise that. We should never say that is okay. Because I saw students who would give everything to be in a place of full stability, with the support of well-trained teachers, technology, and access to information.
Additionally, it was not just the students. The teachers too. They were maximising every bit of resource they had. Even though the microcomputer hubs did not yet contain all the materials needed to perfectly match the Ugandan curriculum, they were still excited, curious, and grateful. They understood the power of the work we are doing, and they were ready to run with it. That was inspiring. Especially when I compare it to how often we, as professionals in the UK, spend time complaining about the systems we work in.
Here is the truth I walked away with. You cannot be in Nigeria or Uganda and just be standing still complaining. There is no time for that. The only way to thrive is to operate beyond your constraints. That is the mindset. That is the culture. And that is what I want to bring back with me.
This consistent truth I saw across Nigeria and Uganda was: you cannot live in those environments and survive on complaints. You adapt. You act. You push. This is the mode of thinking is what we need in the UK – In our schools. In our communities. In ourselves.
This Easter break forced me to question how comfort has shaped the Western mindset. We need to break away from this mental trap. Once again, I would call it a ‘mental epidemic’. It is what holds back our young people. It is what holds back adults. It is what holds back entire communities from striving for greatness and becoming all that they are meant to be.
I am making a personal commitment. I will be even more intentional, more robust, and more relentless in helping young people, fellow educators, and my loved ones shift their mindset. A mindset of no excuses. Because we will never be in full control of our circumstances, but we will always have a choice in how we think and respond to them.
This is what I am choosing. More than ever, I will do extraordinary things because I can. And nothing inside me should stop me from believing and living that truth.
More than ever, I am choosing to live and lead without excuses. I am choosing to think differently. To act differently. To build differently.
I know I will do extraordinary things.
Not because of where I am. But because of what I believe.
Thank you for reading my fellow trailblazer.
