Christopher Damsa is not the kind of young man who waits for the world to hand him a script. He writes his own. While many complain about the weight of challenges in their quest to serve their fatherland, he stands defiantly, embracing the storm with open arms. To him, adversity is not an obstacle; it is the anvil on which greatness is forged. His journey is a testament to the fact that true nation-building is not in rhetoric but in sacrifice, not in entitlement but in action.
I remember my days at Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria; where I first encountered this young man—full of fire, full of purpose. While many were content to coast through their student years, Christopher was already shaping destinies. By the time he was still a student, he had not only authored his first book but had also founded an organization dedicated to fighting suicide on campus. This was not just a project; it was a mission, a battle against despair, a direct confrontation with the shadows that had claimed too many young lives. His initiative did not just save lives—it redefined leadership as an act of service, not status.
But Christopher’s story is not one of mere activism; it is one of relentless self-improvement. In a single year, while many were still grappling with the demands of their NYSC year, he amassed certificates—each one a testament to his hunger for knowledge, his refusal to be boxed in by limitations. Where others saw impossibilities, he saw pathways. Where others hesitated, he advanced. His pursuit of excellence was not for personal gain but for the singular purpose of making Nigeria and Africa better than he found them.
This is the spirit Africa needs—young men and women who refuse to bow before obstacles, who do not see mountains and stop in despair but shatter them, brick by brick, until there is nothing left standing in the way of their dreams. Christopher embodies the new African spirit—one that does not beg for change but creates it. He does not wait for doors to be opened; he builds his own and walks through them with unwavering confidence.
The lesson from Christopher’s life is clear: greatness is never free. It demands sacrifice, persistence, and a brutal defiance of the status quo. It demands that young Africans stop lamenting the state of their nations and start taking responsibility for rewriting the narrative. The future belongs to those who dare, those who rise above excuses, those who, even when faced with impossibility, find a way.
Africa does not lack potential; it lacks men and women with the audacity to turn potential into power. Christopher Damsa is proof that there is no excuse valid enough to justify mediocrity. If a young man from a university campus can change lives, challenge norms, and rise despite the weight of expectations, then what excuse do you have? What mountain is so high that it cannot be climbed?
Let this be the call to arms for every young African—pull yourself by the bootstraps, rise from the ashes of limitation, and forge a future that is worthy of the greatness that runs in your blood. The world is not waiting. Either you rise, or you are left behind. The choice is yours.
Pokyes Kavwam
Senior Managing Editor
The New Africa Magazine, Abuja-Nigeria
