Victory at All Costs – Banji Alabi Challenges Nigerians to Reject Mediocrity
Victory at All Costs – Banji Alabi Challenges Nigerians to Reject Mediocrity
OUR RESOLVE
THE VERBATIM QUOTE
From the House of Commons, 13th May, 1940. Winston S. Churchill, First Speech as Prime Minister:
“You ask, what is our policy? I will say: It is to wage war, by sea, land and air, with all our might and with all the strength that God can give us; to wage war against a monstrous tyranny, never surpassed in the dark, lamentable catalogue of human crime. That is our policy. You ask, what is our aim? I can answer in one word: It is victory, victory at all costs, victory in spite of all terror, victory, however long and hard the road may be; for without victory, there is no survival.”
That was 1940. Britain was alone. Hitler had conquered Europe. France was falling. America had not entered the war.
Men expected Churchill to negotiate. To explain. To manage defeat.
He did not manage defeat. He declared his aim: “VICTORY.”
I URGE YOU TO DECLARE YOUR VICTORY THIS MORNING
1. WHEN THE SEASON IS DARK, CLARIFY YOUR AIM.
Churchill didn’t have two aims. He had one word: Victory.
Many of us are failing not because we are weak, but because we are double-minded. We want victory and we want comfort. We want success and we want excuses.
In all seasons, be clear: What is your aim?
In that case you are handling – what is your aim?
In that business – what is your aim?
In that marriage, in that health battle – what is your aim?
Let your aim be VICTORY. Not survival. Not managing. Victory.
2. VICTORY AT ALL COSTS – VICTORY IN SPITE OF ALL TERROR.
He did not say victory at low cost. He said at ALL costs.
Terror will come. Fear will come. In business, terror will come – policy changes, bad debts. In politics, terror will come – betrayal, blackmail. In life, terror will come – sickness, loss.
Churchill said victory IN SPITE OF terror, not in the absence of terror.
You will feel terror and still win. You will be afraid and still move forward.
3. VICTORY, HOWEVER LONG AND HARD THE ROAD MAY BE.
This is for those who are tired.
Some roads are long. Some roads are hard. Some victories don’t come in one court sitting. Some businesses don’t blow in one year. Some healing does not come in one prayer.
But whether long or hard, we will not change our aim. Victory.
Stop looking for a short, easy road. Ask for grace for a long, hard road that still ends in victory.
4. FOR WITHOUT VICTORY, THERE IS NO SURVIVAL.
This is the bottom line.
A lawyer who does not win cases will not survive at the Bar.
A company that does not win customers will not survive the market.
A nation that does not win over corruption and poverty will not survive.
A man who does not win over his own laziness, anger, and lust will not survive.
We are not playing to participate. We are fighting to survive. And to survive, we must win.
THEREFORE, OUR RESOLVE IN EVERY SEASON IS THIS:
In January – Victory.
In planting season – Victory.
In dry season – Victory.
When money comes – Victory.
When money is scarce – Victory.
At all costs, in spite of all terror, however long and hard the road may be.
We will not negotiate with failure. We will not make peace with mediocrity.
Our resolve is VICTORY. : VICTORY AT ALL COSTS
You will succeed.
Banji Alabi, Esq.
