THOUGHTS OF FEMOLAD: EGG-LARVA-PUPA-FEMOLAD (Metamorphosis of a Name)

 

EGG-LARVA-PUPA-FEMOLAD (Metamorphosis of a Name)

The reader will wonder at the title. It may not make sense at first.

The four stages of development of an insect involve the metamorphosis from one to the other. The one does not look like the other. The changes in form and shape are not smooth transitions or rapid rollovers. It’s a slow, systematic process.

 

The Egg, like all eggs, is delicate and very vulnerable. It is inactive and does not even grow. But that is on the outside. It is developing inside but nobody sees it.

 

The Larva that comes out of the shell is visibly weak but gluttonous. It gulps anything eatable it comes across. But no, there are some things that are inconsumable.

 

The Pupa or Chrysalis comes to life from the Larva but it begins to look like the real thing.

The transformation to the Adult or Imago here is total and phenomenal.

The characters and features are formed. It now has a name, an identity of its own and a pattern of life attached to that name.

 

But why Femolad? Why not just Imago?

 

Away from the Biology lesson, I relate the metamorphosis to that of the name Femolad to be able to drive my point.

 

May I digress a little.

 

Nobody sat down to name or nickname me Femolad.

 

In my first year in secondary school I was in the Hostel. My full names (Femi Olajide Oladapo) were written on my bucket. The bucket was a community utility because it was big (too big for me) and everybody else used it. The paint wore out and only FEM, O and LAD remained. The bucket became referred to as Femolad bucket. It wasn’t my name yet.

That was the egg.

 

Later, the bucket was gone, but the name didn’t. I started writing small stories, paint, do many things.  I signed them all with Femolad. Yet nobody called me that. Some things I signed, like writing, stuck. Many others refused to stick. The Larva could’t  eat it all.

 

I left school and when I met colleagues outside, the first thing they remembered was Femolad. It started looking like a name.

Some years after, in higher institution, most people did not even know Femi Ladapo again. I was simply Femolad. I already have an identity. Many things were attached to that name.

 

Enough of Me and the Insect.

 

This relates to everyday life, business, politics and governance.

In the beginning, you are unknown, weak and inconsequential. No one sees you building up inside. Just like the egg.

 

When you come out, trying to put your signature on anything and everything, you winsome-losesome. Akin to the Larva.

 

Later you get noticed and things start moving fast. Development is rapid and you start attracting attention. That’s the Pupa.

 

On the long run you become an imago. You have an image, an identity, a character. You are known for what you are. The result of all the stages is what becomes you. The world now sees the real you. 

But what have you metamorphosed into?

A beautiful Butterfly?

A stinging Wasp?

A Honey bee?

Maybe a destructive Termite?

Are you a noxious Cockroach?

Or even a deadly Mosquito?

 

That is what your name now symbolizes. Anytime and everytime your name is mentioned, that is what comes to mind.

 

Whenever you mention Mohammed Alli, everyone remembers Boxing.

At the mention of Pele, football comes to mind.

 

What legacies you are leaving now will last forever. It will outlive you. It is your identity. Your egg, larva and pupa stages will not be remembered. The things you did before getting here, good or bad, will not count.

 

Whatever you do now that you have arrived can’t be wished away.

 

A head of Government?

A business Mogul and Employer?

The head of an institution?

A Lecturer?

A King, Kabiyesi?

Mr. Community Head?

Even a Lawmaker?

A law enforcement agent?

 

IT WON’T MATTER HOW YOU GOT HERE. WHAT YOU DO NOW WILL BE YOUR IDENTITY FOREVER.

 

I am Femi Ladapo (Femolad)