THE POWER OF PERSISTENCE – Terver Akase

Towards the end of September this year, something interesting began to happen in a small corner of our house in Makurdi.

My 10-year-old daughter, Christabel planted a handful of groundnut seeds in a patch of soil within the compound. To many who saw her, it looked like child’s play.

The effort was viewed as an exercise in futility. Even her siblings told her the seeds would not germinate there, that the environment was wrong, that she was wasting her time.

But Christabel did not argue. She simply kept working. Every morning, before leaving for school, she would water the soil.

In the evenings, after returning home, she did the same. Day after day, without applause, but without doubt, she showed up for those seeds. She trusted the process even when others dismissed the possibility.

Then something happened. The seeds germinated. The tender shoots pushed through the soil. They grew, matured, and in time, bore fruit.

Today, Christabel harvested the groundnuts.

What many had once laughed at became food for the household.

We all ate from the harvest of her quiet persistence (see the attached photo for my share of the freshly boiled groundnuts).

In that simple act, Christabel has taught us a powerful lesson: belief and consistency can turn the unlikely into the possible. Determination does not need permission, and faith does not wait for validation. Sometimes, all it takes to change an outcome is the courage to keep watering the ground, even when no one else believes anything will grow.

At just 10 years, Christabel has reminded us that great results often begin as small, doubted efforts, and that perseverance, no matter how young or overlooked, always finds a way to bear fruit.

Terver Akase is the former Special Adviser on Media to Former Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State