Dr. Onumoko and the Mathematics of Influence.
By Abdul Mohammed Lawal.
Accountants spend their lives balancing figures. To them, every income must have a source, every expense must have a purpose, every asset must come with responsibility, and every account must finally balance. But there is another kind of accounting that matters even more. It is the accounting of a life. But unlike financial statements, this balance sheet is not measured in money. It is measured by opportunities created, burdens lifted, dreams restored and lives changed.
This is what I call the mathematics of influence.
There are many ways to measure success. Some people count the money in their bank accounts, while others count the companies they own, the houses they have built, the titles they carry or the public offices they hold. Society has become so used to these measures that we rarely stop to ask simple questions like:
What if we have been counting the wrong numbers all along?
Perhaps the true measure of a person’s life is not what they own, but what continues to grow because they once lived. Unlike ordinary mathematics, where we count only what we can see, the mathematics of influence measures what keeps growing long after the first investment has been made. It reminds us that some of life’s greatest calculations cannot be done with a calculator because they are written in human lives.
For example, think about a young girl who receives a scholarship. Most people see one beneficiary. They see one school fee paid and one success story, but that is only the beginning. Years later, she becomes a doctor, a lawyer, an accountant, a teacher or an entrepreneur. She raises a family, mentors young people and helps others believe that their dreams are possible.
That one scholarship did not simply educate one child, it quietly began changing hundreds, perhaps even thousands, of lives.
That is influence multiplying.
Now think about a young person who receives support to start a small business. A few years later, that business employs other people. Families are fed, children stay in school, parents receive medical care and new opportunities are created because someone believed in one person.
Again, the first investment keeps producing results long after it was made. That is why the greatest investments are often invisible at first, but they create lasting impact.
Sadly, we live in a generation that celebrates the splash but forgets the ripples. We celebrate the announcement of a donation, but we rarely return years later to ask what that donation achieved. We count how much was given, but we do not count the lives that continued to change because of it. But history, however, judges differently. History remembers those who built people, teachers who inspired generations, mentors who discovered hidden potential and leaders who opened doors for others.
Their greatest achievement was the people they helped become who they were meant to be. This is where Hajiya Habiba Tijjani Onumoko, FCNA, offers a powerful example.
Many people know her today as the Accountant General of Kogi State and the first woman to hold that office since the state was created. They know her as an accomplished accountant, a public finance expert and a senior government official trusted with managing the state’s treasury. These achievements deserve recognition, but they are not where her story truly begins.
Long before greater opportunities came her way, she had already discovered the simple truth that the greatest investment anyone can make is in people. That belief gave birth to the Fair Win Women Advancement Association (FAWWASS).
At a time when her resources were far more limited than they are today, she was already reaching out to women, students, widows, young people and struggling families across communities in Kogi Central. She did not wait until she became influential before changing lives, she simply started with what she had. Then, as life gave her greater responsibility and greater opportunity, she expanded it. What started as a grassroots effort in Kogi Central gradually grew into a movement that now reaches every part of Kogi State.
Today, FAWWASS has become the state’s strongest grassroots humanitarian organisations, connecting directly with ordinary people, responding to their needs and reminding many forgotten families that someone still cares.
And that journey teaches us something important.
Some people use success to increase just their comfort, while others use success to increase their service. Hajiya Habiba belongs to the second group.
Like she would say:
“Every student supported today may become tomorrow’s doctor, lawyer, accountant, engineer, teacher or public servant. Every woman empowered becomes a source of strength for her family and community. Every young person encouraged gains the confidence to build a better future. Every struggling family restored becomes another source of hope. Every life lifted gains the ability to lift many more.
Money loses value, buildings grow old, machines become outdated and even the strongest roads will one day need repairs. But a trained mind can keep creating value for decades. A person who has been given knowledge, skills and opportunity may spend a lifetime solving problems that outlive them. That is why people remain the greatest resource any society has.”
Perhaps this is the equation we should begin using for cases like her’s:
One opportunity + One person = Many years + Countless lives changed.
That is the mathematics of influence.
It is also the mathematics that many of history’s greatest leaders understood. Their legacy was never limited to what they built with their own hands. Their real legacy was what others continued building because they were first given the chance to dream, learn, work and succeed. Perhaps that is why Hajiya Habiba Tijjani Onumoko reminds us that the most important balance sheet is not the one prepared at the end of the financial year.
Every accountant hopes to leave behind balanced books. Very few leave behind a balanced life. Through FAWWASS, through public service and through a lifetime of investing in people, Hajiya Habiba Tijjani Onumoko, FCNA, has balanced something far greater. She has balanced the account of life.
That is the mathematics of influence. And, that is the balance sheet that truly matters.