Nigeria, July 5 -- There is something inherently captivating about the underdog narrative; the solitary visionary who, by sheer tenacity and indomitable will, defies the odds to achieve greatness. Modern society romanticises these tales, and our collective imagination is saturated with them. From Silicon Valley tycoons to fashion icons and political leaders, we have constructed a cultural mythology around the so-called "self-made" individual. Yet, upon closer examination, the veneer of total self-sufficiency fades.

Behind every success lies a constellation of enablers - mentors, patrons, advisors, even kind strangers, without whom that ascent might never have occurred. The "self-made man," as popularly conceived, is far more fiction than...