Nigerians are the happiest people in the world. The World Values Survey found that almost 70 percent of Nigerians consider themselves very happy. Money certainly is not the reason that made Nigerians happy. Having tons of money is only a limited factor in happiness. __47__ Bill Gates, for example, is happy not because of his immense wealth but because everybody wants to be his friend. Money can certainly buy happiness, but its impact seems to drop once you can afford basic necessities. Of course, inflation makes the problem worse. __48__ Even when money does exert an influence, it is not the size of your paycheck that matters. __49__ The New York cabbie who has an efficient car may seem happy, but not as happy as the Ethiopian villager who has a more efficient cow than his/her neighbors. When you are living amid wealth and luxury, your desires tend to be greater. __50__ It should not be surprising, then, that Nigeria, Mexico, Venezuela and El Salvador rank the highest in happiness among the 65- plus countries surveyed.

    At 16, Maya Angelou became San Francisco’s first black female streetcar conductor. Her first book, I know Why the Caged Bird Sings, tells us her early life. Its unsparing account of black life in the South during the Depression and of her sexual abuse is not easy reading. But her tough, funny, lyrical voice transforms her story into a hymn of endurance that influenced later memoirists. Her own obituary sums up her life: “Love is that condition which encourages us to build bridges and to trust them and cross them in attempts to reach other human beings.”