Wake up! sleeping Giant of Africa.

There have been many dust raised over the present state of Education in Nigeria by a host of eminent Nigerians. I dare say that all these efforts are not likely to make any impression on the present parlous state of Education in our Nation because; we are approaching the whole concept of education wrongly.

Our present educational system was bequeathed to us by the colonial masters of old and we just continued to run things according to someone else’s vision for Education for our Nation. That was where we erred as we refused to chart a course for our future as a Nation by ourselves.

 I will term the education we have presently as Hunger induced Education as, if you ask an average Nigerian, why do you go to school, you are likely to hear statements like, I want to be able to live a comfortable life, get a good job and many other variants of the statement above. Let’s conduct a quick test, answer these questions and try to do so truthfully;

1.     Define Education in your own words?

2.     What motivated you to get an Education?

3.     Do you believe you got the right kind of Education?

4.     What have you achieved with your level of Education so far?

5.     How many others have you taught what you know?

I believe the answers you give to the questions above will give you a lot of insight into the present state of Education in Nigeria.

Let me not belabor the issue but attempt to give my humble opinion of the way forward. There is something called the American dream and every president that had ever ruled that country and will still do so works towards making it possible for every American to experience this dream. In fact, every migrant that has ever moved to and will still move to America does so because of this dream. This American dream is what informs every direction of the American Government in every facet of the American life, America, a land of opportunities. In fact, this same dream drives the quest for knowledge which forms the basis for Education in America. That is what makes them and other developed Nations set the pace and others follow. Any form of development is driven by Education therefore for Nigeria to develop our Education has to be right and for that to happen, we need to craft the Nigerian dream.

We have the capacity to get ourselves out of the situation we are in presently. If we look inwards, then we can launch outwards.

What is the Nigeria of your dream? 

 As long as we continue to import Education from other countries and apply it directly, we will never get to our el dorado. The key word is import verbatim. It is full hardy for us to continue in this same vein and expect to experience growth and development in our Nation. Education for us should be focused at building our Nation’s Human resources which will in turn translate to;

1. Studying our environment with the intent to effectively harness the resources available to our advantage and ultimate benefit.

2. Studying our environment to ensure that we do not unbalance it in any way

3. Studying our environment to ascertain how to make it conducive to support us.

4. Making every effort to preserve the sanctity of our environment.

In achieving the above mentioned objectives, we need to glean from the experience of those that have gone ahead of us, yes. But in doing so, we must be careful to see how we can adapt it to our own unique situation. Many a Nation have done just the same thing I am proposing here and it worked well for them, therefore nothing stops us from applying same. Nations like Japan, China, and North-Korea even India and a host of others learnt to adapt what they learnt to their own particular situation

Nigeria is unique in the variety and distinctiveness of its abundant natural resources, topography and land layout, seasons and especially the Human Capital plus a host of other unique attributes that God has blessed us with, we should therefore do all in our power to administer and utilize them properly. No one can do it for us. We are the ones in position to take our destiny in our hands and direct it appropriately. Let us do well to learn all we need to learn from others but then with the mindset of turning the knowledge to how best it will suit our situation. There lies the solution to our Nigeria, a great Nation peopled by a beautiful blend of a unique and talented people. A combination of diversity that when properly harnessed will produce results that had hitherto domiciled in the realm of imagination and fantasy.

I can imagine what is going through your minds right now, how can this happen when nothing works in this nation, when corruption is the other of the day et al. really, the truth of the matter is, it starts with me, yes, me. That is what I have come to discover. That is what I see and that is what I have chosen to believe and work on. The Nigeria of my dreams is a place large enough to contain and support every persons dream, a place that is conducive enough to nurture every individual’s dream and a place that is sufficient enough to allow every one to realize their dreams. Now, that’s the Nigeria of my dreams, what about you?

Appreciation begat Appreciation

In cricket, when a batsman hits the century mark, that is makes a hundred runs or points as you may count it, he gets a standing ovation from all in the stadium. I know, because I was and still am a cricketer.

But on this blog, it is the other way round. As I hit the hundredth view, I stand in ovation for you all that have viewed my page since it came to be. I am grateful and appreciate your patronage. You have made my day. You have helped me to overcome my fear. You have greatly made my head swell (that’s how we say it in my language). I am finally being read so much so that a hundred people have viewed my page. WOW! I am humbled.

I wish I knew all the names of all of you that have made this possible, I would not have hesitated to mention your names and celebrate you. Bob Marley said in one of his hit songs…”emancipate yourself from mental slavery, none but ourselves can free our own minds”… I completely agree with him and I see that you that have taken the time to read my blog and other articles, books, journals etc believe in that truth as well.

Let us read more. Daniel knew by books (Daniel 9:2). How did you think Jesus came about all the “it is written” in the Bible? He read. John Maxwell, the leadership guru and bestselling author that has sold over 19 Million copies of his books still reads – check out his blog on johnmaxwellonleadership.com.

What excuse do you have not to read? And who says you shouldn’t write? This is to celebrate all my fans (I hope I can say that) and thank you for letting me know that I have something to offer.

I must but mention the catalyst that finally sprung me to action, Angelique – check out her blog on maziyateke.wordpress.com. I saw her blog link on my facebook page read it and was wowed and I was galvanized to do something. Voila! Ramblings, was born and a hundred views old already… Angelique, ngyabonga and 21 Gbosa for you.

And to my first follower, I am humbled and encouraged. I have seen your work and it is beautiful. Keep it up.

To all those that have commented about my blog site on my facebook page, a mega big thanks to you and please keep reading. And by country from UK, to USA, to South Africa, to  Australia, to Netherlands, to Belgium, to India and to my People in Nigeria, E se Gan. I really appreciate you all and I am looking forward to celebrating 100 years of blogging with you (HAHAHAHAHAHA).

As you have appreciated me by reading my blog, you also will definitely appreciate personally and in every aspect of your being. Reading is fun and is an all round stimulant. Let’s read more. It definitely adds to us for a wise man once said no knowledge gained is lost. THANK YOU!!!

Be vs. Do

One day, my boss gave me a book to read. The book is titled Success is who you are by Rev. Sam Adeyemi. The book brought about a major upheaval in my thought process. I think what they call a paradigm shift occurred in me. I pondered a lot as my eyes were opened to some revelations. I saw! I remembered preaching the message in Church soon after and the reception was awe inspiring.

What makes a person a person? How do you define yourself? When people ask the question, who are you? What does it mean? What is your name is simple, you just say your name or write it down whichever may be the case but who are you or like I love to put it in Pidgin English, Who you be? Requires more explanation right? Do you notice that when you meet someone for the first time, the line of questioning is from who you are to what do you do? Do you also notice that sometimes in cases of heated arguments you hear some people shout at the top of their voice, do you know who I am? Or in some cases you hear the statement, I will show you who I am… who are you? Who you be? Is it what you do that determines who you are or is it who you are that determines what you do?

The issue of identity has always been a source of confusion for many. I have had the privilege of seeing movies that portray the effect of temporary amnesia and how the affected person seeks to find out who s/he is. Now, it doesn’t matter what the person does, what matters is who the person is. Part of the quest to restore memory loss includes of course finding out what the person did in the past and all but the main question still remains, who am I?

What you do, is a function of who you are and that is why even in cases where crime takes place the first point of call is not the action but the motive behind the action. Motive is an internal thing not an external thing so you see that even the law courts need to ascertain the suspect in-depth. Does it not surprise you that we are called Human (BE)INGs and not Human Doings or Human Does. We are, as in we be. We are before we do.

Where is all this leading to? I believe that resolving the question of who we are, is very vital to everything else in life be it choice of career, relationships, productivity etc.  Who we are determines the choices we make, it determines our taste. If one is not able to conclusively determine who one is, a lot of effort will be wasted, time, resources in short, everything will be skewed until one discovers self. Like Rev. Sam will say, that I failed does not make me a failure also I add that it looks like it does not mean it is. Every effort should be spent on self discovery and I tell you it will not be wasted. Once you are able to discover who you are, then you are on the path to making a success out of life. If you don’t know what a thing is, abuse is inevitable therefore if you don’t know who you are, abuse is very certain. It is first a chair before it is that thing you sit on, because you can sit on a table and your action does not make the table, a chair. You might as well sit on a pot of hot burning coal. Who we are is our uniqueness. We don’t share that with any other person. We may do the same things, often times the same way but that is where the similarities end because our motives may be different and that is a function of who we are.

I know the question that will be at your lips now is how do I find out who I am? How do I proceed on this journey of self discovery? I will add my own set of questions; how did a Ford Explorer know that it is a Ford Explorer? Or how did the iphone know that it is an iphone? Someone designed the device that you are reading this article on; in fact a whole lot of people designed and created the multiple components of whatever device you are using now. Have you ever wondered how you came to be? Where you came from? How you became? There is a whole book that can provide the answer to the questions listed above. It is called the Bible. In there, you can find out who you are by first discovering how you came to be and how to have a relationship with the Supreme Being. Summary of this paragraph, ask God.

Sometimes what you discover may not be palatable, don’t be discouraged, we are all works in progress. That is why we are human BE-INGs! We are continuous. We do not stop. So brighten up, you can be a better you but that is as long as you take the first step in self discovery. You cannot explain what you don’t know and you cannot build on what you don’t know. Start the venture to self discovery and enjoy truly BE-ING! Seek to know THINESELF!!! For those who may not know, THINESELF means YOU…

The untalkable

I have been married for over 3 years now and I have had my share of marriage experiences. Most of it is fun, and very eye opening. I have read many books on relationships and marriage and this I have to say, they don’t really, really prepare you for the physical impact of married life. They try, but reading is different from experiencing especially when it comes to the difference between men and women, the books prepare you mentally which is good but not physically. Summary, men are very different from women period and the sooner you swallow this, the better for us all. The prayer is to constantly be aware of this truth which is not easy to achieve, that I know.

Why all this? Let me cut to the chase. Now I know why some men leave their, to die for looking wives and sleep around. How did I arrive at this knowledge?

Let me start from my early days. Thank God I am not a cat; I would have been dead long time ago. I mean, it is only the curios cat that gets dead right? Phew, that’s why I am still alive. My level of curiosity is high, very high. I label myself the mobile questionnaire. Ask those I have grilled, they will tell you. More than that, I do a lot of internal questioning too, pondering over various issues and all. One of it had always been why do some men cheat on their wives? These wives I am talking about are knock outs, head turners, beautiful, fully and roundly endowed just to mention a few and you would think, no this man has no reason whatsoever to be unsatisfied with what he has and yet??? This has always puzzled me and I devoted so much time ruminating over it then. Alas, now I know having been married for upwards of 3 years now with two lovely kids. How do I know I am sure you want to know too, thank God you are not a cat… I thank God I have never thought of cheating on my wife before and I trust that God will continue to uphold my desire not to.

Here is how I know. Men are very different from women. Nobody likes stress, more the men, especially when it comes to SEX!!! Yes, SEX, the untalkable. Our wiring is way different when it comes to every aspect but it is magnified in the area of sex. Husbands are easily aroused, very easily so wives are not and for wives, depending, it may take more time for them to get aroused as the marriage progresses. Sex within marriage is very different from sex outside of marriage. Outside of marriage, it is very sweet and enjoyable because;

1.     It is stolen pleasure

2.     There are no commitments

3.     It is very selfish

4.     You can easily work around distractions

5.     You don’t talk about it you just do it etc

But in marriage, in the beginning it is sweet and enjoyable but with time, it may sour out because;

1.     Now there is freedom

2.     Talking is involved but not done properly

3.     Distractions set in and are not handled creatively

4.     Expectations gets dashed because they are usually unsaid

5.     The eyes are now open etc

Long and short, premarital sex eventually affects the marriage if care is not taken. That is why in some climes, some prefer not to get married and prefer to co-habit. It is the wrongest arrangement as the couples live a lie in refusing to take responsibility for their actions.

Premarital sex is evil and I hope young people are taking note of this. Only God with your cooperation can save you from a broken marriage if you’ve been heavily involved in premarital sexcapades. Marriage is work, sex in marriage is work. A lot of men shy away from such work; they had the wrongest of expectations based on experience. They feel marriage now means sex 24/7/365 at per second billing or more realistically, on ready on demand basis. Wow! Are you so wrong! Wake up man that is not the case. For you to get beautiful sex from your wife, you must communicate with your wife, listen to her, hear her, show her that you heard her and your marriage will be beautiful all wise, and sex wise too. A wise man once told me that if I desire to be the best husband, I should listen to my wife. I should let my wife teach me. I will never forget such advice, as it came from someone whose marriage I have always admired, my father – he is great man.

I realize a lot of men can’t spare the time to please their wives, and if wifey is not pleased, wifey cannot be in the mood so to avoid this, man goes outside. Our wives are neither whores nor our mistresses, no they are not. You don’t expect them to open their legs at the sound of your zippers. Hear this;

1.     Wives are motivated differently from whores/mistresses

2.     Wives love you, whores/mistresses don’t care about you, they just pretend to. They only care about what you have.

3.     Wives are not seeing other men, whores/mistresses are seeing plenty other men

4.     Wives keep the house, the children and you. Whores/mistresses keep only themselves.

5.     Wives protect you; whores/mistresses steal from you and even steal you.

The list is long, you can add to it. The reason why some men cheat on their beautiful wives is because these men are;

1.     Selfish

2.     Lazy and

3.     Impatient

Jesus commands us to love our wives as he loves the church. Love is sacrifice; love is from man to woman. It is what you pour in that you get back. It is what you sow that you reap. You may say, why men? Why not? We are expected to take responsibility. Let us break the hold of Adam over us, he was there when Eve was being tempted yet he did nothing, after the shit hit the fan he points at the woman. The story is familiar right? Ask the man; with the bombshell of a wife you have, you are still looking out, why? They point at the woman. If the land is not properly cultivated and taken care of, we won’t always have food on our tables. Take time to cultivate your wife so you can enjoy the many fruits she has to offer.

This write-up is for you young men out there awaiting result (yes or no), about to wed or newly wedded. Be the man God wants you to be, love your wife and don’t even dream of cheating on her. I want to salute those that have never cheated on their wives, heaven will reward you. Encourage others by speaking out. Change lives by sharing your story. Someone needs to hear your story and be strengthened by it. Speak and be heard. Bless those you are meant to bless. Just do it…

Just do it...

I have struggled to title this article. So, I just thought, write now and title later and that is what I am going to do.

Here is what I believe to be true, everyone has their audience, and everyone has a followership. Everyone has someone that looks up to them or that is linked to them in some way.

What I am trying to bring out is no one can stop you but you. That there are many singers and good ones at that does not mean you should not go to the studio thereby killing the songs in your heart bursting to come out. My country Nigeria is a unique country in the sense that there is a lot of trending. All you need do is start something, anything and as long as you are making a success of it, soon every other person will join the bandwagon – it doesn’t matter if you all stay on the same street. You can imagine everyone on a street selling the same products, wow, but it does happen and they still get patronized and that is my point. It is not enough to say that everybody is in this business means I can’t be there. My people have a saying, “the sky is big enough to accommodate all the birds” and I add all the airplanes as well.

There is a space for everyone to make his/her impact, influence a life and generally affect the world.  That is the whole essence of creation, connection. Imagine if someone like John Maxwell said, wow, with so many bestsellers out there, would I even be noticed? And he decides not to write based on that. Imagine all the authors in the world, all the artistes and so on. The fact that there is someone doing what you are doing already or what you want to do should not discourage you from going on. Whatever it is you choose to do, you bring your own uniqueness to it and there are those whom only you can touch. God has arranged things so that we have all we need to be what we want to be. After all Jesus came to save the world but not all accepted Him. But some did and those are the ones that matter.  He didn’t change his mind about dying for all despite the fact that He knew that not all will accept Him. He came, and He did what He had to do. We are also expected to do what we have to do. Write that book, sing that song, start that business or whatever it is you have to do. Do it, you will be found. Remember, who you are is what you get and you can always improve on who you are. Not everyone will accept you, but some will, so you just focus on those that do accept you and concern yourself with them only. Always remember, you can’t please the world. For instance, there are still people that are not moved by the late Wacko Jacko’s songs despite his world wide fame.

We all have our strengths and our weakness, me I know mine and I try to focus on my strengths and not get bogged by my weakness. Here I am writing my own blog and people are actually reading it. It doesn’t matter if there are no comments yet, but I am getting read. That is all that matters to me for now. I am working to improve myself, give people a reason to read me more. It doesn’t matter that I am just starting in 2011 while there are those that have been blogging since blogging came to be. It doesn’t matter that there are millions of blog sites and bloggers scattered all over the world. What matters is I keep on keeping on and continue what I am doing.

This is as much about me as it is about you. In talking to you, I am talking to myself. If I can do it, then you can, just give it a try. There are people out there waiting for your product, song, book, teaching, movie, name it. Anything and everything you have to offer, you have a ready audience as much as we are still here in this world, you will be heard only if you speak. Just do it...

I appreciate all of you that have taken time to read my blog and those that will do so soon. I can’t do this without you.  I would love to hear from you so please do drop a comment or send me a mail directly on segun.omojola@gmail.com. Until the next blog, stay blessed.

Segun Omojola.

My voice(why i am rambling)

Where do I start from...? From time to time, thoughts feel my head that I wish I could capture with words. The power of words has always fascinated me. I have read my share of books and all and I strongly believe that everyone has a story. In the end, if all these stories come out, I wonder if the world will contain it. I don't intend to live a voiceless life. I desire that posterity will be touched by something of me. The intention of Ramblings is to conquer my fear, add my voice to the many voices before and after, see my thoughts in Black and White. That is what Ramblings is all about... Writing my MIND...my Posts do not have to follow a particular order and the issues discussed may not necessarily be global in outlook. I promise though to try as much as possible to stay within the ambit of good English practice though that only will concern spellings. Also in what to expect, I may bring some of the languages I command with ease and some I don't just to appear learned. Ramblings, is a product of pent up words seeking to be let loose, bursting around in my head and almost causing headache. It is also an unending question as humanity strives daily to learn and understand and in the process realize that it never ends, at least not on this side of the divide. I am part of that always questioning mass of humanity and Ramblings may be just a long list of question sometimes. I am hoping also that in Rambling, I will be opening myself up to some needed contributions and I welcome all sorts and will appreciate ‘no holds barred’ comments as far as it doesn’t feel like a punch in the face which criticism can sometimes be. Ramblings, seeks to help achieve my lifelong dream to be read by others, to be published. It is a journey towards conquering laziness on my part, hoping by this that a never ending demand will be placed on me to keep Rambling. And again, expecting that by this I get to continue to improve on myself and maybe get world renowned… who knows, a bestseller might just be around the corner. So, I have started this and I hope to keep it up and keep on keeping on. I can talk for hours on end; I just hope I can write as much. Equally, I hope to help relieve your stress, you that take time to read my lines. I hope to sometimes be a fun part of your day and sometimes a serious component. I hope that my lines will be part of your reservoir of quotes and all. I hope that my lines will come up in some of your daily conversations, arguments, talks, lessons and even thoughts. I look forward to shaping history or at least contribute my part in the history of the world. So help me God.

I want to be President

Forgive my rush, i am truly digging the past. I actually sent this to the editor of the Punch newspaper. didn't even get a reply. thank God for email because i had lost my copy, i just downloaded this from my sent mail.
this i wrote when our Late President, May his soul rest in peace was in power... enjoy...

I want to be President… of Nigeria. And I don’t care if they do or die. That is entirely their business. After all, anything goes. You can be Assistant Commissioner of Police today and be Assistant Inspector General of Police tomorrow and vice versa, all at the whim of my humble self, the President and I am indeed a servant leader, fully committed to the eradication of corruption and the entrenchment of the “rule of law”. And of course, I can send the Chairman of my Party out as member of any delegation to represent our great country at any time as is necessary to take advantage of his acumen in over seeing the daily workings of our GIGA-TRON of a Party in further enhancing the image of our beloved country.

I must say, it is not an easy task to rule this country so there is need to form various Committees at any and every opportunity to ensure that my many cronies are gainfully employed thereby reducing the rate of unemployment in the Nation. The power issue is really of great concern to me. The fact that my fellow Nigerians are in perpetual darkness pains me to my heart. I will therefore see to it that a lot of noise is made about the issue. I only hope that my people will not go deaf from the noise of the many generators that will be made available with immediate effect. Also considering the fact that power plays a most crucial role in our quest to place Nigeria among the top 20 economically viable Nations come 2020, I will ensure as much as possible that my cronies will be commissioned to bring in silent generators and state of the art inverters all at affordable prices. As you all know, this act of mine will also notch up the level of employment.

 Now to the Niger-Delta issue, the rule of law must be maintained at all cost. Therefore the might of the nation and the full weight of justice will be brought to bear on the criminals that are perpetrating such dastardly act in that region. I must clearly state here that I have zero tolerance for any form of criminality and I will do all that is in my power to wipe out criminality in that region and indeed Nigeria.

The wheel of government grinds slowly as you all know, so, as to the conditions of our roads, you will have to bear with us. We shall attend to it in due time. Meanwhile to cushion the effects of these death traps, I will do everything possible to build the capacity of the Federal Road Safety Commission to handle the outcome of accidents on our roads  and they will enjoy the cooperation of other sister agencies. Also efforts will be stepped up to ensure that those that do not survive such unavoidable occurrences will be given proper burial at no cost to their loved ones.

 At this juncture, I want to appeal to all the good people of Nigeria to be patient with this present Government. As is widely known, Rome was not built in a day, therefore, in good time; you all will fully enjoy the dividends of Democracy. This we will ensure sometime in the course of our hundred years reign. This is my most solemn promise to you. Be sure that I will fully inform my chosen successor after I have completed my second term in office and impress on him to carry on in the same vein that my government has done to ensure that you continue to enjoy quantum economic and infrastructural development. Even the little issue of the FOI bill will be paid every attention it deserves.

Our colossal party and indeed this Government, has the good of this country at heart and we care for our beloved Nation deeply as you all may have gleaned through the media and experience. I must at this point appreciate my many cronies for their unflinching support toward the success of our great Nation and in ensuring that this Nation maintains its position as the giant of Africa through their numerous acts of unmatched patriotism and unvarnished loyalty. They have greatly enhanced the image of this Nation by greatly increasing her foreign reserve by their unselfish acts of saving huge portions of the National cake in their personal accounts in foreign banks. And as we all know, he who is faithful in little, more is given to, therefore, these acts of patriotism shall surely not go unrewarded. Soon we shall have a new set of National awardees. Our journey is far and our task set out in the Seven Point Agenda, therefore all hands must be on deck to move this Nation forward. Long live our great Party, Long live Nigeria.

Written this day of our Lord 08-08-08.

Nigeria i hail thee.

I can't believe this is happening. Thank God for Hard disks. i just pulled a recent but ancient vituperation of mine. it was a sign of the times in Nigeria not too far back, but things are changing fro the better now. it's a good read though, because it bellied a lot of anger. i am posting it as it is, unedited. Enjoy...

I have read with avid interest the many comments made by Nigerians on the state of our nation. I have actively participated in lively discussions with Nigeria being the sole topic and I have tracked the response of Nigerians worldwide via the media on their views about the state of the Nation.

I have carefully noted the response of Nigerians as we approached the marking of Nigeria at 50 and beyond tainted by the needless massacre of innocent souls by… I loath to mention their name for their despicable act and I marvel at the recurrent state of denial and finger pointing that is evident in almost all comments.

For how long will we continue to delude ourselves? For how long will we fool ourselves as a Nation? For how long will we continue to tolerate this situation we find ourselves? For how long will we continue to mouth feeble protest as we permit ourselves to rape ourselves? For how long will we continue to blame our supposed leaders for our woes as a Nation? Who can exempt him/herself from the condition we find our Nation in presently? For how long will we continue to wait for that elusive messiah that will come and LEAD us out of this present darkness? When will we ever realize that we need to do something? When will we realize that we can put an end to the abysmal disgrace that we are fast becoming as a Nation? When are we ever going to be united of purpose?

Until we face the truth squarely in the face and accept the truth for what it is, we will never leave this rut we are presently bogged down in. I am tired of hearing people blaming government for everything imaginable that befalls them. When exactly did we all collectively sell our birthright? When did this all pervasive sense of helplessness and acute lethargy overcome us so? Rather than think up creative and strategic ways to free ourselves from the quagmire we are in, we are satisfied with complaining and accusing our leaders. Are these leaders not humans? When are we going to realize that our continuing selfishness will end up destroying us? When will we realize that this “me, myself and I” attitude if not addressed will not only destroy us but our future as nation will be assassinated?

When are we going to stand up for the right, irrespective of race, color, tongue, religious and ethnic diversity? When are we going to shine our eyes and move to deliver ourselves?

Blast from the past contd...

here is the second article, Enjoy...

Time keeper

Hellooo! Well you may be wondering who the time keeper is or what it means, though I remember back then in secondary school, we had designated time keepers who by the use of bells or other forms of attention grabbing device, indicate the start or end of events such as assembly, class, break time and so on as pertaining to the school schedule. And then I remember also that it was a taboo to be late for any of these events as each attracts its own commensurate retribution.

What really is so confusing is the situation that gives now in this present time where programs are started far behind or should I say far in front of the scheduled time of commencement. It is commonplace for people to arrive hours after an event was billed to commence and this has more or less become accepted such that it is appropriately termed. “African time” they call it. The really baffling thing is that even Christians are not left out and we are supposed to live exemplary lives as we are the “salt and Light” of the earth.

Let me put it to you this way, what is your attitude to timing? Are you part of those who believe in African timenism? Should that be our attitude as Christians? Or where do we place the message of time in Eccl 3? Or maybe we do not realize that we will account for every time spent either doing nothing or doing something. How can we possibly redeem the time if we are obviously careless about it, or may be our sojourn in tertiary institutions has erased the little sense of timing we acquired from our secondary school days due to the flexible environment that operates in such institutions.

That every other person is tall does not make me tall,  it is time for us all to be time sensitive not just conscious and let us always stick to time, it saves a lot of stress if we do things in their time. Let us learn to redeem our time as GOD has pointed out to us ok! Good! Till next time, don’t do it just because every body does it, it is a flimsy excuse. Ciao. 

Blast from the past.

Hey guys, i just dug up some old write-ups of mine that but for now may not have seen the light of day. I need to do a bit of explanation here. I conceived an idea to write on everyday issues particularly as it affects Christians in Nigeria. I tagged the series "everybody does it" and i have only written two of such articles. This was long time ago and i hope you understand. So i thought to myself, since i am doing this then lets go all the way, who knows maybe the series will truly come to life and i hope the issues covered are global in outlook as well. Enjoy the first of the two articles.

Everybody does it…..

Age falsification…..

It surprises me when people fail to disclose how old they are when asked. I mean its almost like theirs is a curse on those that reveal their age so that it prevents most people from doing so, or is it that by not disclosing one’s age one stands a chance of living to a ripe old age, I really do not understand. And to worsen it all, “Christians” are even caught in this strange web. We hear of government officials celebrating their birthdays and people just shrug and laugh because everyone knows that the purported age is not the celebrants’ real age, and that’s it, people shrug and laugh and life goes on. Why? Yes, that is the question you should ask yourself, why? Why exactly do people do that? Why should you fill a form and not put your real age in the DOB column and then you sign at the end that all information giving is true and accurate? I still don’t know the reason, but the truth be said, an untruth can never ever become truth no matter the amount of emphasis placed on it, it will still be what it is, a lie. So why do it? Does it ever occur to us that God created the times and seasons, and that He is an orderly Being? This is why people in the scriptures had their ages mentioned when they are being talked about especially around important events that happened to them. For instance, we know how old Abram was when he was called, we know how old he was when his name was changed and when he had Isaac and eventually when he died not to talk of the great Methuselah, or even not to mention our Lord Jesus Christ, whose age was mentioned when He first went to the temple and also how long he spent while on earth. Or why did the psalmist say these words “….Help us to number our days….)? All this examples point to the truth that those who hide their age for whatever reason are not truly grateful, because they are otherwise claiming that God’s timing is wrong. I know that many have never seen it this way, that’s why I am pointing it out so that we can mend our ways. It really is not worth the trouble so don’t lets do it. Just like the Yoruba’s will put it, “what is not good is not good” let us change and begin to appreciate who we are, especially in Christ.

Till the next edition of “everybody does it” keep on keeping on and effect a change if this affects you. Note also that you can’t effect this change by your effort alone, so ask God to help you and He will, ok! Good! So don’t do it because everybody does it.

Scriptural reference in order of mention:-

 Gen 11:26,Gen 12:4,16:13,17:1&24, 21:5, 25:7Gen 5:21-27,luke 2:41-42, 3:23, Ps 90:12. Happy reading!

Winning my battle against fear

What a topic. Everybody has fears or fears something and I am not left out.  Some don’t show it as much as others though, but it is there alright. No, I am not afraid of death because I am in Christ and therefore life after death is settled for me. I don’t fear public speaking either, that is my forte. It wasn’t so from the beginning but now I am an accomplished broadcaster and Master of ceremonies. It puts food on my table too.

What then is my fear? Writing! Not as if I don’t write but I just freeze when it comes to writing. I fear people’s response to my write-ups. Not as if I don’t think when I speak but thinking is stressful for me while writing. I fear nobody is going to enjoy what I write. I fear I am not going to turn out writings that will be compared to that of bestselling authors that I have read and thoroughly enjoyed. Such writers have caused me sleepless nights… I am sure you feel me on this, that novel that just won’t leave you be until you finish that last page. I desire to have that effect on others too. I wonder that I cannot bring the effect I have on those who listen to me on those who read me. I am a lifelong student of communication.

This is an attempt to overcome that fear. Having read many books on getting started and sat under several seminars on personal development, one thing that keeps popping up is, just write… which is just what I am doing, writing. Am I making any sense? I hope so. Is it compelling? I’ll leave you to be the judge of that.

I guess this is kind of like walking the tight rope only that my readers are the tight rope and their critic will determine the thinness of the rope. I hope I survive the criticism. What am I saying? I am jumping the gun. Am I even sure people will get to read this piece? Sit down run through it and then decide to drop a line? That is pushing it, right? Well, the die is cast already; I have already gone past 300 words. Wow! What a feat. Phew!

I have done it, I have written, or I am writing, are you still with me? Are you still on this page? Well, if you are still with me, please let me know what you think. It is not as if I have not written before now and it’s not as if I didn’t have rave reviews. It is just that I have not done a lot of writing and I would really love to be published some day.

This is all about me for now of course not in a selfish sense, but in a I’ve got to do this sense, as in I am past caring now as I can’t afford to. I just have to write and blog and invite people to read and then wait to see if anyone reads and wait for comments if any. Should I beg, plead, implore, appeal, coerce, entice etc. I have dived into the water; I hope the water carries me. I have taken a step to overcome my fear; will you join me in this venture? What is your fear? What do you hope to overcome? Act like I have done, just do it. Just dive, worry not yourself about what others will say, at least for now. Close your ears to what people may say, grow deaf, then when the noise is getting too much to be ignored, open your ears slightly to sieve in the positive criticism and a little bit of the negative. This is to ensure that necessary adjustments can be made, on your side that is. I have taken a leap, if Obama can, then I can. If Angelique can, then I can and if I can, then you can… just do it… let’s do it…

Follow the leader.

Everybody wants to lead, yeah right you say. True enough cos most people don't want to follow, not even themselves. To lead others, learn to lead yourself just as loving others must be as you love yourself. Lead and be led... Yes, led to lead by God...

Welcome to my blog.

Hi. I want to be the first to welcome you to my blogspot. Well, i hope together, we have a fruitful and productive journey slugging through my lines.
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