You Can Make It

Biblical passages: Genesis 1; Ecclesiastes 1:9-10; Psalm111:2; Proverbs 25:2; Revelation 3:8; 1 Corinthians 2:16; Matthew 18:18; Mark 16:17; Psalm 8:3-6, 23:1 and 27:1; Philippians 4:13 and so on.

Life is just a four lettered word but poignant with meaning. It’s all about making choices; some good and some bad. There comes a time in a person’s life when the need to take a step backwards and assess oneself arises.

Man was the last of God’s creation but nonetheless the most precious, created in the likeness of God and given dominion over all of creation. Created in the image of God, He blessed us with Anointed Minds capable of future discoveries since the Lord had already created (order and beauty from chaos and emptiness) everything we’d ever need to survive here on Earth and left the rest for creative and committed minds like yours’ and mine to seek and become outstanding people in the future.

We are in an era of continuous change worldwide; an era requiring wise Christians to utilize their renewed or regenerated minds as well as God-given talents to make a difference in their environment.

Succeeding against the odds requires developing a positive mindset which is a step in the right direction. One needs to bear in mind that, “You are what you think and say AND who you are determines what you do.” If you see yourself as a failure then woe unto you otherwise Think and Talk Success equals SUCCESS. Do not expect to sit down, do nothing and expect something; C’est ne pas possible (It is not possble).  

To start with I feel it is pertinent to note an ancient saying,

“Look within, within is the Fountain of Good, and it will ever bubble up, if thou will ever dig.”

This means we as individuals need to do some form of sober reflection or self-assessment and in the process go through the following phases or processes:

1)     Acknowledge ourselves as God’s children and heirs

2)     Unlock our hidden creative potentials and channel them properly via affirming their existence (The Power of the Tongue) which leads to confidence et al.

3)     Be focused, confident (avoid limitations), fearless; plan and project properly etc

We must avoid stagnation because Life is a process of transformation whereby every individual must choose the course of his life in order to stay motivated. It is advisable not to procrastinate when faced with challenges as these could make a difference in filling up the void in one’s life or not.

For all these to become achievable, it is imperative for our spirits to be renewed and be in sync with the Spirit of God in order to in order to receive direction and stir up our creative juices to affect our world positively. We will need to study His Word (The Holy Bible), declare it to our situation, be patient and watch God work wonders in our lives. Utilizing our creative abilities is the gateway to inventions for the resources of our minds are limitless and if positively used for Christ, self and humanity, the door of divine creativity and rewards will forever remain opened of which no devil can ever shut.

Personally, I use the poem below to encourage myself and hope for the best. I hope it inspires you as well:

A New Dawn

The Horizon looms out

With the promise of a new dawn,

A dawn filled with hunger and thirst;

For what you might ask,

For change,

Change for the present,

Change for the future.

Come to think of it,

We all talk about change,

Change in our everyday lives

Especially change in leadership;

But from where do we begin?

From within I tell you;

For there cannot be change

Without sober reflections.

For it is in time of such reflections

We purge ourselves from within

Thus giving birth to a new dawn;

One filled with Hope and Certainty

For the much sought – after change,

A change for the good of all mankind.

NIGERIA OH NIGERIA, WHERE GOEST THOU?

We have been bestowed with God given talents that ought to be utilized not just for ourselves as individuals but for the good of all mankind. Personally, I love watching movies and reading romantic novels and gossip magazines a lot but not as much anymore because it took the demise of my beloved Father to bring me back to Ground Zero. I needed to assess my priorities, my perception of the world out there.

Whenever I feel compelled to write a post on “Affaires de Coeur” (Affairs of the Heart), I usually prefer being a Lone Ranger. It forces me to do serious soul searching or sober reflection. I also thank our lucky stars for Tim B.Lee, the inventor of the worldwide web (1994) which I utilize a lot because it has made the world, a global village, as well as made me better equipped with knowledge; for as the saying goes, “Knowledge Is Power.” A man might be poor and too weak to fight but with whatever amount of knowledge he has amassed over time, if properly utilized, he is richer and stronger spirit than any rich and influential man.

We all know that the only constant thing in life is CHANGE and as we clamour for it, we need to bear in mind that in an environment that has condoned societal ills for so long, it would take sheer will power on our parts to effect some form of change. You and I know the saying, “Charity begins At Home” and for improvements to occur in the various facets of our lives, we need to start from ground zero, that is, ourselves. We must do some sober reflecting and change our mind-sets, perceptions from no longer “Business as usual” to demanding from our elected officials, information on what is going on. We each have a right to make such demands.

As Africans, we are in an era were Religion, Science and must I add, common sense clash before headway is made in our quest for change, for improvement. In the book of Genesis 1(as well as Proverbs 25:2 and Psalm 111:2), we are told that God created everything we would ever need to survive in this world in Six days and concealed them for keen and daring creative minds like yours’ and mine to explore, invent or discover and as a result Ecclesiastes 1:9-10 depicts that there is nothing new under the sun. Nothing happens by accident of which Dr. David Oyedepo agrees with by stating, “Every event is invented.” We need not feign ignorance and use our talents properly in order to turn our stagnation into motivation. We accept that there is a Divine Being responsible for our universe and as such we acknowledge Him, God Almighty in the second stanza of our National Anthem,

Arise, O compatriots,

Nigeria's call obey
To serve our Fatherland
With love and strength and faith.
The labor of our heroes past
Shall never be in vain,
To serve with heart and might
One nation bound in freedom, peace and unity.

O God of creation

Direct our noble cause
Guide our leaders right
Help our youth the truth to know
In love and honesty to grow
And living just and true
Great lofty height attain
To build a nation where peace
And justice shall reign.

My people, please for how much longer can we continue to let the image of Our Fatherland dwindle? How can we continue to sit and fold our arms and accept status quo? For how long must all these ills be allowed to continue my brethren? We must not allow past efforts of our fallen heroes go to waste. If you go back and read my initial post, I berated our government for not doing much to curb excesses but I had “to stop and smell the Roses.” I recalled a quote by Late U.S President, JFK- John Fitzgerald Kennedy, in his Ask Not What Your Country Can Do for You Inaugural Address on January 20th 1961,

“…And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you - ask what you can do for your country.”

Of which our amiable Prince Tonye Princewill loves using,

“Ask not what your state can do for you but what you can do for her.”

 Despite all the societal filth, Nigeria is still ours’ and if we do not want her as well as try and protect her sovereignty, no matter how little or how much we have to contribute, someone else out there wants NIGERIA. My people, I sincerely don’t think you or I would want to live like strangers in foreign lands and be called derogatory names, or would you? Change is constant worldwide and we must use wisdom in order to achieve outstanding feats. We can achieve greatness if we take a look at the big picture. The time’s now, this moment my people. We must ply rocky and steep roads to the top but God willing, we will get there.

Finally, I leave you all with this poem,

A TRIBUTE TO NIGERIA @ 51

Time waits for no one;

As our dear country Nigeria clocks 51,
It is time we do some sober reflecting
As we start the second half of a century.
We cast blames at each other
But my people, it is time we are done with all the bickering.
Whether we call God Jehovah or Allah,
The fighting needs to stop;
Too much innocent blood is being shed,
The country appears to be in a state of CHAOS;
Today, it’s ASUU strike,
Tomorrow it may be another organizational problem,
Enough is enough.
Let’s stop complaining about the leadership;
We elect the leaders,
We are the leaders.
So let’s think back
And make necessary changes
Because time waits for no one.

Education is Reading, Reading is Education

There is the need to re-instil the lost culture of reading not only in the children but adults as well. Barrister Edwin Baiyeibo (Host Cleric HOTR Enugu) reminded us about a Persian parable that goes like this:

1) If you see a man who does not know and does not know that he does not know, shun him, he is a fool.
2) If you see a man who does not know and knows that he does not know, teach him, he is a child.
3) If you see a man who knows and does not know that he knows, wake him, he is asleep.
4) If you see a man who knows and knows that he knows, follow him, he is wise..

We are in a generation that needs help to recall the forgotten art of disciplined scholarship and hard work in academics. Our minds need to be renewed with relevant information and remain so in order to keep abreast of happenings in society. Ignorance and other vices need to be nipped in the bud so as to bring back integrity into our educational system and improve on the quality of our graduates. That is why I laud the strides of His Excellency, Gov. R.C. Amaechi in promoting the reading culture via last year’s Garden City Literary Festival which I took part in and enjoyed immensely and another recent event which took place at Silverbird Cinemas with the support of our amiable Prince Tonye Princewill.

I must say that though we attach so much importance to formal education, it is imperative to note that there are a lot of notable folks worldwide who passed through informal education and have joined the league of Great Minds. All hands must be on deck because we cannot continue to turn out half-baked professionals and expect Wole Soyinka, Ben Carson, Late Gani Fawehimi and Jonnie Cochran and other great minds because the essence of life is about information received and mode of usage. Like Eric Butterworth said, “Nothing stops the man who desires to achieve. Every obstacle is simply a course to develop his achievement muscle. It's a strengthening of his powers of accomplishment.” Think wisely and return back to the books.

Happy Belated Mother's Day

Here’s wishing you all in the house, Happy new week. I know it’s been about two weeks since Mother’s Day but I had to send this belated wishes to all you mums and mums to be. Though it takes a Man and Woman (as well as Divine Intervention) to procreate, it’s the woman who handles the home front most times while her man (and she too) goes out to work in order to provide for his growing family, thumbs up to our gentlemen. However, I want to dedicate a poem written by a well renowned female American Poet, Maya Angelou titled Phenomenal Woman.

Phenomenal Woman

Pretty women wonder where my secret lies.
I'm not cute or built to suit a fashion model's size
But when I start to tell them,
They think I'm telling lies.
I say,
It's in the reach of my arms
The span of my hips,
The stride of my step,
The curl of my lips.
I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.

I walk into a room
Just as cool as you please,
And to a man,
The fellows stand or
Fall down on their knees.
Then they swarm around me,
A hive of honey bees.
I say,
It's the fire in my eyes,
And the flash of my teeth,
The swing in my waist,
And the joy in my feet.
I'm a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That's me.