..of Revolutions and the true Political Power

Today, I am angry. I am angry because once again I wake up to surrounding darkness and gloom. For the sixth straight day, we have no light. Our water tanks as a result are dry. We have no water because there is no electricity to pump from our well because our generator has suddenly refused to work. Machines too get tired it says… The only way to get water now is to search the neighbourhood. We cannot use the car because the road is bad. A well-meaning neighbour with the intention of getting it tarred poured some clayey sand on it. Now the road is all muddy because of the unexpected downpour that lasted all night. One cannot even walk on it! My dad, coming home last night damaged his car whilst driving on it, now we have to repair that as well. We have no light, no water, bad roads and lots of expenses to cover. We are our own local government.

I remember as I watched TV yesterday seeing footage from the revolution of the Egyptian people. Yes, the people propelled by an unseen force marched and protested at the Tahir Square in Cairo and all over the country. They decided that they had seen enough oppression and they are tired of their government led by President Housni Mubarak who had been in power for 30 years. The protest lasted only 18 days before the President had to step down. It reminds me of what someone once said that "Tyranny may run for several years but it will take only a moment for freedom to catch up". I saw artisans building makeshift showers and toilets, I saw Christians and Moslems holding hands and I couldn’t help but salute the courage and perseverance of the Egyptian people, and as you, I couldn’t help but wonder if it could happen here in Nigeria too.  Sadly my mind tells me no.

You see, tyranny could come in a single face - as in Egypt, or in different faces - as in Nigeria. There's no need telling that all the leaders we have had in Nigeria since the Mubarak tenure are tyrants. As I compare the Egyptian situation with mine as a Nigerian, I discover some obvious facts. Egyptians have light, they have water and good roads, far better internet and Mubarak, by all accounts is a fair man who loves his country. He is the only Arab president allied to US, Israel and indeed the Western world. His regime has seen laudable economic growth and in the value of life of the ordinary Egyptian person. He is however, not immune  to the sticky finger syndrome peculiar to African leaders as he is rumored to have almost $70 billion worth of loot stashed in offshore accounts. Now that's a fair compensation package for someone who has devoted over half his entire life to public service. That could make him the richest man in the world but at 82, what sense does that make?

The Nigerian situation, however is much worse. We recently extravagantly celebrated 50 years of independence or 'parambulating', paraphrasing FELA as indeed, we have nothing to show for it. In the Nigeria of our parents, dreams did come true but not in ours. In their youth they had more light, more water, better education, better transportation, better and choicer food, better paying jobs for all and limitless opportunities. Then came the tyrants, some in uniform some in Agbada and more recently bowler hats, and Nigeria has been on a steady rot. I can boldly say that all through the Egyptian protests, not more than 20 people were killed. Compare that to Boko Haram, Jos or the number of deaths that police (not even military) have been responsible for. These 'tyrants' have coerced us into being content with mediocrity. That is why the common Nigerian is content with the performance of government. The eye, they say shows the strength of the soul. I look in people's eyes and what I see is disheartening. Our souls have lost all hope, all we do is take what we get as we swim on with the static current not knowing that indeed we are sinking.

Maybe we really don’t need a revolution to be rid of our tyrants, it simply wont happen in Nigeria. We have one thing though, we have the vote and with it a responsibility to elect the leaders we need and hold the electoral system accountable for every single vote casted by Nigerians. The wind of change is sweeping, from the middle-east to and across the Sahara. Let us feel it blow on our faces and breathe from the fresh air it carries. Let us take a cue from the Egyptians who have demonstrated courage to once again show us, that true political power belongs to us, the people.

HOPE, FAITH AND LOVE

Hope, Faith and Love... the earthly trinity

Body, Spirit and Soul... the individual trinity

The Son, the Spirit and the Father... the Holy trinity

This is one of my more audacious writings, audacious because I know so little about the matter and it just seems 'inappropriate' for me to have a say in this... 

However, hard as I have tried to push it, it keeps tugging at me and I knew I had to write about it. I hope you read it with an open mind, I hope you think on it, and most of all I hope you tell me what you think about it.

Well, it all started on Friday, March 19. I was in a bus, staring out blankly through the window, my eye caught something - A Sign ...'Hope Nursery & Pry Sch, Faith Secondary School and Love International College'...

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Hope is a Secular concept.

Hope takes place when the mind is experiencing a desperate psychological need and is fulfilled by feelings of optimism and a motivating belief in one's Secular Will-power to attain that which is hoped for. Hope is earthly, and is of the body. It begs the future, hence is time dependent.

Faith is a Theological (Mystic} concept.

Faith has the same meaning as the secular hope concept but with one major exception; it is motivated NOT by one's Secular will-power but by one's "Mystic" Will-power that believes in a strict "Faith System". And for its many "faith" believers, produces the same results. This System is indoctrinated to one by infallible religious creeds that are absolutely unfathomable by any orthodox rationality. Faith is divine, and of the spirit. Faith is not bound within space-time and seeks its potency because it connects - outside space-time, the spirit of the individual and the Spirit of the divine. Faith, as Pastor Poju Oyemade succinctly puts it is "the manifestation of the spirit".

And love... I need more wisdom for this one... is a gift. The greatest gift of all. 1 John 4:8 states "...God is love" verse 16 lets us know that "...he that dwells in love, dwells in God and God in him". Love is beyond all comprehension of the mind and really is not deserved. We just live, and love. Man was created in the image of God, that is what distinguishes man from every animal. Thus, the ability of man to love is the evidence of his superiority among all that is flesh. Man can only love, because he has a soul - that part of him that connects with the Father. Man prevails because he has a soul; a longing to show love, compassion, endurance and sacrifice. Until he does this, he is nothing and is not fit to don the garb of righteousness. The soul gives substance to the individual.

As the Father is the greater among the three, so is the Soul in the individual and so is Love among all things of the mind. 1 Cor. 13 states "...I might have all knowledge, have faith to move mountains, but if I have not love, I am nothing" ....."And now, abides faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these three is love". Let us prove ourselves as worthy humans by giving love, not as a means to anything, but by crowning love as the Alpha and Omega - An end in itself. Only then can we experience its mighty reflective power and partake in the glorious kingdom that is to come, whilst granting to our souls that persistent touch it so deserves.

Pastor Oyemade would sure have been right if he defined hope as the manifestation of the body/Jesus and love as the manifestation of the soul/God. Because in hope we have the future, in faith we have redemption... but in love we have it all.

JUST A BOY

Just a day, just an ordinary day. Just a boy, just an ordinary boy. He was a dreamer, always constantly dreaming of that fine man he'd want to be. He knew men were never born but were always made. His task was clear. He was gonna make a great man from himself - an ordinary boy. And he worked at it, but soon he realized, that come time when the man was, he(The Man) would have to reflect on the boy he once was. So the boy decided.

Making that man proud of the boy he once was - That is the big picture.

So he grew. With an open mind, never quick to judge. Always ready to learn. Moulding personality with a keen sense of perception. He never stopped dreaming.

And came, the man did. More sudden than gradual. Soon enough, he began to ponder on how he had become. He wondered that if boys become men just like puppies became dogs or cubs become lions, definitely, a boy must have become him. It would interest him to know that boy.

And know him, he did. His soul searching led him to realise that that boy sure did a good job making him who he is. But good jobs just often aren't enough. A coin really has two sides and, yeah Edward Lorenz was right - A butterfly fluttering its wings really can cause an hurricane on the other side of the world. Seeking meaning from the boy and the life he led, the man reflected and he found. Yes! It is all about the boy. Always has been. His job now cut out for him, he now sees.

Making the boy proud of the man he had become - That is the big picture.

It is today, just an ordinary day. It is a boy, just an ordinary boy. But he is looking to the sky…

THE CURIOUS CASE OF THE NIGERIAN

A Nigerian Minister away on a diplomatic trip to Europe spent a couple of days at the home of his friend, a European Minister. He noticed that the beautiful mansion had a picturesque view of the city centre and he was particularly curious about his host's luxurious lifestyle which he knew couldn’t be afforded alone on government pay. His curiosity led him to asking, to which the European Minister replied by saying  "Look at that bridge over there, I got 5% commission on it."

Several years later the Nigerian minister, keen to impress his European friend invited him over to tour Nigeria for a few days. He took him to his village where the European noticed the decaying infrastructure and roads. In the midst of that, however was the Minister's palatial residence together with opulent accessories which contrasted deeply with the total wreck his surroundings was.

The European couldn't take it anymore and had to ask his friend how he could maintain such an ostentatiously extravagant lifestyle to which the Nigerian coyly responded, "See that bridge?"

"Where?" The European asked.

"Of course you can't see it. I took 100% commission on it."

It is no longer news that corruption has eaten deep into the Nigerian mind. What astounds me however, is how the absurd has become the norm in our society. Just a few weeks ago I read in the dailies how three private companies or should I say "individuals" owe hundreds of billions of naira to banks - without collateral. More derisory is the fact that the offenders still claim that they did nothing wrong.

Imagine this. Every home and business in Nigeria spends an average of N500 daily on fuel just to generate power. I assume an individual makes 20kobo from each of these. That is 20k in [let's say] 100 million homes/businesses. Which is N 20million. Somebody makes N 20M everyday in this country. That’s enough reason to want the bulbs to stay off for as long as can be. And I'm just being modest.

Our democracy has degenerated to plutocracy, our heroes are labeled as tyrants, our values nowhere to be found. Hustle is the word on the streets as our youths are hell bent to get rich quick, whatever the cost. The quintessential Nigerian now has a price tag - an inscription which boldly states 'HONOR FOR SALE'. Money has now become the primary motivation for service, not even our Universities and hospitals are immune to this scourge. Our blessing is our curse, our greatest strength as a people now divides us. A nation without values, without heroes is no nation at all. How many of our leaders can even sing the national anthem correctly? What happened to pride? Apparently, many have sold it for a pittance. Others exchanged it for haughtiness. Even the remotest fool is not oblivious to the obvious fact that public services and utilities are moribund, if not already dead. The state of the nation is akin to that of a titanic ship sailing rudderless against the wind of progress.

This is the time folks, this is that moment we stand up. We refuse to turn the other cheek this time around. This is it! This is where we have zero tolerance for corruption and the mad-money rush. We shall speak as one and with action, create new values - of sincerity, of altruism and of patriotism. We only, can make ourselves what we want US to be and re-create the quintessential Nigerian.

However way YOU can, let us begin.

LifeAsISeeIt

"We make a living by what we earn; we make a life by what we give" - Sir Winston Churchill

Perhaps the two most magical words that exist are LIFE and LOVE. Yet, they are the two most synonymous words I know. This ambiguity is corroborated by the fact that they both are as difficult to describe as simple as they actually are.

Life is a mystery that has yet to be unraveled for several years even by the brightest of minds. We all just wake up one day to it, yet nobody understands what we did to deserve it - whether life is a form of penance or liberation. This life has no meaning. It makes no sense. If life was just thrust upon me, then there must be something I ought to do with it. Right? A purpose I must prove. Purpose…

Love is the greatest gift. It also has the uncanny ability to reflect. When we look with love, we see more love returned in the form of beauty. Meaning everything I love looks beautiful to me and vice-versa. Love in its purest form has no reason for it. I just love…, and I don’t know why. And the people I love are all beautiful because of my love. Which doesn’t really make any sense. Why should I love?

Life and Love are similar both in lucidity and in vagueness. Even, only a letter differentiates 'living' from 'loving'. Perhaps the key to unlocking this riddle is by finding the product of the two i.e. (Life × Love). Which to me, is a Life of Love. A life of Love is a life of giving; a life of sacrifice on the altar of love. A life of love is a life worth giving; just like Jesus did on the cross. The greatest life ever lived was a life of giving the greatest gift. He gave Life and He gave Love.

When we give love, we receive beauty. By doing this, we walk the road of purpose and make a meaning out of life and out of love. So let us show love today. It reflects! And it brings a beautiful life. One worth living.

HOPE

"Within our hearts is a single repository for both despair and hope. Filling that space with one totally drives out all but the most shadowy memory of the other. Today, I am filled only with hope."

- Charles Singleton in the book 'The Twelfth Card' by Jeffery Deaver.

  

A long long time ago in ancient Greek mythology, a woman named Pandora was given a box by the gods which she was instructed never to open. Eventually her curiosity overcame her and she opened it, releasing all its content unto mankind. The box was said to contain all the evils of the world and hope, the only good thing inside. Sadly today, we remember Pandora, just like Eve, as the woman whose mistake has cost us a lot of trouble.

With reference to the story now known as Pandora's box, we learn that Hope is the mother of all good and good desire, hence is the only mental tool with which we can fight evil. Every emotion (faith, trust, happiness, even love) is a form of expressing hope. For example, I can hope on love, I can hope for success but I can't love or succeed on hope. Words like love, success and change are products and derivatives of hope.

Hope, they say is a skeptic's word. That if one does not have hope, hope cannot be destroyed and ultimately one cannot be disappointed. Well, what if they are wrong? Can't we see that the very notion of hope was premised on the probability of disappointment. What if there is hope, hope we have not even dreamt of hoping for, hope so tangible that it makes all the difference. A difference was made by those who tried, change was invented by those who dared. To 'try' is to risk failure. The word 'risk' means nothing without hope, so every risk-taker is a hope-user. Hope is volatile and once lost, despair creeps up into our hearts. Despair breeds cowardice which could lead to depression and subsequently, death.

Einstein said that one can live his life as if nothing is a miracle or one can live as if everything is a miracle. Your choice. Barack Obama captured my heart by associating with the word 'hope' and its derivatives. Martin Luther King (Jnr.) said in his famous 'I have a dream' speech that even from the mountain of despair we can hew out a stone of hope. When we can understand the message of hope from these great individuals, we realize that we can hope against hope, we can hope upon hope, we can hope beyond reason and then see - that's what dreams and miracles are made of.

Each of us has a 'Pandora's box' in our care. Can we do better than she did? No! But Hope.

THE URGENCY OF NOW

The past is history, the future is mystery and the present is a gift – that is why we call it The Present.

– Ruth Cassell

The time-space continuum is probably the most complex, yet exciting thing to learn from this universe. Einstein's theories of Relativity are based on it. We understand that Space is finite and continually expanding. And that time is not a constant – it slows down at high speeds (time dilation). Scientists such as Henri Poincare have asserted that similar events occurring at a slightly different time produce varied results. This in circumspect, gives us insights about time.

Time cannot be lost, it is ever-changing; it can’t be leveraged neither can it be waited on. In a sense time cannot be managed. Time brings change and everything changes, relative to time.

Time, as we know is classified in three parts: The past, the present and the future.

The past we all know. It is the bedrock of experience and knowledge and it sums up the embodiment of our being. I call the past – ME.

The future no one knows but we know that it is based on a laid-down sequence of events that correlates directly with the present. Because of the inter-relationship between the future and the present, I call the future – NOW.

The present is at best continuous and can hardly be captured in a moment. It is simply defined as where the past meets the future, that is where "ME" meets "NOW". Dare I say that the present is where I meet “NOW” i.e. where I am now.

This insight shows us how important the present is. How it ever moves in sublime translation. One moment it is, the next – it was!

I live in the present. It is where happiness, opportunities and effort are. Most importantly it is where those "small victories" are won every passing moment, and that typifies what great lives are all about. Small victories - that is the Urgency of NOW!


Written on 11/10/2009