Month: April 2016

Unnecessary Burden

/ Adewumi Oni / Leave a comment

Our generation has been fed with so many stories. Some are true, some are false, some are somewhat true, some are somewhat false, some are outright creation of evil machinations. These stories have affected the way we see the other persons. They have created so much hatred between tribes, races and colors. Sometimes, you could almost touch the hatred a black man has for the white man and vice versa. Even among the blacks, the hatred is unimaginable! A typical example is the needless waste of lives during the Tutsis and Hutus imbroglio in Rwanda. Another is the Biafra war in Nigeria.

When I read hateful comments on social media by Yorubas against the Ibos, or the Ibos against the Hausas, I ask myself why we carry so much burden of hatred. I love our diversity. Essentially, we are all human beings and none of us willingly chose his or her tribe. As a matter of fact, I could have been an Ibo man or an Hausa man or even a Briton. God decided where I was born and this same God created the different tribes and races all over the world. If we hate ourselves so much, we might as well hate the Creator!

We complain about ourselves and point out our faults and weaknesses as if we expect humans to be angels. Even angels have weaknesses, otherwise there would not have been fallen angels! Enough of the hatred! Enough of the hateful words! We are first human and that is all that matters. If animals could care for their own, why can’t we care for ourselves? I still can’t find reasons why you would hate someone so much as to think of striking the person dead. Some of us cringe when slaughtering a chicken or goat, and then some people delight in slaughtering fellow men in the name of religion! Very unfortunate!

Whether you hate because of stories you heard or what you have witnessed, it doesn’t make you any right in hating. We are creatures of love and hate is anti-God. The hatred in our heart is too much burden for the heart to carry. God never created our hearts for burden. True food of the heart is love. Stop hating and start loving. Forgive where you have been hurt and allow God to heal you.

God bless us all.

Good morning Africa!

Good morning Nigeria!

Say ‘NO’ to this 8th Senate

/ Adewumi Oni / Leave a comment

“Leadership cannot just go along to get along. Leadership must meet the moral challenge of the day.” —Jesse Jackson

That, at a time when the Executive arm of the government is trying to minimize cost of governance, our Senators could buy one Land cruiser jeep per state at =N=36.5m each, shows that we have the wrong people at the Upper Chamber. Do they need a 36.5m keep to represent us? Don’t we know them? Do they need to impress us with Jeep?

That the Senate will leave its daily constitutional duty at the Senate to provide ‘Solidarity Support’ for the embattled and self-immolating Senate President before the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT), shows that these Senators are far from the reality of the times we are in, that it is no longer business as usual for corruption and all its allies.

That the Senate could attempt to arm twist and frustrate the CCT’s plan to ensure speedy trial and judgment on the Saraki’s matter, by unconstitutionally summoning the CCT Chairman on a matter which is already before a competent Court of Law, is tantamount to sabotage of the will of the people and treason against the very people they represent. We all know that this summon is to frustrate the daily trial session of 10am to 6pm and the stay off instruction to the shameless ‘Saraki’s Supporters Club’ within the Senate, as ordered by the CCT.

This 8th Senate must understand the moral challenge of the times we are in. She must understand that failure to meet up with the moral challenge will lead to her failure and eventual dissolution. Nigerians, home and in diaspora should rise up to speak up in unison against all attempts by this Senate to draw us back with their senseless and selfish spending, their attempt to toy with our budget, their ploy to protect one of their own in the face of overwhelming evidence of wanton and reckless corruption, and their grandstanding by inviting the CCT Chairman.

Say ‘NO’ to these immoral Senators.

God bless us all.

Good morning Africa!

Good morning Nigeria!

You are Running Out of Time

/ Adewumi Oni / Leave a comment

He woke up on the 1st of January with great expectations. The cross over service was awesome and there were great prophecies that proved that it is indeed going to be a year of great accomplishments. As a matter of fact, the Pastor tagged the year as ‘Year of Uncommon Breakthroughs’. “Surely this is my year”, he assured himself. Six months later, he was asking himself what went wrong. ‘Where are all those prophecies?’, he wondered. Nothing has changed from what it was last year, rather it seems he is worse off.

This story is that of You and I. We all have high expectations at the beginning of every year and we usually write down our New Year Resolutions. Year in year out we watch as the days grow into months and the months into years and those dreams remain mere illusions. We sometimes wonder if the prophecies were false (some could be). We even change our sanctuary sometimes, when doubts hit our mind about the authenticity of the ‘Prophet’. We look for the solutions from everywhere except the right place.

The solution is not in the prophecy, neither is it with the Prophets, nor the church or mosque. The solution is in you. The solution is in filling the ‘Knowing-Doing Gap’. Filling the gap requires work, it requires rolling up your sleeves, it requires a lot of night meditation and strategic thinking. It requires a lot of determination, self discipline, commitment and sacrifice. This is the path we all often miss. It is the path we often avoid. It is a lonely path, but exciting and full of learning experience. Little wonder, why the road to heaven is also described as narrow. It is the path that separates the dreamers to the doers. But we usually prefer the path of least resistance.

You have got to realize that nobody will actualize your dream for you. It is your sole responsibility. The prophets can only but prophesy. You have got to work it out. Faith without work is dead. The hardest part is that you don’t have eternity to fulfil your dreams. You have a limited time and it is fast running out. Your age is the number of years you have delayed the actualization of your dreams. You are never too young or too old to pursue your dreams.

So when you mark another birthday, your first question is ‘how far have I gone in the fulfillment of my dreams?’. You are really running out of time. It is time to stop procrastinating and waiting for instant miracle. Go for your dream today, it is all there waiting for you to embrace it!

God bless us all.

Good morning Africa!

Good morning Nigeria!

Be Thankful

/ Adewumi Oni / Leave a comment

Do you know that the situation you consider pathetic, undesirable, pitiable, undeserving, and unimpressive, is the prayer request of another person? While you are grumbling that you need to change your two year old vehicle for a brand new, someone who is driving a fairly used (Tokunbo) vehicle is praying to have a car like yours. While you are complaining that your vehicle’s air conditioning system is no longer working, somebody is praying to God for just any car, even without A/c. While you are mumbling about your one bedroom that has become uncomfortable for you and your family, a family is praying to have a place like yours instead of being scattered around with relatives.

If you truly know how to think, you will know how to thank God. You need to cultivate a grateful heart. God is good, all of the time. He is good to you even when the going is tough. He is good to you always. Always be grateful, because it could have been worse. You could have been dead. You could have been crippled. You could have been fired instead of the pay cut you suffered. It really could have been worse. But for His mercies, your situation could have been worse. Psalms 107:1, 118:1.

While we should desire change of situation for the better, let us do so with a grateful heart. When you thank Him for what He has done, He will do more. Don’t be an ingrate. Stop entering His Presence with your complaint. His Presence is not a Police Station where you go to file complaints. Enter His Gate with thanksgiving and His Court with praise. Psalm 100:4. As you do so consistently, something will give way and your level will change for the better. This is laid heavily on my heart today, that we should cultivate a grateful heart over our lives, homes, even nation and our change will come soon. We will smile at last!

God bless us all.

Good morning Africa!

Good morning Nigeria!

The Voices that Affect Your Life

/ Adewumi Oni / Leave a comment

There are certain voices that have great impact on one’s life. These voices either limit your dreams or push you to fulfilling your dreams. They are called the Voices Within and the Voices Without.

The Voices Within are in two forms, the voice of reason and the voice of instinct. Your voice of reason works based on logic and it is closely linked to the natural mind. It tells you reasons why it is foolish to pursue your goals because you don’t have all that is required. It is based on pure logic. If 1+2=3, then it will be foolhardy to expect 1+2 to be equal to 5, but based on the voice of instinct 1+2 can be equal to 5. The voice of instinct receives directly from the spirit of God (Holy Spirit) and often times defies logic and natural tendencies. 1 Cor. 1:26-29. It works based on revelation and not on logic. The more you listen to this voice the more likely you are to fulfill your dreams. On the contrary, the more you follow the voice of reason, the more likely you are to live an ordinary life.

In addition, the Voices Without are two namely, Voice of People and your Personal Voice. People’s Voice will tell you why you can’t do it and the level of risk involved. They will paralyze you with analysis and you will end up confused when you pay too much attention to People’s Voice, especially when your Personal Voice is in sync with the Voice of Instinct. The rule of thumb is to match the voice of instinct with your Personal Voice. Once you achieve that, go for your dream, regardless of what other voices are saying. Remember, it is your life and you alone will give account of it!

God bless us all.

Good morning Africa!

Good morning Nigeria!

Lost Identity

/ Adewumi Oni / Leave a comment

God is a God of diversity. He created diverse species of animals and within each specie, there are different families. Same with human beings. We have the Caucasians, Negros, Mongolians and so on. Within each of these races, there are thousands of tribes, each with her unique identity (language, culture and values). The uniqueness of each tribe is what makes humanity an interesting specie. God delights in the uniqueness of each tribe and has given different strengths to each of these tribes.

Unfortunately over the years, some of us have lost our identities because of exposure to foreign culture. The other day, one of my nephews heard the word ‘Ewa’ (beans) and was asking what ‘Ewa’ means. (Sorry I can’t find the right intonation marks (amin) on my keyboard) . Many of us can’t even speak our native language, let alone, use those rich proverbs to accentuate our discussions. I remember those days of ‘Owe’ (Proverbs), ‘Akanlo Ede’ (Idioms), ‘Alo Apamo & Alo Apagbe’ (tales and fables). How many of us still know all these? How many of us even communicate with our children using any of these?

Our values started eroding when we started pursuing the white man culture and values and threw ours to the dogs. Today, we dress like the white man, speak like the white man, try to think like the white man, yet our very nature and essence is in being a black man. God didn’t make a mistake making us a black man. He gave us our strengths which are hidden in our identities, but because we have lost our identities, we now appear to be without any strength. Our low productivity is as a result of the white man’s processor that has been installed in our mind. We teach in the white man’s language. There are researches that have proved that students taught in their native languages learn faster than those taught in foreign languages.

I am not a racist. I love humanity as a whole and appreciate other races. I, however love my identity as a Yoruba man mostly and I love the richness of our language. No wonder you find Jamaicans and Brazilians living the Yoruba culture. The Igbos have their own rich culture, very rich in the use of proverbs. The Hausas have theirs too and so do all other tribes in Nigeria and Africa.

We will begin to rise as a Continent when we go back to our true identities and revive our dying culture, while making the fear of God our guiding principle. It is when we do these that we will begin to see true leaders and followers emerge.

God bless us all.

Good morning Africa!

Good morning Nigeria!

Your Days Are Numbered

/ Adewumi Oni / Leave a comment

In my younger years, I remember always wishing I grow older quickly. Wishing I was 20, then 25 and then 30. I used to think growing older brings certain privileges and respect. Maybe some of us experienced this also. I remember there was a time I wanted to grow mustache and beards even when it was obvious, it is not part of my hereditary make up. I will apply methylated spirit to those areas to make hair grow on them. Now the beards are a burden, you must shave every other day! Funny things teenagers do.

All of a sudden, I realized I am as old as my father used to be some years back, and I am not just as eager to become older again. No more carefree decision making, everything has to be thought through now. Suddenly I came to the knowledge that my days have number and they are not endless. Even though, I don’t know when my time will be over here, but I know I need to attach seriousness to the way I live my life now.

This is not peculiar to me alone. We all have numbered days. Whether you like it or not, whether rich or poor, good or bad, famous or unknown, you have numbered days. So when your number is complete, as it surely must, what will be said of you? What will people write in your condolence register? What will the world remember you for? That wicked despot? That tyrannical leader? That bossy employer who delighted in holding staff salaries? That wicked father? That corrupt president?

Examples abound all around us of so called great and influential people who have passed on and their good or bad deeds are still speaking long after they have moved on. So, having realized that your days are numbered, why don’t you spend it circumspectly? Mr Public Office holder, your days are numbered, live it well. Mr Employer, your days are numbered, use it to better the lot of humanity. Think and change while you can, because a time will come when the son of man will have neither the capacity to think nor change!

God bless us all.

Good morning Africa!

Good morning Nigeria!

Produce Your Product

/ Adewumi Oni / 1 Comment

Whenever you want to purchase a spare part for your vehicle or generator set or any other major equipment, there is always a major problem you will encounter, the problem of finding the right quality. Why is this so? Because there are multifarious types of that same spare part and from different sources. There is the China type, there is Belgium type, we have follow come type, we have the one they also call original. When you ask your mechanic to advise on which is the best, you sometimes end up being more confused, as he relates how each can still meet your needs though at different costs.

This problem is not limited to spare parts , even fashion, wigs, jewelries, and the worst of it all, drugs and food items. We have Brazilian wigs, Peruvian wigs, Indian wigs, etc. The question is why not Nigerian wig? Why not Ghanaian wigs? Why not Guinean leather? Why not Nigerian shoe? Why must it be Italian shoe? Why can’t we produce our own products? Or better put, where is your own product? I often tell people, if you check yourself from head to toe , nothing on you is made in Nigeria. Why must it be so? As a nation, as a continent, we have become extremely lazy people who always look for the easy way out. Always importing and buying other people’s products. Damaging our economy, damaging our currency through our affinity for foreign things. To the extent that we have even lost our local identity. Our languages are gone, our values have been replaced with sick and depraved foreign values! Our culture has been lost! Kai!

While I appreciate the fact that the government has a lot to do to create an enabling environment, you also have a role to play. There are things you can produce without too much need from government. Start something! Produce your product! Stop running to China! Think. Act. Be creative. Produce something! Be it a book, a matchstick, toothpick, whatever just produce your product!

God bless us all.

Good morning Africa!

Good morning Nigeria!

Your Life, Your Responsibility

/ Adewumi Oni / Leave a comment

The sign, ‘The Buck Stops Here’, which sat on President Harry Truman’s desk was made in 1945, and helped the US President to take final responsibility. The sign still remains in the Presidential Library till date. Faced with the challenge of passing the buck, President Truman had to come up with the sign, first to remind himself that he takes final responsibility and two, to set an example for those were fond of passing the buck.

This sign serves as a reminder to all of us that we are responsible for our lives. Never hold anyone responsible for your life. Your life is your responsibility. You will start making serious progress the moment you start taking responsibility for your life. When you stop blaming others for your current position, then you are ready to leave that position. No witch or wizard or condition or circumstance or boss can keep you down, if you take responsibility for your life. Where you are now is where you have chosen to be, if you want a change, make a move.

Taking responsibility means taking charge of your life. Accepting fault when you make mistakes, learning from your mistakes and moving on. It means evaluating yourself and telling yourself truths about where you are failing. It means looking at yourself in the mirror and say ‘My life is my responsibility.’

So it is time to take charge, the buck of your life stops at your table, not on any other table, so take charge.

God bless us all!

Good morning Africa!

Good morning Nigeria!

Enemies of the Nation

/ Adewumi Oni / Leave a comment

In the last few months, Nigerians have gone through the most difficult times in our recent history. Not even in the days of National Strike during IBB or Abacha regime did we suffer as much as we have in the last three months or so!

Power generation dropped to an all time low of 0 MW (Zero MW). An aerial view of Nigeria shows a country in total darkness. What a mess! As if that wasn’t enough, fuel scarcity added to our woes. Our daily lives is now characterized with queues for fuel at twice or sometimes triple the pump price. Things are not any better for businesses as the unprecedented slide in the value of the Naira has spiked the cost of production, Nigeria being an import dependent nation. Downsizing, Right sizing, Wrong sizing and Salary cut and delay have become the order of the day. It is what Hon. Obahiagbon will call a ‘Lugubrious Quagmire’.

Now behind all these problems are the enemies of the nation. Who are these enemies? They are the oil marketers seeking for subsidy for doing practically nothing. All effort to end the subsidy is being frustrated. Even after subsidizing them, they import the fuel and divert it to neighboring countries. The enemies are the filling stations that will hoard the fuel and sell way about their ‘cost plus reasonable margin’. The enemies are the politicians who decided to cash out their forex in preparation to take their loots out of the country to avoid the probing eyes of the new Sheriff (PMB), hence putting huge pressure on the Naira. The enemies are those playing politics with our very existence by toying with the pipelines, thereby frustrating effort of the power generating units. The enemies are those that have over inflated prices of good and services using dollar and fuel as excuse. The enemies are within us, they are not far away.

There is surely a reward for every thing we do, whether good or bad. So the enemies should know that Karma will soon catch up with them and their children.

Are you one of the enemies of the nation?

God bless us all.

Good morning Africa!

Good morning Nigeria!