Time to Look Inward

We are at a critical moment as a nation. At no time in our nation’s history have things been as tough as now. Many Nigerians are already blaming the 10 months old government of President Buhari. Why? Because he promised ‘Change’, this single word seems to have become his albatross. Nigerians have forgotten that change is a process. We have forgotten that we are virtually rebuilding and there are resistance from those who prefer the old system. Try starting a business from scratch and see the experience.

Anyway, this is not my focus today. My focus is on the way Nigerians look up to government for everything. Jobs, contracts, power, fuel, housing, etc. Yes, government has a constitutional obligation to provide some of these things, but we have a more serious responsibility of looking inward. The days of waiting for budget to be approved are over. Stop waiting on government. The newspaper vendor is waiting for budget. The vulcanizer is waiting for budget. Everybody is waiting for budget!

As an individual, look inward and begin to use your innate gifts and talents. We all saw the work of Oresegun Olumide, the painter. Another guy who was shot by arm robbers and became stuck on wheelchair took to shoemaking.

What gifts do you have that can be applied to make money? Our major problem as a nation is that, for a long time we have always looked outside for everything, this was what turned us to a net-importer, a import dependent country. The moment we start looking inward to find alternatives for those things we import, our lives will become better. Our GDP will rise, our status as a developing nation will change. Stop complaining and look inward. Drop in megawatts is a pointer that we need alternative sources of energy. Government too should look inward!

God bless us all.

Good morning Africa!

Good morning Nigeria!

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When Darkness Becomes Our Light

There are times in our lives when darkness seems to be our light. Times when the challenges are overwhelming and unending. Times when we think it can’t get worse than this and suddenly it truly gets worse than the initial worse. Many of us have gone through such times, some are going through such times now, our nation is passing through such a phase. Literally, darkness has become our light as a nation. No power. No fuel to generate power by yourself. No money in circulation. Job cuts everywhere. It is just darkness all around.

It is important to know that every event and season has a life cycle. There is an end to every darkness. Surely there is an end. Proverbs 23:18. It will pass and you will emerge stronger and better. Among all the options available at such times, there is one which must not even be considered at all, that is the option of giving up. If you faint in the days of adversity, your strength is small. Proverbs 24:10. Never Give Up!

Why do we go through such times? Sometimes we cause it through our actions, decisions or inactions, but God is still faithful to take you through. Sometimes it is part of God’s plan for us. No Red Sea, No Canaan. The pathway to the throne is ladened with many throes. It is designed to test us, prepare us, cook us and build us for our divine assignment. So stay put and let Him take you through. Isaiah 50:10.

God bless us all.

Good morning Africa!

Good morning Nigeria!

Just Before Your Sun Sets

Mr Judge, you delight in delivering wrong judgment because you have been ‘settled’, be reminded, in case your memory is short, your sun will soon set, just like others before you. Mr Police, you terrorize and extort from the same citizens you are meant to protect, your sun will soon set. Mr Civil Servants, you demand for inflation of quotation and receive kickback from contractors, be reminded, yours years are counting down. Mr Lecturer, you award marks and grades for sex and money, filling our Labour market with failures, your days are numbered. Mr Babalawo, you request for human heads, hearts, or any other part of the body to make money rituals or for power, your heart will soon be demanded. Mr Pastor, your congregation has become your cash cow, you live at their expense, hahaha, (I dey laugh), because your own sun has set already, you are a living corpse.

To all of you who have chosen corruption, denial of people’s rights, oppression, injustice, stealing, sexual abuse, kidnapping, ritual killing, blood sucking, and such other vices, your sun will soon set.

Just before it sets, maybe you want to amend your ways. Maybe you want to save your name and children from reaping the evil harvest of your deeds, just before your sun sets.

God bless us all.

Good morning Nigeria!

Good morning Africa!

What Are You Wearing?

From childbirth to death, we all wear garments. When a child is born, though naked, he is clothed with innocence. This is why we all seek to protect new-born babies. Naturally, we feel this strong urge to protect them because we feel they are innocent. It is the garment of innocence placed on them by God that causes that feeling.

However as the child begins to grow, he begins to lose this garment as he is shaped by environmental factors, parental influence, peer pressure, and so on. He gradually changes the garment and wears some other garments. Some of these garments are garments of deceit, wickedness, cruelty, dishonesty, immorality, perversion, etc. At some point in our lives, we have all worn some of these garments.

A time comes in the life of that individual when he is of age and can discern that there is a need to return back to the garment of innocence (now called garment of truth) . When such an individual still chooses to continue wearing those filthy garments, then he has to take responsibility for the consequences of his actions.

At death, even though naked, you can either be wearing the garment of truth which will speak for you even after you have passed on, or you can be clothed with the garment of nakedness, which will expose you to the world and lead you to eternal sorrow, after you have exited.

So my question to you this morning is ‘What are you wearing?’

God bless us all.

Good morning Africa!

Good morning Nigeria!

Reminisce

When we were young, my father used to tell us of periods when they were growing up, when you could buy banana or anything in the absence of the seller and leave your money in the seller’s tray or basket. He told us of how people placed value on honesty, decency, hardwork, integrity and other virtues. Cases of stealing were rare.

In my younger days too, I remember using those wooden piggy bank (known as ‘kolo’  in Yoruba) to save and how our dad will ask us to bring our ‘kolo’ to check who saved most. Before I clocked 10, my father was already giving me Newswatch magazine to read and summarize. I remember being asked to sit and listen to NTA Network News and share my thoughts. I remember being fathered. I remember the compulsory early morning and late night prayers that my mother used to ring bell to call for. I remember being parented. I remember the term in school I didn’t come first as usual, and my father scolded me.

I remember buying bread for 50kobo, coke for 50kobo, and Hiace bus was 20kobo while taxi was 30kobo. I didn’t know anything called fuel scarcity in those days. NEPA blackout was uncommon. I remember a strong Nigeria. Yes, with its challenges, nonetheless a force to reckon with!  What do you remember?

Then corruption came. Nepotism came. Tribalism came. Western culture came. The coups were endless. The fabric of the nation was torn apart. And we lost it all! We lost it all! Now our children have nothing pleasant to remember but hardship. Hmmmn. So saddening. Will this be our legacy to generations behind?

May God help us all.

Good morning Africa!

Good morning Nigeria!

Find Your Place

God has placed a certain deep yearning in the heart of every man or woman. We all long for this yearning to be satisfied. We feel empty and unfulfilled as long as the yearning remains unsatisfied.

You may have been working for several years and still feel empty and void. You may even be in business and still feel the same way. It is not strange. It is the act of God. He, in His infinite wisdom and knowledge, created us to search out the answers to that void.

And the answer to filling the void is in finding your place. Finding your place means finding your purpose and pursuing it. Some out of frustration rush into marriage to feel the void and end up being more frustrated when the marriage doesn’t fill the void.

Finding Purpose is the Red Sea every man must cross. Have you found yours?

God bless us all.

Good morning Africa!

Good morning Nigeria!

Your DREAM is YOUR dream!

Are you waiting for people to buy into your dream before pursuing it? Your waiting may be endless and you may end up watching someone else living your dream!
Dreams are specific to each individual and they are meant to fulfill God’s purpose on earth. He chose you to fulfillment that purpose, if you fail Him, He will find a replacement. When God gives you a dream, your first step is to write it down, pray for the timing and take a step towards it at the right time. The right people will join you when you get to their junctions. If you are the type that wants people’s approval before pursuing your dream, you can’t go far with God.

When Joseph shared his dreams to his brothers and parents, instead of being believed, they disdained,  hated and victimized him. The closest to believing was the father, who observed and noted the dream. Gen. 37:11. Stop wasting time hoping and waiting for your family or friends to buy your dream. The DREAM is YOURS and not THEIRS! Get on with it!

God bless us all.

Good morning Africa.

Good morning Nigeria.

Our World in Dire Need of True Leaders

If there is anything we need more than ever today, it is true leadership. In our nations, in ministries, agencies, parastatals, Corporate bodies, religious groups and organizations, we have too many dealers posing as leaders.

They deal our common wealth for their personal gains, they deal the future of our children for the immediate gratification of their own children, they deal the health of unborn generations for immediate gains from fake drugs and adulterated food items.

I am not talking about the President or the Governor, I am talking about you in that small office in one local government, you in that small company in charge of procurement, you in that agencies in charge of standardizing goods and services. I am talking about everyone in one position of influence or the other. Be true to your conscience. Lead selflessly. Engrave your name in the sands of time by providing true leadership. We badly need it.

God bless us all.

Good morning Africa!

Good morning Nigeria!

Plan to Succeed

Prompt Prior Preparation Prevents Poor Performance. He who fails to plan, plans to fail. Benjamin Franklin said ‘By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.’ A goal without a plan is a mere wish. Planning is extremely important to succeed in any aspect of life.

One of the major reasons why businesses fail is lack of planning or poor planning. As a business, you must plan your income and expenditure, this is called Budgeting. Regardless of the size of your business, have a budget. It helps to manage your resources most efficiently. Create time for strategic planning. At least, every business should have a strategy session once a year. And our plans should take all things into consideration, market, product, competition, pricing, government policies, and all. Don’t take anything for granted. J. R. R Tolkien said ‘It does not do to leave a live dragon out of consideration, if you live near one.’

In your personal life, you must plan making use of budgets, personal retreats and self evaluation methods. Don’t run your life by chance and expect a miracle. The greatest undoing of the black man is believing prophecies without commensurate planning and actions. Nothing happens by chance!

As a nation, we will keep struggling as long as we take planning lightly. We spend halfway into the year before we pass our budget and we expect to be a successful nation! How? The Senate just passed the 2016 budget yesterday when a quarter of the year is gone, I just don’t get it! We need to become more serious and discipline as a nation if we are to stand shoulder to shoulder with developed economies.

Take planning serious. Learn project management, Africans are too poor in managing projects. This project called ‘Africa’ must not fail, we have got to plan!

God bless us all.

Good morning Africa!

Good morning Nigeria!

No Excuse

Steve Jobs was offered for adoption by his biological mother and was turned down twice before being eventually adopted. He never completed college. He rose to become the CEO of Apple before he passed on. Bill Gates abandoned college and took to the street, he is the world richest man today. Abraham Lincoln had an unrivaled number of defeats in politics, yet he became the president of the United States. Thomas Edison failed 999 times before succeeding in making the incandescent light.

The common factor to all of these great men is perseverance. In spite of their setbacks and backgrounds, they persisted and persevered in the pursuit of their goal. They had several genuine reasons to stop trying, but they never gave room for any excuse. Life is what you make of it. If life throws lemons at you, make lemonade out of it. If life throws stones at you, use those stones to build your way up. Success stories are founded on the pedestal of past failures, mistakes, persecutions and resistance.

If you fail in the days of adversity, your strength is little. Proverbs 24:10. Use your adversity as the material for your success. Your story will only be an encouragement to others, if you eventually succeed. So you have got no choice or excuse than to succeed. Really, there is no excuse just get going!

God bless us all.

Good morning Africa!

Good morning Nigeria!