Responsibility

I remember during my growing up process, some of my biggest worry was “when will I get a bicycle for my birthday”, or “will I ever get to go to the amusement park”?

Being an adult? Totally overrated, I mean seriously, don’t be fooled by all the cool phones, smart shirts, plain chinos and shiny shoes, or even the great sex, and the no parents anywhere telling you when to go to bed or what not to do or do, Adulthood is a state of sheer RESPONSIBILITY.

Responsibility? It really does sucks, really, really sucks. Adults have to be in certain places, earn a living, pay the bills, and think about tomorrow (even when today is yet to begin). It really does sucks. And if you’re training to be a Surgeon (holding a human’s heart in your hands) or an Engineer (building a bridge)? Hello, talk about responsibility.

Got the drift yet? The point is, enjoy the days of your youth, and embrace the worry free life, the untainted enthusiasm of life, the unadulterated dreams and plans. Because soon enough, all you’ll be doing is worry.

 If you are a Nigerian living in Nigeria, I put the tipping point at just before leaving high school. I almost slipped into despair, but I somehow managed to keep solace in solitude and philosophy.

As a young man about to leave the naïve world of high school, you will worry about getting good grades in your SSCE/WAEC examinations, then you start worrying about writing the annual JAMB Entrance exam for admission into the institutions for higher learning, if you manage to scale that, you worry about the Post JAMB Screening, you scaled that as well? Then you start worrying about the final Selection process. If you are finally admitted, the worries just simply do not end there.

The entry registration process in itself is another story only better understood when you’ve gone through it yourself.

On to the next one; you start worrying about getting good grades in your courses with little or no margin for error (God save you if you are a female student in a Nigerian higher institution) while constantly peeping into the future to see what it holds.. Ah ha, the future.

The fear of the unknown, getting a good job, starting a family, fulfilling your family responsibilities, living the good life, keeping a lovely home, going on a vacation etc. And the worries continue, so my dear readers, if you are still in that very youthful stage, please do try and enjoy it. You only live once #YOLO.
You don’t want to be old without ever growing up.

 Twitter & Instagram: @IamAdegab

Dame Patience Jonathan's Top Grammatical Blunder

We are all used to our dear First Lady, Her Excellency, Dame Patience Jonathan making the headlines, usually for all the wrong reasons. How can one explain the fact that the wife of the President of our dear nation cannot construct a simple sentence in English Language? Pathetic,I dear say.

The recent kidnapping of almost 300 girls in the northern city of Chibok brought this glaring inability to the fore AGAIN.

Below is a well-sourced list of her most infamous gaffes, try not to fall off your seat when reading*smiles*

1. My husband and Sambo is a good people.
2. The President was once a child and the Senators were once a children.
3. My fellow widows.
4. A good mother takes care of his children.
5. The people sitting before you were once a children.
6. Yes we are all happy for the effort, it is not easy to carry second in an International competition like this one, (addressing press men after Female Under- 19 FIFA World Cup).
7. The bombers who born them? Wasn't it not a woman? They were once a children now a adult now they are bombing women and children making some children a widow.
8. My heart feels sorry for these children who have become widows for loosing their parents for one reason or another.
9. We should have love for our fellow Nigerians irrespective of their NATIONALITY.
10. Thank God the Doctors and Nurses are responding
to treatment.
11. I would rather kill myself instead of committing suicide.
12. Ojukwu is a great man, he died but his manhood lives on.
13. President did not eaten since morning
14. I donate me and my family on behalf of N20million'
15. ...vote UMBLERRA and press your finger for UMBLERRA
16. My husband is the best couple on Earth
17. And last but most certainly not the least, the video below;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JIzrvtaOjyM

CONFIRMED: Manchester United SACK David Moyes

Manchester United manager David Moyes has been sacked, only 10 months after succeeding Sir Alex Ferguson.
His dismissal was announced shortly after 0800 BST, following a meeting with executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward at the club's training ground.
Moyes, 50, was chosen by Ferguson to succeed him when he retired after 26 years in charge last summer. United said player-coach Ryan Giggs will take charge "until a permanent appointment can be made".
His first match as interim boss will be the home game against Norwich on Saturday. The BBC understands coaches Steve Round and Jimmy Lumsden have also left their posts, but goalkeeping coach Chris Woods and first-team coach Phil Neville will remain with the club for the rest of the season.
United refused to comment on newspaper reports on Monday that Moyes, who left Everton to sign a six-year deal with the Premier League champions, would be sacked before the end of the season.
But in a short statement on Tuesday, the club said Moyes had departed the left, adding that it "would like to place on record its thanks for the hard work, honesty and integrity he brought to the role".
Netherlands coach Louis Van Gaal, Borussia Dortmund boss Jurgen Klopp, Atletico Madrid's manager Diego Simeone and Paris St-Germain's Laurent Blanc have already been tipped as possible successors.
United, who lie seventh in the table with four games remaining, are guaranteed to record their lowest points tally in the Premier League having struggled at Old Trafford in particular this season.
Under Moyes, they have lost six league games at home, been beaten in the FA Cup by Swansea at Old Trafford and were unable to prevent Sunderland knocking them out of the Capital One Cup in the semi-finals.
In March, some supporters chartered a plane to fly overhead during their Premier League game against Aston Villa trailing a banner with the words "Wrong One - Moyes Out", a reference to the banner at Old Trafford that proclaimed Moyes to be the "Chosen One". The Reds will miss out on Champions League football for the first time since 1995 and are in danger of
missing out on European competition altogether for the first time since 1990.
United reached the last eight of the Champions League before being knocked out by Bayern Munich and Moyes argued that their best displays had been in the competition. But the Scot has been dogged by claims he has fallen out with members of his squad.
When midfielder Anderson joined Serie A side Fiorentina on loan in January, he was quoted as saying other United players "wanted out" although he later denied it.
Rio Ferdinand and Robin van Persie also made less than complimentary comments about his management style, while Javier Hernandez and Wilfried Zaha posted cryptic quotes on Twitter.
At the weekend, Manchester-born striker Danny Welbeck was reported to be considering his future after becoming frustrated at regularly being played out of his favoured position.
Moyes left Everton after 11 seasons saying he could not turn down the opportunity to move to Old Trafford and began his job on 1 July.
However, United endured a difficult summer transfer window and failed in reported bids for Barcelona's Thiago Alcantara and Cesc Fabregas. A double bid for Marouane Fellaini and Leighton Baines was dismissed as "derisory and insulting" by Moyes's old club Everton, although Fellaini finally joined on transfer deadline day for £27.5m. Moyes was unhappy United were given a difficult start to the season, playing Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester City in their first five games.
"I find it hard to believe that's the way the balls came out of the bag, that's for sure," he said.
But his reign began in style with a 2-0 victory over Wigan Athletic in the Community Shield at Wembley, followed by a 4-1 win away at Swansea City in the first league game of the season.
However, things quickly got worse with defeats at Liverpool and Manchester City, setting the tone for what would become United's worst Premier League season.
With the exception of the additional 21 games Matt Busby (manager from 1945-1969) had in charge as emergency manager following Wilf McGuinness's exit in
1970, and the 22 games when Jimmy Murphy stood in for Busby after the Munich air crash, Moyes's reign represents the third shortest in United history.
It is also the first time since 6 November, 1986 that Manchester United have sacked a manager.
The Scot's 49 games in charge only just exceeds the 43 matches that Walter Crickmer presided over during the first of two spells as manager.
Lal Hilditch was in charge for the shortest time, lasting just 33 games between October 1926 and April 1927.

Manchester United to SACK David Moyes

The Manchester United board believes David Moyes simply does not have what it takes to lead a club of their stature and ambition. Moyes has lost the United dressing-room and, with the champions languishing in seventh spot and out of the Champions League for the first time in 19 years, the club have decided to act by dismissing him.

Manchester United are offering no comment on reports that David Moyes is set to be sacked as manager.

Various newspapers have claimed the club will dispense with the Scot's services as early as this week following a poor season.

However, the club declined to comment when contacted

With up to £200million to be spent on strengthening their squad this summer, United chiefs are unwilling to trust Moyes with that money, with no guarantee of progress under him after this season's
turmoil.

Ryan Giggs will be asked to lead United as caretaker boss for the remainder of the season if United decide to act immediately and give Moyes his marching orders before Saturday's game at home to Norwich.

United, champions by an 11-point margin last season, are already guaranteed their lowest ever Premier League points total this term and are on course to suffer their worst finish since 1990.
They have suffered a record 11 Premier League defeats under Moyes and have recorded just one win in 12 games against the top six sides above them, a damning indictment of his reign. Failure in the Champions League, FA Cup and Capital One Cup, which has left United trophy-less this season, further undermined Moyes' standing among those who hold the power at Old Trafford.

Although Moyes was handed a six-year contract when he took over from Ferguson last summer, a break clause means United will not have to pay up in full the 50-year-old's £5m-a-year contract.

Borussia Dortmund manager Jurgen Klopp, Holland coach Louis van Gaal and Atletico Madrid boss Diego Simeone are among the frontrunners to replace Moyes at United.
Media houses reported earlier this month that experienced Dutch boss van Gaal has been sounded out by United , while Klopp and Simeone are seen as two of Europe's brightest young coaches.

A core of senior United players have long been unconvinced by Moyes, and with young striker Danny Welbeck disillusioned and ready to quit, the board know they cannot let the situation go on.

Crucially, there has been no public support for Moyes during his hour of need from Ferguson, whose distancing from the man he personally chose to succeed him has been seen as significant.

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WHAT IS LIFE?

What is your definition of life? I know it is a relative question, one that most men can’t properly explained or are not articulate enough to express exactly the way they are feeling it. It is a question we all are struggling to find meaningful answers to. The dictionary has got six, seven or eight definitions or variations for life (depending on which make and edition you are consulting). But it is shame none of the definition is apt enough to represent or describe what I/we deemed as life. I know we all have a fair idea of life based on how it is treating us; everyone’s opinion of life differs. To some, life is great, to others it is shitty. To some, life is worth living, to others life is a living hell. My opinion of life? Well, put it this way; You are driving to work on Monday morning and your car got snatched at gun point together with other valuables. That is life. Your mom wakes you up in the middle of the night suffering severe stomach pain, you rushed her to the hospital with the help of your neighbours and was told that she is suffering from Appendicitis and needed to be operated on immediately. You need to deposit a few hundred thousand right away. THAT is life. You reluctantly went for a job interview that you don’t even possess the required minimum qualification only to discover that the interviewer/Chief Operating Officer is a long lost relative of yours. That is life. I could go on citing various instances where life has hit us below the belt (negative) or catapulted us onto greater heights (positive). In summary, “life for me is what happens while we are busy making other plans”. Destiny? Divine Intervention? Yeah, I strongly believe they play significant roles in our everyday lives. May time and chance favour us all.

First Week at GrittyPlus Consulting

My first week at GrittyPlus Consulting has been a tremendously enjoyable experience. My boss seems very relaxed and in control, there is a family feel to it and it's miles off what I experienced at Oxygen Broadband Networks. Now I can leave my house 7:00am and still get to work by 7:30am max. Yeah, I know how you feel, been there, done that and felt that. Now I'm more in control of my time and my schedule and I feel more motivated to give my best. It's not quite the same cut throat atmosphere and stress of Surulere, and of course I feed well *smiles*. Nothing delights a worker more than knowing that he is wanted and that he is been considered in every decision making process by the Senior Executives. Stay with me in the coming weeks for stories on my adventure at GrittyPlus Consulting. It promises to be a great ride!!!

Freedom Park

My interesting experience with Oxygen Broadband Networks took me to one of Nigeria's historical landmarks - The New Freedom Parks formerly Old Broad Street Prison, CMS Lagos. Driving through the gate adjacent to St. Nicholas Hospital I could feel that I'm standing on one of Africa's historical grounds. The peaceful ambience, the well tended gardens and trees, the pond, fountain, the effigies (all mimicking the various walks of life of the early Nigerians and also our beliefs). We were expected to mount, install and configure Access Points to provide super fast Wi-fi internet services around the park, and we did all that quite alright but I just couldn't resist taking a tour of the Park while taking pictures, I even ran into Prof. Wole Soyinka on the two flight of stairs that leads to the parking lot, but I was so struck that I couldn't even ask for a picture with him, all I could muster was  a weak 'Good afternoon sir' to which he replied 'Afternoon' and flashed a ready smile. He seems quite charming. Moving around freedom park is quite an enjoyable experience which require little or no guidance as every piece of effigy, sculpture, pond, fountain, garden etc are properly tagged to aid tourists.

It occupies what was once the Broad Street Prison which was operational from 1887 until it was closed in the 1960s. Along with some petty criminals, some of the famous inmates held in the prison included some of the nation’s foremost activists and politicians like Herbert Macaulay, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Micheal Imoudu of the powerful railway union, Sir Adeyemo Alakija and many others who all served time due to the political activism. But arguably the most infamous inmate of the Broad Street Prison was 22 year old Esther Johnson (nee Ada Ocha Ntu) who was jailed for stabbing her British husband Mark Hall. It was a tragic crime of passion and the case became the ‘cause celebre’ of the 1950s. Not only had Esther discovered Hall with another woman in her house, but he had borrowed a large sum of money from her which he used to start another English wife in business in England. Esther was sentenced to death – the last woman to be so sentenced in Nigeria – but was later pardoned on a wave of public sympathy. She was ultimately released by Royal Prerogative on the recommendation of the then Governor General of Lagos Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe.

The old Broad Street prison was at the time it was in use considered to be ‘the finest in West Africa and featured a hospital’.  In fact homeless people routinely tried to get in among the work-release prisoners, just so they could get a decent meal and a place to lay their heads overnight! The site remained derelict from the time of its closure until very recently when Lagos State as part of its Central Business District renewal program to commemorate Nigeria’s 50 Independence, decided to restore some of the islands historical sites at the time of Independence.

The new Freedom Park is located on the site of the colonial prison where prominent Nigerians had their jail terms during the colonial era. The park, which is now a peaceful place for individual and collective contemplation and interaction is open to public daily.
Located in Lagos Island, Lagos, the park is a brainchild of a Lagos-born architect and visionary, Theo Lawson, who had a vision to transform the colonial prison to a symbol of freedom.

This prison was used by the British colonial masters to torture, imprison and hang in the gallows those that opposed colonial rule of Nigeria.
Freedom Park is a memorial leisure park dedicated to the preserving the Lagos colonial heritage and history of the Old Broad Street prison. Today, freedom park provides venues for events and recreational entertainment.

Features:
The park provides venues and grounds for events and recreational entertainment, with relevant facilities like :
•Open Air Stage
•Amphi-theatre
•Pergola Cell (internet booths)
•Skeletal Cells
•Food Court
•Ponds and Fountains
•Historical Statues
•Museum Complex
•Historical displays
•Souvenir shops
•Resource centre
•Court yard
•Cells Units
•Wole Soyinka Art Gallery and of course
• Oxygen Super-fast Wi-fi internet services.

Empathy

A sense of empathy is something that I find myself appreciating more and more as I get older. It is at the heart of my moral code, and it is how I understand the Golden Rule - not simply as a call to sympathy or charity, but as something more demanding, a call to stand in somebody else's shoes and see through their eyes.
I disdain any kind of cruelty or thoughtlessness or abuse of power, whether it'd be expressed in the form of social stratification, tribalism, religious extremism or even racism. I wonder how many of us care about the feelings of others, how many of us look in the mirror and ask ourselves, "How would that make me feel?"
It's not a question we ask ourselves enough, I think; as a country, we seem to be suffering from an empathy deficit. The government wouldn't tolerate schools that lack the prerequisites and the facilities to compare favourably to what is obtainable in the Western world, that are chronically underfunded, understaffed and uninspired, if they thought that the students in them were like their own children. It's hard to imagine the CEO of a company giving himself a multi-million naira bonus while cutting salary bonus and health care coverage for his workers if he thought they were in some sense his equals. And it is safe to assume that those in power would think longer and harder about launching political attacks if they envisioned their own sons and daughters in harm's way.
I often wonder what makes it so difficult for our politicians to talk about values in ways that don't appear calculated or phony. Perhaps this explains why we long for that elusive quality in our leaders - the quality of authenticity, of being who you say you are, of possessing a truthfulness that goes beyond words. Leaders who lived out their values, honest, and that they stood up for what they believed in, and perhaps most of all that they cared about us and what we are going through. That, my friends, is what I know we all crave for.
Maybe, just maybe I'm asking for too much. All in due time, all in due time.

Power and Guilt

POWER - The word is fixed in my mind like a poisoned chalice. Down here, power is undisguised, indiscriminate, naked, and always fresh in the memory.

Every corner I turn, I see the blatant display of power. It had taken me and yanked me backed into line just when I thought I'd escaped, making me feel its weight - like I've never felt, letting me know that my life isn't really mine.

That's how things are down here; you can't change it, you can just live by the rules (just as everyone around here does), so simple once you learned them.

So I have made my peace with power, learned the wisdom of forgetting, and never attempting to revisit or reminisce.

GUILT - On the other hand is a luxury only the 'poor' can afford, the knowledge that things are not just right, the reality of what it is like to lose almost everything, the awkward feeling of waking up to the creaking of your bones and the twitching of your nerves, and to go to bed later without promises for tomorrow. A regular cycle of uninspiring events, a shallow life of unfulfilled promises.

Better not to think about it. Better to be strong. If you can't be strong, be clever and make peace with someone who's strong.

But always better to be strong yourself. Always.

My Opinion on ASUU Strike

Nigerian universities have been buffeted with agonising months of strike over a decade and until now,  the story is pretty much the same. Government is still unwilling to give the education sector a shot in arm.
Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, has been on strike since June 30 and has dialogued with FG over 11 times, albeit inconclusively.
This underscores the lukewarm posture of government towards the striking lecturers and from ASUU's body language and utterances, they have made it abundantly clear to anyone who cares to listen that they are ready to continue the strike even if it takes years, insisting that their decision was adequately taken in a bid to revitalise Nigerian Universities.
The bone of contention is lucid in itself. An agreement was reached in 2009 that all federal universities would require a total sum of N1.5 trillion spread over three years (2009-2011) to address the rot and decay in the universities.
But, in the Memorandum of Understanding signed between the union and the government in 2012, FG decided to extend the gesture to include both federal and state universities. After the 2012 review, it was agreed that instead of the N1.5 trillion,  FG would infuse a total of N1.3 trillion into the universities over four years.
Almost four years down the line. FG has refused to fulfill its end of the bargain. Rather than respond to the issues at raised by the union that would ensure quick resolution to the imbroglio, government boycotted ASUUto summon a meeting with Pro-Chancellors and Vice-Chancellors of universities, offering them N130 billion with a matching order to lecturers to resume work immediately.
It is ridiculous that government officials were quoted as saying ASUU's N1.3 trillion demand is capable of shutting down the country. No. Their insatiable and rapacious greed will.
The private jets in the presidential fleet can fly, centenary celebrations is a priority to government, there's enough money to pay humongous salaries and allowances to federal legislators and other political office holders, enough to forfeit to oil subsidy thieves, enough to pay militants bogus amnesty cheques and phantom contracts while they continue to bunker our crude oil like never before, there's enough money to beg Boko Haram to accept amnesty but there is no money for law abiding Nigerian students who want to eke out a living using university education as a stepping stone. It is this kind of attitude from the government that provokes the use of brute force by some regional groups to attract government's attention to their problems.
Government cannot claim it has no money to fulfill this agreement. A country with 109 senators earning about N19.6 billion a year, while N51.8 billion is spent on members of House of Representatives for the same period, totalling N71.4 billion. This sum, N71.4 billion represents 17.8% of the N400 billion yearly intervention fund recommended by the Committee on Needs Assessment of Nigerian Universities. Surely, our lecturers and universities where they were trained deserve more.
When we talk of health care, government officials and the ruling elite go abroad for medical attention: we talk of bad roads, they fly private jets, we talk of electrical power, they run their homes on 24-7 alternative electricity source : now we are talking Education, their wards are in some of the best universities abroad. There is no way the myriad of problems bedeviling the country can be tackled if the political elite don't feel the pangs just like the average Joe on the street does.
That our dear Mr. President has taken time from his 'busy' schedule to constantly parley with the warring factions of his party, PDP, but has never sat down with ASUU members to chart a course for Nigeria's leaders of tomorrow clearly shows his priorities. Party affairs and chasing perceived enemies of his 2015 ambition around with apparatus of state are far more important things than bending over backwards to pander to the demands of the striking lecturers.
But then, government must take into cognisance the fact that, the longer the students remain at home, chances are that they will be lured into social vices. The aftermath can be disastrous for the state.
There are misplaced calls in some quarters for ASUU to be 'reasonable' and accept the FG's offer and return to classrooms. Others lambast them for being greedy, self-centered and unpatriotic. It is unfortunate that Nigerians are always looking for quick fix solutions to monumental problems. Less endowed countries like Ghana, Botswana and Angola are making giant strides on all fronts because the citizenry have at one point or the other insisted that the needful be done. Here, anything thrown at us is accepted with glee. We must get our priorities right as a country. Government must curb its own excesses. Education must be given the attention it deserves. Education of the citizenry should not be subjected to any form of negotiation. Negotiating the education of the leaders of tomorrow is more or less negotiating the future of the country.
Government deliberately wants the strike to linger, first to blackmail the opposition. There have been several unsavoury comments from the government's divide of the negotiation table that ASUU has been infiltrated by moles from the opposition, alleging that the strike has lingered to gain political capital.
That is how low this government can stoop.  We have seen it before. It is an irresponsible and shameless government, one that lacks integrity and honesty that will blame the opposition for all its woes. It is unbecoming for the government of the day to continue to heap its failure onbthe doorstep of the opposition and ASUU strike is just another avenue to paint the opposition black before the public.
Second, is to send a strong signal to other unions who might be contemplating similar action to have a rethink. Perhaps, government thinks by acceding to ASUU's demands, other Labour unions might toe that same path at the slightest excuse.
Third, the ultimate aim of the government is to paint a bad image of the association to Nigerians, at least, for as long as the strike persists. The Governor Gabriel Suswan-led NEEDS Report Implementation Committee mediating on behalf of the government has unfortunately taken a position that is false, dishonest, and calculated to misinform the public and cause disaffection towards the union.
Rather than seek cheap popularity, Governor Suswan and the rest of the FG team should tow the part of honour by asking President Goodluck Jonathan to honour the 2009 agreement. There is no basis for turning the heat on ASUU and the campaign of calumny.
It calls for worry, that same government that has always maintained that 'our graduates are unemployable' and our universities churn out 'half-baked graduates' find it difficult to commit the much needed funds to revamp the universities.

Thank goodness the ultimatum has been withdrawn and a new Memorandum of Understanding is signed between ASUU and the Federal Government (yet again).

Our Deepest Fear

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God! Your playing small doesn't' serve the world. There's nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it is in everyone. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.

Break away from the shackles holding you back and be liberated.
Live and see how things/people around you will come alive.

Against All The Odds - Conviction

Don't listen to those who say, "It's not done that way." Maybe it's not, but maybe you will.

Don't listen to those who say, "You're taking too big a chance." Michelangelo would have painted the Sistine floor, and it would surely be rubbed out by today.

Most importantly, don't listen when the little voice of fear inside of you rears its ugly head and says, "They're all smarter than you out there. They're more talented, they're taller, blonder, prettier, luckier and have connections …"

I firmly believe that if you follow a path that interests you, not to the exclusion of love, sensitivity, and co-operation with others, but with the strength of conviction that you can move others by your own efforts, and do not make success or failure the criteria by which you live, the chances are you'll be a person worthy of your own respect.

Perception

It is not a question of non-existent things being conjured up. It is just that all through life we protect ourselves in so many ways from so many hurtful truths just by being a bit blind here, a bit short-sighted there, and by squinting against the incoming light all the time simply because we are afraid that its weight might hit us real bad and hard. That is what the prudent chose to call LIFE.

The 'destructive' thing philosophy does is to lift the blindness and to let you see the whole of your life laid out in front of you. Now what you see, whether it comes up from hidden things inside your soul or from the common facts of the waking life you lead, is not false.

But its truth is the deep, dangerous kind of truth that you've managed to side-stepped all along, and that can certainly frighten you into depression. A desperate, gloomy act if the life you have been living is already of itself deeply gloomy and deeply desperate.

Now after seeing your life flashed right across your face, you can choose to accept it as it is laid out before you or just ignore it as you've always done.

The choice is yours, but, I reckon accepting it the way it is laid down before you is the beginning of living right.

Think about it.

Down Here

Before I start, let me point this out. It is not all gloomy out here, some people have managed to leap beyond it, but to the average man on the streets, it is enough to lead him into depression.

I'm grateful for the good times, tired of the whole despondent drama but thanks to my parents for bringing me up in the way of the Lord, for letting me know that it's not an easy world. For making me able to see the light from the darkness, but now the light has almost been eclipsed by what I can only describe as 'madness' which is evident all over the nation.

It is like loosing your mind in the middle of crying, like dying before you are old enough to harness your potentials not to talk of reaching your prime. It's all up in the fighting, the shooting and the killing, political deceiving, corruption of the highest order, scams, prostituting for grades, insecurity, back-biting, and more recently and most worryingly, kidnapping. How can a man describe being a captive (not by the law but by dejected souls who feel nothing at all for the next man) in his own country?

Now imagine if you had the choice to choose and be choosy if you really want to come down here, imagine if you had the chance to preview and review all things that you will meet down here. I bet you your answer would be 'I don't want to go down there', out of fear and despair. I bet you will be screaming that we are crazy down here. We are not crazy but the sad reality of our situation has brought us to our knees without our knowing it. We accept and appraise mediocrity when we should be aiming higher.

Nine months in your mother's belly, preparing for the ultimate journey, oblivious of the things that you will meet out here. It is like being born into slavery and living in captivity. You could have the spirit of a hustler, the peace of of a dove or the instincts of a leader, on the other side, you could have a training for terror with the mind of a murderer. It is all down to how mentally strong you are, even in the midst of such uncertainty, we still have the power to choose how to fight it.

The big question is how are you fighting it???

NB: This article's inspired by 2face's song.

The Importance of Life

To realise the importance of a year, ask a student who has just failed his final exams; To realise the importance of a month, ask a woman who gave birth to a premature baby; To realise the importance of a week, ask the editor of a weekly newspaper; To realise the importance of a day, ask a footballer who got injured a day to the final of a World Cup; To realise the importance of an hour, ask a man who lost his well-paid job for resuming work one-hour late; To realise the importance of a minute, ask a man who just missed a bus, train, flight or an important appointment; To realise the importance of a second, ask a man who just escaped an accident; To realise the importance of a milli-second, ask an Olympic Silver medallist who lost the Gold medal only after a photo-finish.

Just appreciate what's going on in your life: Happy, sad, good, bad, it's happening you're alive!

Hakuna Matata! It means 'No worries'...

Who Am I?

There is a struggle in every man's heart, a search for himself. This is the most difficult phase of growing up. It is not easy to be so conscious of oneself as to devote much time wanting to know oneself even though it is the best gift we can ever give to ourselves and the very beginning of living right.

Maturity comes when you are able to identify with your individuality, accept and assert yourself with your strengths and weaknesses. Knowing that you have found yourself is the most important instrument you need to conquer the world. It doesn't matter what anyone else thinks of you but what you think of yourself is most important. The reason why we often miss the best part of ourselves is because we don't reflect as much as we should on and about our lives, past, present and we don't set standards for our future. There is a stage we come to in life when we begin to question ourselves about our deepest values and the things that keep us in the midst of others. Oftentimes we jump to certain conclusions when judging ourselves and deciding who we think we are and who we have come to be. You see I once read that the best way to know a man is to watch what he laughs and weeps at. This was said to be the greatest measure of a man's value.

Forming your identity is not easy but it has to be sought after because discovering your identity makes it easier to identify your gifts and put it all together to fulfill your destiny. Many times people mix things up; they get caught up between their potentials and their conflicting self. The only way to get ahead is to first find yourself and discover your deepest values, passions and the things that delight you to be able to bring your gift into operation. Because your values, which is what you delight in, directs you to discover more of your potentials and to harness them. All you need is a desire from inside; there is no need for anyone's approval but your own cry to be yourself.

Knowing yourself means, this is me and I accept it that way, this is what I believe in and can't do otherwise. You don't compromise when you know your deeper yes, because you know that your deeper yes means that if I do otherwise it is going to affect my whole being. This doesn't mean you are going to be too rigid a person but to some extent it gives you a great idea of when to be flexible and when not to be. Sometime ago I could identify with my values but was yet in conflict with acting them out especially when I had to say no to something my deeper being rejected. This was because I was afraid of making people feel bad and unaccepted but as I grew older it became obvious to me that I am the architect of my fortune or misfortune, and that the earlier I learnt to say yes the closer I would be to coming to terms with myself and my uniqueness.

The beautiful thing about it all is that you attract what you are. The moment you can get in touch with yourself it is easier to get in touch with someone else especially when your saying yes to so many things are similar. This is when you can identify your soul mate of life, that is your friends with whom you can build the foundation of life together and this doesn't necessarily mean you and these people agree on everything in life. It only means that you have nearly the same values, which might not be a hundred percent but reasonable enough to keep you together. You see most of us have friends we think are difficult to be with or friends that don't mind having the same clothes and hair cut we have because we are still struggling with who we are and who our friends think we should be.

The sooner you set your own standards for yourself the better or else people will set standards for you. The problem with most of us is that we feel we need everyone else's approval to do the things we value the most, and that is where we miss it. There is no problem in listening to other people's opinions but when it involves you, your own opinion matters the most, which must be based on who you have found out God wants you to be.

It's interesting when you dare to be different. Live your life and people will begin to question why you are you. It is such a life we live that you are the one that matters the most as to what opinion the man in you should be. Take delight in being yourself, you do not need any mask to be loved.

Another problem with virtually everyone of us is conformity and the fear of what people will say if you choose to live your life the way you want to. There is nothing wrong with that fear, but there is something wrong in not being fulfilled and happy especially when you are doing what your inner being is saying yes to. Our predicament is not in our fear of discovering ourselves but the fear of what to do with what we discover.

No one can live your life for you. If you are fortunate enough you may meet people that will help reveal your strength and help you deal with your weaknesses but these people are very few. You may come in contact with people who don't care what happens to you and wouldn't mind enslaving you, judging you and condemning you. Why allow yourself such a life, why not go through a self search and give yourself a lot of value so that no one can treat you anyhow but give you your due honour and respect?

The more your life reveals your dream, the more your face reveals your light. It is having enough worth that little things get to be little.

For How Long Will Africa Be Cursed With It's Leaders?

I was recently going through the findings of a research carried out on Africa by a foreign-based research firm and there was one statistic that really struck me deeply. Can you believe that the average African live under just 'a dollar' per day?

Now, can you fault anyone for labelling our beloved continent 'the poorest in the world'? But where have we gone wrong? Who is to blame? Is it those at the helm of affairs or the masses? All these questions hang loosely in the air begging for answers but with no one ready to provide them. We (the masses) - with the exception of our leaders who perhaps have been blinded by the pursuit of personal gains or 'National Cake' as they like to call it - seems to know where the problems lie but what can we do?

What can you do, when all around you there is a feeling of uncertainty? What can you do when the children that are supposed to be the future leaders are brought up to the knowledge that the only way to get to the top is to cut corners? What can you do when you are going to bed at night with not the slightest insight as to what tomorrow have in store for you? When your vote that is supposed to be your power during election or S-election, if you please, is nothing more than another futile effort. The system, yes the SYSTEM will always win.

Before their S-election, so many laudable plans (vision 2020, 7-point agenda etc) had been bandied around the media - owned or financed by big political moguls who in-turn influenced their writings and as such the joy of journalism is lost and it's etiquettes trampled upon - but the moment they assume office the reverse is the case. Take the political instability in my 'dear' Nigeria as a case-study, where a nation is run like a family business. The 'Giant of Africa' has suddenly grown so big that she developed bow legs, or how else can you describe a nation of over 140 million people having no president for over two months (during the Yar'Adua administration).

But what do we really feel towards our leaders? Is it hatred or jealousy? I believe it is the latter, for who can see the lure of long shiny cars or houses built with so much efficacy and grandeur to make the jaws of onlookers drop and say that he truly detest them deep down? Certainly, not anyone I know. It is not hatred because those are the things we ourselves have always longed for. But if a leader is not able to meet the demands of his followers, why can't he just do the most honorable thing, RESIGN? I guess that is not part of the agenda. For how long will Africa continue to be cursed with it's Leaders?

Despite all of these uncertainties, Africans are widely regarded as the most religious people in the world be it Christianity, Islam or Traditional worshippers. The most famous word in our dictionary is HOPE, or what else can we do other than to pray and hope that someday somehow we will reach the height of our potentials. If living is cruel then death is not so kind. Nobody wants to die but we all wanna go to heaven, and so, we manage to live through the rot and hope for a better tomorrow.

Happy Eid 'El Fitri to all our Muslim folks, especially to my Mum, my lovely siblings and Sanusi Kafayat, I love you all. May Almighty Allah guide and protect you all.

You Are Better Than That

Let me tell you something you already know.

The world ain't all sunshine and rainbows. It is a very mean and nasty place and it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it, or why do you think the phrase: 'Survival Of The Fittest' was coined?

People will kick you from behind till you are down and still ask you 'WHY?'
You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life.
But it ain't how hard you hit, it's about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward; how much of it you can take and still stand strong with BELIEF. That's how winning is done.

Even when life throws unexpected happenings at you, see it as a phase that will soon phase out and move on. Life is what it is, life. Imagine knowing what will happen to you tomorrow, the joy of living would have been taking away.

Be strong and stand tall. When the going gets tough, the tough gets going and stay tough.

Now, if you know what you're worth, then go out and get it. But you've got to be willing to take the hit and not pointing accusing fingers saying you ain't where you are because of him, or her, or anybody. Cowards do that and that ain't you.

YOU ARE BETTER THAN THAT!

NB: This is dedicated to someone special, you know who you are. Everything's gonna be alright.