Tyranny
Cast down,downtrodden, submerged,
Into the unreturnable abyss of dilemma.
A minute alteration from the bleaching kwanza,
The gutted refusal of their passage rite,
May lead to the drowning of a divine escapade!
The Courageous barking is proclaimed promiscuous,
The summoned strength murderously shattered,
The voiceless, inflicted with the sigh influenza,
All entrapped in the Babylonian fiery furnace,
The just valuation must be accorded to the doctors wiles.
Confronted with these present uncertainties,
We must continue to trudge on like the Spartans!
There'll oftentimes be when tyranny arises,
But there must never come a time when we fail to oppose.
G.S.'Nuel
Sunday, 4 October 2015
Tyranny
Transition
Transition
Bones cracking,
Cord worning out,
Flesh falling,
Beauty fading,
Yesterday memories,
Miraculously vanishing,
Time awaits none,
The young sweet essence,
The Old strong burden,
When the eyes dim,
The wonders of the Alligator sky,
Now seems a mirage,
He must now wish above all,
To return to where he came from.
G.S.'Nuel
Beware of Tithe Collectors.
By Femi Aribisala
Don't allow pastors who don't understand the ways of God to continue to deceive you. God is no respecter of "tithers."
John says: "There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear." (1 John 4:18). Therefore, Christians should resist any attempt by anyone to scare them into doing anything pertaining to the righteousness of God. That is precisely what mercenary pastors do in order to arm-twist Christians to pay tithes; a requirement now inapplicable under the New Testament.
Threat of curses
If you are one of those with a money-minded pastor, he will call you a thief for failing to pay tithes and insist you are cursed. The legal authority for this predicament comes from Malachi: "Will a man rob God? Surely not! And yet you have robbed me. 'What do you mean? When did we ever rob you?' 'You have robbed me of the tithes and offerings due to me. And so the awesome curse of God is cursing you, for your whole nation has been robbing me.'" (Malachi 3:8-9).
The truth, however, is that this scripture has no application whatsoever to Christians. Malachi's invective was addressed to Old Testament priests and not even their congregation. Today's pastors are experts at double-speak. They quote Paul: "Christ has redeemed us from the curse of the law." (Galatians 3:13). Then they use Malachi to curse the redeemed in order to squeeze money out of them.
Believers are blessed: "with all spiritual blessings in the heavenly places in Christ." (Ephesians 1:3). These blessings are not conditional upon the payment of tithes but attendant on our faith in Christ and adherence to his teachings. God would never curse a Christian whom he has already blessed. When Balaam was offered money to curse the children of Israel, he replied: "God has blessed them, and I cannot reverse it! No curse can be placed on Jacob, and no magic shall be done against him." (Numbers 23:18/23).
God said to Abraham: "I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse him who curses you." (Genesis 12:3). Christians are the seed and heirs of God's promise to Abraham. (Galatians 3:29). Therefore, any pastor who curses a Christian is only cursing himself.
Scourge of the devourer
Pastors further seek to manipulate Christians by saying, if you do not pay your tithe, God will unleash the devourer on you. (Malachi 3:11). This means you will be confronted with all kinds of unnecessary expenditure that will continually drain away your finances.
Accordingly, Bishop David Oyedepo writes that rats ate all the cables in the car of a woman in his church. When she had the car re-wired, the rats ate the cables again. On investigation, it was discovered she had not been paying her tithes, which was why the devouring rats had been unleashed on her. Once she started paying her tithes dutifully again, the rat-attacks stopped.
Stories like this are commonplace in the churches and they are pure balderdash. It is amazing how far pastors will go in order to fleece their flock. Bishop Oyedepo says the offending rats in question were not ordinary rats but "devourer rats." However, he fails to tell us how to differentiate between the one and the other, in case we come across any rats.
Suffice to say that such stories are manipulative. They are only designed to scare people into paying tithes. I don't pay tithes and I don't have rats of any kind in my car or in my house.
Answer me this: do bad things only happen to those who don't pay tithes? Indeed, do bad things only happen to unbelievers? The answer is emphatically "No." As a matter of fact, the truth is that in this world, worse things actually happen to believers than to unbelievers. The psalmist declares: "Many are the afflictions of the righteous." (Psalm 34:19).
According to Jesus, in this world the believer is appointed to problems. He says to his disciples: "These things I have spoken to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world." (John 16:33). Tribulation, it should be pointed out, does not connote prosperity.
Bait of showers of blessings
Having used these scare-tactics to manipulate the gullible into paying tithes, many pastors then employ the promise of blessings as additional inducement. They say if you pay your tithes, God will open the windows of heaven for you and pour out a blessing so great there would not be enough room to contain it. (Malachi 3:10).
But let me ask a question here tongue-in-cheek. Have you actually discovered that Christians are any richer than non-Christians, after all only Christians pay tithes?
Pastor Adeboye claims to be richer than Bill Gates because he allegedly has houses in 188 countries. However, even if each of Adeboye's putative 188 houses were to cost one million dollars, it would still not make him a billionaire. However, Bill Gates is not worth 188 million dollars: he is worth 76 billion dollars; making him truly the richest man in the world. Nevertheless, Bill Gates is an agnostic, in spite of his Catholic background. He does not pay tithes to any church or pastor.
Don't believe the lie.
People don't get rich from paying tithes. They don't even get rich from being righteous. Take another look at this kingdom dynamic:
"The truth is that the wicked live on to a good old age and become great and powerful. They live to see their children grow to maturity around them, and their grandchildren too. Their homes are safe from every fear, and God does not punish them. Their cattle are productive, they have many happy children, they spend their time singing and dancing. They are wealthy and need deny themselves nothing; they are prosperous to the end. All this despite the fact that they ordered God away and wanted no part of him and his ways." (Job 21:7-14).
Don't allow pastors who don't understand the ways of God to continue to deceive you. God is no respecter of "tithers." Jesus says: "(God) makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust." (Matthew 5:45). In all the time you have been going to church, have you ever seen any "tither" who received so much money he had no room to put it? I doubt it.
The windows of heaven were opened on believers when Jesus gave us the keys of the kingdom of God. (Matthew 16:19). The blessing that there shall not be room enough to contain is the blessing of salvation. In the kingdom of God, a man who is financially rich is not deemed to be blessed. The man who is blessed is he who has received forgiveness of sins.
Jesus says: "Blessed are the merciful! For they shall obtain mercy." (Matthew 5:7). David concurs: "Blessed is he whose transgression is forgiven, whose sin is covered. Blessed is the man to whom the LORD does not impute iniquity, and in whose spirit there is no deceit." (Psalm 32:1-2).
So if you have been deceived into believing some financial windfall is going to fall down on you from heaven because you pay tithes, think again. You have been conned.
Sunday, 31 May 2015
President Muhammadu Buhari Inaugural Speech
I would like to thank President Goodluck Jonathan for his display of statesmanship in setting a precedent for us that has now made our people proud to be Nigerians wherever they are. With the support and cooperation he has given to the transition process, he has made it possible for us to show the world that despite the perceived tension in the land we can be a united people capable of doing what is right for our nation.Together we co-operated to surprise the world that had come to expect only the worst from Nigeria.I hope this act of graciously accepting defeat by the outgoing President will become the standard of political conduct in the country.
I would like to thank the millions of our supporters who believed in us even when the cause seemed hopeless. I salute their resolve in waiting long hours in rain and hot sunshine to register and cast their votes and stay all night if necessary to protect and ensure their votes count and were counted. I thank those who tirelessly carried the campaign on the social media. At the same time, I thank our other countrymen and women who did not vote for us but contributed to make our democratic culture truly competitive, strong and definitive.
I thank all of you.
Having just a few minutes ago sworn on the Holy Book, I intend to keep my oath and serve as President to all Nigerians.
I belong to everybody and I belong to nobody.
A few people have privately voiced fears that on coming back to office I shall go after them. These fears are groundless. There will be no paying off old scores. The past is prologue.
Our neighbours in the Sub-region and our African brethen should rest assured that Nigeria under our administration will be ready to play any leadership role that Africa expects of it. Here I would like to thank the governments and people of Cameroon, Chad and Niger for committing their armed forces to fight Boko Haram in Nigeria.
I also wish to assure the wider international community of our readiness to cooperate and help to combat threats of cross-border terrorism, sea piracy, refugees and boat people, financial crime, cyber crime, climate change, the spread of communicable diseases and other challenges of the 21st century.
At home we face enormous challenges. Insecurity, pervasive corruption, the hitherto unending and seemingly impossible fuel and power shortages are the immediate concerns. We are going to tackle them head on. Nigerians will not regret that they have entrusted national responsibility to us. We must not succumb to hopelessness and defeatism. We can fix our problems.
In recent times Nigerian leaders appear to have misread our mission. Our founding fathers, Mr Herbert Macauley, Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, Alhaji Ahmadu Bello, the Sardauna of Sokoto, Alhaji AbubakarTafawa Balewa, Malam Aminu Kano, Chief J.S. Tarka, Mr Eyo Ita, Chief Denis Osadeby, Chief Ladoke Akintola and their colleagues worked to establish certain standards of governance. They might have differed in their methods or tactics or details, but they were united in establishing a viable and progressive country. Some of their successors behaved like spoilt children breaking everything and bringing disorder to the house.
Furthermore, we as Nigerians must remind ourselves that we are heirs to great civilizations: Shehu Othman Dan fodio's caliphate, the Kanem Borno Empire, the Oyo Empire, the Benin Empire and King Jaja's formidable domain. The blood of those great ancestors flow in our veins. What is now required is to build on these legacies, to modernize and uplift Nigeria.
Daunting as the task may be it is by no means insurmountable.There is now a national consensus that our chosen route to national development is democracy. To achieve our objectives we must consciously work the democratic system. The Federal Executive under my watch will not seek to encroach on the duties of the Legislative and Judicial arms of government. The law enforcing authorities will be charged to operate within the Constitution. We shall rebuild and reform the public service to become more effective and more serviceable. We shall charge them to apply themselves with integrity to stabilize the system.
For their part the legislative arm must keep to their brief of making laws, carrying out over-sight functions and doing so expeditiously. The judicial system needs reform to cleanse itself from its immediate past. The country now expects the judiciary to act with dispatch on all cases especially on corruption, serious financial crimes or abuse of office. It is only when the three arms act constitutionally that government will be enabled to serve the country optimally and avoid the confusion all too often bedeviling governance today.
Elsewhere relations between Abuja and the States have to be clarified if we are to serve the country better. Constitutionally there are limits to powers of each of the three tiers of government but that should not mean the Federal Government should fold its arms and close its eyes to what is going on in the states and local governments. Not least the operations of the Local Government Joint Account. While the Federal Government can not interfere in the details of its operations it will ensure that the gross corruption at the local level is checked. As far as the constitution allows me I will try to ensure that there is responsible and accountable governance at all levels of government in the country. For I will not have kept my own trust with the Nigerian people if I allow others abuse theirs under my watch.
However, no matter how well organized the governments of the federation are they can not succeed without the support, understanding and cooperation of labour unions, organized private sector, the press and civil society organizations. I appeal to employers and workers alike to unite in raising productivity so that everybody will have the opportunity to share in increased prosperity. The Nigerian press is the most vibrant in Africa. My appeal to the media today – and this includes the social media – is to exercise its considerable powers with responsibility and patriotism.
My appeal for unity is predicated on the seriousness of the legacy we are getting into. With depleted foreign reserves, falling oil prices, leakages and debts the Nigerian economy is in deep trouble and will require careful management to bring it round and to tackle the immediate challenges confronting us, namely; Boko Haram, the Niger Delta situation, the power shortages and unemployment especially among young people. For the longer term we have to improve the standards of our education. We have to look at the whole field of medicare. We have to upgrade our dilapidated physical infrastructure.
The most immediate is Boko Haram's insurgency. Progress has been made in recent weeks by our security forces but victory can not be achieved by basing the Command and Control Centre in Abuja. The command centre will be relocated to Maiduguri and remain until Boko Haram is completely subdued. But we can not claim to have defeated Boko Haram without rescuing the Chibok girls and all other innocent persons held hostage by insurgents.
This government will do all it can to rescue them alive. Boko Haram is a typical example of small fires causing large fires. An eccentric and unorthodox preacher with a tiny following was given posthumous fame and following by his extrajudicial murder at the hands of the police. Since then through official bungling, negligence, complacency or collusion Boko Haram became a terrifying force taking tens of thousands of lives and capturing several towns and villages covering swathes of Nigerians overeign territory.
Boko Haram is a mindless, godless group who areas far away from Islam as one can think of. At the end of the hostilities when the group is subdued the Government intends to commission a sociological study to determine its origins, remote and immediate causes of the movement, its sponsors, the international connexions to ensure that measures are taken to prevent a reccurrence of this evil. For now the Armed Forces will be fully charged with prosecuting the fight against Boko haram. We shall over haul the rules of engagement to avoid human rights violations in operations. We shall improve operational and legal mechanisms so that disciplinary steps are taken against proven human right violations by the Armed Forces.
Boko Haram is not only the security issue bedeviling our country. The spate of kidnappings, armed robberies, herdsmen/farmers clashes, cattle rustlings all help to add to the general air of insecurity in our land. We are going to erect and maintain an efficient, disciplined people– friendly and well – compensated security forces within an over – all security architecture.
The amnesty programme in the Niger Delta is due to end in December, but the Government intends to invest heavily in the projects, and programmes currently in place. I call on the leadership and peoplein these areas to cooperate with the State and Federal Government in the rehabilitation programmes which will be streamlined and made more effective. As ever, I am ready to listen to grievances of my fellow Nigerians. I extend my hand of fellowship to them so that we can bring peace and build prosperity for our people.
No single cause can be identified to explain Nigerian'spoor economic performance over the years than the power situation. It is a national shame that an economy of 180 million generates only 4,000MW, and distributes even less. Continuous tinkering with the structures of power supply and distribution and close on $20b expanded since 1999 have only brought darkness, frustration, misery, and resignation among Nigerians. We will not allow this to go on. Careful studies are under way during this transition to identify the quickest, safest and most cost-effective way to bring light and relief to Nigerians.
Unemployment, notably yonesses to kick – start these enterprises. We shall quickly examine the best way to revive major industries and accelerate the revival and development of our railways, roads and general infrastructure.
Oursituation somehow reminds one of a passage in Shakespeare's Julius Ceasar
There isa tide in the affairs ofmen which,
taken at the flood, leads on to fortune;
Omitted, all the voyage oftheir life,
Is bound in shallows and miseries.
We have an opportunity. Let us take it.
Thursday, 28 May 2015
Onyebuchi wrote: NIGERIA'S FUEL CRISIS - WHY I BLAME GEJ
I worked in the downstream petroleum sector for about 36 months as legal counsel and this was at the peak of the subsidy crisis. I handled and prepared critical documents, advised on transactions and participated in the subsidy scheme as a staff of the one of biggest indigenous players in the sector. I have a perfect understanding of the system from the point where these products are negotiated and bought from refineries abroad to the contract for their shipping....from arrival at the Port in Nigeria to the inspections and the final destination at designated tank farms, so I speak with authority. When the subsidy probe started, I also made several submissions to the National Assembly Committees and also was at the EFCC during the investigations.
Weak and reactive leadership is a disaster to any organization that has it. The hallmark of great leadership is the ability to identify risks and institute effective risk management systems. No organization in this world can survive uncontrolled hemorrhage of scarce resources.
The subsidy scheme became an issue under President Obansanjo. It was under him that the concept of petroleum importation became full blown. For reasons best known to the wily Owu Chief, our four refineries were left to rot while our country relied on fuel importation. That policy remained the biggest disservice former President Obasanjo did to this country.
However, as bad as that policy was under OBJ, there was still some level of sanity and control. At no time under OBJ did subsidy payments exceed 190 billion Naira annually. There were stringent measures that controlled the participation of companies under the subsidy scheme.
Just before OBJ left office, he sold two of our refineries to Dangote and Otedola, a measure that would have worked if fully implemented. It is beyond doubt that the private sector remains the best economic and commercial managers. Government is a cesspool of waste and corruption.
When late President Yar'adua took over, he rode on a staccato of uninformed voices to reverse the sale of the refineries. He reversed the sale but did nothing to bring the refineries back to work. He continued to run the subsidy scheme and kept the restive sanity in the system. As at the time Yar'adua died, Nigeria's subsidy burden was about 230 billion Naira per annum.
Now for the uninformed, the petroleum subsidy scheme is a system where the federal government, on a bid to reduce the cost of fuel paid by Nigerians chooses to pay the difference between the landing cost of petrol imports, the prevailing price of the commodity at the international market and what is actually sold in Nigeria.
For instance, if the landing cost of petrol in Nigeria is, say, N 115, and after adding lightering charges and other logistics costs, the price of petrol should be N147, the federal government asks the marketers to sell at N97 and decides to pay the marketers the difference per litre.
Now enter President Goodluck Ebelechukwu Azikiwe Mainasara Jehoshaphat Effiong Jonathan!
Under him, subsidy costs jumped from 200 billion Naira to over 1.2 trillion in the first two years of his government.
Why? What happened?
Did the population of Nigerian triple within that period or did the number of cars quadruple? Was there an industrial revolution?
The answer is simple. Again, I speak from an informed position.
Due to weak regulatory regimes, the downstream sector became an all comers affair. Every Tom, Dick and Harry entered the business. Companies with no verifiable addresses, no tank farms, no vessels, no financial structures, no bank guarantees all became fuel importers. It was a bazaar. It is only in Nigeria that such bizzare things can happen. Emergency millionaires were made in days. Time and space won't allow me to give you details of the unbelievable things that happened. Every top official of the federal government became an emergency fuel importer or middle man. Importation licenses were hawked openly. All you needed was for the PPPRA to give you a license to import. You could sell it for millions just outside the door.
Now there is a complex web that links the Petroleum Ministry, the DPR, thE Navy, the NPA, NIMASA,PPPRA, DMO, CBN and Commercial Banks in this fraud. Documents like the sovereign debt statements and the sovereign debt notes flew about and our money kept disappearing. From about 30 companies in the scheme, the number shot up to 300. Monthly, billions of Naira were paid out to people who have never had any contact with a Jerry can of fuel in their lives. No verification, no authentication, nothing. Money was being paid with reckless abandon. Dr Okonjo Iweala and Mrs Alison Madueke were all there watching!
It got so bad that some people will arrange with ship owners......take a two day hire of an empty ship, move it to Lagos Port, berth it there. Officials of the PPPRA, Petroleum Ministry, DPR will come there to inspect an empty vessel and certify that the empty vessel carried 10,000 metric tons of petrol, collect their money and walk away. The vessel simply sails away and three weeks later, close to 6 billion Naira will be paid as subsidy when not even a single drop of petrol was brought in.
It was when the government saw that it could no longer sustain that level of waste that GEJ made that attempt at removing subsidy which was stoutly and rightly rejected by Nigerians.
If you recall, the call for the probe of the Subsidy fraud didn't even come from the Presidency. GEJ never called for any probe. Neither did Alison Madueke nor Okonjo Iweala. The call for probe was triggered off by the submissions of Senator Bukola Saraki on the floor of the Senate when he took time to tell the sad story of the biggest fraud in modern Nigeria called FUEL SUBSIDY.
Nigerians should ask GEJ to tell us how our subsidy burden jumped from 200 billion to 1.4 trillion in two years.
Between 2008 and 2013, the PPPRA was about the most corrupt government office in Nigeria. People who worked there lived like Emperors. They spent dollars like there was no tomorrow. Only the privileged found their way there. Each time I went to their office in Abuja then, I left with a heavy heart. This country is in serious trouble.
The only time sanity came to that sector was when GEJ brought Reginald Stanley, former Group General Manager of PPMC who also headed the London Branch of the NNPC into the picture. Reginald Stanley cleaned up the PPPRA, redeployed close to 80% of the workers and rejigged the subsidy program. It was then discovered that more than 60% of the funds paid as subsidy in the last three years were paid wrongly and fraudulently.
That was when the subsidy probe started. Out of the over 300 companies that were collecting subsidy, it was found that not up,to 30 were really importing fuel. Close to 700 billion Naira were stolen in the subsidy scheme. Till date, not a single person has been convicted.
Again, throughout the five years that GEJ ran this country, not one single attempt was made to even find out what is the problem with our refineries.
And yet, people say I shouldn't blame GEJ!
Who should I blame?
Tuesday, 26 May 2015
HENRY FORD: Man of Talent.
In 1888, Ford married Clara Ala Bryant and briefly returned to farming to support his wife and son, Edsel. But three years later, he was hired as an engineer for the Edison Illuminating Company. In 1893, his natural talents earned him a promotion to chief engineer. All the while, Ford developed his plans for a horseless carriage, and in 1896, he constructed his first model, the Ford Quadricycle. Within the same year, he attended a meeting with Edison executives and found himself presenting his automobile plans to Thomas Edison. Thomas Edison encouraged Ford to build a second, better model. After a few trials building cars and companies, in 1903, Henry Ford established the Ford Motor Company. Ford introduced the Model T in October of 1908, and for several years, the company posted 100 percent gains.
However, more than for his profits, Ford became renowned for his revolutionary vision, the manufacture of an inexpensive automobile made by skilled workers who earn wages. In 1914, he sponsored the development of the moving assembly line technique of mass production. Simultaneously, he introduced the $5 per day wage as a method of keeping the best workers loyal to his company. Simple to drive and cheap to repair, half of all cars in America in 1918 were Model T's. From a social perspective, Henry Ford was marked by seemingly contradictory viewpoints. In business, Ford offered profit sharing to select employees who stayed with the company for six months and most important, who conducted their lives in a respectable manner.
The company's "social department " looked into employee's drinking, gambling and otherwise uncouth activities to determine eligibility for participation. Ford was also an ardent pacifist and opposed World war I, even funding a peace ship to Europe. Later in 1936,Ford and his family established the Ford Foundation to provide ongoing grants for research, education and development. But despite these philanthropic leanings, Ford was also a comitted anti-semite, going as far as to support a weekly newspaper, The Dearborn Independent, which furthered such views. Henry Ford died of a Cerebral hemorrhage on April 7, 1947, at the age of 83, near his Dearborn estate, Fair Lane. Ford, considered one of America's leading businessmen and is credited today for helping build America's economy during the nation's vulnerable early years. His legacy will live on for decades to come.
source:Guardian
The Unashamed Clarion.
Langsyne,
I was jumping and touting in bondage
My wrist noised in chains
When darkness is all I could behold
A slave to what should be my least slave
Torment; my greatest friend
Led me blindly to the destination death
Death; the price for my inherited debt
The more I live, the interest of my sin blooms
My life not sufficing for my debt
And shame filled me deeply
O doomed man I was
Born into the generation of poverty
The debt I owed,
My lineage would forever owe
And clinch to the scene of sin
Only to be seen to my lynching
Where hope is an abomination.
Suddenly, a light shined
My hope restored
A hope I never sought, found me
The life I never asked, possessed me
A water I never requested, filled me
I looked to the light,
The light of men,
I saw Him pay my "death", no debt no more
It was "God's Redemption At Cross' Exposition"
The light, my benefactor was, is and would be
"Just Ending Satan's Ubiquitous Superintendence"
Am not ashamed to proclaim Him Rabboni
Because He bore my shame
Am not dishonored to decree Him Messiah
Because He brooked my dishonor
Am not humiliated to pronounce Rabbi
Because he undertook my humiliation
Am not embarrassed to announce him prince of princes
Because he adopted my embarrassment
And wore it as a garment
I am a clarion for him
I will make a loud sound
Developed from the depth of my heart
Will sing with my mouth
My feet would jump to dancing
My palms would do the clapping
I am His full made clarion
All to make known his praises
And am the unashamed
A Pace in The Maze (part 2)
Pace: The distance covered in a step.
The word "lead" means to show the way to others, usually by going ahead of them. So therefore, leadership entails a person and people that he leads. A leader must be there before his followers take a step, they(followers) are brought into the vision and purposes of the leader, so it is the duty of the leader to draw out a map; well spelt out and he(the leader) also becomes a compass for on the map. Thus, everyone who ends up being lost is as a result of not following the compass or the compass is misleading.
Mahatma Gandhi(the Indian nationalist leader) is popularly known for his nonviolent revolts and an instrument employed is the hunger strike. Gandhi didn't just say to the Indians to go on hunger strike for many days, he started it, he felt it and through his stance, his fellow Indians(followers) joined in the hunger strike. Till date, the hunger strike is a very strong instrument for peaceful revolt.
The leader is an organ of observation as well as being an agent of experiment. Thus, his failure would only make others to be cautious, and reconsider their commitment. Jesus talked about bearing a cross, but in history, he was the first to pay the price of cross-bearing for what he teaches. After Jesus' death, countless Christians have borne the cross because they saw a leader who went ahead of them to do what he teaches, and they did the same.
"good leadership is in good 'behaviourship', no one can lead from the rear" – D. F. Olorunsogo
Thursday, 14 May 2015
Who is to blame?
To those who have tried to mount up,
To reach the ladder top and gaze down,
To those who didn't even try,
And to those who fell from the ladder top,
Who could never rise again,
The open ribs in the market square.
The defamed folks that screetches for their belly.
The morgued friends that laid down their batton,
Or the gasping brothers who were so born,
All united under the tongue lashes of the strong.
One needs to truly a ask
Who is to blame?
Sunday, 10 May 2015
A Pace in The Maze (part 1)
Greatest leaders of all times, have one thing in common; fearlessness and courage. Leading people through the pace in a labyrinth where one is only hopeful of a way out (destination) is the greatest challenge a leader could possibly contend with. A mistake or wrong pace, would only lead to a dead end and sometimes a one would think that making out is not worth the risk. Every route of a leader is a pace, and he must be fearless to face obstacles and prove stronger than the difficulty thereby gaining the trust of his followers. Even when you cannot fully define your destination, your vision would keep you and once you pass through the wrong path in the maze, remember that there are several other paths and the next might just be the road to your destination. But a fearless and courageous leader would only have the trust and support of his followers even when he decides to switch paths.
Leaders should be fearless, and be encouraged despite the awareness of the difficulties on the way. Buddha says "there are two mistakes one can make along the road to truth…not going all the way, and not starting." One might be discouraged by the challenges and decides to turn back, but that is the greatest tragedy of a leader.
There is always a strategy to overcome every road-block or challenges but only determination and logical thinking can generate this, just as one of the leaders of history state that "your work is to discover your work and then with all your heart to give yourself to it." Possibility should always be seen in everything, the watchword of a leader should be "I know I can go through the pace, even if I am hurt, injured or battered, I will make it through and never back down." Paul a leader in the Christian faith, when passing though the pace of religious persecution, uttered the words "who(what) shall separate us (Paul and other Christians) from the love of Christ?" Even through the pace that harbors swords(death), Paul(a leader) was determined to go through because found the way of truth, and he is ready to go all the way to the end of the maze.
Be courageous and remember what Paul says "I can do all things…"
"Faced with what is right, to leave it undone shows a lack of courage" - Confucius
The article is written by Olorunsogo David and does not necessarily intend the mind of this blog.
Friday, 8 May 2015
Google AdWords and AdSense differences.
I will simplify things according to how I understand them. Google AdWords, are ads shown by Google and listed below ‘Sponsored Links’ and similar headings, This is usually located on the upper right corner of the Google page or at the top of the search results. If you have noticed this before and wondered how people place their products or services there, it is simply because they register an account in Google AdWords and are enjoying the results of their AdWords campaign by having plenty of traffic and a more established online presence.
Please do not misunderstand what I’ve said. These are paid ads and the fees charged are small. If there weren’t any, then everyone will take advantage of it and the right portion of the page will be filled with ads instead. Nevertheless, if this is used effectively and with well-researched keywords, you are assured of earning back your investment and making more profit. This is why Google AdWords is recognized as among the best ways to get you to hero sales from zero sales in a short time with almost no effort.
You are only charged once a visitor clicks on any of your ads. This is a reasonable set-up because you will only pay for the ads that get you traffic and sales rather than paying a set amount for none at all. This makes it a reliable and fair system. I advice anyone to research about AdWords online, one day will be enough to get acquainted with the information and then you will be set for a successful business.
It is now time to get acquainted with Google AdSense. it is not the same as AdWords, it even works the opposite way, which is, you will be the one paid! To make it simple, if you own a website or a blog and wish to earn extra, you can insert Google ads on any of your pages. This product, is not yours, it is from them and you will have the opportunity to advertise and promote it by placing it there.
If a visitor clicks on the ad, you will earn money. This is a perfect tool for instant money but should not be considered for the long term. If your blog is just for fun or if you own a small site, it will not buy you a house in France! Google AdWords, is for more serious businessmen who want a long term solution to get traffic and sales. It is definitely, one of the fastest ways to succeed.
source: letstalkseo.com
Twenty years old female member of parliament? Nigeria, where are you??
Saturday, 25 April 2015
An Elegy: To my Beloved
My heart pounds like a lousy bell
Unstable as a broken reed
My mind roses like a strange wind
Lost in the ocean of passion
The urge to embrace you my beloved.
The soothsayers has driven the mad
The diviners can suffice no further
The preachers has misled thee
Your heart transmogrified to unbreakable stones
My words now as splashes of water on a rock.
O my dear beloved!
Your appearance would have silenced princes
Your beauty would have melted the King's heart
In the bitterness of my soul
I can only wait and watch thee from afar.
G. S. 'Nuel
Wednesday, 22 April 2015
Tuesday, 21 April 2015
A simple solution to graduate unemployment!
COCKROACH FARM IN CHINA! watch here!
4/4/2015 MAY 29 2019: PROSPECTS OF THE CHANGE RALE
Despite visions of secession, despite tales of woe foretold, despite the electioneering ruckus and against all odds, Nigeria has survived the 2015 presidential election. Families of the éminence grises who were flown out of the country for fear of the unknown now return amidst repose, having survived the process unscathed. Throughout the electioneering process, one factor that never ceased to amuse me whenever mention is made of it is the change slogan, which even birds screeched in the skies and the rats squeaked in their holes. Change, now the slogan of interaction when men converge not only tickles the ear but also the heart, especially when mention is made of it in a same-cycle clime like ours. It is rather saddening that a majority of the mouths propagating the change gospel do so with shallow minds, with reasoning devoid of contemporary realities, minds centered basically on a change of the butt on the seat of power, change of the ethnic group whose own mans the reins. If you ask me, in a society like ours, the word change should never be permitted to be uttered with reckless abandon. If you ask me, I'll say fifty seconds of silence be observed at every point in time before the word is pronounced. Of the 249 countries of the world, Nigeria as at 2014 single handedly accounted for 13% of the world's maternal mortality rates with an estimate of 36,000 women dying annually owing to a defect-laden health care system. This figure excludes the 260,000 neonatal deaths occurring annually. Change? This is a good place to start. We listen with keen bewilderment to tales of how our now comatose naira once stood side by side the pound and dollar of this world, when now it has been washed ashore by the defiant waves of avarice and egocentrism. Maybe the annual take home of our indefatigable legislators should have been accorded a primacy of place here. It is now stale to the ears that Nigerian legislators are the most paid all over the 249 countries of the world; the amiable senate president earns 4 times the amount of Obama's annual pay; that the 385.80 billion naira received as salaries and benefits by legislators within a time space of three and a half years is the same amount needed in supplying 2,572 megawatts of electricity to light up the nation; that as at 1984, 3000 Nigerian officials in both government and private parastatals were discovered to have squirreled away 33 billion dollars in Swiss banks! Let's talk change. Let Mr. President Elect also note that NO administration in Nigeria has ever met 11% of the 26% minimum annual budget for education as recommended by UNESCO for developing countries. The outgoing administration only increased the stake from the erstwhile 8.7% as at 2013 to 10.7% in 2014 after a six month strike by academics in public universities. The eminences grises who cannot tolerate the rot in the education system send their children abroad for qualitative education while the children of the masses are left to enjoy the decadence. Recent statistics have shown that 53% of graduates in Nigeria are unemployed, 30% are under employed, 3% are self employed, while only 14% are gainfully employed. Forgotten are the days when as a graduate, a brand new car awaits you, and a job in your place of choice. I do not belong to the class of thinkers who believe that the figures of graduates being produced have reached a climax and thus, this is bound to happen. No country of the world is yet free from the bane of unemployment/under-employment, but the figures here are quite alarming. Mention at this juncture cannot but be made of the promising graduates who lost their lives in the Nigerian immigration service stampede during a recruitment process, though consolation awards which is nothing compared to the sanctity of life were given to families of the bereaved. Many of these graduates make recourse to political thuggery and other societal ills for a few thousands, while their privileged counterparts exhaust millions on a day's batch. Ever heard of the grandeur Madueke, Oduah, and Mark's children reel in? or the two billion naira found in Dimeji Bankole's late two year old daughter's account? The list will be completely incomplete if mention is not made of the rate at which importation is at an all time high, aided by the porosity of Nigerian borders. Indians do not refer to Mahatma Ghandi as father for nothing; at a time when the country was grappling with economic instability, he out rightly prohibited importation of goods and services. This at first led to an outcry from the people of the state, but after a while, they adapted and made recourse to locally made products, thus boosting their internal revenue. Will the tentacles of the noised change extend to these areas or has the change been achieved already? Nigeria after 57 years of oil discovery, can still not boast of a functional refinery nearly 6 decades after. Most Nigerian leaders have laid claim to the brevity of the constitutional term of office as a reason for their non-performance. I stand to prove them wrong today. Four years is no joke! Ghana, South Africa, Liberia, India, and some other countries who witnessed change within four years have proven that. For a leader with an acute sense of direction, four years is sufficient to make things happen and hand over the baton. Come 29 th of May 2015, a new administration will be ushered in amidst pomp and pageantry, what will be Nigeria's moirai come 2019?
'Gbemi Tayo Leezah
Tuesday, 14 April 2015
The Wholesome Disease
The land is hungry
The rain feels dry
The pots are not filled
To them that sit by the broth
The market gets noisier
It does not seem a threat
The cursing tongue gets louder
Maybe its loudest shall be noticed
An end shall soon come
To this wholesome disease.
-G.S. 'Nuel
Tuesday, 7 April 2015
Three poets, One poem!
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Lies in the hands of you and I,
Sitted in the noiseless calm of the disturbed soul,
We could breakforth into the realm of the fear unknown,
Or lie unperturbed awaiting our inglorious death.
Death they say, is the end of life,
Life they say, gives hope to the lost,
We wait in anticipation of a life unpredictable,
That may lead to an everlasting failure.
Amidst this present dilemma,
We could trudge the path of the old,
Launch into the unfathomable sea of uncertainty,
Equipped with the prowess of the daredevil himself,
Unmindful of the calamity that accompanies our adventure,
In the house of death lies different kinds of heads,
A comedy would suffice,
Only a surfeit could be catastrophic,
Filled with inimicable desires,
The Soul of the scornful,
A portion of gerocomy,
Would immute such gory.
-G.S 'Nuel
-Akinbohun Emmanuel
-Olorunsogo David O.
Thursday, 2 April 2015
The Psychiatric Boanergy
Robotics: Is this coming true???
RVD vs Jean Claude Van Damme
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When your phone drops in water!!!
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Tuesday, 31 March 2015
APC or PDP? Which one?
About Push CV?
Cocunut Revival: A poem
Coconut RevivalWhen the coconut water is spent
The fleshy whitish skin that glazes
In the solemn sun of comfort
Your rottenness appears of a sudden!
Off the loot of the earth
The nourishment has now failed
The stem cannot hold anymore
The root is withered
The earth must now recuperate
For we await another coconut.
G.S.’Nuel