MIND YOURSELF

                                                                                    

When a child reaches the age of seven, it is said that he/she has reached the age of reasoning; that is, he can decipher between right and wrong and consciously tow the narrow path of good or the wide path of evil. Some people have said that children of the information age come out of the womb with their eyes wide open and reach the age of reasoning before they are 5.  Whatever the facts maybe, children have open minds that suck in information like a sponge soaks up water. This makes them very prone to influences from the outside of them. I am not so much worried about the mental development of children though as I am becoming more concerned about the process of mind control of adults who have passed the age of the commencement of reasoning and who with all their education or lack of it have the mental, emotional and physical capacity to not only tow the path of evil but widen it.

The popular belief is that when you train a child in a certain way, the child will grow up to be a product of that training. A statistician will tell you that most human characteristics tend to follow a normal distribution however there will always be outliers.  There will always be the ones that are influenced by one significant person, thing or situation during a period (perhaps a vulnerable time in that person’s life) that changes the dynamics of how he/she thinks and then acts. Looking at the 2013 Woolwich attack, I get a replay in my head of Adebolajo saying to the world telling the British government to leave their lands and I am always like “shoor! Your lands?!”  Adebolajo is a 28 year old man who schooled in Britain, brought up as a Christian boy and radically became a Muslim.  Adebolajo is a British man of Nigerian descent. In between his British origin and Nigerian ‘lands’, I do not see how he had the temerity to fight for a land that is not his, a people that are only linked to him by religion and nothing else. Religion then seems to be his only driving force.

We all have a turning point in our lives when we significantly stand up to say we are for Jesus, Allah, self or nothing but at what angle in that turning point do we go beyond the call of reasoning? Many things about faith are beyond the call of reasoning and that is why it is called faith. Faith, whatever it maybe, should not diminish life but enhance it.

What is the process of radicalization? What qualities do these mind-controlling Clerics possess to indoctrinate people that the ordinary Imam does not have? Whose agenda are they executing by radicalizing youths to kill and destroy? I wonder if I am looking too far. I remember the case of reverend King who took religion to another level. This man had followers who were devoted to him and obeyed his every command. Look at our media, are they indoctrinating us with their own truths? What is the reality of our situation in Nigeria? Whose agenda are we operating on in Nigeria? Obasanjo? ‘the Cabal?’ the UK or US? Who are those behind Boko Haram and how are they getting young men to jump to the netherworld in the name of a religion?

 It is the psychology of all of this that I am most worried about. There is always so much information out there and not all of it is true. We should be worried about those who have discovered the power to make others see things that they want to see, do things that they want them to do and most importantly believe what they want them to believe.

There will always be outliers in every society and there will always be people who have agendas and find vulnerable people to perpetrate their evil. What you can do is to protect your mind. With a conscious effort to nurture your mind with the truth you condition your mind to be positively selective of what goes in. In the words of Mahatma Ghandi I say to myself “I will not let anyone walk through my mind with their dirty feet”.  James Allen in As a Man Thinketh, says to us “Cherish your visions. Cherish your Ideals. Cherish the music that stirs in your heart, the beauty that forms in your mind, the loveliness that drapes your purest thoughts, for out of them will grow all delightful conditions, all heavenly environment, of these, if you but remain true to them your world will at last be built.

WHAT CLASS ARE YOU?

Over the last decade, I have heard people say over and over again that Nigerians do not read. Perhaps it is time to do another demographic survey since Nigerians have seemingly jumped from the agrarian age to the information age. Almost everyone has access to a phone – smart or not, a large population seems to have access to affordable internet services, and quite an armful (maybe harmful) have become activists by a click or touch of their very smart gadgets. With the technological transformation, Nigeria has a better rating on the map of the world, albeit looking at the scale from which it had fallen (giant of Africa) the improvement is inconsequential. 

There is a certain class of Nigerians who are educated and have a high level of ideation. These are the people who want to do something about the issues plaguing Nigeria. These seemingly very minority group always air their views about the problems Nigeria is facing and how incompetent the leaders of this country appear to be. One thing I hardly hear from them however is the ‘way forward’ or when they do proffer solutions they do it with the effortlessness of the commentator/spectator of a football match. It is quite easy to shout at a player from the sideline about the angle from which he should kick a ball. I remember the season of Occupy Nigeria. Some of the youths that participated in this understood the hardship that would face the Nigerian people if subsidy was removed but they also understood why the government wanted to remove the fuel subsidy. Perhaps if they were to run their own governments, they would probably remove the subsidy but of course make sure that there are safety nets to help those who would be most affected. There are not many of these people. Are they useful to the Nigerian Society? Well, they can be if only they channeled their gadget-driven activism to benefit everyone with consideration for the children yet to be born.

There is another class of Nigerians who are also educated yet their thinking is greatly affected by their culture, religion that is only skin deep, values that change with the weather and the degeneration in the society so much so that it would be hard for them to look back for a second to ask why the government wants to remove fuel subsidy.  Their focus is totally on the hardship they would feel as a result of the decision and that is all that matters to them.  They never think outside their world or their box. There are many youths in this category and you would find many of them taking the lead when there are situations. They would most likely hijack a situation and of course act with no strategy or with just one strategy – how to solve their own problem. As bloggers, this category is more likely to write articles that are so skewed yet the information they provide is out there for everyone to read and in many cases accepted as truth. They seem to forget that their desktop is not the only desktop in the world and some people might call them narrow-minded because they have come to realize that there will always be an another side to a story.

There is also a category of Nigerians who are not educated yet have access to information. I call them the foot soldiers or pawns because they do the fighting and destruction. Of course I do not need to buttress the ills of having access to information without education. It was sometime last year when a story went viral about a lady that turned to a snake in a hotel in one of the eastern states of Nigeria; some angry people went to the hotel with the intention of burning it down for whatever reason.  There are many in this category and would always be useful tools for politicians and likes in rigging, intimidation and destruction and as well as Boko Haram tactics.

Then there are the people who do not have access to information with no education. These are the people who genuinely suffer from the actions of all the other categories I mentioned above. They have no platform to make any meaningful contributions to their society and they get all their information from the third category.  

I created these categories to describe in a different way the young population which is more than one third of the entire Nigerian population so that we can imagine a country where the young population is educated and has a high level of ideation with access to information and a global network such that among them they have great thinkers and implementers who are defined by the right culture, values and religion. It is evident that education is very much vital to nation building and the over 56 million youths in Nigeria must be armed with the right tools for their development if not we would have a bigger problem on our hands than the ones we think we have. Like I said at the beginning, it is time for another demographic survey.

LIAR! LIAR! PANTS ON FIRE!

Some Men would argue that the average modern Woman is a liar. Why? Do I need to start? False hair, false lashes, face-changing make up, false finger nails, excellent wonder bras, 3-6 inches addition to height, packed love handles in some tight spandex that produces an hour glass shape to mention a few. And if you call all this lies, then well, Women are so used to living this way, it has become the truth for them. They call the hair extensions “my Peruvian hair” and use words like “my nails, my lashes” etc. Hardly would any Woman agree that they are indulging in a life of falsehood. I guess I can say the same for Lance Armstrong.

It was amazing how people particularly the global society turned down their noses at Armstrong last month. It is my perception that a large number of people expected him to breakdown and cry during his interview with Oprah Winfrey, beg for forgiveness and give them an opportunity to say “you deceived us for seven years straight and you are asking for forgiveness?” engaging the world in a drama of some sort. He probably knew from the start that forgiveness would not be in the offing once he is caught and so he did everything to protect his lie until it became the truth for him. You say his apology appeared calculated. Well, yeah, because if you have told everyone your name is Simon for about 7 years, you get to believe it yourself while the truth is really lodged in a compartment in your brain; a compartment you really don’t want to have access to. You would do anything to protect that lie including bully people who know about it. Unfortunately for Armstrong, his sport had to do with having team mates. If it was a solo show, he probably would have gotten away with it. Like he said, if he did not come back, he would not have been caught.

To ‘do a big lie’ – a giant one that is worth documenting, you must forget your conscience. Not just forget, kill it. This is not an advocacy for people to see Armstrong in a better light, his actions were ‘disgusting’ as one critic I watched on CNN said neither is it an analysis of the act of lying.

If you have ever lied and started off a chain of lies, I admonish you not to turn your nose down at Armstrong. Instead take a sniff at your own scent. I have encountered many who would claim they are one thing and at that moment contradict themselves with their actions. You would hear someone claim to be honest and yet dream about an opportunity to take part in the loot for Nigeria’s treasures. The same man can swear confidently to be a person of integrity. Lying is an act so crafty, sneaky, and sly [sic]. If you put lying into a culture, it would probably get another name like protecting family interest, or protecting ‘our own’.

My advice is not this “Lie and lie until the lie becomes your truth” but that eventually the truth prevails. It always does even if it happens AD as in the case of Jimmy Savile. It may not happen in the world’s view and under the same scrutiny as the cases of Jimmy Savile and Lance Armstrong, sometimes the truth comes as a reality check, karma, and even a spiritual encounter. It doesn’t matter what form the truth comes but it is certainly easier living in truth with yourself and the world (though it might be painful and involve sacrifice).

I see Lance Armstrong as someone who has a very strong personality and has learned to mask his emotions so perhaps he is just quivering on the inside or maybe not. While the dust has settled somewhat on his case, all Armstrong has to do is look at his children every day and he will wish he had done things differently.

GENESIS: LESSONS FROM THE CREATION STORY

God plans

Looking at the order in which the world was created, it is evident that a lot of thought was put into his work. The creator God didn’t command the light just to see if it was the right kind, nor did he try to create the sky before separating the waters above from the ones below. The story of creation tells us that God loves order and he created everything in its own place and in its own time. He had a purpose for everything he created. Everyone on this earth was (is) part of the plan.
Psalm 22:10, Jeremiah 1:5, Psalm 139:13, proverbs 3: 5-6


God works per excellence

One of the surest ways to ensure your work is going as scheduled is to monitor and then evaluate. This is certainly something God did according to the creation story. Every now and then, He paused to look at what he had done and it was always good. For one to achieve excellence, one must work according to a well mapped out plan, work at it to the best of his ability and then check to ensure the work is coming out as planned. It cannot be disputed that God did an excellent job in the creation of things, nothing was a mistake, and nothing was patched up because God was tired or out of materials.


God thinks long term (The beginning of Sustainable development?)

When God was creating the earth and all it holds, he didn’t just create the first plants, animals and Man. He also made provision for the next set of young plants, animals and Man. He did his work such that the things he created could continue to bear ‘fruits and multiply’ by themselves. His love for continuity can be seen in the plan that man was supposed to exist with him for eternity. This plan was however disrupted by man’s disobedience to God. God being God, he still found a way: he gave up his Son, Jesus Christ, to die so that man will not be lost but would have a chance to live with him forever.


He had a succession plan

After He created, God gave responsibility of the earth to man. He told man to be fruitful and multiply and gave him control over all. Of course there was a purpose: for man to care for the earth and not destroy it.

I am sure that there are many more lessons to learn from the creation story but the most important one for me is that 'man was created for a purpose'. The skills and abilities we possess were given to us to give glory to God and also demonstrate the love of God to others. If you are using the talents you've been given, God is being glorified in your life. If you are using it to touch the lives of others, then you are actually doing what God has called you to do.

PERFECT JANUARY… OR NOT

I wonder if people do things perfectly in January. I am guessing that it is the month where you have the most motivated people in the world and certainly the most hopeful. Who doesn't want everything right in the first month of the year? Especially after all the prosperity talk of the watch night services, the all-night prayers and candid resolutions made. All the positive vibes can be very catchy; you just want to break into dance from all the positive energy.  A new year certainly brings hope. We certainly do not want to ‘occupy’ anything in January 2013 or any other month of this year and I am praying that here in Nigeria and around the world, there are no natural disasters or man-made ones for that matter. Let’s lock it up in 2012 (I am starting to feel like a preacher. Preach it Sister). The end of something gives a kind of closure to it and the beginning gives a fresh start. It is always refreshing to start all over. If people were given the opportunity to start their entire life again, I am sure many would take it. I might.

Some people say ‘if you start well, you will end well’. If you have lived life as you should you would know that starting something is not an indication that you would finish it. The elements between the start and the finish connect the dots. The human elements include having a good justification for doing something, adequate planning, hard work  and smart work etc, and the spiritual element I know about (that works) is constant prayer (to God almighty). If you find any ‘baba’ or friend that tells you he can do something better, just go watch the really old Nollywood movies. They will inform you of all the possible ways a ‘baba’ can screw you up.

 If your year has not started well (even though day one is not over), do not fret. Just take it one day at a time. My slogan for this year is ‘No pain, No gain’.

I join everyone, with a hopeful heart, to wish you well beyond your imagination.

Happy New Year. 

GENESIS: THE STORY

I recently became fascinated by the book of Genesis; one of the five books of the Pentateuch. The book, which is sourced from the Yahwist and the Priestly source, gives an account of how the earth and all it contains was commanded into existence. Except for those who believe the evolution story and those who choose to believe in nothing, most are comfortable with this version of the creation story. The story is not 'scientific' yet every science finds its origin in God's spoken word. The artistry that God showed in the story is incomparable and almost unbelievable yet you see it everyday you look into a mirror or feel or smell. 

 I started a series on the genesis, the first of which is a summary of the story. The second focuses on the lessons from story with particular focus on God’s process of implementation. The third will focus on what God has been doing since creation and whether or not he moved on to another planet to do same kind of ‘installation’ and if he is indeed still working every day with us here on earth.

The Story 

Once upon a time, the earth as we know it was totally without form; there was no demarcation between the oceans and the heavens. Total darkness engulfed everything. The spirit of the Lord, the Holy Spirit, hovered over the waters. Then God, in his might and power spoke. No, he commanded, “let there be light!” And light appeared illuminating everything in its path. God knew what light was and how he wanted it to be. Before he created this light, surely a lot of thought would have gone into it. He must have had a plan; a master blue print of how everything should be.

When he was done, he saw that the light was good. He was pleased. First, we, humans, a creation he made after he had put certain things in place, have discovered that visible light has a wavelength of about 380 nanometres to about 740 nm with a speed of about 300,000km per second. Scientists like Galileo attempted to measure the speed of light for decades while others studied the behaviour of light and how to use light to make other things. All these things it took man years to achieve, the same things that God, in his infinite wisdom and intelligence commanded into existence in a sentence. Then God separated the light he created from the darkness that existed. He called the light “day” and the darkness “night”. 

Still everything was without form but illuminated. The second day, he created the sky; a dome which separates the water above from the water below. The same way he commanded the light to be so he did with the sky.

Then God commanded the waters to come together so that land, will appear. The waters he named sea. As it is his custom, he stepped back to appreciate his work and his critique was ‘perfect’. He commanded plants to grow. Botanists, have spent their lives discovering and studying plants and their uses. Plants have been known to heal, kill, nourish, provide shelter, protect, and so on. The creator God looked at the living plants and was pleased with what he saw. 

Knowing he had created the sky and light, he went further to create the light in the sky to separate the days from the nights and to show time and season and years. By calculations and years of hard work, man was able to mark the seasons and name them. Man was also able to prepare for planting and harvesting based on the seasons. Man also grew to control the environments in which plants are cultivated making them grow at all seasons. Then he created the two larger lights; the sun and moon.

When evening came, he probably thought about the things he would do next; the action plans on his master blue print. He thought about the animals he wanted to create for the waters; great monsters as well as the gentle creatures of the sea. He thought about their ecosystem and all the details that make a creature to be completely called animal in its existence.  Finally Morning came and God was up and about working again. Speaking his words and showed pleasure in all that he created.

After much labour, on the sixth day, God created man. He wanted man to be like ‘US’ he said.  He had plans for man: to have power over and care for all that he had created. He created man to be like himself, his image, which is different from all other creatures he created. He gave man substance, essence and purpose. He created Man and gave him charge. For the more dangerous animals, still under the care of man, God himself made provision for feeding them. For the birds, he also decided to take care of that himself; perhaps because of the nature of birds to move around without restraint and far out of man’s reach most of the time.

Finally, he looked back at all he had created from the beginning and saw that he had completed all the tasks he set out to do. His blue print became a reality and he rejoiced. He blessed the seventh day and set it apart as a special day.

From this article, you can deduce that there are a lot of lessons to learn about God and the way he did things during creation. Watch out for GENESIS: LESSONS FROM THE CREATION STORY

Building the good society in Nigeria: A vision at best

When we talk about buildings in Nigeria, it is hard not to remember structures that keep collapsing time and time again. I must say from research and listening to people who have been in the government for years that ‘building’ or implementing anything is not our forte. Its been said that we usually have very great policies but the well mapped out cookie crumbles as soon as it gets to the implementation phase.

We have all heard about stories of children who at the age of 3 play the piano so well or athletes who have been trained since childhood and excel with perfection at competitions. Now I wonder, perhaps parents have not done enough to teach their children how to build for others hence we do not have the culture or values associated with building ingrained in our makeup.  On the private level, some people excel in Nigeria. Of course not to the best of their abilities and within the limitations they have yet they still rise like Maya Angelou would say. People want to identify with them because they are successful and before you know it, they are thinking ‘Hey, I can run for Governor, President, you know? I have succeeded in running an empire.’

When you look at the people at the helms of affairs, it would do you good to also look at their credentials. Many of these people have excelled in their private lives but it’s a wonder they cannot translate that private success in public success. What then is missing? Is the society so cursed that it cannot get a road built to a worthy standard? We have people who have the technical and operational knowhow and we also have people who can direct processes to achieve great results.

My perception of missing element is that we do not have people – leaders as well as citizens - who have the fundamental values necessary to build up a good society.

                                        

No one can claim he hasn’t had a dream about something. He must have at least imagined life in better circumstances. I cannot make a statement as profound as every Nigerian having a vision for Nigeria because people hardly even have visions for their lives not to mention for their society at large; living from one day to the next, just existing and surviving. I judge not. But to move this nation forward, to move this nation from being a dilapidated building and renovating it by rebuilding, we need to have:           

•              Leaders who are groomed for the role of being a leader in Nigeria and not ‘accidental leaders’. Usain Bolt did not win his races by stumbling on the Olympics and deciding to give it a try. Sometimes, accidental leaders actually get it right, you only need to look at the Fasholas and Gowons of this world and you will see that although they never started out to fill these roles, when they did assume the roles, they took responsibility and made things happen. Let us reflect deeply on why they succeeded or still succeed. My take is they've got values.

•       Citizens with values. That is the missing element in our country. The actions of a person will definitely showcase his values. A leader who has strong values and lives by them is likely to achieve more success than a leader who makes up his values as the situations arise.  If a President has good intentions and is working hard to make sure things work, his success is largely dependent on his executives, ministers etc. If these people do not have values, forget it! A wise President is one who would select his team carefully, not based on political affiliations but on the ability to execute, strong work ethics, shared vision for the Nation and so on.

•       Capable leaders who do not spend their time insulting the every effort of the President and his team whether they are doing a bad job or not. People on the side lines are usually the people who criticize. Criticism is good if it is constructive but when it’s about insults and encouraging young people to ridicule the authorities that be…let’s just say, in the future, you do not want such people at the helms of affairs again whether they have succeeded in the past or not.

At this point, I am thinking that we need to train young minds, like al-Qaeda does train its young soldiers or suicide bombers, wiring and rewiring their minds to know what values are, coaching them to be leaders of thought and preparing them for life as we know it in Nigeria. Maybe then, we can learn to build a good society. As it is, all we can have of a good society is a vision at best.