Blockchain and Cryptoverse
If you're like me and have read a few books on financial advice and how to make smart investments in order to secure a better life, then you must have come across a lot of advices about investing in real estate as being sure banker when it comes to guaranteed high ROIs.
According to investopedia real estate is defined as the land and any permanent structures, like a home, or improvements attached to the land, whether natural or man-made. Real estate is a form of real property. It differs from personal property, which is not permanently attached to the land, such as vehicles, boats, jewelry, furniture, and farm equipment. https://www.investopedia.com/terms/r/realestate.asp
This definition specifies that real estate has to do with anything that is permanently affixed to the land, be it natural or man-made. If we're also to take the definition of land into consideration which stipulates that anything permanently affixed to the land automatically becomes part of the land, then we can say that real estate includes even the fruit trees.
The definition of land also stipulates that whatever is under or above the land also becomes part of the land, which implies that if there's any rare jewels under the land like gold, copper or crude then it all becomes property of the land owner.
The other popular and quite effective and efficient industry where we're being encouraged to invest in for a better future is the blockchain industry. It might not be found in popular books and might still be opposed by most governments worldwide, but I don't think anyone really needs convincing about the effectiveness of the cryptoverse. There are evidences abounding around us of people who have been financially liberated as a result of investing in the blockchain industry.
pcmag defines cryptoverse as the blockchain-based universe, which includes digital currencies, smart contracts, crypto exchanges and all the ancillary services created to deal with them. The keyword there being 'universe' which means there could be a land, an atmosphere and a space where objects could be erected and managed by individuals. https://www.pcmag.com/encyclopedia/term/cryptocosm
So imagine if we could have a cryptoverse where real estate is a real thing. A real estate industry in the cryptoverse with direct links to real life properties or locations. Imagine if we could be able to acquire real life properties in the cryptoverse.
Considering the universal nature of the blockchain industry, that would be a real flex. That would mean that a simple individual with the crypto financial muscle in any corner of the world would be able to through the cryptoverse acquire properties in any part of the world without his privacy being invaded with unnecessary KYC.
I know that there are some metaverse that people are already exploring and acquiring landed properties and rare pieces of arts, but those buildings are not linked to any real life geographic location. But what if we can get to that point, and with the advances and ideas coming up in the blockchain industry, I sincerely hope we can get to that point.
Though I know it might sound a little vague now and that this kind of initiative would face stiff opposition from the government, I still believe that it would be worth a try, I mean I don't have to pay to dream right.
***Cover image edited with Canva using free elements***
First Published here https://peakd.com/hive-167922/@diikaan/real-estate-in-cryptoverse
Fire in my Head
It's nothing really, I promise you, this is just my brain letting out steam. I've been on this video for over a month now and 2 weeks ago, just when I thought I was done, only to find out that a colleague of mine had mistakenly deleted the original video, which meant the software could not recognize it anymore so I had to drop start afresh.
Well, that was until the hard disk crashed just when I started editing again. So far I've spent the last week with my technician thinking and reading about possible ways to recover my files. Right now my head is so hot that it's burnt all the food for thought in it. So this article is a product of the steam. I wonder what my brain will eat now.
The biggest problem now is that I had already told the client that I had finished with his video and its only remaining delivery. But by the look of things, the video has finished with me and I'm the one now looking for deliverance. How am I even supposed to explain to him that his video has crashed along with my hard disk? I guess I might have to start looking for where to crash because police might start looking for me.
There's a laptop I would've used though, but it can't create anything because it doesn't have a hard disk inserted into it. It's owned by my female friend though, so I guess that's why it sucks.
I would've formatted the hard disk but all my templates, presets, softwares and courses are on it. So if I do format it, what course would my life take? With all my preset opinions and knowledge and the template that I set for myself gone, I'd be left with soft wares to fight through this hell of a life.
I'm really at a crossroads right now and I need your help, for this cross is too heavy and this road is too narrow, feels like I'm on my way to heaven. A safe haven where all my nightmares will turn to dreams.
Wait, what if all these is a dream? Oh! Well, dreams do still come to pass. If they say that our dreams are a function of our thoughts and imaginations, and they usually come to pass, why then can't we just imagine or think about having millions and it comes to pass?
Imagine me imagining that my technician can imagine a way out this mess I'm in. Then imagine that all our imaginations became dreams and came to pass. Now my imagination is running wild and going places while my situation remains static.
The days are running out before the client comes walking through my doors for his video. I hope it doesn't turn to a spectacle for those walking through. My head is now vaporizing, turning my life into a fog of confusion.
As I said earlier, all the food for thought in my head has been burnt as a result of the heat in it. Now I'm hungry for ideas, before my life becomes a comedy movie.
***Image from Unsplash.com***
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Let Us Be Children
So it's another weekend and after our routine morning devotion, I returned to my room to have a think and draft out my to-do for the day. Since it's weekend, it was a perfect time to carry out my weekly clean up of the house and also do some laundry. It was after I had finished cleaning the house and since the power company decided to remember us, I decided to arrange what I'm wearing to church tomorrow.
It was after this that I noticed that my young cousin was still on bed soundly sleeping. Where I come from, it's seen as disrespectful for your elders to be awake and about, doing house chores while the younger ones are still sleeping. I was about to give him a shout to get up when I remembered his situation and couldn't help but feel sorry for the boy.
He's a boy of about 15 years old, who's in SS2 and is already planning for his senior school certificate examination. But that's not the issue, that's not why I felt sorry for him. The boy just returned from his dormitory a week ago after their school closed. He's lost weight and visibly looks tired and stressed.
But instead of staying home and enjoying his long holiday, he was out to school on Monday for holiday lessons. Personally I don't see the need for the lessons, and I even tried to talk the mom out of it. I don't see why a child would spend 3 months in school studying without really having a proper time for recreation only to return to school during the holidays.
I believe those that created the school calendar understood the importance of recreation and rest for children before setting aside a particular time for holidays. I don't really see what they're going to teach them in this one month to significantly improve their knowledge base, that they did not teach in three months.
A few days ago when he returned looking like someone who just got off the desert, I asked if they're teaching them anything different and he said no. So I don't see the reason or need for these incessant lessons.
These are so rampant nowadays and have deprived children the opportunity to just be children. Day after day, they're becoming more robotic and anti-social. There is no time for play and to make friends, the only thing they know nowadays is book after book. This is taking away the humanity away from our children and is making it hard for them to fit in the society.
The boy loves accounting and I advised the mom to instead of sending him to lessons to learn the same thing they taught him in school, get him a laptop with accounting softwares for him to learn. That way he starts very early to get acclimatized with the professional tools, and by the time he gets to the university he'd be head and shoulders above his peers.
These lessons for the best part are just business ventures who are only there to make profits, not to necessarily improve children's intellect. All they care about is how much they can make, not how much these children learn.
Let's only help them find their feet and their calling and help them improve on them, instead of dictating it to them. Not everyone will be book smart, some of them are street smart but can't manifest because we've dictated to them what's acceptable without giving them a fair opportunity.
So let these children be children, let them play, let them make friends, let them build relationships, let them make their mistakes and learn from them.
`Thanks for giving my ink value. You're free to air your views and opinions in the comments section, It'll be my pleasure to learn and engage. See you on the next article`
Crypto and the Igbo System
It is already well known that all what we humans want is an opportunity to live a peaceful and fruitful life devoid of unnecessary stress and suffering.
That is why we wake up early and go out striving, hustling and toiling to make ends meet. Then we return home late and barely get the required amount of sleep because hustle never stops.
In some situations we end up making enough to be called or classified amongst the rich in the society. Sometimes it takes years, sometimes months or weeks to achieve our aims and hit the jackpot.
But one thing is certain, it is easy to be rich, but it requires certain principles and perhaps a longer time to build wealth. But then building wealth isn't just about time and hardwork.
**THE IGBO SYSTEM**
The igbos are a community of people from the south eastern part of Nigeria who claims to have a link to the biblical Israelites. They're mostly known for their love for culture and their enterprising attitude.
It's their enterprising nature that has led them to the length and breadth of the world, and it's believed that there's no country in the world that does not have a community of igbo people living there.
A popular Nigerian once advised Nigerians to study the igbos, because in his words ***"I've never seen an igbo man beg"***. And that is true, I have never seen an igbo man beg or be stranded. So how do they do it? How come that no matter where they find themselves, they always find a way to survive without begging?
The answer is simple and straightforward, it's in their community spirit. Give an igbo man a plot of land in your community, and in 5 years he'll have prodigies owning properties or business in that same area. It is their ability to set up one another or their younger ones that has driven their independent and dominant nature.
The system shows that if Mr A prospers, then he takes it upon himself to train and set up 7 others. Out of the 7, at least 6 will get to the point of setting up 7 each of their own. And the number keeps increasing.
In ten to fifteen years, Mr A must have had a forest of millionaires around him and that's true wealth. True wealth is in the quality of people you have around you rather the amount of money in your account.
**CRYPTO AND IGBO SYSTEM**
A team of 50millionaires is more valuable than a single multi-billionaire. This system also applies to the crypto world. The strength and success of any ecosystem depends on the strength and activity of its community. If we had only one whale holding all the assets on the hive ecosystem, then the ecosystem wouldn't grow. The real strength of this ecosystem is in our collective strength.
This is the reason why we are all still here contributing our little quota by making sure that we're active on the platform to help grow it. The best and fastest way to achieve this is to lend a helping hand to each other as we strive for more success even as we onboard more BCHers.
That way we can all grow exponential wealth in the shortest possible time. What it would take other ecosystems to achieve in 5 or 10 years, we can achieve it on read.cash in half that time or even less if we adopt the igbo system of wealth creation.
***Cover image edited in Canva using free elements***
`Thank you for giving my ink value. Do well to engage in the comments section and it'll be my pleasure to learn and reply.`
The bigger picture
So yesterday as I was working on the system to run our midweek service live streaming in church, I ran into a little difficulty or so I thought. The real issue started on Sunday morning when our primary hard disk crashed unexpectedly.
Thank God we had a secondary hard drive installed already with an operating system. So that Sunday, in a bid to mitigate the effect of the setback, we had to switch to the secondary hard drive, run some installations and stream on YouTube, as Facebook gave us a little extra issue.
In the process of fixing the system, we ended up dismantling our connections. Back to yesterday, I had not been in church since Sunday so I decided to go early in order so I can put things in place before service starts. Well I got to church and my oga was already there working on the system.
We exchanged pleasantries and I asked if he's been able to repay the primary hard drive, and he was like
*"****no o, I can't even access it again to back up files from there. We need to format it****"*. That's when my head started spinning.
"***Ah! No o, my templates, presets, softwares, files, courses, all not backed up. Abeg we go need find way back am up before formatting***".
He burst out laughing but he knew I was right because even all the church's files were on that hard disk.
Just when I was about to start streaming, I checked for my capture card where it was supposed to be behind the system but could not find it.
"***ah ah, what's happening? Them thief my capture card?"***
then I tried getting signal from our other system for scriptures and song lyrics, nothing came up, but then the minister was reading the scriptures in the church.
I was already tensed and I started looking for capture card and signal only to notice that the camera was already showing on my system and the scriptures were also showing on one of the screens in church. **"*****oga please come o, what's happening?*****"** again he started laughing "***I've done the splitting we talked about, and I've also bought a USB hub for the capture card and other stuff***".
Look at me getting bugged by the little parts when we had already discussed about the bigger picture or connection. This also applies to our individual lives, most times we focus too much on the little parts that we're used to, and that matters less and we ignore the bigger picture.
Some of us go into prayers laying out our desires and plans, but then when the process starts, we get bugged by the little difficulties that comes our way.
We forget that the difficult situation is to refine us for the bigger outbreak that we're approaching. We get distracted by little failures and forget that it's supposed to teach us those things we're not to do next time.
It's like when we fall sick, feeling feverish, with sore throat, and maybe flu. But instead of treating the disease which might be malaria, we're busy trying to fight the symptoms instead thereby losing sight of the real problem.
Many times in the journey of life, we will be confused, discouraged, and even disappointed, but if only you keep your mind right, focus on the bright side of things and not let the little difficulties distract you, then you'll eventually emerge on the other side bigger and better.
The truth is, it is always right before us, but if there are no distractions, then you won't learn the art of focusing, and if there's no rain, you won't appreciate the sun.
Everything has its end goal and and everyone has a process. It won't be smooth sailing, but it will be worth the while. Keep your focus and look at the bigger picture irrespective of the current situation and be the best you can be.
***Cover Image from Unsplash.com***
`Thanks for giving my ink value. You're free to air your views and opinions in the comments section, It'll be my pleasure to learn and engage. See you on the next article`
Childhood Lies
If you're a Nigerian then it's very possible that you've been on this path or has been told this lie before. Infact it's not just a lie but a string of lies. How could we be so naive that we believed such things? Okay enough of the whole dramatic intro. This actually came to my mind on my birthday which was a few days ago (28th July).
So I was on my way home with a friend. We were just having a conversation and I was just talking and demonstrating trying to explain something to him like a good narrator that I am when I noticed that I had just mistakenly (mistakenly because I was high) pointed at a tomb. Then that juvenile fear gripped me at first **"oh I'm going to lose my fingers"** I thought and started biting my fingers as remedy.
That was when my guy burst out laughing. The next thing I heard was **"shayo na bastard"** my guy was having a swell. Obviously the shayo in my system had made me forget that I'm no more a kid and those are just folklore that doesn't hold water.
How naive we were to have believed those things like
If you pee on the road and someone else steps on it first, then you'll have stomach pains. I mean how is that even possible? I remember when anytime I pee by a roadside and it runs out to the road, I'd have to spit in it and step on it so that if someone else steps on it. Just imagine how ridiculous that sounds.
I remember when I asked my dad how people usually get into televisions and he told me that those people turn into ants first and then crawl into the television. He told me that if I wanted to enter the television then I'd have to also turn into an ant before crawling into it. I remember trying his experiment by taking ants and placing them on top of the television and hoping they'll crawl inside so I can see what they turn into.
Another one is the man or woman in the moon. The story that she disobeyed God and He banished her into the moon to spend the rest of her life there in solitude and hard labour cutting firewood day and night. I've heard that the stories are different based on which part of Nigeria you're from.
How naive we were back then and these elders did not even pity us, they'll just be using our innocence to eat akara (beans cake). I don't know if you've been a victim of this deceit because I heard that the stories have different twists depending on where you're from. You can remind me of them and share how you felt when you eventually found out that it was false.
`Welcome to my blog, you can relax and be rest assured of quality content on diverse topics. You're free to air your views and opinions in the comments section, and It'll be my pleasure to learn and engage`
How much can you carry?
A few days ago I ran into Precious and we just got talking. A very beautiful and lively lady with an electric vibe. There's never a boring second with Precious, I dunno if her blood is filled with laughing gas because she's always smiling and it's so contagious. After a lot of back and forth filled with "***how have you beens"***, "***what have you been doings***" and ***"I've missed yous"***, she finally asked if I had movies.
At first I was surprised. I don't know if you're like me and most of your contacts' status is filled with a lot motivational posts and serious activities. It just seems as if everyone is making moves with their lives and I'm not, and Precious is one of them. So when she asked if I had movies, I thought "is she trying to mock me that I'm jobless or she's just one of us who don't have an online business to run?" well, either way I answered in the affirmative and she brought out her phone to get the movies.
And that's where the real motivation for this article was triggered. Normally if Precious wants to collect anything with her phone (even if it's a 10kb document), she'd have to wipe her phone 10 times in order to release memory and then delete tons of other files to create space for the new entrances. So you can imagine my shock when she just swiped open her phone and launched her Xender app within seconds with a flip of the finger.
"***ah, Nawa o, so even Precious don buy new phone***" I thought. Then I grabbed the phone to be sure, and it wasn't a new phone. ***"what happened to your phone"***? I asked. Sharp girl that she is, she burst out laughing understanding what I really meant "***you dey craze"*** she lashed back. "***nothing do my phone, I just increased the memory capacity from 8gb to 32gb. Then I moved all my files to the external card and released the phone memory. So now I have a bigger capacity".***
So just like that, a phone that we used to make a mockery of has just transformed with the simple act of increasing its carrying capacity. It's now able to carry more responsibilities. Now the owner isn't afraid of allocating more responsibilities to it.
The same thing applies to our individual lives. It's filled with opportunities and responsibilities and the only way to fulfill our purpose is to match the right opportunities with our abilities.
Many times we wonder why our friends, family and acquaintances don't recommend or link us to some kind of opportunities. We tend to forget that for the most part it is about what they see in us and has seen us carry. No one will give you more than they believe you can carry.
Our lives are like that mobile phone, we can only be allocated responsibilities based on our capacities. You can't fill a 10litre gallon with with 20 litre worth of water, it'll either waste or the gallon will burst. Everything in and about our lives starts with us.
Whether you're a 9-5 worker or maybe you're an entrepreneur or freelancer. In that your line of work, have you taken the time to learn newer trends and build larger capacity or you still believe that the old ways are the best?
It's another weekend, don't just chill, read a new book, expand on that skill, learn new tricks and develop yourself more. For when your capacity increases, it will show in the way you talk, write, communicate and even in the way you walk, then you won't have to go looking for opportunities, but opportunities will come looking for you.
Have a great weekend!
`Thanks for giving my ink value. You're free to air your views and opinions in the comments section, It'll be my pleasure to learn and engage. See you on the next article`
What A Day!
So I had a very crazy day yesterday. I was first invited to a friend's workplace to help out with something that I did not even know. As usual I took my bath, dressed up and knelt down to pray for showers of blessings for the day. So I wasn't surprised at all when it started drizzling. To avoid being soaked, I had to branch off at a bar to wait out the blessings.
That was when I was noticed this bearded cute dude, drinking legend beer. What a legendary sight. But I think legend was wrong at this point when I noticed my ex walk up to his table and they exchanged pleasantries.
Few days later I saw him complaining on social media about how she dipped broomstick into a bowl. Lol, too bad he did not know that she's got her screws loose. Funny how she looks homely, pious and all but sucks at every little thing even when they're not hard.
After the drizzling, I stepped out to continue on my journey, so I stopped a tricycle. Just as I stepped in I noticed two other guys coming from the other side of the road to join the same tricycle. Unfortunately for me, they decided to sit on either side of me.
They were auto mechaninics who had been soaked by the rain. It wasn't just the fact that my white t-shirt was turned to a work of art, but if you mixed Sulphur, garlic and onion and keep it for days, it'd still smell better than these guys. I'm dead!
I got to my friend's office place late. In a hurry to escape suffocation I stepped into a pothole filled with dirty water. Now one leg of my white shoe is brown, one is white, the central part of my white t-shirt is white, while the sleeves are brown. Well, I guess I came fashionably late. But thank God my fellow commuters didn't succeed in making me late.
By the time I stepped into the office, she was about to scold me, but had to swallow it when she saw how I came. That was when I realized that it was an interview session.
They even had this guy who looked interesting and came in on beautiful wheels that I thought "why would he want this kind of job?". He was very eloquent and intelligent, that when he left, we wished that he could actually walk his talk.
On my way home, I got into a bus with this very pretty lady, another of my ex. Unlike the other one, this one was very caring and sweet. She'd steal from her dad to help me get through school. She helped me pay my school fees and settle other bills many times. But after school, I had to break up with her, because I can't marry a thief. It wasn't personal, just a matter of principle, so I wasn't surprised when she spat at me as I dropped from the bus.
**Disclaimer :** ***The characters are fictional***
First Published here https://peakd.com/hive-164166/@diikaan/what-a-day
Beehive of Troubles
Source https://www.opinionnigeria.com/our-nigeria-is-dying-who-will-save-us-by-joseph-aliu/
Everytime I sit down to think and analyze the situation of things around me and the state of affairs in this country, I usually get migraines. It's like a web of events without a beginning and also without a way out of the whole mess. Things in this country has so deteriorated to the point that some of my friends now use the phrase "there was a country called Nigeria" because there seems to be no light at the end of this tunnel.
We've been on a steady decline for the past 60 or so years with a selected few profiteering at the expense of the majority. A country so blessed with both human and natural resources has been stripped bare by vultures who circle around it under the disguise of politics, telling us all sort of lies in a bid to gain access to the national cake. By the time they get up there, all they do is stack up sacks and sacks for their households till the tenth generation.
The economy is in shambles, the naira is trading at 700 to a dollar. But our CBN governor suspended his work, went to run for office (spending billions), failed woefully, and waltzed back to office to raise interest rates and tax the poor. Yet nothing has been done, and inflation is killing the common man. Petrol is sold at 200 naira per liter, diesel at 800 and LPG at 800 as well. The cost of transportation has increased as a result, national grid is collapsing on a regular basis. Nowadays I just trek out to the main road and 1k is finished.
Needless I add that the university system has been totally grounded for over 5 months now. This is my 7th year in a 5 year course without any spill over. Some students have been in 100level since 2020. Nowadays people can't travel again because the roads and railways are not safe. If pot holes don't kill you, bandits and kidnappers will.
And air travel is out of the equation as the cheapest air tickets now are in excess of 100k. Plus the fact that bandits are taking over the Federal capital and even threatening to kidnap the president. But our politicians are vigorously campaigning for next year's elections without any concrete blueprint as to how the problems bedeviling the nation can be solved.
But I don't want to talk about them today. Today is about the common Nigerian on the streets. Today is the day I lay it out to my brothers, not because we're suffering or are victims of bad leadership, but because we're the cause of our problems. Yes all of us. We are the ones who have sold our future to these few elites in the name of loyalty and for peanuts.
From the ones who go around shouting "my oga at the top", loitering by the fences of these super rich thieves who are thriving on our collective misery, to the ones who have made it to their parlors and sitting rooms and are kept as their watchdogs while the oga goes rampaging in Abuja, sending crumbs to them just so they can survive.
From the one who's be given an inconsequential title of PA, just because they've been blindly loyal, to the ones who are kept as mentees and being promised that their time will come while the oga keeps refining his ambitions just to keep lording over them.
Public officials were supposed to be the servants of the people in a democratic society, but instead we've become their slaves as they now trample on us and keep us underneath for their own service. They sleep in beautiful mansions, locking you out with tall fences while you struggle for space every night with mosquitoes and cockroaches.
The presidential election is coming up and a particular aspirant is shouting that the way to curb unemployment is to recruit millions of youths into the army and feed them with cassava and corn, thereby creating the market for farmers.
He's walking around with shaking hands that he can't even hold his party flag and struggles to open his own speech. The other has been conspicuously quiet, rarely granting interviews while holding closed door meetings with political juggernauts from different socio-political zones of the country. They're trading on your destiny with support and resistance.
I don't even care anymore about who anybody wants to support. If you like don't vote in the elections to elect more credible people into office. At the end of the day it is all of us that will suffer. And if peradventure you succeed to "japa", your family people go follow see the shege.
Untill we stop this nonsense of selling our votes and rights for peanuts and rise to take over our mandate, we'll continue to be slaves in our own backyard, whipped and tortured by the whims of greedy and arrogant politicians. May the death of those who departed on 20-10-2020 not be in vain.
If they could talk
There are a lot of non-living or inanimate things that if they could talk would be quite interesting if not embarrassing. So when I saw the topic on hive about the inanimate things that could talk, my mind whirled to one particular object. Imagine if the sofa in your sitting room could talk. Perhaps that wouldn't be embarrassing or anything as it is in your house and under your supervision.
So I decided to share it with you guys here, and here it goes...
We all know what chairs are and the functions they perform. Without chairs we'd still be living like in the stone age when people sat on the floor to eat, converse or even attend meetings. Without chairs we'd be entertaining guests and visitors sitting on the floor. So trust me when I say that chairs see a lot of shit, literally.
But what about the ones at the diners, the restaurants or even at a friend's place? These chairs are usually the subject of our oppression as we normally leave our whole weight on it without any remorse. Yeah, me too, right now I'm sitting on one. And I'm imagining right now what it would have to say about me right now or even the lot of people who's arse it had seen.
The ones with rashes, the ones that fart incessantly, the ones with dirty undies, and even the ones with body odour. Imagine being in a crowd and someone releases unwanted gas into the environment and the chair is the first to sniff and shout about it.
"***ah, oga you don do this one o***" while it it bounces its struts to discomfort the person.
Or perhaps when someone who's oversized or overweight sits on it, making its legs quirk beneath. I can imagine it screaming
"***get your fat arse off my face right now***"
That way, it would save a lot of chairs from breaking point as they would be able to pick and choose who keeps them company and scream of the weight that's too much for them. It would be able to bite off anyone who man or even "womanhandles" it.
Imagine it embarrassing you in front of everyone in a public space just because you had not have your bath or perhaps because your underwear is torn or perhaps you have body odour and the chair starts vomiting everything in front of total strangers and put you in a quite uncomfortable and unwelcome spot.
"***damn, when last did you change your panties? Are you contesting for miss dirty?***"
"***oh shirt, you need to go wash your ass, I don't think the tissue did a good enough job***"
"***damn man, you smell like shit, did you just come out of the toilet?***"
"***hey stop there bro, where'd you want to put that overload on? Definitely not on me***"
"***you need to treat this infection man, and stop scratching shit on me***"
Or perhaps they could whisper
"***I gave you that bedbug, but it was from Pete***"
If chair's could get an opportunity to speak, I believe that they'd have some of the best stories to tell from the functions they perform. I for one would really love to see and experience such a day when a chair would entertain us with some of their best and worst experiences.
*Images from unsplash.com*
`Welcome to my blog, you can relax and be rest assured of quality content on diverse topics. You're free to air your views and opinions in the comments section, and It'll be my pleasure to learn and engage`
Ten minutes of horror
**"is this how we die?"** Claire asked with a broken voice **"like chicken in the hands of the unseen butcher?"** she added trembling
There was dead silence as Marie and Claire wandered through what seemed like an enormous antique one hall prison. The lighting was crimson red, flicking at intervals, reflecting off their faces and giving it a horrific vampire-esque semblance as they glanced at each other shivering. There was occasional door-like creeks and the sound of footsteps approaching, but with no one in sight.
***"oh Lord please I'll confess all my sins, but please don't let me die like this please"*** Marie prayed as tears began to roll down our cheeks.
Just then they heard a thumping on the enormous door which had mysteriously locked itself up. The thumping was followed by a distorted voice which which they couldn't make out what it was saying. Marie and rushed to hide behind one of the sculptors at the centre of the room. At this point every artwork on the wall looked like an ancient mystic creature who was hungry for blood.
It seemed like they were all looking down at them with a grin, reminiscing what their bloods would taste like. But they were not in a hurry, they were savoring the moment, tormenting them to make sure that they weakened their spirits before devouring them. The sculptures on the other hand were their only source of comfort and companion, at least they did not seem to care too much about them, so they'll use them as shield for as long as they can resist whatever is coming after them, they discussed.
Marie started reminiscing about how she and Claire have been best friends since their high school days. They lived together in the same apartment, they went to school together, ate together, attended the same events, they literally did everything together and considered themselves soulmates. They took the same energy and rapport to college as they deliberately applied for the same school, though they did not study the same course.
But they still stayed together and no matter how different their timetables were, they always made out time for each other. Now after their final exams, they had decided to have some fun before figuring out the next best route for their lives. They had lodged at the most exquisite hotel in the city and partied throughout the night like animals, they had visited the ranch and even when they were at the zoo, the animals were friendly.
But here they are in a seemingly harmless museum and the ancient gods seems to be angry with them, staring down at their feeble mortal bodies and craving their souls. She was snapped out of her thought by the sound of evil laughter that sounded muffled but seemed to echo through the big hall. At that point Marie gave up and thought she would die
***"errrm... Claire?"*** she called out as she tapped her friend on the shoulder who got startled. ***"sorry, there's something I want to tell you, I don't want to take it to my grave"*** she continued.
***"what is it Marie"*** Claire replied hopelessly
***"errm....errrm"*** Marie stuttered
***"errrm what"*** Claire queried confused
***"remember that time you and James broke up and I was supposed to go help you talk to him?"*** Marie started "***something happened***" she added
"***what happened***" Claire started impatiently
**"*****we slept together*****"** Marie blurted out. "***but I promise you I wasn't the one that started it, he was...***.."
That was when the lights came back on and Marie immediately realized that she'd just made the biggest mistake of her life. Claire was stunned and aghast with her mouth agape. All she could mutter was
***"Go screw yourself Marie"*** as she walked out of the door.
Marie left reeling from her error asked the security by the door what had happened, only to find out that there was a power outage and the room being home to some of the most expensive arts went into auto lockdown. The banging on the door was the security trying to verify that the room was locked and the voices were that other of tourists in the adjoining rooms.
"***holy crap***" Marie exclaimed. "***why didn't I go with a tour guide?***" she asked regrettably.
Thank you for giving my ink value. See you in the next article.
Move Forward
I have a particular early morning routine with one of sisters to set the tone for every single day. It started randomly though when I walked into her room after our morning devotion and proclaimed "it's going to be a good day". Over the course of the past one month, it has morphed into a kind of ritual for both of us. So much so that if by any chance I default, she'll come over to my room to remind me that "it's a good day".
Well that's just the prelude because this morning during morning devotion I ran into a portion of the Bible which changed my ritual this morning and I thought maybe there's someone here who might need to hear it and might learn one or two things from it.
It is well documented that the Bible is the greatest book ever written, and it contains everything that man needs throughout his or her life. From motivation to inspiration, to love, to business advice, spirituality, financial prudence etc. If you don't read the Bible, then you're missing out on the greatest compilation of wisdom and I advice you start reading it.
The Bible portion that actually inspired this article is **Exodus chapter 14 verse 15. The Amplified Version reads**
***"The Lord said to Moses, why do you cry to Me? Tell the children of Israel to go forward"***
Mere looking at that passage one might wonder what's so special about it to have captured my interest and attention. But the real message in not just in the verse but in the whole story. If you read through about the story of Moses and His encounter with God, being chosen to be the one to go bring the Israelites out of Egypt. This chapter 14 captures their encounter at the red sea with the Egyptians closing in on them with no way to go to.
The people then turned on Moses and accused him of bringing them out to perish in the sea. Moses then turned to God in tears and asked for the next course of action. Normally God should've told Moses to divide the sea before telling them to move forward, but instead he told them to move forward first before telling Moses what to do next.
***This got me thinking, how many of us are stuck in hopeless situations, not knowing what to do or where to go?***
***How many of us are stuck in a situation, waiting to see God's hand and direction before continuing our journey?***
***How many of us get disappointed and discouraged in the process of waiting without any signal?***
I've seen many people suffer this and this morning I just realized that if God had directed and stood by you thus far, then He can never leave you halfway. But then we have to understand that no matter how involved God is in a situation, it is still our responsibility to take action and make a move as he's not the type to abandon his own.
It is not every situation that requires you to be running back to God in tears and broken heart, sometimes all that is needed is for you to just take a step, while using His word as the light to your path and a lamb to your feet. With this, He can never let you set your foot against the stone.
In conclusion, God is a loving and caring father and He would never lead you thus far just to leave you stranded halfway. He will always follow through on His promises and purpose for your life if only you will trust Him and take the needed step forward. So keep striving, don't give up, let faith be your guidance for the word says that "the just shall live by faith". So take that step forward in faith and let God work his wonders.
Thanks for giving my ink value. You're free to air your views and opinions in the comments section, It'll be my pleasure to learn and engage. See you on the next article
My Visitation Plan (Day 4)
I've heard that traveling a lot increases one's knowledge base and makes the person a wider being. Well, ask me about this anytime any day on the spot and the candid answer would be 'I don't know'. But after having a thought about it, and picking at specific times in my life, I've come to the remembrance that there were times I craved visiting some places.
Have you ever imagined seeing snow fall in Nigeria? Now that's the primary motivation why I want to visit Jos in Plateau state. One of my cousins also served there and she has only raving reviews about the place. The cold, the snow, the plateau, the culture, the cheap price of things and all its goodness. The views from the hills is second to none and it's rich culture and heritage is comparable with some of the best in this part of the world.
Though I usually freak about anything, and I don't let things bother me especially when it's not within my means, the urge to travel has just recently been rekindled by one of my immediate senior colleague in school who's serving. Her constant upload of pictures and experiences in the area has only served to wet my appetite the more.
Do you love Spanish language? Are you attracted to the Spanish culture and their women? If yes, then I guess we're on the same page. That is why I want to visit Ibiza. The little exotic island that has been a vacation haven for some of the world's biggest celebrities. I had even started learning the Spanish language using duolingo (though I've slacked massively). And I still remember "muy bien" and "por favor" Hahahaha.
I remember when I saw Ronaldo enjoying his vacation there when he was still playing for real Madrid. And I started imagining having to run into such a global icon while there and having to introduce my mom to him. Oh sorry I forgot to mention that the other motivation is to give my mom a vacation there, she deserves it and more.
The last but not the least on my list for now is to visit Israel and Jerusalem to be precise. It wouldn't for pilgrimage or for any religious purpose. I'd just love to go for sight seeing and to observe how all those ancient sites are preserved. I have to also say that I'm a big fan of ancient architecture.
I'd love to visit the tomb, the manger, the golgother, the Jordan River, the Palace of Pontius Pilate (if that's still available). I'd like to visit all the iconic sites and fetching some of those healing water I usually hear about and also grab a few of their antique pieces without necessarily being called a JP. Imagine seeing Judas's descendants and asking how they've been living with the guilt of their father's actions.
Honourable mentions to the likes of Rome and the Vatican city. I've heard and read a lot about that country and I'd like to go there and see things for myself especially the Vatican library. Another is the Taj Mahal and it's extraordinary architecture.
Thanks for giving my ink value, see you on the next article.
I've Defaulted Already
This isn't how I planned my July. Not to be going a day or two without engaging on this platform. Still relatively a newbie on this platform and knowing how important engagement is on this community, I shouldn't be going a whole day without posting or engaging other people's post on this platform. For the little time I've been here, I've read some very wonderful articles, and if not for anything, but for the knowledge and motivation that's constantly dished out on this platform, I should never miss any day.
I even had a special resolution for this month that I was very confident about, but that was before the weekend came. The weekend that disrupted my flow and made me default on my resolution in just the first week. So you might be wondering what the weekend did right? Okay here it is, it did nothing bad, just a lot of stress.
It was actually my cousin's first child dedication. The thing is that my cousin is not around, he works offshore and he just got back on deck 3 months ago, so there was nowhere he could apply for leave to attend his child's dedication. Well, if you're a Nigerian, you'll know that child dedication is a big deal over here, and since my cousin is not around, I had to stand in for him in a lot of ways (definitely not with his wife).
Throughout Saturday, we were busy with cooking arrangements, from going to the market to gathering the necessary utensils, to staying up for the better part of the night to cook. The house was a beehive that even when I dozed off for two hours, it was in an uncomfortable position on the couch and I snapped out of it with body pains.
Then I had to be in church as early as 6am to put things in place, go to his house and capture the baby and the mother. Yes I was also in charge of media. Helter skelter became my name for those two days and even my health app reminded me that I have completed my steps goal foe both days (more than 10000 steps)
Now the occasion is over and thank God it was successful. The rain only started after we had finished the reception. It was beautiful, even more successful than we had planned, but now it's over and I'm back to my real self. I hope I can now keep to my resolutions and continue to engage with the beautiful souls that pour their hearts out on this platform while also contributing my own little quota to the community and complete my 30 Days Writing Challenge.
Oh! Wait. Did I say that is over? My bad, I haven't edited the videos yet. But then, that won't interfere with my resolutions. So I'm good, and it's good to be back. Damn! Just one day and it feels like forever.
Thanks for giving my ink value, see you next on Day 4 of the writing challenge.
A memory that will last forever
So I couldn't make up for the third day post yesterday due to the busy and quite frustrating day I had. I was almost left stranded due to the unnecessary bottlenecks that characterizes our civil service. Well that's a story for another article. For the third day of the writing challenge, I'm supposed to write about a memory. Though it wasn't specified if it's a pleasant or unpleasant one.
Well, who likes unpleasant memories by the way. So let me see what memory I can come up with. Memories are like replays of beautiful or horrific movies that we've lived overtime. They either bring a smile to our lips, a frown to our face or even a tear to our eyes. Though the tears could be that of joy depending on how emotional the memory is.
Memories can be little treasures carefully and delicately preserved for the enjoyment and relish of those who harbour it. It can also be like hunting and terrifying relic that is banished to the abyss of the human mind, never to be experienced or relished again.
The memory I have to share today is the one that means so much to me even though it happened years ago. It's the memory of the smile on my mother's face the very first time I got her a gift. It wasn't a particularly expensive gift, but it was a sentimental one as it was on mother's day. Actually the gift was a wrapper and I personally did not think that it was much, but the way she reacted gave me goosebumps.
The way her watery eyes glittered as she thanked me and poured blessings upon encomiums on me was one of the best experiences of my life so far. I had never seen my mom so emotional like that. Perhaps it was because she knew I was earning 2,500 naira from the sales boy job I was doing, and I had to spend a full month's salary on getting the wrapper for her.
To be very sincere, nothing in the world has ever given me the kind of satisfaction I got that day. That was the very first day I felt like 'a son' and not just a child. The smile on her face, the teary eye, the intimate hug, the pride in her posture and show off all culminated in one of my life's best memories.
Everyday I pray and hope that I can create more of this kind of memories, not just with my biological mom, but also with other mothers out there. I hope that I'll be able to make all my moms (both biological and adopted), proud. There's nothing more beautiful than a genuine smile on those tired and weary faces.
***Lead image edited using free elements on canva***
So that's it for day three, I hope you enjoyed reading it. Do well to engage in the comments and votes section. See you tomorrow in the next article
Happiness Inspired | 30Days Writing Challenge
What makes me happy? Hmmmm! This is seemingly a simple but tricky question. I mean what actually is happiness? Is it a feeling or an emotion? Well to me, happiness is a way of life which culminates in peace of mind.
Basically there are some things to hat would contribute to my happiness, but the ultimate source of my happiness is God. The thought of his love that is unconditional and irreversible, and the hope that he's always there with me is my ultimate source of happiness and peace of mind.
That doesn't mean that there are no tangibles that contribute to my happiness. Just like every other person, I have things that brings joy and and comfort to my spirit. The first one is an obvious one though:
**Family**
There's nothing as comforting as the thought and realization that my family is doing well and thriving. I love my family, I believe in them and they're my immediate backbone in all situations. So whenever they thrive, I know, I thrive. Whenever they're happy, that means I'm happy. My family though is not limited to my biologically related family, but my friends and acquaintances as well.
There's a popular saying we usually say with my friends that "if na only one of us buy this car, how will we be able to have our convoy". It's been a mantra for us, and that means that if I see an opportunity, I have to put him or her on. At the end of the day, if he succeeds and is happy, that happiness filters in the group and becomes our happiness.
**Money**
I guess this one is even more obvious than the first one. After God in this world is money. Money oils your essence and opens up doors that otherwise looked impossible. I don't think there's anyone that doesn't get happy when he or she has money. The confidence money gives is immeasurable, the simple thought that you can afford your needs and wants brings peace and calm to the mind.
I hear people say that happiness cannot be bought. That's a fat lie. When you can afford things that makes you happy like that shopping trip to Dubai, or that vacation to the Maldives or that your dream house in banana Island, and your happy about it, that's money buying you happiness. Just like the singer said, I'd rather be crying in a Benz than on a bicycle or by the road side.
**Love**
Yes love makes me happy. And no I'm not talking about the love of God, that one is never optional, that's my number one. This one is the love that feeds you with sweet nothings in the morning and before you go to bed at night. I guess this made it to my list because I've had one of the best kind of love anyone could ever wish for.
The thought and confidence of knowing that someone who's not necessarily family deeply and truly cares about you is one of best feelings in the world. It soothes the spirit and uplifts the soul. Infact it can make my skin glow. But the problem is that these are or easily found these days as there's so much fake and pretence on the street these days. And then I've not had in this in a long while, and it's God's love that has been serenading me and keeping me happy.
***Lead image edited using Canva***
So that's it for day two, I hope you enjoyed reading it. Do well to engage in the comments and votes section. See you tomorrow in the next article.
Kneel with my father
This article was birthed from a prompt I ran into in a community on hive, with the title as kneel and it cast my mind back to my childhood times and some of the best memories with my late dad. This gave me a nostalgic feeling as I had already had the same experience in church on Sunday evening during our music concert.
This happened when one of the guest artistes came on stage and started reeling out hymn after hymn during his ministration. These were hymns that my dad would sing every morning across the house in a bid to wake us up for morning devotion before he left for work.
I know it would've been much more appropriate if it came on fathers' day, but I always try to avoid anything that would make me relive his memories and it would only make me miss him, and start experiencing bouts of sadness. Today though I've finally mustered the courage to go down that route.
Just two days before then my sister had posted a video of a guy playing "count your blessings" hymn with a flute on her Whatsapp status. When I replied her that those kind of videos reminds me of dad, she simply replied "it is well".
I understood what she meant as she was the closest to dad and was the worst hit by his death. She was there with mom when dad gave up, and that wasn't easy for her to handle.
My dad might not have been the most perfect dad, he might not have been able to give us the best things in life. But then even as children, we could see that he tried. He'd offer his best without giving excuses just to make sure that we're comfortable and don't feel less amongst our peers.
But the greatest lesson he taught us (and me personally), was that whenever you kneel before God with a broken heart and sincerity of purpose, you will never kneel before men.
He drove the habit of handing everything over to God before we start our day hard into us at a very young age. Back then we used to see it as punishment, and many times we'd murmur. But we'll still attend the devotion irrespective of our protestations and that was the most important thing.
He never argued with us on that but constantly reminded us that everything we have is a gift from God, and even if we did not know what to pray for, we should just kneel and thank him for life.
As a kid I did not really see the need, but looking back over time, it has helped me enormously, and if there's anyone who has seen God's hands in his life, it's me. I remember when I was away from home, and anytime I called him or he called me to ask how I'm doing, I'd simply just say "I'm fine" (I told everyone the same thing).
But it was as if he was the only one who knew that there was something wrong behind my 'I'm fine' facade. And truly I was depressed, but no one seemed to notice except him and he'd always say
***"don't forget to always keel before God in prayers, and if it seems too much, you can come back home"****.*
Those words stuck with me, has continued to stick till this day and will continue to guide me forever. They helped me enormously back then, and time and time again, I survived one of the worst moments of my life. I've reaped the fruits of that habit that he instilled in us at such a tender age, and I know that the real deal is yet to come.
Nowadays everytime I hear these hymns, they remind me of him. I miss him so much, his wit, his wisdom, admonitions and impeccable vocabulary. But above all, his love and passion for God, which he constantly imparted into us. If there's just one thing I would wish for right now, it would be to get a chance to spend time again with my dad.
*Lead image from unsplash.com*
`Welcome to my blog, you can relax and be rest assured of quality content on diverse topics. You're free to air your views and opinions in the comments section, and It'll be my pleasure to learn and engage`
My Personality : 30 Days Writing Challenge Day 1
So after a lot of "I wills", I have finally decided to pick my little mantle and join the the 30 days writing challenge. Personally I can't tell if I will be able to write on the different topics for 30 consecutive days, but I know that I'll eventually get to the end of the challenge.
It is my first day and I'm supposed to describe my personality. Sincerely speaking I don't like writing about myself or my character as I usually prefer to focus on other important things than myself. But since it's part of the challenge, I don't have any option than to do it, so let's get right onto it.
To start with, I'm naturally an introvert and a very shy person, that it borders on timidity. But then that shyness flies out the window when I'm super cool and comfortable with you. At that point, you'll basically be begging me to stop talking.
I like my space and I prefer being alone to spending time in crowds especially ones that I don't really know. I'd rather be the king in my room than be just another guy in the crowd. That's to say that if you gimme constant electricity, food and data, I can stay indoors for a week without anyone knowing I'm around.
Don't get me wrong, I do like having fun, I play a lot, sometimes I'm even childish, it's just that I prefer doing it around people who I'm comfortable with and trust. The world is a wicked place, so I have to be careful amongst whom I lose myself.
I am very passionate about educating people, instead of inspiring them. I believe inspiration is like opium, it can easily turn into addiction and which isn't good at all. I believe that if people had the right amount of information and understanding, they wouldn't need to be motivated or inspired to do anything. These information and understanding would guide their decision-making process and ensure they do what's right for them and the society at large.
So I try as much as possible to always make sure that people learn something new whenever they're around me. That way I believe I've impacted the world positively for that particular day or time.
I'm a sucker for good music, a good public speaker and an enthusiastic leader. I believe that the biggest problem the world has borders on leadership. And oratory is the most effective tool in educating people to buy into the vision of the leader.
If we could raise leaders who are passionate about the welfare of the people and set out to deal with issues that impede the people's wellbeing in a cordial and considerate manner, then the world would have solved at least 80% of its problems.
I love a clean environment, just don't litter my room please. And don't mess with my family, especially my mom and twin sister. If you try it then you'd understand that behind every calm, there's a storm roaring and waiting for the right time to explode.
Finally I believe in people a lot. I believe that our primary purpose on earth is to serve the interest of others in any little way we can. We should always lend a helping hand and affect as many lives as possible. Just as the earth rotates around the sun (or the sun rotates around the earth, either way you understand what I mean), that's how our good deeds rotate back to us.
Thank you for reading with me, see you tomorrow for the next article.
***Lead image edited using Canva***
These Questions
Hey guys, so I found these quite interesting post by @Jumper-01 where he set out to answer some questions about his preferences. So I asked him if I can make my own version and he gave me the nod. Without much ado, here it goes.
**City or Countryside**
As much as I like the hustle and bustle of the city because of the opportunities it presents, I prefer the peace and tranquility of the country side. I prefer to ferry my way to city for hustle purposes, but to the retire to the countryside. I'm a sucker for serenity and the quiet life, devoid of excess noise and pollution. The greenery in the countryside breeds peace and good health for me and that's my haven.
**Good health or lots of money**
This is a tricky one as I believe that both are very essential necessities. In life, after God, nothing is more powerful than money. Money oils our essence and gives us relevance in the society. But one thing money cannot do is buy life. I've seen many people with lots of money that they couldn't enjoy because of poor health. So if I had to choose between the two, I'd choose good health. It's popularly opined that health is wealth, which means that it's invaluable. But I'd love to have both though.
**Live with your parents or grandparents?**
Okay this is another tough one, because as much as I loved staying with my parents, my grandmoms were the best (I never met any of my grandfathers). As much as I was way younger then, the way my grandmoms treated us like delicate jewels felt very comforting. As much as I love my parents and wouldn't mind living with them, the experiences of the holidays I spent with my grandmoms will make me go with them.
**Club or house party?**
I think the only time I'd like a club would be if I'm very drunk and does not really have my wits with me. The loud music, fancy lights, lousy people etc just pisses me off. With house parties you can easily either just chill in your zone, meet someone, talk and have fun. So I prefer house parties. By the way I've never really been to a club before. It's usually a turn off for me.
**Swimming or yoga**
I don't know how to do either. The only time I did anything swimming was in my village stream back in the days, and I was a champion. But every time I enter a swimming pool, I usually respect myself and stay at places where my head is always above water. As for yoga, I don't know anything about it and I'm already too stiff to start trying now. So if I had to choose, it'd be swimming.
**Free plane rides or free Uber rides?**
Uber rides that might just get stuck in traffic and end up stressing you out. I prefer free plane rides abeg, even if it's economy. It gets you to your destination faster, it's more comfortable and there are no potholes to give body pains. Why would I turn down such free luxury. Free plane rides anytime.
**Cleaning or cooking?**
As much as I'm not a big fan of any, I prefer cooking. I'm very much allergic to dust and that puts me off cleaning. Small inhalation of it and I'm down with nasal congestion and sneezing. Besides while cooking, I'll have the liberty of eating small fishes and meat here and there. I'm not the best chef though, but I can manage it better than cleaning.
**Good at sports or music**
Give me the round leather and see what I can do. I've always been a big football fan and a midfield maestro. My music career ended when in Sunday school choir, my choir master told me that I sound like a frog. That was when I knew I needed to find another career path. So for this purpose I'll choose sports. That's wher my passions lie.
**Late by an hour or early by 30 minutes?**
I always prefer early by 30 minutes. I don't like lateness, I prefer everyone to be on time and because of that, I feel like I should always show example. But then if you invite me for a function or event and I found out that you normally don't keep to time, I'll definitely be fashionably late. Same applies to events like parties. There's no need going there to waste time waiting for people who don't appreciate timeliness.
Thank you for stopping by.. See you next article!
When Passion Fades
Image Source https://www.pexels.com/photo/photo-of-woman-singing-in-music-studio-2531728/
Recently I came across a post on Whatsapp by a friend of mine complaining about how he has had to abandon his passion, because it doesn't put food on the table, while he's starting to develop passion for the skill he's currently utilizing to survive. This got me thinking about what we've been constantly bombarded with in the name of motivation.
Many a times I've listened to motivational speakers encourage, and even implore us to chase after our passions. I've heard them tell us that if we're diligent in whatever we're passionate about, then we're headed for the sky.
Well, this friend of mine is a fantastic MC and public speaker, he's very passionate about it and have even written a book on leadership. But then, he's doing graphics design to survive, he posts a lot these days about his passion for good graphics and branding.
I also have a friend who's so passionate about football and trains like his life depends on it. But he also is surviving on freelance graphic design jobs and also has a laundry business.
I have another friend who can't live without music. He's done many covers of James Arthur, Sam Smith and the likes. He has a very beautiful and melodious voice. But it's crypto and freelance writing jobs that is sustaining him.
These are individuals with clearly spelt out passions that they believe in. In fact if you asked them what their purpose on earth is, they'll tell you that it is tied to their passion. But these are also people that have given a kind of a side bench treatment to their passion while they dedicate more time to the things that resonates more with their reality.
Truth is I've seen people exhibit stubbornness when it comes to their passions, and forsaking other opportunities, they believe that every other thing is a distraction and should be treated as such. I've seen people do the same thing over and over again without any tangible results, but still, they refuse to change or explore other options.
Don't get me wrong, passion is a good thing and it's not wrong for one to pursue his passions. It is that field that you're naturally motivated to be better in. But then there's theoretical motivations, and there are practical realities. You don't live your motivations, you live your realities. And I believe that if our motivations are not improving our realities, then we should get new motivations.
Passion is a very positive feeling and if we're passionate about something, then we should indulge in it, but then there are things we need to understand:
*Our passion for anything shouldn't stop us from improving on other facets of life*
*Our passion shouldn't make us monotonous*
*Sometimes our passion is supposed to be our side hustle.*
*Our passion can be outdated*
*We can develop new passions.*
When we understand these points, then we'll be able to lead a better and more productive life. We'll know when to pursue, when to improve on, and when to focus on other things. We'll also understand that it's better to know more than we need, than to need more than we know.
The world is moving at a very fast pace that it barely gives us any chance to breathe. Innovations are birthed every day in any every nook and cranny of this global village. We can't afford to be left behind because we're holding on to things that are archaic or we're too narrow minded because of the things we call our passion. We need to understand where our passions are no more serving our best interests and try to improve on them or find new passions.
`Welcome to my blog, you can relax and be rest assured of quality content on diverse topics. You're free to air your views and opinions in the comments section, It'll be my pleasure to learn and engage.`
Lost his paradise
So I got to writing this story for my hive account and I thought it would be selfish of me not to share it with us here. So here it is and I hope you learn one or two things from it, cos it's a true life story, though the characters have been changed.
So here it goes...
You know those guys that are usually the centre of attention in school? The type that just seems to be the centre of attention even without asking or seeking for it? Those guys that just seem to have everything, intelligent, smart, cute, charismatic, handsome and funny? Those guys that every girl in class wants to be with?
Okay, in this situation it is one particular guy, and it's not me. By the way, my name is Precious and this is the story about my love life with Emmanuel, the perfect guy in class.
It was the resumption of school for the second semester of our first year in school and we had all resumed school with a lot of frenzy from seeing each other after 2 long months of vacation. I and my girls were in one corner gisting and giggling about our best vacation moments.
Emmanuel and his guys on the other side were busy discussing football and yes I knew because as I said, Emmanuel was a centre of attraction and no discussion or even decision in class was perfect or complete unless Emmanuel has made his own input.
I know you might be thinking that I had a crush on him, but quite the opposite. From a distance he seemed like a proud and cocky guy, and I hate cocky guys. He'd always walk into the class with his head held high as if he's got everything figured out, his clothes well ironed and he smelled quite nice.
He seemed to be cool with everyone in the class and I could always hear the girls gossip about how they'd love to date him. How he's so sweet, flirty, and very good with words. Add the extra incentive that he is intelligent and would always help with assignments, and he seemed perfect.
So one day we all came to school, and unfortunately the lectures we had that day were postponed as the lecturers had some professional meeting to attend. Since we had a free day, we all decided to go out and have some fun. As we were about to leave, Emmanuel walked up to me and proposed in front of everyone for me to be his date for the outing.
Since we weren't particularly friends and I definitely wasn't the prettiest in the class, I was embarrassed and surprised at the same. But since he was playful and jovial, I joined in the act and turned him down. Surprisingly, he continued the act throughout our outing.
After that day, we started talking more, and I found out that he's actually really a nice person apart from the fact that he was an incorrigible flirt and seemed to enjoy every little attention he received from the ladies. This usually pissed me off but I'd never say anything as we were not dating. We got really close and I loved being around him as he seemed so knowledgeable and I learned so much from him.
Then one night, I noticed that he'd been in school all day doing drawings, and had slept off. I decided to go get food for both of us. After eating he dragged me aside to sit in one corner of the classroom. That was the day he officially asked me out. At first I started laughing, thinking it's just one of his goofing moments.
Then he held my hand with a firmness that reeked of a deep longing, then I looked into his eyes and they were reddish and watery, I couldn't tell if it was the fact that he just woke or I saw genuine vulnerability and surrender like one ready to leave his being in the care of a superior being.
I've never seen Emmanuel like this but then I turned him down outright. I was too scared, not just because he was a flirt and I wasn't ready to be competing with other more pretty girls for his attention, but because I felt I wasn't ready for love myself.
A proud man, I thought he'd avoid me and just continue with his flirting, but my turning him down seemed to ignite his passion and he started eschewing the flirting and other little things he knew I disliked. I found this very attractive and soothing to my ego, but I still wouldn't give in.
This continued for like a month until his pride got the better of him and he started withdrawing. But that was bad news for me, because at this point I had fallen heads over hills for him. The power has shifted from my bossom to his ego.
I remember the day I told him I had accepted his proposal and he said
"*you can't be my girlfriend*"
"*why not"* I queried feeling hurt
"*because you already mean more than a girlfriend to me"* he replied looking hungrily into my eyes.
I never knew what that statement meant, but we got together and he was the sweetest thing that had ever happened to me when I didn't allow my jealousy and insecurities get the better of me. We continued in this manner throughout the semester and he triggered passions in me that I never knew existed. He was my paradise.
That was until the break, where he all of a sudden changed. I decided to not travel so that I can be close to him, but we started spending less time together because he's always busy here and there, but wouldn't tell me what was going on with him. He was still the sweetest for the little time we were together, but I could tell that there was something wrong with him but he wouldn't open up to me.
After some time I started to miss him too much, and he was never there to fill the void. That was when Mark came into the picture, he was sweet, tender, caring and would always listen to me. Gradually my feelings started tilting towards Mark. Eventually I called Emmanuel and broke up with him. That was when he opened up to me about what was bothering him.
"I *couldn't stand the fact that I couldn't provide for you and give you the best things that you deserve. I was trying to see how I can be better for us, to find a way to be a real man to my girl*" he wailed as he started weeping bitterly and started begging for my forgiveness. When I asked why he didn't just open up to me. All he could say was
*"I couldn't imagine burdening you with my issues. I needed to deal with my issues as a man" .* Pride again I thought as he finished. Only if he knew that I never cared about any of things.
I have never seen him so broken, his cute and nicely chiseled face looked distorted and hideous as he tried to come to terms with the new reality. He staggered through the room, struggling to maintain balance with the help of the walls in my room murmuring curses to himself under his breath.
Just like that Emmanuel had lost his one true love because of his masculine pride. I feel for him but I just can't share my emotions and I hope he's learnt his lessons.
***Image from unsplash.com***
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The Limit of Rights
So this morning I was listening to the news when I came across the news about this lawyer yesterday in a federal high Court in Lagos. The story is that the Supreme Court last week ruled in favour of Muslim students wearing their hijab to schools.
The court cited the section of the constitution that talks about fundamental human rights like the right to religion and used it as basis for making the judgment. So yesterday this lawyer who's a traditional worshiper decided to appear in court dressed like a native doctor.
The result was that the judges out of confusion adjourned the court and went on recess after he walked into the premises with ma y people scampering for safety.
When asked why he dressed to court like that, he cited the Supreme Court judgement, stating that that judgement has given everyone the religious freedom to dress according to their religion to anywhere including schools.
This got me thinking about our laws and the fundamental human rights especially in a democratic setting like ours. I mean growing up I got the impression that our fundamental rights were limitless and we could utilize them anyhow we want. The rights to life, right to shelter, freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of association etc, are always touted as unlimited rights. But then,
How free is freedom of speech? At what point does it become slander or libel or hate speech? At what point does it become defamation of character?
How entitled are we to shelter? If it's truly a right, why do we have so many homeless people littering our streets? Why do we pay rent even in government owned buildings/estates?
How free are we to associate with anyone? At what point do we become an accomplice? If we're really free to associate, why then do we have guilty by association?
These are the different fundamental rights that are being touted everytime especially by human rights activists as being essential but then the realities are always the different. I have seen people mobbed for having differing religious views and being charged with blasphemy.
I have seen people being charged with felony and hate speech for just airing their views on public relations issues and for criticizing the powers that be.
I have seen people being arrested just for the simple reason that they were seen with others who were criminals even when they were not complicit.
I have seen people being murdered in cold blood and the defense counsel arguing self defense in court, with the culprit walking away free.
All these are to show that the laws are never perfect. It is created by a few for the control of the many. As Thomas Hobbes said
***"it is not wisdom but Authority that makes law"***.
So in everything that you do and in observing and utilizing your rights let it be in modesty.
If you want to talk especially in public, be modest, and guard your tongue.
If you want to associate with people, be careful and try to really know the people you hang out with.
Worship your God and exercise your religious freedom in humility and personal reverence without judgement of differing views.
A little advice to our judicial system, they should be careful of the judgement they pass and try to eschew any kind of sentiments in a delivering judgements so they don't set the wrong precedents for the future.
`Welcome to my blog, you can relax and be rest assured of quality content on diverse topics. You're free to air your views and opinions in the comments section, It'll be my pleasure to learn and engage.`
Letter to The Future
Do you sometimes wish you can travel to the future and see what it's like? Or perhaps you can just swing in there and have a little nice conversation with your future self to see how things turned out and gets his opinion on how to navigate today so you have a better future?
So I had quite an interesting day today with a lot of things not going according to plan and the frustration just got to me. At some point I started wondering about the future and what it holds for me. I mean, if you're a Nigerian you'd understand that a lot of things are in a messed up state.
So while thinking, I decided to just pen a little letter to my future self to check up on him and fill him in on the current state of things. So here it goes.
Dear future self,
I hope you are doing well, I hope you're doing way better than you were five years ago. I hope you've finally achieved all the lofty dreams and ideas that your younger self could only dream of.
I hope clarity about your purpose has been achieved. I hope that you've not changed your principles and has continued to hold strong to your value systems.
I hope the fear of failure has not crippled you and kept you stuck in the doldrums. I know you're intelligent, smart and adventurous, I hope they've only made you a better person.
I'm writing to you to let you know that I'm striving hard to lay the right foundation for you. I'm fighting everyday to make sure that the dreams of today becomes your reality.
I'm using today's reality as motivation to attain tomorrow's glories, in order so you don't have to experience what I'm experiencing today.
The current situation of things today is appalling, from lack of security, to lack of jobs and yeah! ASUU is on strike so the boys are on the streets looking for alternatives for survival.
Gone are the days when education was the key to success, nowadays the keys to success is based on the skills one can perfect and exploit. We're in the trenches getting rekt regularly (lol). As school is not in session, I'm learning new skills on a daily in order to add more value to my life.
It's the electioneering period again and politicians are all over us with their usual falsehood, promising heaven and earth. Many of them are still the same crop who's been in power for decades with no evidence of development to show for it, other than the accumulation of massive wealth through unknown sources.
But not to worry, we've got our voters' card and hopefully, we'll get it right this time around. Hopefully we'll be able to vote in someone who understands the economy, has the interest of the masses at heart, and works towards the development of the country.
Just as the economy is crumbling, crypto and Decentralized finance has come to the rescue of most of us. Though the technology is still in its infant stage and I get rekt more often than not, there's hope that you'll be reaping the fruits in ten folds.
I've decided that I'm going to perfect every skill I have right now so that you won't have to face what I'm facing currently. I'm daily working to improve and perfect my video editing and motion graphics skills as well, while crypto seems to be the future.
It's stressing and distressing to be in this era, but then it's okay, I mean there's no gain without pain. And I'm taking all these pain in just so you won't have to feel anything like it.
I'm trying to learn finance management so when the funds finally come you'll know how to manage it effectively. I'm daily learning and planting seeds so you can enjoy its fruits later. When you finally find true, sincere and peaceful love, hold it close and cherish it for the kind is rare.
I know that you probably have a very busy schedule, so I'll save your time by concluding here. Remember never to let the evil in the world change you for the bad. Trust your instincts and go after your heart desires.
Try as much as possible to be good to people, help them whenever you can, and never hurt anyone intentionally. Be quick to forgive, for by doing so you save yourself of the baggage of keeping unnecessary grudges.
Remember family is the most important set of people in your life, love them and provide for them, and again, when you finally find true, sincere and peaceful love, hold it close and cherish it for the kind is rare.
Cheers 🥂 to a better life.
`Welcome to my blog, you can relax and be rest assured of quality content on diverse topics. You're free to air your views and opinions in the comments section, It'll be my pleasure to learn and engage.`
How much does it Cost?
Love is a very complicated issue in our society, and has always. I've heard people air different views on what they believe to be love. Each individual has a different perception about what they believe to be love and what it takes to win their love.
Some see it as care and attention, some see it as emotional attachment, some see it as affection and benevolent concern, some see it as merely respect and honor.
**So what's your love like?**
Is it the constant calls and and messages that blows the sweet soothing wind across your face and leaves you with small cute parting of the lips.
The kind that sends you to sleep like a baby being pampered with the most tender and sweet of words that morphs into a lullaby.
The type that wakes you with beeps of notification that soothes your soul and nourishes your mind, setting you up perfectly for a fruitful day.
**What's your love like?**
Is it the extravagant shower of gifts and pleasantries? The kind that leaves different kinds of beautiful flowers and little boxes here and there for your surprise.
The kind that makes sure that your wardrobe is never out of date and your storehouse is never empty. The type that makes an involuntary tourist out of you and gives you memories that travel junks would kill for.
Is it the type that makes sure you never have to ask, and completes your material life with a steady flow of gifts and trips.
**Whats your love like?**
Is it the total occupation of mind and the obsession with your existence?. The kind that keeps tabs every second and minute, making sure that your whereabouts and welfare are always at the front burner.
The type that calls and texts every minute and always wants to be abreast of what you're doing. Is it the type that every second without him or her seems like forever and drives you nuts?
The type that the presence of another around him or her wells up billows of emotions and jealousy that can tumble the poseidon.
**Whats your love like?**
Is it the constant show off and incessant public display of affection?. The type that holds your hand in public and while you're descending the stairs.
The type that kisses your hand at every given opportunity, reminding you of the volume of affection he feels for you.
Is it the type that takes you to exotic sweet candle lit dinners where you both sit and whisper sweet nonsense and giggle to each other throughout the night.
These are different love languages understood by different individuals. These different kinds of love have their own prices that must be paid by both individual involved.
Some would cost a lot of money, some would cost a lot of emotional awareness, some would cost a lot of time allotment, some would cost a lot of romantic creativity.
In all, they cost something and failure to pay the price would most definitely result in heartbreak fo either or both parties.
I've seen a lot of people's relationships fail because they failed to understand their partner's love language and price. I have to say that I've also been a culprit in this as well.
The result of this being that we pay for this mistake in a different way. This different way is not always the most palatable, and they're definitely the hardest of the prices.
So before you commit to any relationship, make sure you find out the love language of your prospective partner and weigh yourself against the expectations to see if you can meet them. If you can't, it's better you stay away and find someone else that fits your profile.
Because in any relationship there are two prices to pay, the first one which brings about stability and happiness, while the other brings about heartbreak and sometimes enmity.
***So what does your love cost?***
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Everyone's Time
This is just one of those times where the anomaly in our society that has been normalized caught up with me and evoked a ranting spirit. I don't want to hold it in and believe it's better I just share it with you all, and take the weight off my mind and move on.
So yesterday I had an appointment with someone who if everything went according to plan would be my part time boss. The story is that last week, a friend of mine shared a job opportunity with me about an organization that was in need of a part time video editor. So after a lot of wanting and forgetting, I finally applied on Saturday by sending my CV in through their mail, and I got an appointment for Monday.
So on Monday I got prepared and decided to be fashionably early for the appointment, clearing everything I had for later that day so I could make a good impression. The appointment was originally set for 3pm and let me point out that I got the message for the appointment through my Whatsapp on that same Monday morning.
I got to the office at around 2:32pm, fashionably early. As I expected, the Director who fixed the meeting wasn't on seat so I was told to wait. At exactly 3:01pm I sent him a Whatsapp message that I was at his office. 30 minutes later, since my phone was low, and I couldn't go online to check if he's replied, I decided to call him, and he told me to wait for him.
I have to say that I'm not a big fan of waiting for anybody, no matter who you are. I was restless and tired as I felt I was wasting my time away doing nothing. At around 4:30 I was given a form to fill, which I duly completed and returned.
At around 5pm I stood up and told the manager that I was leaving, only for her to tell me that the director said I should wait for him. The only thing that calmed me at that point was her polite manner and smile. She apologized for the delay with a very flashy and cute smile ☺.
Time went by and the director was still not here and at this point I was resigned to my fate that that day was wasted. I had waited for over 3 hours for someone who fixed an appointment with me without any explanations why he was late.
At around 6:15pm he arrived and I thought 'finally' eager to just get this meeting done with and go home. But then, No, he needed to attend to more important business before coming to me, and an extra 30 minutes passed.
Finally he came over to meet me and we had one of the shortest business meetings you can imagine, the meeting ending with no concrete agreement or decisions as my phone was dead and I couldn't show him my works (I was expecting that the ones I sent to him on Whatsapp would be enough).
***This got me thinking, does it mean that some people's time are more important or valuable than others?***
***Why do employers derive pleasure in keeping their prospective employees waiting?***
***What if I was the one that showed up for the appointment 4 hours late, would he have tolerated it?***
This has been a recurring element in our society and I believe some of us here has experienced it before. Sometimes people are kept waiting for long hours and then told to go home and come back some other day. And if you delve deep to check what caused the delay, you'd discover that they're just minor trivialities. What I would like to understand is if the whole idea of keeping waiting for such long periods is a test of patience, which I'd say is very inappropriate.
There's a popular saying that "what's good for the goose is good for the ganda". I believe that we should be able to first of all exhibit the qualities that we expect from others.
Truth be told I had other things for that day and the appointment came late and impromptu, but I still cleared my own schedule just so I could be there on time. But the person that fixed it treated it with so much levity as if it wasn't important at all.
I understand that perhaps he had business to attend to that might have been the reason for his late arrival, but he should've also taken my own time into consideration as I had been living before I indicated interest in the job. Because if time is really money, then you're subjecting me to poverty, while you continue to prosper and that's not fair.
We should understand that no matter what or who we are, everyone's time is important and shouldn't be wasted for anything in the world.
*Image from unsplash.com*
`Welcome to my blog, you can relax and be rest assured of quality content on diverse topics. You're free to air your views and opinions in the comments section, It'll be my pleasure to learn and engage.`
We're Losing the Flair
There was a time where football was a game for the boys on the street, where football was an inherent art and not a science taught in class rooms with whiteboards and analytical softwares.
The time where scouting was carried out on the streets, in public parks and local community fields. A time where rare gems were birthed through their grit and never-say-never attitudes.
There used to be a time where watching football was about mesmerizing techniques and sublime skills, and not just rigid tactical battles. A time where greatness was more than just the ability to score goals, but also the ability to deliver mind boggling abilities on the round leather piece.
There was a time where journalists and football analysts were not starved of flicks and tricks for highlight purposes and fans went home mouths agape, hands on their head, in awe of the exquisite exhibition of class they had just witnessed.
There was a time where we had Ronaldinho strolling past opponents like they weren't even there. Mesmerizing the opposition and evoking applause and appreciation from both set of fans in the stadium.
There was a time where we had Zidane delivering masterclasses over and over again with the ease and grace of a ballerina waltzing through the dance floor (even including a headbutt).
We used to have a Jay Jay Okocha who made mean meat of football, having fun and inventing seemingly impossible flicks and tricks, and making us fall heads over hills for the beautiful game.
Let's not forget Johan Cruyf with the Johan Cruyf turn, twisting and turning fellow players' waist and leaving them frozen and looking lost while he rolls on to the next victim.
Or should we talk about the Maradona and the hand of God (definitely not the kind of skill English fans would want to remember), or his mazy runs and burst of speed, while leaving trails of bodies in his wake?
Mentioning Maradona and Pele comes to mind, a tormentor of fellow players from the tender age of 17. A player regarded as arguably the greatest there ever was, packed with skills tricks beyond his peers' comprehension.
Honorary mentions to Robinho, Kaka, Ronaldo de Lima, George Best etc. These were players that defined the art of football and brought out the true beauty of the game.
Some of them might have been tactically inept but their technique and elegance were irreplaceable and priceless. They made football fun for us back then and kept on supplying us with the latest and newest tricks to try out in our trainings.
This sometimes keeps me wondering, when the like of Messi, Ronaldo and Neymar retire, what will become of the flair in football?
Are we only going to be saddled with tactically astute, but technically inept and robotic players who would now make football more of a science than art?
I think it's time football went back to the streets and the players given the liberty to explore the realms of their technical abilities, if not we'll lose the flair that makes football fun for us.
Image from unsplash.com
Welcome to my blog, you can relax and be rest assured of quality content on diverse topics. You're free to air your views and opinions in the comments section, It'll be my pleasure to learn and engage.
Education and Our Value System
So I was conversing with one of my younger friends yesterday in church and it got me thinking about the link between our education system and the kind of value system we expect to see in the society. She is a girl of about 17 who wrote her WASSCE last year and is planning on writing UTME next year. Basically the conversation started with her refusal of a leadership position in church and spiraled into her education and she made some statements that eventually gave birth to this article. Okay enough of the introduction, let's get to the main point.
We all would believe with me that education is very important in the production of a functional societal system. The quality of any society with respect to morals and values are a function of the quality of its education system both formal and informal. If the schools are breeding low quality individuals, then we'll only have a low quality society.
So we were discussing her career choices when I asked her best subject and she said she doesn't know. That's when I asked about the subject she doesn't like and she said *"mathematics".* Before I could say anything, she added ***'****but I had an A in WAEC though'.* When I asked if she cheated to get an A, she replied in the affirmative, and in her words '***it's normal thing na'.*** That was the first phrase that caught my attention.
Then we continued talking and then she started telling me about her exams and how it went. That's when she told me about the student who was her bail out during the exams, the one person she would always go to to confirm her answers in the exams hall, because in her words ***'he was the only boy that had sense,*** the other ones just copy rubbish'.
Now those two sentences got me really thinking.
***Firstly, why is it a normal thing to cheat in exams?***
***If we have people who see it as normal to cheat in exams, how do we expect to have a society of honest people?.***
The most heartbreaking part of it is that these children are already exposed to such vices at such a young age and are made to believe that it's a normal and acceptable thing. These children will then grow up with the mentality that it is right to cheat, and this will influence them in the future.
Even the Bible states ***"train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old, he will not depart from it".*** So when we train this children to be cheats at such young age, we shouldn't expect them to turn out different in the future and miraculously become better individuals. It's the values that we sell to them at a young age that they'll trade with in the future. Our society is miserable because we've made our children believe at a very young age that being smart is your ability to circumvent due process.
Going to the second part where there's only one boy that has sense. That made me heartbroken because it's mostly true. I've engaged a lot with some of our young ones especially the ones in secondary schools and many of these boys can't construct simple sentences. They can't solve simple equations and some can't even spell their names correctly. It begs the question of what our teachers are doing in our schools.
Funny enough most of these children have phones and know the lyrics to all the trending songs with the artist's name and dance moves. So how is it possible that they can memorize all these lyrics but can't recite simple time tables?. There's only one answer to that, it's because they know they can cheat and pass, and get away with it. They are sometimes even encouraged to cheat by those who are supposed to know better.
I remember when I was writing my WAEC, our biology teacher had been transfered and a new teacher sent to our school one term before the exams. Unfortunately for us this man was totally clueless about the subject. He'd just come to class, ask us to open our textbooks to the topic he was going to teach that day. He'd start by asking questions about the topic and whatever a student replied as the answer, he'd just shout 'that's correct'. If two students had differing views about a particular issue, he'd give it to us as assignment to find out the right thing.
This continued for a whole term till the exams and it was this same teacher that sold fake exam answers for the exams to us. That year many students had to change their career choices because of biology. This begs the question of the quality of teachers in our schools.
The truth is that true education is in the primary and secondary level, tertiary education is mostly individual research. So if a student fails to learn what he's supposed to learn at the primary and secondary level then there's no need for tertiary as it's a waste of time and resources.
The Bible says that ***"whatever you sow, that shall you reap"***. We can't be breeding thieves and crooks and expect to have a society of virtuous men and women. The different vices that are plaguing our society are a function of the value systems we have imbibed in our children over time.
It shows in our everyday lives, the petty thieves, armed robbers, burglars, crooks, scammers, liars and above all corrupt public officials popularly known as politicians. These people are just a mirror of what our society has become. And they engage in these vices because we've made them believe that they can get away with it.
Up untill we learn to instill good morals in our children from cradle and teach them virtues, we'll continue to suffer the effects of whatever they'll become in the future. Education of all forms starts from home and our parents need to start creating more time for their children instead of leaving them to the mercies of househelps. These children need to feel loved and appreciated, they need to cultivate good humanitarian values in them for the sake of our future.
Our education system should also be given adequate attention and required upgrade from the teaching staff to the facilities to aid learning and better education for our children and the community at large. Serious punishments should be met out on defaulting students anytime they break the rules to serve as deterrent to others. In all our children should be showed love and affection, because that's the only way they'll learn to give it too.
I hope that we get to the point where our education system matches and instills the Value systems that we expect to see in our society.
`Welcome to my blog, you can relax and be rest assured of quality content on diverse topics. You're free to air your views and opinions in the comments section, It'll be my pleasure to learn and engage.`
This Fateful Day
*"Today has got to be special"* Kayla thought as she went about her early morning ritual. She had woken up in great spirits after her conversation with Sam the previous night. It was the day the love of her life was coming home to see her after a very long time. She couldn't hold her excitement as she danced through the whole house trying to put everything in place. She had done her morning prayers, a great part of it dedicated to the safety of her man's journey.
She had cleaned the whole house, changed the bedsheets, dusted everything that could be dusted, till everything looked sparkling and perfect from the sitting room to the bedroom. Every house chore had been completed before her house help and her daughter were awake.
*"Good morning ma"* Nkechi her house help greeted as she walked into the sitting room with sleepy eyes
*"Good morning dear"* Kayla replied excitedly
**"Is everything okay?"** Nkechi queried as her eyes wandered questionably as she was surprised that everywhere had been cleaned.
"*Everything is fine Nkechi*" Kayla replied "*now go get princess prepared for school"* she added
Kayla was a single mother of a daughter who had struggled to find someone she could truly love and trust after all she'd been through in relationships. Princess's father had abandoned her and the baby because his mom wouldn't accept an igbo daughter-in-law. Kayla had been miserable for a weeks, after which she'd mustered the strength to move on.
Now here she was with this man who had come into her life in the most unexpected of ways and it's been all like a dream ever since. Sam just seemed to have erased all of Kayla's doubts and mended her emotional wounds. Now he was coming back after a long time away and Kayla had decided to organize a beautiful welcome for him by preparing his favourite meal of pounded yam and egusi soup.
At the market while buying the foodstuffs she needed for the food, Kayla's phone rang began to ring. At first she ignored it as it was her house help and she thought it was just another home appliance that has started malfunctioning. At the third time of ringing, she decided to pick it up and hear what she would say
"*hello"* Kayla started
"*Aunty Aunty*" Nkechi started anxiously
"Nkechi what is it" Kayla queried
"Aunty it's Princess o"
"what with princess?" Kayla started "is she not supposed to be in school?"
"she was brought back some minutes ago, shivering. Now she seems to be convulsing" Nkechi lamented, "Aunty I don't know what to do o" she added sounding anxious and scared.
With a sudden burst of adrenaline Kayla rushed out of the market leaving onlookers perplexed at her sudden change of heart. Within a twinkle of an eye, Kayla was in her car speeding off towards her house. Then the thought of her struggles to raise her daughter alone while ignoring the taunts and abuses of the society got to her and tears started rolling down her cheeks.
Wiping her tears with one hand, she tried calling her mom, then she heard a scream. That's when she noticed that she almost ran someone over.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry" she shouted as she sped off. "focus Kay, focus" she thought to herself as her mom's number didn't go through. As she got to the house, she noticed that the door was open, so she just barged in screaming
"Nkechi, Nkechi"
Kayla couldn't believe her eyes. It was as if everyone who was important to her was in the room. Her mom, dad, her best friends, her aunty and her younger sister.
"what's going on here?" Kayla asked surprised and anxious at the same time
"where's my daughter?"
"we're in your room ma" Nkechi answered answered from somewhere upstairs.
Scared and anxious, Kayla rushed up the stairs like a seasoned athlete. Upon getting to the room, she opened the door and was for a second awestruck. There were beautiful flowers carefully laid on the floor to form a pathway to her bed. The room was dimly lit with beautiful multicolored lightings and candles, giving it a club like look but in a more cozy and intimate manner. On her bed where she was expecting to see her daughter lay were red roses delicately placed to form a heart shape with something like an exotic casing at the centre.
Then a shadowy figure emerged from beside her wardrobe and with one knee on the floor opened the casing to reveal a piece of metal flickering under the light. It was Sam kneeling beside the bed, looking all sweet and gentle. Before she could unravel what as happening she heard
"will you marry me?" Sam asked
Kayla embarrassed and excited at the same time rushed out of the room to catch her breath. Now she understood why her family were here, Sam had invited them for this. But this isn't how she expected to welcome him, not with her hair unkempt and his favorite meal not ready. But she knew she had to overcome her embarrassment and go meet her man. So she wiped her cheeks and tied her hair properly.
Getting back into the room, Kayla accepted the ring, kissed him passionately before they joined her family downstairs to start the party.
`Welcome and thank you for visiting my blog, you can be rest assured of quality content on diverse topics. Please do well to engage in the comments section, and it'll be my pleasure to reply`
Seeing Things Through Their Eyes
I know you might be wondering what I'm talking about with respect to how the topic sounds. Well you'll eventually get to understand.
In life God created us all equal but different. Some are short, some are tall, some are fat, some are slim. Apart from the physical attributes, he gave us different gifts with which we can affect our world both positively and negatively depending on the person involved. That's why we have different views on the same issue.
Frankly speaking if we had a monotonous society or world where everyone understood issues the same way and had the same view about same issues, then we'd still be in the stone age with no development or civilization. Such a world would be so boring that we'd be begging to die just to escape from the mess.
The fun in the world is our ability to choose different paths, stay true to it and excel in it in ways where others cannot. Some are teachers, some are engineers, some are architects, some are lawyers etc, and if you engage these different professionals on any issue you'd find that for the most part their reactions will be different, influenced by their professional way of thinking.
Now all these professions and professional way of thinking contributes to shape our society, but none of them comes close to one, POLITICS. Mind you politics is not supposed to be a profession but an avenue for rendering public service to the people, but then the men in our country has made it a profession. Political decisions control our daily lives.
The prices of goods and services, the inflation, unemployment, and every economic indicator is a factor of political decisions and policies. The election period is upon us again and I've seen a lot of actions, reactions and even movements to promote certain candidates and discredit others especially on social media.
But one thing I've also noticed is that most people see politics from their own professional perspective without capturing the complete scope of how politicians think and work. A lawyer sees the law's stance on politics and governance, the broadcaster sees the trampling upon on freedom of speech, the engineer sees the poor quality of infrastructure, the accountant sees the lack of accountability. These are all credible indices to measure good governance, and any government that fails to address these issues has already failed in its duties. These politicians know, but they still find a way to remain in power. So the issue here is **how do we effect the needed changes?**
That's where we need to see politics from the politicians perspective. Recently I've seen the support for a particular candidate explode on social media with a lot of Tweeps trending the name every now and then. And it got me to wonder, with this kind overwhelming support, shouldn't the other candidates be scared and start a strong counter campaign? Why are they appearing so calm and relaxed?
Then I remembered my little sojourn in the political space in school, and it struck me. **I've never seen the loudest ovation win an election**. Infact it's usually the fastest way to a catastrophic loss. The truth is politicians see politics differently, from a different eye than what we see. So for us to effect the needed change in the leadership of our beloved country, we have to learn to think politics like politicians. Politicians sees politics as a grassroots game where the poor and illiterate in the villages hold the key.
Until we learn to engage in politics like politicians, see things through their eyes and set out to engage our communities to educate them on the dangers of vote selling and enlighten them on the duties of the government beyond cups of rice, loaves of bread and cartons of noodles. Until we stop playing checkers while they play chess, we'll not be able to effect the changes we need.
Finally, I hope you've gotten your PVC and your voting booth is close to your house so you and yours can defend your votes without fear or favour. I hope you're ready and determined for the fate of our future generations lies in our hands.
*Welcome and thank you for visiting my blog, you can be rest assured of quality content on diverse topics. Please do well to engage in the comments section, and it'll be my pleasure to reply*
Finish The Sentence || Diikaan's Version
Hey guys, so I ran into this particularly interesting article by @Jumper-01 titled finish the sentence. It is about filling in the gabs on some questions and I thought I'd jump right into it and write my own version.
It looks like an opportunity to put a bit about myself out here as well since I'm still a newbie on this platform. Okay, enough of the introduction, let's jump right into it..
**I always carry my headset in my pocket**
Yeah I replaced bag with pocket there because I usually don't carry a bag. My headset is basically my next best friend after my phone. I love music a lot, so much that I can have my headset stuck in my ear from morning till night nonstop.
I can't even imagine staying a whole day without listening to music, and I can't just start playing it loud in public as I see it as nuisance. Even when in my room, I mostly still prefer headset to playing it out loud.
**I wish I could rap**
Yes you heard me right, I wish I could rap. I'm a huge fan of rap hip-hop music. I dunno how many times I've mimicked Kendrick, J Cole, Drake, Rick Ross, Young Thug and the likes in my room. I could listen to rap for a whole, but I can't even lipsync to save my life. If I count the number of songs I've spoiled ehn, hehehehe.
The thought of being on stage and jumping up and down while performing all those gangster theatrics that rappers do, dey trip me ehn. Sha, make e be, because even the likes of MI wouldn't have anything on me in this country.
**Sometimes I just sit and imagine an ideal world**
Maybe we all do, maybe we don't, but sometimes I just sit on my own and imagine a life where we are all equals, no social strata, no geographic demarcation, no economic rankings and the likes, just humans living together and looking after each other. I imagine a world without pollution, sickness and suffering, a life where everybody are safe and we don't have to constantly look over our shoulders. I know that it might not be possible, but then there's no harm in imagination right?
**I'd eat pancake every day if I could**
This one is my sister's fault, she initiated me into this cult. Lol. Her pancakes are always a blessing to my taste buds. Though they are not necessarily my favorite, but a doze of it daily is something I could really appreciate if I could have it.
**A talent I have is I'm good with words**
Basically I can drum, I'm a good footballer (better than some ManUtd players) and a couple of other things I can do. But the most commented about is my ability to use words. Some people think I'd make a good poet, while some has advised I should write a book, but then I like to think that I'm more than just words.
**Everyone says I'm...........**
The reason I didn't fill that is because I don't think there's a consensus on what people think of me. Different people have different opinions about me. For example, the people who's known me from home see me as an unrepentant introvert. But for those in school, I'm a lousy somebody. Some even see me as a flirt, I guess that's where the being good with words come in. Either way I am who I am to who defines me at a particular time.
**Today I will write more articles and edit more videos**
Yeah today is another day to expand my knowledge on video editing and motion graphics. And it just won stop there as I'm planning to write more articles and put up more valuable content on the internet. The feeling I usually get when I get new experiences and learn new tricks is one indescribable.
**A talent I wish I had is Singing**
I can imagine me hitting those riffs and runs and hitting incredulous high notes while switching between singing and rapping. Mehn! What an imagination, but I can't do either. Too bad. I even tried joining the choir at a young age only for my choir master to tell me I sound like a frog 😭. That was when I decided to give up on singing.
**Currently I am just trying to make something of my life**
If you're a Nigerian student schooling in a public university, you might also be in this same boat. We've been at home for the past six months while the government is fighting with the lecturers. It's true what they say that when two elephants fight, it's the grass that suffers. So right now I'm just figuring out my life and try to make something of myself.
@DiikaanYe