The Righteous Path

***

God help us to find our way,

We want to be good, but sometimes we get lost;

The path isn't always clear, and sometimes, what seems to be the right way turns out a dead end.

A lot of pain, a lot of hurt and we often ask; 

when will it end?

But do we ever ask why?

What of the things we find along the way, the path to the dead end?

Like the person we meet along the way?

The person that stops halfway, but was worth the duration, however long it was...

God, we ask you for understanding,

Not everything is as clear to us,

And, sometimes even the simplest things need a complex explanation.

We don't wish to be of the bad ones, so make it easy for us.

Open our hearts and free us of hate.

Let us do, as we say, and say what is true.

Imperfect we are, but make us pure as we are.

Let us be blessed with understanding.

The Understanding of looking back at past errors, not as errors, but as lessons for now and a better future.

God, give us understanding. Do not forsake us, 

Do not allow us to get lost in this world. 

Even when we take the wrong turn, show us signs,

That we may walk back through the righteous path. 

***

Sensei, Brother

Very inquisitive from an early age. Not afraid to ask and to be informed, it is easy to understand why he's become one of the best people I know. 

He is a calm person, talks only when necessary and spends most of his time learning new things and applying himself.

At a very early age, he had conversations with an uncle almost five times his age about building an electric toy car for his science project. They made the toy car. 

He is very creative and organised. Patiently examines and understands things, developing himself in the process and then he conceptualises things that I believe would one day change the world for better.

His hardworking and dedicated. Very active and productive, with a very positive and mature outlook on life. I know that I am yet to become the person he is.

Not only is he someone with vision, he has supported me in more ways than one. Better yet, he has and continues to serve as an inspiration by making me step my game up in the quest of achieving bigger and better things. 

When a lot people rather judge than listen, in my very flawed state, he serves not only as support but also as a bright light of hope that serves as a fuel for continuity. 

One of the greatest people I know. He has a lot to learn, and a lot more to share. He is an inspiration and a breath of fresh air in this toxic world. 

He is my sensei in many ways, he is my brother, Amin. 

The Prayer Of A Dying Father

The prayers of a dying father,

Do not spill blood in my name,

Do not be for things you do not understand,

Do not be for things you do not believe,

Ask what you do not know,

Speak, of what is necessary,

Respect others and their understanding,

Live life, as it is designed for you,

Eat of what is permissible,

Share the fruits of your labour,

Be mindful of what you say,

Be mindful of what you do, 

Love for your brother what you love for yourself,

Of the women in this world, cherish them,

Of the men of this world, cherish them,

Of the children of this world, guide and protect them,

Do not be poisoned by fear,

Do not be poisoned by greed,

Do not be poisoned by wealth,

Be mindful of what you do,

For hate, give love in return,

And when your humanity is tested, be a man patience,

Be the one that loves,

Be the one that guides,

Be the one that protects, 

My son,

Do not be of those who spill blood.

Pearly Gates

Narcissus, resurrected in the 21st century. He wakes up, before anything, he checks his phone, how many likes does he have on the carefully positioned picture of his face, deliberately made to appear flawed, a few more likes added on the ones he recorded yesterday. He smiles, proceeds to scroll down his timeline, in yet another application, what fad has the internet provided for us to follow. None at the moment. Maybe about thirty minutes, still in bed, endlessly going back and forth between applications for gratification, every time, the demand grows.

Finally, he leaves his bed, to take a shower and start his day. The plan today; do some shopping, meet up with friends, go out to eat, watch a movie, and possibly spend the rest of the night turning up. Out of his house, he goes to the shop, hoping to find something he can afford, but also something that will make him look richer and better than he actually is. So he finds something he likes, unfortunately, he can't afford it, lest he resorts to starving himself for as long as it takes the next check to arrive. He goes by the changing room, takes a couple of shots, before taking it off, he takes another five minutes, looking for the right picture and right filter to maximise the number of likes he'll get. Posted! Relief, now let's see how many likes this'll bring. He drops backs the clothes, and proceeds to meet with his friends.

The restaurant, not overpriced, but not cheap either, somewhere in between, beautiful enough to make the pictures look posh, as imagined by them. Twenty minutes they've sat, yet not one person knows what to order. All this time, everyone is texting, tweeting or sending stories on snapchat, indirectly telling their other family and friends how much better their lives are and intentionally but subliminally reminding these people of how much fun they are missing out on. Well, finally, they phone tapping is done, and they order. In that time, well, more pictures are taken, girls sucking in their cheeks to have a well defined cheekbone for the pictures, guys pretending to not know a picture is being taken. Knowing fully well they'll request and post it up later, with the most cliché tagline imaginable.

Food comes, but more pictures. They have to remind everyone, yet again, of how beautiful this food is, food eaten by hundreds of people everyday. Finally, they begin to eat. Done, they go out, head to the cinema. More pictures of course, stories and tweets about how much fun they are having. Mr. Narcissus, perhaps out of spite, changes his profile picture to that of him and one of the prettiest ladies of the bunch, in hope of getting the attention of someone who does not seem to show as much interest as he hopes.

The film is done, he writes a mini review on twitter. Every minute checking for a reply or a retweet, who else is on the fifty shades bandwagon, in his mind he asks, he needs some sort of approval. He needs to know he's not alone. Finally, a retweet, two and three, a reply and finally, his heart falls back in place, a few more minutes without response, he would have coughed his heart out.

The turn up, according to his snapchat and twitter, is banging, in his exact literature. But still, in his enjoyment, so to speak, he finds enough time to take out his phone and share the moment with the virtual world. After the party, he is back home, where it's just him, his space and his smartphone.

His online persona on twitter is that of a political analyst and activist, even though he has no qualification to support his image, on instagram, he is a lover of art and all things natural, on snapchat, he is a fun loving people's person. But today, twitter seems to be popping more than the others so there he resides.

Talking about something with so much passion, often neglecting logic or reason, or even the consequences of the words he posts. Every post carefully written and published to trigger a certain response, for better or for worse. His opinions, not necessarily informed by fact, are strong, yet he refuses to agree or even acknowledge the opinion of others. Every time he talks, he has a follow up that is made to look like he could care less, in reality, all he is doing is compensating for his uncontrollable craving for approval. He has had twitter for a while now, well over a thousand followers, so he feels important. Better than the peasants with barely a hundred.

For the person he's put himself to be, it is shocking that he cannot seem to disagree with counter-arguments in peace, he must resort to name calling. He has been spoilt, he has a bunch of followers that take the title of yes-men, so he has convinced himself that he knows all, and thus can never be wrong. Now the leaders of twitter are critically discussing an issue they ironically know so little about, and as a curator of the twitter virtual space, he joins the conversation. Every tweet, carefully done, again to trigger response. This tweet in particular must have been too intelligent, by twitter world's standard, because he has over twenty retweets and a lot of comments that go along the lines of "gbam" "so true" "i love your tweets" all which he retweets to not only remind others that he indeed is right, but also to remind himself that there are people as clueless as he is.

Before he sleeps, he found a picture of one of his most expensive shoes he's bought, he had quite a day on twitter, people on his snap seem to be asleep, so, he carefully positions his shoes, poses from a good angle to get a fine picture. And he is off to instagram where he keeps this picture; an inspirational quote with a few more hashtags to secure some extra likes, heck if he is lucky, he'll make it to one of these vanity celebration pages. Again, minute by minute he goes back, ten likes here, five likes there, before he drops his phone to sleep, he must have received well over a hundred. He smiles, in his head, he thinks, more of that tomorrow. And he sleeps.

This is his life everyday. The doctor says it's a sickness, but by the world's standards, it's okay because everyone is doing it too. He does not care, it makes him happy, and that is what is important; to be happy. The joy he gets from all this, is the same as a righteous man would upon setting sight on the Pearly Gates.

***

Liberty In Lie??

You are in a relationship, your partner is honest, loving and caring. You decide to lie to them, cheat on them with others that are as low as you, or maybe not, who knows. Every time they tell you they love you, you say it back, but you feel uncomfortable, because you probably don't mean it, and even if you do, you know they deserve better because you know a side of yourself that they don't. Even if you choose to never admit. When they ask questions, you lie, and toward yourself, you justify your lies, hoping to never get caught. And maybe you will never get caught, but you will be the architect to your own misery, eventually. 

You go to school, you don't pay attention in class, your parents have paid so much, they have sacrificed so much for you, but you don't take your work seriously. You are spending more time promoting clubs than going to the library, and every time you speak with your parents you tell them everything is good. You know this is a lie. Alas, you fail, now you have to repeat the year, but you cannot claim responsibility for your actions, and what do you do, blame it on someone else, an innocent somebody. To you, you may have dodged a bullet, but you must have missed Jolie's wanted, because that bullet is curving right back. 

Your job, contract says 9 to 5, Monday to Friday, you sign it, you get your salary every month, you have your task assigned, but what do you do, use the company's internet to go on twitter and ramble on, neglecting the task at hand. Your boss comes, you minimise the screen, pretend to work, and repeat the same process as often as you can. When home, you find a way to demonise your boss and paint yourself as the most hardworking person to grace earth. You cannot expect to maintain the status quo. Life will catch up to you. 

How depressing is life today, God is certainly not cruel, He gave us freewill, we must remember. We complain about the state of the earth, but we forget, we, humans make up the earth and it is a collection of our habits that result in the state we find ourselves. An honest person will certainly not suffer as a dishonest man would.

But we wont even know true suffering if we saw it, I guess that is what makes us so comfortable with being dishonest in our affairs with people and life. 

What Change?

Following my previous post,  I'd like to write this as a extention of sorts, to briefly talk about something i've always stressed, as far as change goes.

So, elections. That is the topic of discussion everyday. It is not going to stop anytime soon either, so the neutral, if you will, of us will have to deal with it I suppose. But that's not my topic of discussion, I have talked about it already. My topic for today is the citizens, and our readiness for change. 

You see, as much as we love to point fingers and absolve ourselves from any wrongdoing, we are very much part of the problem we so passionately denounce. I failed because the teacher hates me, no one told me I could not use it, I did it because everyone did the same. These are not words alone, these are the thought processes existing within a lot of us. This is even more dangerous because some of us are deeply entangled in denial, that the realities of our judgement, or lack off, become distant from us. 

There is no doubt that Nigeria is a corrupt country and there is no doubt that for years, resources have been mismanaged and power has been abused. There is certainly no doubt about the appalling state of the country today. And yes, the first and most important step for Nigeria to progress is to elect credible leaders that understand our suffering and are ready to represent us and our interests, and not their pockets and shady businesses abroad. 

However. As much as we love to suppress this fact, it will remain, till we tackle it head-on: That we are hypocrites. Don't call me a hypocrite you say, good on you because I am talking not to everyone but anyone, who has and till today continues to engage in behaviours or actions that contradict the principles he or she stands for as far as justice and integrity go.

We make it seem like our future can be written by two people alone, we make it look like we cannot make any positive change within ourselves, or throughout our community without two people endorsing us, we make it seem like everything will go away the moment one person wins. Like people will stop stealing internet data from MTN, or start following protocol and building gutters in front of their houses to avoid flooding, or stop trying to adjust contract materials to get as much profit, or start wearing seat belts, or getting a driver's license, or stop running shady businesses. 

If we can also strive to stop these things as we have strived to campaign for this year's election, then by all means, our enthusiasm for change is justified. But if by the time change comes, and we refuse to accept the realities of life in Nigeria, outside of the institutional problems we face everyday, then it is safe to say that we are not really ready for change. 

Not scolding anyone, more like I am trying to use this to have people reflect on the many things they have neglected, in the process of looking for change. Really,  a very competent and honest leader can change Nigeria for good, no doubt about that, but Nigeria, like any community requires everyone to take an active role in making that change happen. And what better way to make positive change, if not for the act of self-reflection and honesty with every endeavour of ours. 

There is a lot of potential in Nigeria, with many sectors begging to be tapped into and turned into something bigger and better. But it will take more than our President, it will take Nigerians to cut down on the narcissism and look at issues they can solve without a) complaining about it and b) outsourcing the solution to someone else. 

I agree that we have to start somewhere, and right now, our starting point is voting the right person, but all the activism I have seen should not end with the Presidential elections regardless of the winner. The same way you have all dedicated so much time and effort, supporting and endorsing your chosen candidate, you must actively participate in reforming the country, not only immediately, but also, long after all the hype has died down. 

Ideally, a democracy should have more people involved, and democracy everywhere can do with some improvements too. But this is all democracy has provided us with. So, we have to find a way to make it work for us. 

While people blame the government for incompetence and mismanagement, they often exhibit incompetence and mismanagement of their own, communities that refuse to build themselves, and expect the government to deal with every problem including the eradication of cockroaches that manifest as a result of lack of hygiene. People have to remember that the government is responsible for making things work at an institutional level, at a communal level, we are responsible for making things work as they should. 

In the end it is about what we are willing to do to change ourselves, and our communities that will carry the most weight in shaping what Nigeria will become moving forward. As I said, democracy should not be restricted to specific people, but at this point, we do not have much to work with. Still, as we all have someone we believe is capable of stabilising the country, let us also make sure we are as active when it is time to vote, as we are vocal today. And let us make sure this activeness will not die after elections are over. Amen. 

... about the Nigerian Election

The 2015 presidential election is about a month away. Almost every Nigerian has their eyes, ears and mouth set to February 2015 in what appears to be the most polarising elections Nigeria has witnessed in recent memory. 

Before I get into this article, a few things to make clear include the quest to be as objective as can be, and to emphasise that I refuse to take sides on this issue, and to remind the reader that I am no political analyst, merely a concerned Nigerian citizen that, like many others, hopes for the best for Nigeria and its people. 

I take it that most Nigerians are tired of the borderline depressing state of Nigeria and want to start seeing some positive changes happen and achieving this is no easy task. In the past four years, Nigeria's situation has gone from bad to worse, and if I could visualise the country in graph form, it would have hit a negative value by now. Security is terrible, embezzlement is at an all time high, straight up ridiculous. The way in which committees are set up and funds are mismanaged, almost as it will be should an adult give a toddler some papers and colour with the instruction to draw a cat. The result will be a colourful mess. Clearly, whoever is set to lead this country from this year and for the next four years, has serious work awaiting. That being said, it will also be dishonest to say no good has been achieved in the past four years, I am certain that there has been some achievements, even though I cannot think of one at the time of writing. 

My concern is not so much about the candidates, but the antics employed by either camp and their supporters. The bigotry, the name calling, the accusations on both sides is very childish and amateur. We are suffering, and we need results, not insults. Save that for something less important. At my age, I cannot recall the last time something positive happened in Nigeria for an extended period of time. People don't want to watch adults argue of silly things, people want jobs, security, people want to eat. This is made even more painful through the realisation that Nigeria has the potential to be a true giant, not just within Africa but the world at large. 

Nigerians have suffered, and the true and honest people of Nigeria have no space for hypocrisy and bigotry in their hearts, honest Nigerians want nothing but positive change for all, and they know of the things needed to achieve just that. In an ideal world, everything leading up to next month will involve peaceful debates about policies, investments, developement of strategies for dealing with current issues e.t.c. And not just across the two leading political parties and their candidates, but between the citizens of the nation. 

The most important thing, which people seem to forget (ACROSS BOTH CAMPS) is that this is supposedly a democracy and people have the right to vote for whoever they feel best represents a positive Nigeria, without causing a fight. The debates we ought to be having right now should not at all be about muslim/christian, ogogoro or gulder. The debates we should be having should be about real issues that we are actually suffering from, like what candidate has the best policy to curb insurgency, or provide more jobs across the Country. We should be debating about a way to fix what is broken, not further break everything by inciting childish political and religious sentiment between people. 

An honest person, more so an honest leader is not intimidated by opposition, he has clear-cut goals and is mature enough to accept defeat, without making a mess of things. In other words, Nigerians should not, at this point feel the need to remind us all, after every minute, through the use of poorly constructed and anaemic sentences, why their candidate is the best and everyone else's is rubbish. In fact, this should bring us all closer and not further separate us. Working together to share ideas will be much more productive than suggesting you or your party to be the best thing to happen to Nigeria since P-Square. 

Going to shift focus to twitter activists to make a point, I take it that if you are reading this article then you have most likely have gained a significant level of education, primary at least. Can you not use the experience you have gained as a Nigerian citizen, to initiate and discuss real issues without bringing trivial issues such as tribe or religion into the matter. Can you talk about measurable commitments your candidate has made, can you reference some of the past achievements of your candidate? If yes, then focus on that, and don't fall into bigotry and the plain hypocrisy of calling others out, you yourself drenched in faults. Can you rather focus on the real issues at hand. Issues which you most certainly know about. 

 

It is definitely a very significant improvement, the number of people engaged in this year's elections, the number of people fed up with life as is, the number of people ready to see positive change happen. It is rather unfortunate that many people, though rightfully angry, are channeling their anger in the wrong direction. I intentionally detach myself from politics of any kind because I do not like the complications and friction it creates, and I cannot tell you "this is who I want and who I believe" can change Nigerian for good, because at the heart of it all, only God knows. The only thing I know is who I THINK can change the Country for good, and this is based on merit and fact alone, not ethnicity and certainly not religion. 

After all the debates, the accusations, the protests, it is abundantly clear that Nigerians want change. There will be no need to stress that fact any longer. Every Nigerian, I suppose, is a free man, and he has the right to do as he pleases, keeping in mind that we all get what we deserve. Therefore, unless you have a positive, informative and objective suggestion to contribute in the hope of creating a better country (And you want to talk), the best thing you can do for Nigeria, really, is to close your mouth, let the forums rest, get a voter's card and choose your candidate. 

As we are now, God knows who is going to lead the country from this year, but we humans have to wait and see. In the end, all I can say is that I am tired of suffering, as you all are, and I only pray, that God blesses Nigeria with a President that is most certainly up to the task of fixing Nigeria for good.

Happy new year by the way, and here is to hoping 2015 will finally be the year Nigeria fulfils that long awaited promise of goodness. Amen.