There is Hope; You're The Light

Our nation today seems like it is sitting on the brink and all would fall apart for everyone, the economy like the boys would say is not smiling, security is in shambles and worse off the citizenry is impoverished and the average youth in the nation is thinking that exiting the nation is the best option they have got at this time, the question that if truly answered would send hope to everyone is; is there a light at the end of this dark tunnel or is this proclaimed light a gust of flame that would further consume us? Should we all just leave and come back when all is better?

Well, I’m one to tell you that fortunately we aren’t the worse in this case an indeed there is a light at the end of the tunnel but we might not even get to the end of this tunnel not because we have bad leaders parse but because of the docile nature the citizenry have embraced.

It pains me that the average Nigerian would sabotage us all to have a little gain, I was taking a stroll in my local government of assignment and I saw that people have vandalized the water pipes made by the government to palliate the lack of water in the village then it dawned on me that Nigerians do not only share apathy towards governance but also destroy facilities made by government for us. 

That’s quite strange right, young man that wants to seek greener pasture abroad, let me tell you why. You now see yourself as a slave in your father’s land because you feel there is nothing you can do to change the current situation hence the only air of freedom you can imagine for yourself is going into bondage in a no colour land.

There is hope for our nation but we are not seeing it because we are looking for it in the hands of government. The hope that exists for this country lies in the actions of all of us a citizens of this nation. First, we must learn all of us are a part of the government, therefore we must hold ourselves very much accountable in the little we do that indeed matters. That pipe must not be vandalized, you must not litter your environment and where we all have failed is hold your representatives responsible. See for long enough the elitist have taken us for a ride due to our inactions, the time to act is now.

The youth don’t leave this nation yet, you are the hope we are waiting for, first erase that thought that you are a slave in your land, you are not, you are a free born act like one. Go about your dealings legally and position yourself to help redeem the nation from the hands of the current saboteurs no matter who they are starting from the bottom. 

Hey, I’m not saying you should go burn tires and begin a street revolution or protests, if there must be a revolution, it is one of character which start from you, then your folks which should then flow through to the local government of your residence, then truly you have fulfilled the change begins with me mantra. Seize the moment, there is light at the end of this tunnel, there is hope for the nation, you are the light and you are the hope.

We are Backward, Ask Ignorance - Rt. Hon. Rotimi Oyede

Ignorant has been the major reason why the union is where it is today.

Rt.hon Rotimi Oyede

Speaking on the topic titled unionism an effective and major tool among imeko Afon youth he coat Nelson Mandela word on "Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”

"Nelson Mandela"

He emphasis on the union to focus more on empowering ourselves and the union academically, organizing tutorials if possible 

He stressed on the reason for unionism at the event that Unionism serves as the voice of the students, the major tool of union is unity we must embrace unity and forget our individual background and believe but we must work to achieve common goal. He also mentioned that Unionism helps in developing onces  potential and active community should be the constant goal of both the executive council's and the students representative council

Lastly Hon. Rotimi Oyede re_emphasis on the if there's no unity there is no unionism. He also botress on Rt.Hon Olanose James word If You can succed in FIALGSU you have better chance of surviving in life.

Proudly brought to you by the SRC

Beat covered by Rt. Hon ADENITAN JOSEPH AYODELE

Success is Sure if... - Rt. Hon. Olanose James

If you can succed in FIALGSU you can succed in life

Rt. Hon Olanose james

SPEECH DELIVERED AT THE FIRST FIALGSU SRC 2019 LEGISLATIVE SUMMIT AND AWARD PRESENTATION BY RT HON OLANOSE JAMES A. AT AUD PRIMARY IMEKO ON THE 7TH OF DECEMBER 2019.

A legislature is a deliberative assembly with the authority to make laws for a political entity such as a country or city. Legislatures form important parts of most governments; in the separation of powers model, they are often contrasted with the executive and judicial branches of government

Beyond the intuition that says "I know one when I see one," how do you go about measuring the effectiveness of any given legislature?

A political Scientist Alan Rosenthal, What do we want our state legislatures of the 21st century to be? Of course we want them to be effective, to be good. But we also know that state legislatures will be heavily influenced by forces over which they have little control-technology in particular. The challenge is to remain true to the fundamental purposes of representative democracy and the legislative system.

So what is an effective, a good legislature in a time of dramatic change It's a question, for the most part, that has gone unanswered, and even unattended. And the answer as to what a good legislature is must come from legislators, legislative staff and concerned citizens.

For legislatures to be good, they must carry out the functions we expect of them in our system of representative democracy. The principal ones are balancing power, representing constituencies and making laws. In considering whether legislatures are doing their job (and hence are good), we have to examine how well they are performing these three functions.

Our hope for change as a nation is very high! In fact, our country should not strive to be developed only in the economic sense. Rather, it must strive to be a nation that is fully developed along all the dimensions: economically, politically, socially, spiritually, psychologically and culturally. We must be fully developed in terms of national unity, selfless service and social cohesion; in terms of social justice, political stability, quality of life; and in terms of social values, national pride and confidence. In this regard, I want to challenge you all at this summit to evolve a mechanism that will enable us fast track our growth and transformation this will bring about the development of our dear Local  government Imeko/Afon , Ogun state and Nigeria at large.

Wake Up: This is no Time to Sleep - Rt. Hon. Adeyanju Joseph

Wake up from you slumber find a means to generate income Rt. Hon. Adeyanju Joseph 

Immediately past speaker of Federation of imeko Afon local government student Union lay an emphasis on the union finding a means to generate their income instead of waiting on the political year before getting an income. This issue has been a great setback to the union. 

Prince Adeyanju speaking on the topic tittled unionism a great tool for community development he admonished the union president  Mr Isreal Okunola and the speaker Rt. Hon ADENITAN JOSEPH AYODELE on the way of sensitizing the upcoming leaders to have a dialogue with the Local government chairman to solicit for tractors,buildozer and empowerment so the union can venture in Agriculture, this will serve as an employment opportunity for the union members or a siwes center for an union members interested.

Lastly he appreciate the legislative arm of the union for the first of it's kind program and stressed the vision mustn't die.

News brought to you by the legislative arm of the union

Why Embarrass Yourself - The How and How to Stop.

I have had a major problem since Monday (being a while I wrote this, timing may not be exact) and in a quest to solving it, I have had to find out a lot of things doing that. Well, I'm a better person this week than I was last week as I have learnt something new, yay!!! This can never be the reason I'm writing this, who even wants to know what I learnt sef but I discovered something about humans doing that.

Dear one, we are created to be the most intelligent beings not because knowledge comes with us at birth (except in cases of abnormality of which I've not heard or read), but due to the fact that we're blessed with a super power known as learning capacity. 

As you've known I'm in my service year and I've met a lot of people who I have been carefully observing and found out a whole lot of things which I'll share now.

First, there's a class who don't know and yet they don't want to know (help can still reach these ones but they are not our focus today). 

Secondly, there is this class that there's a will to want to learn but it ain't strong enough to push them to find it themselves, they'd rather wait on someone to help them find out. 

Finally and most disgusting are the people that know (in the real sense they don't know, you'd soon know how), these ones would always interject every discussion in a bid to come with a superior knowledge that no one seem to know.

When I met such people first, I thought they always knew all correctly until I took my time to start verifying their opinions and found a lot of things that are obsolete. These people would bamboozle with their eloquence and sometimes insult you because they think they know better than you (the reason they are disgusting), the worse part is the way they jump on issues even when I know they know nothing and I'll take in all pain listening to their nonsense and insults too then have a good laugh with their thought later.

I'm not speaking like this not because I know beyond anyone (see I know nothing, just never stop the learning process), but a lot of us are like them at one point or the other (you read right, most of us if not all sef). We believe we are the best when it comes to intelligence and then everyone spews nonsense or better still something inferior. See, we all know things but if you're humble with your knowledge you'd acknowledge that people exist that knows better than we do, then at places of discourse can we learn to keep quiet and learn from others. 

You are not better than anyone, you must keep learning so you don't become like the people in that last class. We all must learn to keep up with the pace of our wisdom. The wise keep being wise by listening, you know how much I've got to endure listening to a lot of gibberish, but I wish they would just learn, but no they won't. 

The moral of this gist is that, never assume you know all things (my brethren are you God?), sit down to learn, read, listen to people else you'd keep up with constant embarrassment of your royal person in the public.

Nigeria has a lot of Problems, Here's a Solution

One thing has brought us together and all have found a way to express that one thing. That element was, is and would remain love. Love has brought all of mankind together and more importantly it has brought about various relationships that we know of today, from bilateral relationships between nations to alliances between states to marriages and more basic friendship. 

All relationships might have another publicly known reason but the primary reason all have come together in the first place is love. Then all of these various relationships are quite important but on a deeper look we can say that the most important one of above listed forms of expressions of love is friendship.

You could find the above strange but let’s break it down, all marriages started out with the couples being friends; every bilateral relationship also has an element of friendship attached to it too. Having backed our claims, it is understood that the importance of friendship cannot be over emphasized but we can only try to further entrench the core values of friendship to further have the peace we all sorely desire.

In a nation like ours, there seem to be so much love yet there is so much war and that gets to me so much, and the reason is not farfetched as it is due to the fact that I always realize how much that next soul is important to me as my friend.

Enmity seeks to break us by showing us how sufficient we seem to be and how much independent we are hence we do not need the next person, that in itself is the biggest façade you would ever be sold because the creator made all things to have a positive impact on its immediate environment, hence that person you want to take as an enemy have an important role to play in your life. Do not take lightly the hand of friendship extend it as it is as important as life itself.

In a world where you’re worth your network we all know how much your friends could enrich you but when friendship is based on the material gains and finance that could be gotten from each other, we all have gotten it wrong, no matter the gains it might seem to have, friendship is a game governed by love and sacrifice to ensure that all become a winner at the end. A relationship that put the gains before the person is exploitation and not friendship. All friends should be able to negotiate love and peace between themselves and by that seek peace for their nation at large. This brings good answer to my question asked at the very beginning that if there is so much love why is there so much war? Here it is. We do not love ourselves here, we only love the things we want to get from each other, hence we all see each other as an opportunity to make it hence we do not hesitate to put our supposed friend in jeopardy as far as we are satisfied with something doing do. 

Friends keep themselves, as human race we are so much losing credence in relationship in ourselves as a lot are now seeking solace in animals such as dogs as they have been found to love and remain loyal to their lords than the lord’s supposed friends. Do we want to restore parity in our world, do we want peace that we have lost for a long while now, do we want to once again want to see ourselves as brothers like it once was, I think we know what to do and if we do not know what to do can we read again to find out? Yes please.

Go to Church, You don't Know Why?, Here's One Reason

From the day I stepped foot in Ekiti state, it felt like the worst decision I've made in my life as things have not kind of turned out as I planned, being happy and carefully observing the daily turnout of things. It's like it's getting worse, yet I have not been one day sad.

There came today with a gush of hope but unusually I got sad, I'd been mentally weak, all I wanted to do all through today is to sleep, wake, eat, play games and repeat. Wow, what a yearning after all I'm a normal guy living to make my life and others around mine better hence I should have moments like this, let's just that I was a witness to Bruno Mars' Lazy song (what a funny thing to witness abi). 

Correct, yes but today came with gush of unhappiness with that feeling, it was like I wanted to use those things to shield myself from impending shutdown, around 5pm it dawned on me that all of those I did earlier hadn't helped me feel better. 

Sought escape in football but Arsenal made my already bad day worse, in fact let me use this chance to tell the big Arsenal guys to fire our manager. 

I called my woman, she says I should pray but within me I knew that I never needed that too (prayer is a great tool out of all these, but my case needs more than just asking God to take it away like that), then I proceeded to worshipping with the brethren, voilà like magic after 10 minutes of sincere worship, the burden was down and subtly heard that I have brought you here not to leave you but take you to the point I've designed, don't shake just trust.

I don't know who needs to see this, as we all are meant to be preparing for our place of service and you don't know why you should even attend, here's one reason and in case you need to hear it plain, God still works wonders in the fellowship of His children...

Selah...

The Story of Mr. Akin - Patience; Faith in Action

Be ever ready to strike like a player who is about to play a penalty kick.

On Sunday the 12th of August  this year, I was at an event which came up to herald the arrival of a new football season. The event was so glamorous one which turned out great and interesting but one thing amazed me about the photographer invited  by the organiser of the event in which his actions provoked a great lesson to me which I seek to share to all and sundry.

My nephew as of the time of the event was just about 3 months old and you all will agree with me that it's such a mountainous task getting a momentary pictures of babies due to their hyperactivity. On this said day, the photographer needed a perfect picture of him but our efforts to make him(the baby boy) the object of focus from the camera turned futile. Then we photo man asked us all to quit trying, this left us astonished as it made us wonder how he would then get a desirable pose of him in a picture if we quit trying?

We all stopped, then at a spontaneous moment, he then positioned his camera ready to strike the capture button like a football striker ready to take a spot kick.
He kept his focus and attention on the baby boy till the he turned to a desirable position suitable for taking an amazing shot of the him which brought smiles to the faces of already frustrated loved ones there.

When you meet with my little nephew you will agree with me that he's good looking 😉Well back to the gist. Like the photographer most of us have  various things we are chasing from this hyperactive life and unimpressive enough instead of negotiating our business with life, we are most times busy trying to bring some others into our market square so they could help us in decision making.

That's not a way to live life, Firstly, like I always say you need mentorship, someone that guides you on decision making but and not someone that would make the decisions for us  but you don't give up your responsibilities in the quest for that. Earlier in this narration you may have realised that the photographer didn't get a good shot till he took charge of the situation.
The creator has made you to be in charge of your life and till you are in charge like the photographer you won't make great success.
Another thing we should be conscious of here is the power of focus, it's so unfortunate that we all live our lives looking towards the so called big things neglecting the small details. A beautiful picture portrait as such this wouldn't have been gotten if had chosen to be like us all, Yes!  we were trying to make the baby give a cool pose in front of the camera. But for his age, we would never achieve that if one person didn't take charge of the situation. The details in life are all important but there the need to take note of those supposed small things as their importance can not be over emphasised as they matter on the big stage.

The photographer was a determined one who found success using the boy as a muse and he was successful not only because he was determined but also because he set his focus right and negotiated rightly with his thoughts and actions not to be clouded by other opinions. Learn to be like him...

1 Bus 5 Years; 6 Life Lessons You Must Have Learned in a University Bus

1 bus 5 years ; 6 life lessons you must have learned in a university bus

Sometimes in September of 2013, I embarked on a journey to write an entrance exam to the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta. One thing caught my fancy during that trip and I looked forward to it when I gained admission, it was the carriage buses (called BRT Bus in Lagos) used in conveying us from the gate into the school for the exams.

Upon my entrance into the school I discovered that they were called MANCOT buses or MANCOTs as the case may be. One thing I've found out is that you're not a thorough student of the school if you don't have an experience in this bus.
The lessons learnt from this bus just occurred to me during a discuss I had with my good friend @the_smk. Here they come:

1. The Process of Boarding The Bus
According to the rules, you must be on a queue to obtain the tickets that teaches me that there's process to everything, when you try to short circuit you discover the consequences are severe just like it is, there are punishments for those who try to jump the queue.

2. The Fare
MANCOT is the cheapest I have ever seen. In my days a ride cost #10. The value gotten was same for someone who gets a drop to take through same distance. Value here is the fact that you'd get is getting to your destination. So, in the real sense value is not when you spend the highest but when you get the best for less.

3. Sitting and Standing
Just like we have it in carriage buses, it's either you sit or you stand but this is not a product of anything you can control but let's say luck. So even when you've done all things right, forget not the fact that God is a huge factor in all that you do. So pls for the best, let God lead you.

4. Having a Front Seat
Having said that sitting or standing in a MANCOT is by luck. Well there's sth to learn from staying in different positions. Well, getting to sit at the front is a privilege, the people who get it, use it and are happy because that's the most comfortable you can get on the MANCOT bus. So here's the drill, you have a privilege, don't just let it lie fallow, use it, let it produce for you. Don't be apologetic about it, work that privilege for your own good and comfortability.

5. Sitting at the Back
You need strength and character to have these seats on this bus. The road leading to the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta is laced with speed bumps and over time the road got bad hence potholes too. So, upon entering a pothole or trying to meander a pothole while those at the front enjoy the process those at the back pays the price. And as it is, sometimes you'd sit there since nothing is guaranteed. So it is in life, there would be good times and their would be bad time but just a MANCOT user thinks that the destination is getting closer, so you should. The brightness would come and all would shine again.

6. Standing
These people stand through the journey and although it might not be comfortable, and they are seeing others enjoying seats, they have this in mind. First, the destination is close and on the next trip their lot could be better. You know in life, all of us can't be in the same shoe at once, some would have it white while others grey but one thing you must cling onto is hope!!! Enjoy your situation and work towards making it better.

Vital lessons have been shared, make sure you apply them and get better at living life.

Prophecies From a Nigerian Sailor: Echoes of The Hard Times

PROPHECIES FROM A NIGERIAN SAILOR: Echoes of The Hard times.

My nation NIGERIA is 59 years today as an independent entity, that should be well great news right? It should and sure it is but as adage says, once the monkey is reminded of his scar, his happiness dampens and more like a cold water has been thrown at his strength.

Relatively, you will agree with me that the joy of this celebration is plagued with diverse abnormalities and inadequacies. A land once flowing with milk and honey in ages past is now impoverished surprisingly below the poverty threshold. A land known for peace and tranquillity with no insignificant records of civil disturbance is now known for all shades of perpetual violence; ranging from terrorism, to kidnapping for ritual or for ransom purpose, banditry to just mention a few.

To say that no sector of the Nation's governance is working is also stale news and a repeat of already known fact, then I'm drawn to wonder where we got it all wrong as a Nation.
A mentor once told me, let's not think that the problem is in the land, No, the land is fertile enough for fruiting. If then that's the case, we have gotten it all wrong by planting the wrong seeds. The country is so as it is today because we have been gifted and as well appointed ourselves  some bad leaders in the past and present who have made things so hard for us by enriching their pockets end engaging themselves in various corrupt practises, and in the stead of rooting them out of the system, we have and continuously continually give them the power to keep planting the wrong seeds into our soil (the system) and now the tree is bringing up bad fruits that we all are sorely enjoying. An adage says, whatever you sow shall you reap.

If only my people that are called by the Name Nigerians the stand up and uproot the growing tree, but No, they would rather  remove the fruit from the tree hoping that a, good fruit will spring up from the bad tree some day, if we were on this hope I can say we would keep waiting till forever.
The future we all seek after is right before us but how do we want it to be is right behind us, do we wish to continue in this cycle (if you want to continue, as for me, I'm tired and I'll be the change), if you're like me, what we need to do is that we must first remove the 'E no concern me, if e go spoil make e spoil' attitude we all wear and then let's consciously  decide and engage ourselves to purge this system so we can cultivate good seeds and then bring alive the Nigeria we all dream of, the exact Nigeria that's the giant of Africa. Only then would the generations coming behind us find us faithful and worthy being ahead.
Selah...

Pick Your Itinerary and Leave the Rest - A Soldier's Tale of Victory!!!

PICK YOUR ITINERARY AND LEAVE THE REST - A SOLDIER'S TALE OF VICTORY!!!

Like you already know, I'm on the compulsory service year for graduates in my nation. I picked some valuable lessons from the camping exercise that occurred a few backs one of which I'd like to share today, I hope we learn.
Parade is one thing the platoon commandants hold dear as the drills competition is an opportunity to show their prowess to the public hence they strive to pick the best for themselves.
At the very beginning of that journey, I discovered that my platoon commandant started the drills training with all of the platoon members (even the dullest person when it came to military parade knew that was too much), but he continued and over time he began to pick his 48, and upon getting there he still trim down to 42.

After getting that team of seasoned marchers, guess what happened to the others? Well, nothing happened but I noticed that he cared and sought after the welfare of the 42 and would care less about the others.

On a deeper thought, I realised that what he did is what happens to us in life but we fail ourselves at some point. While growing the educational system throws at us all forms of knowledge for us to get to know our strengths and over the years pick our passion and form our itinerary, there's a but after picking our itinerary a lot still look into the journey books of others and try to add sth of note they find there to theirs and finally they get things complicated for themselves.
Once your choices on your career, business, life partner and other vital issues have been made, take care and grow your choices, don't care about what's outside. The soldiers don't make the corpers who are not on parade their business, they leave them to laze around. That's how life is, your choices have been made, dot concern yourself with what another person is doing. If you do so, you're making a distraction for you. Success is sure when you follow the path you've charted for you and not try to look into someone else's map. Pick your itinerary, embark on your journey and meet the others at the top only if they are faithful to their journey. There'd be ups and downs (the downs should not be an excuse to want to change your path) but stay true and you'd breakthrough.

Value vs Success: How Successful are You?
Old English adage says blatantly that the end justifies the means, the world over have now regretted that adage as it has changed the course of human reasoning to one of great desperation to succeed by any means as you're judged basically by your outcomes. Well, allow me do some reorientation.

Some weeks ago, the world was held aback by the story of one who was listed aw a prospective under-30 billionaire who has one time being involved in fraudulent dealings.

Well as a people, we have lost the value that hard work carries, lost the joy and accomplishment that comes with waiting time and enjoying the process. We have also abused the term smart work to meaning various fraudulent activities, now the mantra have become all I do is legal as long as I succeed.

Let me tell you that if your success is not one that carries value, you ain't successful. People's lives must be touched by your actions positively, your outcomes should be a conglomerate of values you have added to others. Dangote is not the richest man in Africa for selling cement, he is because in the process of doing business, he is favourably and considerably adding values to a lot more people in so many ways.

So Mr Wanna be Success, don't be too overcome by the zest of your desire to be successful, it could lead to being desperate, but be more driven by a desire to add value to others and you'd never go wrong as success is tied to value closely. Add value to all and you won't get success wrong as in our times, the means justifies the end.
Selah!!!