EVERYDAY, AN ANGEL

To heal a heart is to live on celestial grounds - unknown.

No doubt, we all have had to be children once. We've had the audacity to dream and care less. We all had our 'impossible' and wild wishes before life and adults taught us the concept of boundaries and the trap of rationality.

One of my keenest wishes was to cross paths with an angel!
There was just one problem! I had never seen an angel, save for paintings and pictures. Then, I read about the angels that visited Abraham. How they came in human form and didn't have wings. It bothered me for a while that they didn't match all the artistic glamour I had read about.
Well, like I would later learn, the ingredient of an angel is not in the wings.

So, today I met an angel on a bus. He didn't promise me a child nor overshadow me with great light. No! He simply showed love! He gave me a phone to call (when i ran low on airtime) and paid for my shuttle fair. Yeah, that's all he did. Doesn't seem much like the act of an Angel, does it? Well, I take it as one.

Everyday, we cross path with Angels and other times, we become one. Never be too busy to notice! Every time you wipe any tears, touch a heart, heal a wound, stretch out a hand, help a soul...you've acted in the capacity of an angel. You need the heart, not the wings. Look out henceforth, and deliberately be an angel to someone!

Happy Birthday Achu Blessing, you are an Angel indeed!

TEACH HIM...

As a youth in this fast changing world, there are a lot of things about the future that we think and learn about. This has led the likes of 2pac and Bank W to write a song for their future children. It was one of  such leaning that led me to an immortal letter said to have been written by Abraham Lincoln to his son's school teacher.
Now, there's a petty debate about the author. Many say it's Lincoln, others say it was someone who was just trying to get a work some popularity by using a renown name.

My advice, whoever it was, skip that and grab the invaluable lessons.

The letter;

"He will have to learn, I know, that all men are not just. That all men are not true. But teach him also that for every scoundrel there is a hero; that for every selfish Politician, there is a dedicated leader. Teach him that for every enemy there is a friend.

Steer him away from envy. If you can, teach him the secret of quiet laughter.

Let him learn early that  the bullies are the easiest to lick... Teach him, if you can,
the wonder of books.

But also give him quiet time  to ponder the eternal mystery of birds in the sky, bees in the sun, and the flowers on a green hillside.

In the school, teach him  it is far honourable to fail  than to cheat.

Teach him to have faith in his own ideas, even if everyone tells him they are wrong.

Teach him to be gentle  with gentle people,  and tough with the tough people.

Try to give my son the strength not to follow the crowd when everyone is getting on the band wagon.

Teach him to listen to all men but teach him also to filter  all he hears on a screen of truth, and take only the good that comes through.

Teach him if you can, how to laugh when he is sad. Teach him there is no shame in tears.

Teach him to scoff at cynics and to beware of too much sweetness.

Teach him to sell his brawn and brain to the highest bidders but never to put a price-tag on his heart and soul.

Teach him to close his ears to a howling mob and to stand and fight, if he thinks he's right.
Treat him gently, but do not cuddle him, because only the test of fire makes fine steel.

Let him have the courage to be impatient. Let him have the patience to be brave.
Teach him always to have sublime faith in himself, because then he will have sublime faith in mankind.

This is a big order, but see what you can do. He is such a fine fellow, my son!"

When I first read this, I thought for a second and wished to share. What better time than now! Dear teachers(you might not have gotten a letter), daddies, maybe you've not written one, children(even though it wasn't written about you)...I sincerely think there's a thing or two we can all learn from it.

Think about it, even as I take my pen and

...

SMALL, BUT...

Sometimes, when I consider what tremendous consequences come from little things, I'm tempted to think...there are no little things! - Bruce Barton

Did you ever get to meet any of those guys who always said, "Nah small thing dey vex me"? I had many! And I always wondered, "whatever happened to big things?" There's another funny yet often  rendered cliché, "Nah small shit dey spoil yanch". Lately, I've been thinking, "how small is small?" Perhaps, one of the simplest lesson man is yet to fully grasp is that the weaving of small things result in  big things.

This is a story of conversation between a wild dove and a sparrow.
"Tell me the weight of a snowflake," a sparrow asked a wild dove. "Nothing more than nothing" was the answer. "In that case, I must tell you a marvellous story," the sparrow said. "I sat on the branch of a tree, close to its trunk, when it began to snow-not heavily, not raging blizzard-no, just like a dream, without a sound and without any violence. Since I did not have anything better to do, I counted the snowflakes settling on the twigs and needles of my branch. Their number was exactly 3,742,952. When the 3,742,953rd flake dropped onto the branch, the branch broke of the tree". Having said that, the sparrow flew away.

Do you still think little things don't matter? Oya, think again! Screen the next 'small' words you offer. Watch that next 'small' deed. Be careful with that 'small' thought. In our world, anything great good or evil started small. Deliberately add to people and things henceforth. Start small too.

I LOOK TO YOU

I've failed myself
The exact number of times I've tried
I've managed not to throw in the towel
'Cos of the eternal examples you've laid
I do hope you don't regard now
To break the instructive edge
Like brass, existence could be lethal
But joy can be suckled from the breast of living
In a lasting way you've taught
That I will win if I don't quit.
Frustrate the odds,
Stay on the excellence streak.
For by your light
A constellation shall be built
Even now as ever,
I look to you.

When I first heard Whitney Houston's I LOOK TO YOU, I knew I was gonna render a cover for it. Well, let's just say I never got to hit that note the way she did. However, I still got to do something with the title.

I used to be a thick  fan of I-don't-give-damn club. I thought everybody should mind their business. Well, like I would later learn; people were watching me! I'm not talking about the guys I was so pressured to please. No! I'm talking about those whom my/our life is a light to. Those who feed from your struggles and triumph. Those whose entire existence will be anointed by  your counsel.

Never be too selfish to think that your life is about you. Whatever manner you choose to lead your life will affect alot of people. Posterity is watching and learning from you. Lives are tied to you!

So, the next time you think, say or do, remember, a soul somewhere looks to you!

#happySUNDAY!

THE WISH LIST

A lot of funny things have played out in the series of adventure of the search for a ‘perfect’ spouse. Latent pressure from families and peers have driven boys and girls to do really crazy things in the name of love!

It is not rare these days to hear girls have really funny and awkward conversation. It usually goes like “Babe, see before person graduate, person need to catch one boy oh! First hold am tight”. And the reply is almost always “Nor be lie oh! Nah  so so boys just full everywhere! Husbands nor dey market oh!” (Husband don turn fuel abi).
There seem to be a brooding fear of finding a good enough mate in the girl circle. So, most times, they settle for just any guy!

I used to think guys were immune to this epidemic craze. It turned out that their own is even worse! You will hear words like “oh boy! All these girls nor just dey trip me oh, nah TEAR RUBER (but why) me dey look for oh”. I once heard a guy complain, Nah God go help person oh, wife material nor just dey common these days oh” (Nah Ankara?). 

A lot of singles have took to the streets to search for what they call the perfect soul mate. Most times, their guide is lust! John Hagee said about a man that sat in his office sometime ago, describing his future bride, “when I get around her, I cant breathe”. He said he responded, “it is asthma, not love”.

Have you come across any of those funny list that some single carry around these days? A some sort of menu where you list all the qualities you want your future spouse to possess. A sort of marital map. I stumbled upon one recently and after I read it, all I could do was laugh and laugh. It read “she must be carefully patterned and curvy, must be chocolate (ehn?) and 5’5 feet tall, Godfearing and must love my family, outgoing and clever, committed responsible and hardworking”. Now, understand me, I’m not saying it wrong, I only said it was funny.

Let’s not forget one simple truth! Any relationship that will work must be nourished by the people in it. Maybe you have a list, I hope you are everything or most things you wrote on it. It is not enough to demand, you must also be! Nurture those qualities that you want from people and then you might not be needing a list. We attract what we contain. We get the things we get because of the one’s we have. I read one time that the average woman would rather have beauty than brains, because the average man can see far better than he thinks. You see, likes attract. For those that still wanna build a list, make sure you get two; one for you!

SAVE IT OR BREAK IT!

The aim of this piece is not to argue the affirmative of agriculture superiority over other fields, no!  Neither is it to blame oil for our economic ruin. It is to bring to the awareness of the individual and society the common cord that bind us. And to also point out that neither is oil a curse nor agriculture crude. Hear me out!
Needless to mention, agriculture is still in its basest form in Nigeria. One would expect that for a discipline that is somewhat the foundation of this country's economic muscle, it would be the primary revenue source, but the reverse is what's seen.

A continuous and consistent decline of development, attention and preference has since be notice. Many blame this on leadership, some believe it is the advent of oil and another group point their finger at the unpreparedness of Nigeria and Nigerians for independence.  1.7%,1.44%and 0.97% were allocated to agriculture in  2013 ,2014, 2015 respectively. you see a sickly decrease in allocation to  agriculture ? This has gone far in cutting down the effectiveness of agricultural research institute. Amount allocated to fertilizer distribution as well as production has also reduced for 2015. The former minister of agriculture  Dr.  Akinwumi adesina has since promised that  agriculture will soon become the mainstay of Nigeria economy . Well, we still await performance.

Various agricultural development programs have been and their failure were almost immediate. The likes of operation feed the nation, green revolution, to mention a few failed almost as fast as the termination of the audacious government that created them.

In Nigeria , there are over 167 million people , 84million hectares of arable land but only less than 10% is cultivated  we are blessed with adequate rainfall rivers and stream we still fight hunger and spend billions on food importation. I think its high time for a break out!

Did you ever watch that blockbuster movie, prison break? Ok, let me tell it. It was about a guy that was falsely accused of murder of the brother to the vice president and he was placed on death row, well he had a younger brother a brilliant structural engineer who believed that his brother Lincoln was innocent. And was determined to break him out.  Now, this is the interesting part! Michael had to go into false river penitentiary to break Lincoln out, and he did!

Crude oil came as a help meet to agriculture. But Nigerians has placed it in the prison of overdependence, behind the bars of greed with political gluttons as warders. It is common to hear nowadays people praying and wishing for the death of oil because of its misuse. Some even call it a curse. Life has been suckled from the veins of oil by punitive rulers with fat straws in both hands. Now oil needs help! Oil needs a brilliant  Michael(Agricultural sector and non-oil sector) to break it out. I heard a man said one time, "oil has been sentenced to death and falsely for that matter. Only agriculture can break it out!". 

I don't subscribe to the argument that oil is at fault. Nigerians have a management problem, not an oil or agriculture problem. One of the major alternatives of every responsible and responsive government should embrace is attention to agriculture and non-oil sector. At a time like, we should all learn to be responsible husbandmen to Nigeria by giving it a vine - agriculture and branches - oil and non-oil sector. As TY Bello rightly sang, "the future is now". Pick your brain and muscles and get to work! 

The future is green; I hope you can see!

pulished in THE AGRICULTURIST MAGAZINE, 2015 edition.

...AND THE CHILD GREW!

When I was much younger, I practically believed everything. OK, maybe not everything, but a lot of funnily crippy stuff. Did you? Well, it's called innocence.

I believed in all darkness had ghost in it. I believed all smiles were real and everybody loved everybody. I believed 'How was your night?' was a harmless question, even though some people prayed some kind of evil befell you while you sleep. I sincerely believed that 'how are you?' genuinely required an answer, until folks turned away almost as quick as they asked. I believed santa claus (father Christmas) actually came from heaven.

Yeah, I believed all that.  

Well, I've grown a bit older and a lot has since changed. My believes too have grown. Apostle Paul said it best, "when I was a child, I behaved like a child. Now that I'm grown, I've put away childish things".

The Bible recorded about Jesus, "...and the child grew!"
I do agree that growth is suppose to be peaceful and fun, but live does not agree.  Innocence has been stolen from most of us. Responsibility has broken some of our backs. A lot of hopes has been dashed. The once beautiful dreams are now nightmares to which we can't seen to wake up from. 

Are you gonna let life win or you will put up a good fight. I'll counsel you take the latter. Life is like Google search engine; type something in, you will always get a hit. There might network itch, result might get modified, you might need to do it again, but you will surely get it right.

A Bishop once preached, "life's not fair, but God is good". Have some faith and just believe.
#GodBeWithYou

AWAKE

Have you ever passed to a brother
The baton of hope amidst gloomy wreck?
Have you ever stuck it out for an elder
Whose bone is as good as sack?
Have you ever responded to a weary crawler
For a second to heal a lack?

Have you ever offered a thing
That both noble and vile didn’t have to pay?
If for one of these pings
You can’t be convicted anyway;
You better wake your heart with a loud ring,
‘Cos you’ve been sleeping for too a long day.

If you’ve ever abounded
Or at one point couldn’t afford a price.
I bet you now understand
The dire need of a saving grace.
So we all can ask with a voice profound
What is life without sacrifice?

MY FRIEND.

So long I stretched forth my hand,
Coldly you tossed it aside.
I’ve tried not to turn my face to the sand
But, different time is set for every man to break inside.

For our friendship, let’s strive to be strong and fond,
And pray love, lest we slide.
So far a journey we’ve managed to come,
Taking for granted the grace that made us friend.

Forgetting the fruit we ate in the hill; the berries and pomes.
Neglecting the swell moments most royals may never find.
My hair’s kinky, wish you were here to help me comb,
Clear my dusty eyes by blowing a soothing wind.

I’m sick of staying away from our friendship
I’m sick of waiting for the right moment.
I wish our callousness a halt.
Old wine is indeed sweeter than all new elements.

I pray love to swallow our faults.
I’ll bless you more often than I lament.


*To all those out there who have felt the blessing of friendship and others who long for it*

NOT BY MUSCLE

I toiled the steep pages of books
But my grade said otherwise
I climbed the highest storey
Yet couldn’t see beyond my nose

I faked a lot of laughs
But could only keep up for so long
I tried to write a symphony
But couldn’t make up the lyrics

I drank the finest of wine
But couldn’t get the taste
I sought wearyingly for answers
But always hit a snag of some kind

So, I fell on my knees
And turned my face to sand
Then I realised,
It is not by muscle
But by GOD.

pulished in REDEEMED CHRISTIAN FELLOWSHIP EDITORIAL, 2014 edition.