BeYOUtiFULLY

I’m grateful for the people in my life. They challenge me and push me to be better. My friend Lola always says to me as a ritual, “ÿou are destined for and capable of doing great things, but you have to hone your abilities”. It feels simple but I struggled for weeks, trying to understand it. I came close to an answer when I had a conversation with Dashia another friend of mine on a completely different topic. That conversation seemed to shine some light on my entangled thought on “Hone-rship”. Many times, our abilities can become disabilities if not honed.

True “Honership” as I would like to call it is deeply rooted in ownership. Absolute ownership and acceptance of who you are, how you are and what you have. At the root of any man’s inadequacy is a deep seated neglect of that which he owns and a covet for that which another owns.

For example, in the bible parable of the talents, the under performed servant who was declared inadequate and sentenced to imprisonment, was the same one who buried what he was given, in envy of that which the others were given.

The black race has for so long been looked upon as the least performing race for irreconcilable and illogical reasons. Just as an autoproducer never makes a white car perform any better than a black car, God never made the black skin any inferior to the white. Both have the same engine content, run the same speed, rev the same way, and basically are designed to do everything similarly. We have all been given equal potentials. What has for so long made the black to rank bottom of the racial food chain is the fact that we have refused to own ourselves. We have for so long wanted to own that which every other race possesses. Black people feel inferior at their type of hair and fix extensions to have free flowing silky hair, they show discontent at the color of their skin and attempt to bleach it out, to the African residing blacks, we strive to emulate the British or American accent. All of this we do because we see the way of the other race as far superior to ours and we lose ourselves. Defeat is often resident in perception. If you perceive another to be superior, you have submitted to him unconsciously.

This is the only consciousness that has kept us bound as a race. Recently I saw a blog post that canvassed 2017 most beautiful women in the World and funny enough, they were all white. Billboard and internet commercials use white women to epitomize beauty especially in the cosmetic industry. If you found a black woman there, it's either because the product is meant for black people or the black woman would have to in a way, have some white looking feature like free flowing silky hair.

Remember that the only way you can utilize potential is to hone it, and the only way to hone potential is to own potential. Use what you have! If looking or acting like someone is what you needed to be successful, God would have made you that someone in the first place. I wish everyone globally would understand that if only we would overcome our insecurities and perceive our uniqueness as a virtue and be at peace with our difference, then we would be strong. It’s not a competition for who is better, smarter or stronger, it’s a competition with ourselves to become the best versions of ourselves. So I would say to my black folks out there, shine that black sun kissed skin of yours, grow that locks, release that fro of yours, grow that beard, shawn that idea that a suit and tie is the globally accepted mode for corporate dressing, speak out with your own accent, never apologise for making errors when you speak english ( it's not your language) and allow yourself to be you! Be proud of you! Thats the original heritage....
It's no coincidence, black and beauty start with the same letter "B"

The Joy Of Vertical Living!

"I haven't really found a place that I call home, I never stick around quite long enough to make it". Dido

These are the powerful lyrics that begin the award winning song "Life for Rent" by Dido. For many years, I have listened to this song and memorized the entire lyrics of the song, but it was not until recently that the depth of truth hidden in it began to revealed itself to me. How could I have been singing such a song with such insightful introduction lyrics and miss out on it. I can't help but reminisce about how I could have made a lot of better life choices had my eyes been open to this truth a long time ago.  

It dawned on me! I have for so long, like Dido being a wondering generality. Trying my hands on many things and mastering none, living my life horizontally and not vertically. Have you ever heard or seen anyone celebrate the worlds widest building? No! Everyone is more fascinated by the world's tallest building. No doubt, horizontal living is fascinating because it offers you adventure, Vertical living gives you mastery. Horizontal living spreads the bricks of your potential across many boundaries but vertical living stacks up those bricks of potential one after the other until you become a recognizable force.

A lot of people hide behind not being talented and as a result under perform. Unfortunately, Successful people aren't successful because they are talented or born best at what they do, they are successful because they are committed to what they do. They empty themselves into an endeavor they are passionate about until it yields favorably. They make their endeavor home. They stick around long enough to make it. They stay through all the seasons of their endeavors. Practice may makes perfect, but commitment makes you an unmatchable master of your craft.

The truth be told, every endeavor will pose itself to be very difficult at its initial stage. For example, the most difficult part of a university experience is at the beginning. The most challenging part of starting a business or pursuing a career is at the beginning. The most difficult part of a marriage is usually the first five years of being married. The most difficult part of pushing a car is also at the beginning. What this tells us is that beginnings are always characterized with difficulty. I believe this happens because life tries us to see if we are willing and committed enough to go after what it is that we say we want. Usually if we stay on past these periods of difficulty, we enter into seasons of ease. We must labor to enter into that season of rest, of ease. If you give up because the coconut has hard shells, you will never eat the fruit.

We need to understand the seasons of things. Things will always start out difficult before they get easy. Every great door of opportunity will always begin with a great opposition that attempts to resist you to see if you really want to go through that door. Every good land has it's Goliath that makes us appear like a tiny David's. If you persist through commitment, you go in. The pass mark for life's test is many times persistence. Persistence is the vaccine for resistance in life. We need to develop staying power!

People are like trees. We derive nourishment from being planted. We may survive by constantly being transplanted but we only grow by committing to the soil. We must stay on beyond the difficult times of our career, our time in school, our relationships or whatever it is that attempts to wear us out and push us into giving up. Difficulty isn't always synonymous to exit, sometimes it means try harder because you are close! 

Difficulty is just a season in life. Like every other season that has its tenure, it comes and passes away. 

We must out stay our difficulty! We must commit beyond every reason we have to give up!

Ultimately, the key to making it is to stick around long enough. If you lobby around difficulty long enough, he will give up on you instead. He wasn't sent to stop you, he was sent to try you to see how badly you want that opportunity. So prove to him that you want it like air and he would step aside and applaud you as you approach your great door of opportunity.

You are stuck with you!

Man is a relational being, hence, he thrives on interaction. He is social in nature and constantly attempts to reach out to his fellow man. Even though it is not good for man to be alone, sometimes it becomes inevitable as we may often find ourselves lurking around the corridors within the dungeons of loneliness.

Surely, loneliness and being alone are not the same thing. Loneliness is a good place to be because for many, that is the only place where we are forced to interact with and get to know ourselves personally. We spend our entire life time hanging out, mingling and getting to know other people, but we neglect knowing the most important person in our life. Us! The fact remains, you are your longest standing companion. You have been with you longer than any other person has and will. You are the only person you have the greatest obligation to discover. Every other person, even a spouse, is only a visitor in your life. You are stuck with you!

We must try to maximize those positions on the number line of our lives where it seems like we are lonely; those places where we make soul screams, but all we hear is our own voices echoed back at us as they collide against the walls of our souls. Life places us in those conditions so we are forced to converse with our inner man, to discover who we are, what we are made off and what we are capable of doing.

We often times mute our desire for self discovery by striving to discover other people, we make up for our deficiency in discovering ourselves by journeying the world and hoping the guilt goes away by doing so, but sadly it remains within the core of our soul like a warm of desire eating deep into the carcass of our personality, beckoning on us to discover ourselves, to immerse ourselves within ourselves to find ourselves.

The caterpillar understands this principle and that is why at a certain time in its life, it cocoons itself within itself and observes a moment of silence to listen to the whispers of its potential saying to it, "you are more than an insect who crawls on its belly, You can fly!". As a result of this solitary encounter, it comes out a beautiful butterfly.

Similarly, there are potentials within us that refuse to reveal themselves at the surface. They are submersed deep within the core of our being and until we allow our soul pass through the brewery of our loneliness, we may never experience that rich, intoxicating, orgasmic feeling that living out our full potential brings. We must of necessity, retreat to silence because its only in silence that the voices heralding the answers to our deepest life questions can be heard.

Hope For Nigeria - Harnessing the Potential of the Nigerian Youth for National Development

Hopefully this gets into the right hands....

The walls of the Nigerian Agricultural sector are broken down, we discover that lesser number of Nigerians want to get involved in Agricultural activities, the cost of food is on the rise, Nigeria has become more of a consumer nation than a producer nation, our import index far outweighs our export index, solemn services are now been observed for Nigerian students who gain admission into higher institutions to study Agric related courses.

This current trend however makes it almost impossible to believe that at one point in time in the history of Nigeria long before the discovery of crude oil, farming was a high calling. The nobility and respect attached to professions such as that of the lawyer, doctor and engineer today, was also been attributed to the farmer in the past.

What happened to the famous groundnut pyramids of Kano, or to the yam pyramids of Benue, or to the cocoa plantation of the western Nigeria and so on. As a result of the neglect of agricultural practice, one is tempted to think that Nigeria’s possession and exploitation of crude oil is doing more evil than good since we have become over dependent on a resource that has an exhaustible source.

Crude oil is Nigeria’s ultimate source of revenue and it accounts for about $52 billion of her yearly revenue.

Agriculture, which has proven to be a God given source of inexhaustible resources, has been neglected. Nigeria has potential to get as much revenue from agric as it's gotten from crude oil. It is estimated that by 2051 Nigeria’s petroleum resource reserve will run dry (23rd April, 2012 edition, The Punch Newspaper). The bugging question now is; what would happen to Nigeria since we have neglected alternative sources of revenue and have become over dependent on petroleum resources; or the jobs that crude oil exploration and exploitation has provided in this country?

The answer to this question among others, is to re-embrace agriculture and exploit its rich and inexhaustible potentials. In my own opinion, NYSC is the most potent platform upon which a common ground for agricultural involvement can be given to Nigerian youths since it attempts to unite Nigerian graduates towards sustainable National development.

It is on this note that we hereby propose an integration of an agricultural scheme into the three weeks NYSC orientation programme as this would further propel the mission of NYSC which is;

“To mobilize and groom graduates for the promotion of national unity, sustainable development, self reliance and prepare them for the challenges of leadership”.

And the vision of NYSC which is;

“To develop a scheme that is dynamic enough to meet new challenges and become the leading light of youth’ organizations in Africa”.

Having gone through the four walls of the orientation camp and experienced what it has to offer, we want to commend the federal government for its success in realizing the NYSC vision thus far and we also believe that more can be done that would inculcate discipline, learning, character and leadership effectiveness amongst Nigerian youths.

It is popularly said that the peak of a man is in his youth. At this stage, lots of strength abide in the bosom of the youth and if not properly harnessed, can cause youth restiveness.

So many countries have an understanding of this and have harnessed youthful strength to provoke sustainable national development. For instance, in some countries, laws have been promulgated to ensure that youths within a particular age bracket be involved in national civil defense. Some ensure that these youths serve in the police force of the nation.

It is therefore in my own recommendation that subjecting Nigerian graduates to three weeks of mere paramilitary and man-o-war drills is not a totally productive way of maximizing youth strength. I believe their strength can be harnessed and also used to propel progress in the agricultural sector since it requires urgent attention.

WAY FORWARD/ RECOMMENDATION

•           Every NYSC orientation camp should have an adjoining farm settlement attached to it and the farm settlement should shoulder the food needs of that camp and the state at large. This practice is called the integrated approach to farming.

•           NYSC operates a system whereby corps members are divided into ten platoons. The adjoining farm settlement in view should be shared amongst platoons and each platoon held responsible for the cultivation and management of each portion of the settlement.

•           Mechanized farming should be introduced to corps members in practical terms.

•         Animal husbandry (fishery, poultry etc) should also be introduced to corps members in practical terms.

•           Food processing, preservation and packaging techniques should also be introduced to corps members.

•           After the three weeks orientation exercise, some corps members can be retained to ensure continuity on the farm.

•           The help of professional agricultural supervisory bodies can also be employed to ensure proper monitoring.

•           After the service year, corps members should be aided financially to enable those who want to continue in the agricultural trend. Faithfulness of corps members in managing the first grant within the space of one year would entitle them to subsequent grants and assistance from the federal government or supportive organisations.

BENEFITS OF THIS PROGRAMME

1. More efficient and profitable use of corps members as they are good source of agricultural man power.
2. Eradication of youth restiveness
3. Every state would become agriculturally responsible and productive since every state has   its   own farm extension attached to its orientation camp.
4. Nigeria’s import index would drop, while her export index would rise drastically
5. It is a bold step towards the rebuilding the broken down walls of the Nations agricultural sector
6. It creates a levelled platform for youths’ agricultural awareness, sensitization and involvement. 
7. It imparts skill, knowledge and confidence that would in turn provoke youths into agricultural exploits
8. Nigerians would become a lot more patriotic of our products, especially if well processed, preserved and packaged.
9. It will eradicate unemployment and reduce the over dependence of youths on government for jobs after NYSC since many of the youths would see opportunities in agriculture and continue such practice in the future.
10. It will expose youths to the potentials that lie fallow in the agric sector.

CONCLUSION

This measure among several others I believe would be instrumental in utilizing youth corps members and effectively rebuilding the Nations broken down agricultural walls. Nevertheless, I believe that this platform would be the most potent ground for the exhibition and realization of this vision.

7 Lessons EURO 2016 has taught me about life and success Pt 1

Am not usually one who pays attention to football or any other sporting activity. I tune to the sports channel when I have sort for sleep for a long time but it has refused to show up. Like a lullaby, it makes me snooze off into dreamland. But this time, because I had a bit of lazy time on my hand, I decided to give the Euro 2016 matches a bit of my attention. To my utmost surprise, I was able to learn a lot of life transforming lessons in addition to the thrill and pleasure it offered me.

First, I realized from football that success in any endeavor is a strategic triangulation of 3 factors. I like to call them the "Tripod of Success". Hierarchically they are;

·      Right Place

·      Right Opportunity

·      Right Skill

One who scores goals must first be in the right place, before he is circumvented with the right opportunity and then possess the right set of skills to take advantage of the opportunity.

Life is similar to the game of football, everyone has his own predestined place. It is only when you are located in that place that the opportunities that are tailored to your ability begin to drop on you. Everyone has predestined life allotments. These allotments are meant for you because they carry your name tag on them, but you have to go to your place to be able to access them. Your allocation is waiting at a particular location!

For example, no matter how boldly your name is printed on an airplane ticket, you are not availed the privilege of flying until you go to the airport. Opportunity only has an appointment with you at specific places.

Of the three factors mentioned, the factors of right placement and skill are dependent on you. You have the ultimate choice to position yourself in the right place and equip yourself with the right skill. Opportunity is like the wind. It has its seasons and it has its places for show up. You don't meet up with opportunity on your own terms, you meet up with opportunity on opportunities terms. Opportunity decides the time and place where she shows up. All you have to do is to be prepared and to be rightly placed.

Winston S. Churchill and Abraham Lincoln respectively have this to say about opportunity,

“To each there comes in their lifetime a special moment when they are figuratively tapped on the shoulder and offered the chance to do a very special thing, unique to them and fitted to their talents. What a tragedy if that moment finds them unprepared or unqualified for that which could have been their finest hour.”

"I will study and get ready, Perhaps my chance will come".

Second, team performance is usually at peak when they are hosts of the game. There seems to be a kind of unusually energy that flows when they play in their home based stadiums. It seems like a team often feels confident and destined to win a game when they are at home. This trend is often referred to as "Home Advantage".

In life, everyone must find their place and play within. By place, I mean you must find and function within the place of your passion and calling. It's almost impossible to compete and win against a fish when you are swimming in its territory. Find what you love, and do it with all your might! When you do, you have home advantage because habitat is what fans the flames of potential.

PS: I am about 95% sure France would win the Euro Cup. Although, I may be wrong. lol 

........to be continued

We all have dreams!

We all have dreams. We all have that pressing desire to want more from life, to bite more than we can chew out of life, to reach beyond our grasp in life. Why then is it that despite this intoxicating desire for a better tomorrow, many remain within the pitfall of their status quo. Many dream and go to sleep, others give birth to bright ideas but simply nurse them in the swaddling clothes of our journals hoping that someday those dreams will fulfill themselves.

Some bluntly ignore the call of their dreams while others make up fancy excuses for why they think it's not time to pursue their dreams or why they aren't ready to pursue them.

Some years ago, the idea of the electric light bulb was tipped off in the mind of several young men across the world, but only one of them, Thomas Edison, did something about that idea. Whereas others were making excuses about how the world wasn't ready for that innovative idea, Thomas was busy working on transforming that idea into reality. Today he is celebrated for it. Indeed, many are called but few are chosen. The chosen few are those who take it upon themselves to give wheels to their dreams because dreams are like mental vapor that must be collected and condensed into fluid reality

We need to understand that no dream is self fulfilling. A dream is absolutely obedient to the law of inertia. It remains as a dream in a state of rest until there is an external force that causes it to experience a displacement. A dream is a vehicle for change that requires a driver as with every other vehicle type.

The moment a dream is given to you, the clock begins to tick for and against you. A Dream does not expire, what expires is the dreamer. There is a time designated for every dream. Of what use is discovering you were meant to be a footballer if you discover it at the age of 60. It may be too late for you!

People hide behind the curtains of their fear by making excuses. Failing to realize that excuse excludes a man from destiny. They allow the little rats of their fear sneak out of their mental basement and boo the giant elephant of their potential into hiding.

Every true dream will place a demand on you to stretch and reach far into the outskirts of your comfort zone. They are designed to be far reaching so much so that when we stretch to grasp hold of their realities, we inevitable grow. Your dreams may portray you as an infant because they are usually cladded in childlike fantasies, but in pursuit it presents to you an evidence of maturity.

The first step is towards realizing it is often the hardest. We all need to get to work on our dreams one way or the other. If you cannot fly, run! If you cannot run, walk! If you cannot walk, crawl! If you cannot crawl, bat your eyelash or make sounds that help propel you towards your dreams. Rome wasn't built in a day, but daily it was built. We must strive to do something daily no matter how little that will propel us in the direction of our dreams.