We are Men

We are men who fear a God we do not see
We are men who uphold justice at the hospice
We are men, fond of our wives and mothers
We are men, bound by the good of the land

We are men to our fears
We are men by our tears
We are men of our words
We are there for our wards

We are trained by the lamenting needs in the society
We are strained by the needless sufferings in our community
We abstain from the enchanting love of money
We can make money from even the sale of honey

We are men made under pressure
We are men by every humble measure
We are against every human sponsor of Nigeria’s evil show
We are empowered by the God we live to know

But there are men against us
Men who hate righteousness despise us
Men who eat with the devil to escape from us
Men who live with the oracles that war against us

They are men who boast of mammon as their lifeguard
Men, who stand with principalities on the devil’s vanguard
Men, who live in riches at the expense of lives they extinguish
Being men who are too dull to make money by fair means, they languish

They know why electric power must never be reliable
They know why refineries must never be operational
They know why railway transportation must never be resurrected
They know everything except progressive thinking

They are men by their own standards
They are babies by our own standards
They are spared by their lifeguard’s temporal verve
We are men, spared by the mighty God we serve

The Transparent Mind(c)2009.
Ayo Morakinyo is, by all yardsticks, a provoked Nigerian. By God’s grace, he says what he believes and lives what he says. He longs to see a better Nigeria and hopes he does not run of out patience. Alleging that he is a sporadic freak, friends have named him the careless poet-an identity he has modified to the transparent mind.

Point of Problem: Stall-Fed Cattle

In Nigeria today, leaders that know the right are endless in number but the percentage of those that do them remains minimal. Among such are rare visionaries like Raji Fashola & Adams Oshiomole. That does not mean they, themselves, cannot do better but then, their performance in office cannot be ignored when compared with that of some other governors. If more of such citizens are given the chance to lead, I believe more problems will be solved.
We are leaving the era when selfish and incompetent members of the citizenry are allowed to lead the larger majority thereby wrecking havoc instead of providing durable solutions. The days when leaders who have been spoon-fed by corrupt and fraudulent persons in our society gain undue admission into public offices are now finite. The innocent, the elite and even the poor have suffered and learnt from their mistakes. Let us just hope that unlike dogs, we do not return to our own vomit.
Now, the issue at hand is ensuring that we maintain this pattern of change that has started and strive to move along this trend, being optimistic that things will get better. I believe Nigeria's present status is a function of her content (the kind of resources and citizens she harbours). Hence, if we do not become a better people, we should not expect to see the emergence of a better Nigeria.

Insights From Sight-seeing

Every temptation has a way of escape; every challenge has a weak point. Discovering it, is what we need to do. Just as building bricks are easier to crush when you hit them at a point of crack, our problems are easier to solve when we take time out to analyse them and seek for smallest details we have not been paying attention to. And this approach works in most for cases and at most times. The only time at which this methodolgy proves ineffective is when the time out is an additional problem itself. This happens when there is no tolerance for an additional use of time. But eventually, a consistent practitioner or user of the "weak-point-location" strategy becomes faster in his analysis and gains credible skills that afford him proactive ability in this regard. Consequently, he is able to solve problems faster and more easily.

It cost no effort to build castles in the air. It cost a fortune to build just one castle in life. At one point in lives, we have all built glorious castles in the empty air. We have had occasions when we stimulate our imagination to fascinate our fantasies. It is not a bad thing to imagine you're in the White House when you're just in your study room. It is surely a pleasurable thing enter to into the dreamland where you get exactly what you want before you eventually get it in reality. But then, a problem may arise when this act becomes excessive. It could be a very frustrating to see something you will never become. It more humiliating when you try all you can to achieve that thing and still, you seem to make no breakthrough in its direction. Perhaps, the most terrifying experience a human being can have is to always try to achieve something, always get close to it but never get it.
Sincerely, I have had a few of those instances and it has not been fun in slightest bit! But one thing has kept me going: I have been opportuned to realise that in life, you don't get all you want (and that includes the good things you see some other people get). Otherwise, if you get what you want all the time, you will get things you don't want along with them. Every good thing that should happen to each individual has varying appointed times and as such, if you try to get what you should not have at a particular time, you will either get some things you don't want along with it or, you will never get that thing no matter how you try. For instance, a 20-year-old man who has not discovered the solution to a global problem, whose father is not a global industrialist and whose talents are not extraordinary or seem to be underdeveloped might be doing a lot of wrongs if he is attempting to own a chain of industry within a year. The requirements for the achievement of that dream are too cumbersome for him to meet such that it makes his dream unrealistic with the current global settings. However, if he applies strength, funds and ideas in that direction sometime down the lane of his lifetime, he might succeed with a single hit!
It then appears to me that there is a schedule for each person and that as we add each new day to our days on earth, certain things must be done. we must do the necessary and minimise the unnecessary. it is humanly to engage ourselves in diverse unwarranted activities based on our imperfect choices. But when we make such discoveries or realise these frivolities, we must drop them so that when the time comes for us to hit our targets, we will be ready and counted worthy in the scheme of global relevance. These are the factors that bring us into the proximity of the other things we need, many of which we actually deserve. Hence, the only necessary thing is to prepare by doing the right things and the right things the ones that are pre-requisite to the direction we've chosen in life. So, stop building castles in the air unnecessarily because sometimes, it is waste of imaginative thinking. Do so when required; to gain happiness and sustain your dreams. But more importantly, work on yourself. Prepare your plan. Make your life ready. Acquire relevant skills and pursue contemporary education. Set your sails now so that when the wind comes blowing, you'd be ready to sail on the sea to your personal greatness. Cheers!

In African nations today, corruption has become a force to be reckoned with.It lives with the citizenry and runs in the blood of several government leaders. The people who are suppposed to be providing solutions are the very ones aggravating the weight of corruption; they are the very ones who sustain the existence of this force.
If we say there are many unqualified leaders in Africa, we are right. But if we refuse to mention the origin, we have made an unfair judgement. Corrution came to Africa based on two factors: Illiteracy & Crudeness. Before many African countries gained independence, while the white men were still ruling, corruption was unintentionally introduced to the supposed pace setters in Africa. I said "unintentionally" because, though the intention of those folks was to cheat and make money out of Africa(using our resources), they never thought of the act of laziness and indiscipline they were imparting into the typical African leader-as at then, the tribal chiefs.On the long run, there was a transference of this act from the fathers back then down to the leaders of today.
History has it well documented that unruly activities such as slavery, bribery, deception, sexual abuse, etc were part of the "Aliens' dealing".
Corruption has come as a result of ignorance, illiteracy and greed on the part of several African leaders and the past has been put where it rigtly belongs. But the solutions still remains these:
the citizens in African nations must be educated to imbibe productive culture, to pass on education, to encourage peace at all times, to be disciplined and maintain order, to promote creativity and punish criminal offences appropriately. Likewise, relevant education must be upheld as a strict pre-requisite for leadership at all ramifications, from local government chairmen to commisioners to state governors to ministers, senators, special advisers, reps and the office of the president.
I believe that a consistent implementation fo these and other possible solutions will cause a real change in Africa. See what is happening in Nigeria and typically, in Lagos State. The Leadership seems to be sticking to right procedures and goal setting...That says it all! Africa still needs to be monitored with good counsel, lovingkindness and continuous help. Let the world's concern be available her.
From Morakinyo Ayo
http://www.moraks.blogspot.com and http://moraks.tigblog.org


Game Developed by Blockdot
Like this game? Click here to add it to your blog or website for FREE!
If nothing appears please install the player.
This game requires the Macromedia Shockwave Player.


Download the full version. PC Version | Mac Version

If U really need twenty naira notes as change in business or trading,

call on the policeman on duty at the nearest road block. In reality,

twenty naira denomination seems to be on demand. i think its high time

the police force started "the twenty naira bank" where all transactions

are made in 20naira notes. that way, offenders can pay their "fines"

thru ATM
My Remarks: Let's call a spade a spade; not an agricultural implement.

The force is getting sick and needs urgent help.