A Road To Nowhere

He forced his way in twenty two years ago; things have not necessarily been working; he would however still want everyone to stick with him on this road to nowhere.

This is the story of Mr. Jammeh, a Gambian ‘leader’ who is currently working assiduously to thwart the result of the recent Presidential election in which he lost.

Voices of reasoning from the West African sub-region, the African continent and the world at large have advised him otherwise; the man would not listen. He has decided to take the Alagidi (refractory) path. He would not learn from history.

Members of his cabinets are deserting him; his under-two-million citizens are fleeing to neighboring nations; the odds are fully against him. The man would sit tight, unperturbed.

How long more can pomposity drive insanity? If it doesn’t make sense, shouldn't it be stopped?

Well, here is my conclusion from this show of absurdity - some people just don’t learn from history until they encounter misery.

Playing deaf and dumb to a potential tragedy, especially when it involves the lives of others, is sheer wickedness.

The clocks are ticking; the newly elected leader is ready; the world is waiting for the ‘construction’ of another road that will possibly lead to somewhere in the Gambia.

God bless the Gambia, God bless the World.

What Fathers Do

Haughty by Nature, Humbled by Scars

A group of scientists had gone on an expedition in search of a rare species of butterfly. Led by Leah, a forty-year veteran entomologist who nobody could correct, she had asked their local guides to step back as she steered the group into uncharted territories.

Wearing her regular garb of ‘I know it all, I have seen it all’, she pocketed the Magellan GPS for the group and ignored the map direction as she paced deeper into the forest.

In about twenty minutes into her self-directed adventure, it became clear that the group was lost. Characteristically haughty by nature, she refused to retract, giving an ‘all is well’ gesture to her team.

From nowhere and in a split second, a large Baboon cornered Leah. Swinging between two tree branches; simultaneously slapped and scratched her face with its claws. Before the group could say Jack Robinson; they were right in the middle of a troop of fiercely-looking Baboons. Except for the intervention of the local guides who, despite being asked to go back, still followed the group quietly, they would have all been badly attacked by the Baboons.

The group returned back to base and Leah although treated, carried two deep and indelible scars on her face for the rest of her life. For putting the group at risk, a new group leader was chosen and Leah demoted.

Like Leah, we could single-handedly destroy our opportunities and usefulness if we consistently live a life of pride.

Haughtiness drives worthlessness and pride closes the door to wisdom and learning.

No matter what we know or have seen in life, there are people who know or have seen more. These may be individuals who are less educated or privileged than we are; however, they may be the guide we need for our next level. They may be familiar with the terrain that we are struggling to navigate. Commonsense requires we humbly engage them in advancing the course of our assignment.

Life is a teacher; Leah learnt humility the hard way - the Baboon slap, the scars, her demotion all remained constant reminders that haughtiness is wastefulness.

Rather than be haughty by nature and have to deal with regrets, it’s wise to adopt a nothing by nature approach – simple, sensible and submissive approach.

The Parable of the ‘Policeman’

Years ago, I was part of an interdenominational faith group that committed to outreaches in local communities. One of our fiery and ‘no-nonsense’ leaders had declared that the whole group embarks on a week-long prayer and fasting for empowerment and spiritual rejuvenation.

On what would be the second day of the exercise, I together with another friend, decided we were taking that day off and skipping the fasting. Hence, we dashed into a local eatery in an obscure place, close to where we were having our state-wide event.

Just while we tucked our heads into the main door of the eatery, guess who we saw? – Our fiery and ‘always perfect’ leader. He was seated comfortably with a mighty portion of cassava meal and vegetable soup garnished by assorted meats on his table.

You could imagine his reaction when he saw us – alarmed, to say the least. His right hand shacking profusely and the morsel of cassava meal he held tightly almost dropping back into the bowl of soup, he struggled to say ‘praise the Lord’.

Standards are great; they help us to live higher than our individualized opinion of what is right. One core element of standards however is impartiality. Meaning, if it’s good for the geese, it should be good for the gander.

It’s sheer hypocrisy to hold others to standards that we would blatantly flout. There is no point policing others while we remain ungovernable.

If we would be quick to haul stones at others at their slightest crossing of the lines, then we better be saints ourselves – perfect and ever-right. Otherwise, we should expect projectiles of rocks and boulders in our direction.

Not to say that all policemen don’t comply with standards and rules; the point here is once we take on that noble assignment of enforcing standards, they must be realistic standards and we must also be ready to live by the core principles of those standards.

We cannot make ourselves standards for things that we would not live by.

#blessed2017

Toronto Raptors - We The North

Big Task, Big Rank

It’s been proven severally that there is a strong correlation between input and output. What goes into a process has been empirically and theoretically shown to determine what comes out as product.

Our life is likened to a process, the type of opportunities, assignments or tasks we commit ourselves to will ultimately determine the position, rewards and ranks we receive afterwards.

Task is a differentiator.

David, a shepherd, went after the number one enemy of Israel and that opened the door for him to start mingling with royalty. Eventually, by divine orchestration, he ascended into the number one role in the nation as the Commander–in-Chief of the Army of Israel.

Taking stretch assignment is one of the ways to create visibility and build credibility.

Those who are comfortable with doing little end up having little. On the other hand, those who stretch themselves to do seemingly difficult tasks build the strength and the character necessary to do more in life.

Solving minor problems confine one to a Minor; tackling major challenges enlist one as a Major in the affairs of life.

As children of a Big God, we have the DNA to handle big things and rank big in all of our endeavors.   

Bible Study Session

It’s them not me!

A few years ago while in a banking hall, a middle-aged man staggered in. Full of stench, apparently from excessive alcohol consumption, his first question was ‘what is smelling here’

What else could possibly be smelling! I muted to myself.

A sight to behold and be disturbed, several eyes were on him as he completed his transaction and approached the main entrance of the branch. It was a hallelujah moment, when the automatic door of the banking hall eventually shut behind him. You could almost hear simultaneous breathes of sigh of relief from most people that were still around.

As you can imagine, it took several minutes of spraying strong air fresheners and odor neutralizers to normalize the air quality afterwards.

Like this middle-aged man, there are individuals who regularly look outside of themselves for what is going wrong with them. To these group of people, everything and everyone but themselves is the reason for their troubles.

Rather than own up to their wrong decisions and humbly retrace their steps, there are men and women who allow their ego and ignorance run their life out of beauty. While constantly refusing to take responsibilities for their life and actions, they love the blame game. They are saints and others around them are sinners. They wait for everyone and everything else to change but themselves.

‘They just don’t like me’, ‘they are all coming back to apologize to me’, ‘I’m gonna surprise them big time’. These are some of their common verbiages.

For several unrelated persons to be saying or acting the same ‘bad’ way towards an individual is a sign that that individual may actually have a bad character. If there is correlation, it may mean there is confirmation.

People who don’t know each other would not just gather to start acting funny and unfriendly towards a person; more often than not, that person may just be full of stench and that is why he/she has suddenly become the center of attention.

With individuality come responsibility; Taking ownership of one’s situation and regularly engaging in self-assessments that ultimately drive real transformation is key to living a purposeful life.

It's time to stop passing the buck.

#it’s not them.

Sorry, we are not coming to your party

Growing up in Lagos, Africa's largest city, I experienced what parties are – I mean real parties. Parties where roads are blocked, various musicians are playing simultaneously and there are a lot of guests – uninvited ones often exceeding those invited.

Typically, there is a lot to eat and drink and the option to take away is often possible.

If it’s not marriage, it’s birthday and if it’s not celebration of life, it’s housewarming. Every weekend, there is just some form of event to keep the music blaring and the people eating somewhere close to you.

Of course, circumstances have changed and new economic realities have taught people to cut their coats according to their cloth, notwithstanding, there are still individuals who hang on to the culture of enjoyment unlimited and keep real parties alive.

Comparing this to another form of party where there is often only one person in attendance and no food or drink to go round presents a sharp contrast. A party of regrets, sharing of miseries and ‘I won’t let it go’ is certainly in-congruent with the Owambe (fun-filled) gatherings I have seen before.

Pity party is no party; an instance of indulging in self-pity or eliciting pity from other people is unappealing.

For clarity, the agenda at most pity parties include: stay at one spot (physically, emotionally or psychologically), maintain an unkempt outlook, play songs with lonely lyrics and occasionally munch on junk foods like ice cream, cookies and candies.

Common! Seriously, this is a party? Yes! It’s called pity party.

Nobody loves to sit around whiners rather they go to winners. It’s therefore no surprise that pity parties don’t attract the desired guests.

While deeply respectful of the experience of true grief and hoping that those who are going through moments of despair following the loss of someone dear to them are ably supported through their healing process, I would reckon that grief heals, pity-party does not.

Life is progressive, sitting still and waiting for someone to show up at your ‘woe is me’, ‘I can’t rise again’ festivity may be an endless wait.  Indeed, there are a lot of empathetic people around but unfortunately nobody really wants to be drawn into solitude and cycles of unending complaints and negativity.

Rise up, clean up and move on. Life has more to offer as long as you look on its bright side.

Call the designer of life and at least there will be two of you to start a new, hope-filled kind of partying. God holds the key to joy and peace. Send an invite to him today; he will show up at your party if no one else does.

Santa, Chookies & Play!

The value of N: Owing vs OwNing

Letter N is not your popular ‘A’ or ‘Z’ letters of the 26 English alphabets. However, it has some popularity (or value if you like) in the finance world – both at personal and corporate levels.

The difference in the spellings of OWING and OWNING is the letter N. A single letter that can determine how healthy and wealthy an individual or an organization is, per given time.

Inconsequential as it may appear, Letter N can change the outcome of several key balance sheet ratios like working capital, leverage and capitalization. It can also determine who the banks treat better than others. 

To owe is to be liable AND to own is to be capable. Owing relates to LIABILITY and Owning, to ASSET. More assets than liability increases the net worth of an individual or an organization.

Not to get into the liability creates asset discourse; paying more attention to the Letter N sounds like the path towards riches and self-sustenance.

Do more; be more!

A story was told of how two individuals having similar circumstances and abilities were given equal opportunity and responsibility; one excelled while the other failed.

For the responsibility, the intention of their manager was for both individuals to excel. However each had to meet the laid-down standards and requirements to excel. It was not a contest; both could have been given same reward based on their performance and results.

In fulfilling the responsibility, the individual who excelled (AA), deployed excellence, matched every process of the responsibility to the expectation of their manager and ultimately put up a brilliant outing.  BB, the individual who failed, did the contrary.

Shortly after the result was declared, BB became intolerant of AA and eventually engaged AA in a fight. During the squabble, BB had charged violently at AA and in utter amazement, AA watched as BB threw caution into the air and became verbally and physically aggressive.

CC, their manager, later became aware of the incident and was utterly disappointed in BB. BB was fired, never to take up similar opportunity or responsibility again. AA was promoted and later became a role model and peer mentor to thousands of individuals in the same line of endeavor.

At least three lessons are learnt from this story!

• Attitude Matters – Laggards and wasters of opportunities will eventually be demoted.
• Rewards are real; men and women who have done well deserve to be recognized.
• Standards are not often lowered. We should push ourselves to excel no matter the obstacles.

To be more in life, it’s time to do more. 

Volunteerism Pays

Receiving the 2016 Ontario Volunteer Service Awards Pin from Yvan Baker, MPP Etobicoke Centre.

Your face looks familiar!

A man arrested for pocket-picking was being whisked away by police officers with handcuffs in the hands. As he was been guided along the path leading to where the police van was packed, he looked sideways, facing one of the numerous onlookers and shouted, ‘your face looks familiar’

‘No, I have never met you; you must be day-dreaming’ the onlooker said loudly and furiously.

‘I am not into this petty coin and note stealing thing, my own is changing numbers. ‘The last time I changed a number was two days ago and that was in a city, several miles away. Again, I don’t know you and we could never have met before now, stinking thief! Read my lips, I say read my lips’

Without wasting any time, the police officers also handcuffed this onlooker and both men enjoyed a free ride to the police station afterwards.

Later, it was discovered that both men have actually not met before; it was a case of unfortunate coincidence for the number-changer. He was just on a short vacation and had decided to explore the beauty of this seventh-century, Elizabethan city that is renowned for elegance and style. The city of his love because the location for his arrest.

It’s interesting how thievery could be categorized and wrongdoings, glamorized. It appears we have become a generation of people who are ready to throw stones at other offenders, while we justify our own sins and wallow in our own waywardness.

We have metamorphosed into a group where ‘if it’s not big, it can be excused’ and if it’s under our own roof, it’s permitted but if in our neighbor’s room, it should be reported’. Tax evaders, calling for the head of unscrupulous leaders and bribe-takers making mockery of the immoralities in other places.

Something tells me that 2017 is the year of ‘unfortunate coincidences’ for those whose preoccupation has been to continuously transgress and unrepentantly celebrate their ‘tactfulness at escapism’.

Men and women whose life has been built on the cry and agony of others should be prepared for free rides to their places of incarceration. Those whose job has been to plunder the commonwealth of the nations and subsequently manipulate the populace should be set for dishonor and humiliation this year. Their faces are about to look familiar soon.

It’s time for righteousness to return to our lands. It’s time to say NO to every form of misdemeanor. We certainly don’t want our faces to look familiar. It’s time to return to the path of Godliness.

#blessed2017

Luggage, Baggage and Garbage

Travelling is good when there is the means, reason and opportunity for it. While there are several means of travelling, air travels has been severally described as the fastest.

For air travels, airline operators typically specify limits on what can be carried on-board. Hence, there are weight and item restrictions put in place to ensure passenger safety and the operators’ compliance with aviation regulatory standards.

In my previous air travels, I have had instances where I discarded personal items in garbage bins at airports because my baggage weighed more than the specified limits. In one or two instances, I had opted for the option of paying extra fees to go above the designated weight limits because I considered certain items too valuable to be left behind.

In all cases, the processing times at the check-in counters were longer than normal. I could have saved myself time and money by managing my luggage and staying with the allowable limits.

Every day, we travel; at dawn we board and at dusk, we on-board. Each day we carry specific pieces of luggage around and some of them are necessary. We carry the luggage of plans, ideas, dreams and vision around and by omission or commission we sometimes also carry extra and unnecessary pieces of luggage with us: we carry the luggage of bitterness, anger, envy, pride, regret and other vices around.

At check-ins, we delay ourselves and waste valuable resources that could be put to other uses that are good.

To move fast and arrive at our destination in time, there is just so much we can carry on the journey of life. Ungodly vices would cost us additional expenses and delay our journey. In fact, they can turn a forty minutes’ dash into a forty year rigmarole.

January 2017 is our time to toss every unnecessary luggage in the garbage bin and travel seamlessly for the rest of the year.

Welcome on-board!

Seven by Seven (7 by 7)

7 by 7 is a life strategy espoused by Joseph during his earlier years in Egypt; in the 7 years of abundance, Joseph saved and during the 7 years of lack, he still flourished.

A young man without any known academic pedigree like a PhD in Economics, Joseph deployed the 7 by 7 concept in beefing up Egypt’s GDP and external reserves. Hence, when scarcity and recession showed up, the nation of Egypt became richer.

7 by 7 suggests that life is a cycle and like changes in seasons, one stage is blended into the other.

One argument with this Joseph’s episode has been that he was successful because Pharaoh supported him. Some school of thought hold strongly that success in this instance was guaranteed because there was a top-down buy-in into this strategy.

But wait! You and I have always had the backing of God, a superior and more supportive authority than that of any Pharaoh’s. How could we have the Grand Master of Strategy as our Dad and still complain of having no game plan to our existence. An irony, to say the least!

A new year presents an opportunity to start again; to write on a clean slate. This is our year to get back to the strategy table and let the Baba (Father) of strategy help us out.

Whatever or whoever encourages us to be a waster or a slacker this year is preparing us to be a beggar.

It’s time to optimize our energy, opportunities, talents and overall resources. It’s time for the 7 by 7 strategy.

Happy New Year!