One week of being a Polish

Being the Representative of Poland on the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) at the just-concluded Bonn International Model United Nations (BIMUN) 2008 was not an easy task. It involved advancing positions, moving motions and writing resolutions as the 'Honorable Delegate' of Poland. This task stretched me to a breaking point. It however presented me with an opportunity to improve my skills - presentation, negotiation, diplomacy etc. I was also fortunate to win an award - the first ever in my life.

I look forward to attending more Model United Nations Conferences and perhaps i might have a role to play in the UN someday.

I have learnt a big lesson through this event, "Put your best into everything you do, you might be rewarded for it."

Whao! It snowed

It’s my first winter in Europe and I had waited for long to see how Snow would look like. I wanted to touch it and play with it. I had an expectation.

Alas! Today it snowed. I was so happy; I saw what I had long wanted to see.

The real issue is not about the Snow but about expectation and realization. It's about conceiving and receiving, it's about then and now.

There is always a period between expectation and realization. Hang on even if the challenges of this period are ‘tearing you apart’.

Realization of course comes with newer challenges that at present are not known or might not have being envisaged. Nevertheless enjoy your new situation and come up with newer expectations because it’s gonna snow

Happy Birthday!

It’s my day. I’m a year older today. 9th November every year is an opportunity for me to reflect and expect. I reflect on the issues of the ‘outgoing year’ and expect triumphs in the ‘incoming year’.

It sure feels good to celebrate three decades of living on this side of the universe.

Growing up has being with a lot of struggles and hurdles. The journey this way has being tough and rough. I have cried and laughed, I have failed and passed. I have taken risks - calculated, miscalculated and uncalculated; all for the days, months and years ahead of me - the future.

I really won't claim i know what the future holds but I am resolved to hold on to He who holds the future. I will reorganize my priorities to better align with my vision and conviction. I will work smart to reach my El Dorado.

I am a man on a mission. I am not there yet but I am convinced I will get there.

On this special day, I present myself the gift of hope. Hope when things might not feel as I feel.

It’s my day and I am glad to be alive. I am grateful to God for helping me this far. Kayode Raphael Adegboye, keep moving on even if it does not feel okay. Happy Birthday boy!

History, sometimes a Mystery

It’s about half past six in the morning in Bonn, Germany and after staying awake all through the night tracking the results of the elections in the United States of America and then listening to the first speech of the President-elect, Senator Barack Obama, I am consumed by thoughts, reminiscences and the reality that an unbelievable epoch is here.

On one hand, the handwriting was daily becoming clearer particularly as the presidential debates and campaigns were intensifying but on the other, it still remains a mystery how the United States could open up so quickly that the number one seat will now be occupied by a black man, who a few decades ago would have being seen as a nobody no matter the competence or potential he possesses. It is a mystery how fast the wall of separatism and egoism has being broken.

History indeed has being made and transformation and emancipation is here for humanity. I believe never again would any form of barrier hold us back from advancing the course of progress and togetherness. Not Melanine or Keratin, not gender or class, not any potential-limiting constructions by human.

Congratulations to the United States, Congratulations to the world.

Barriers To A Better World.

Nothing astonishes and troubles me in my traverse of Africa and the world more than the naivety and judgmental sentiments I see supposedly knowledgeable men and women display with regards to describing a race, a nation or a people by the ‘sin’ or misdeed of a single person or some persons.

It is particularly pathetic and mind-rending how unfounded generalizations and meaningless biases have being hitherto allowed to stand in the way of sound reasoning and good relationships.

There are just three sets of people in the world; the good, the bad and the ugly and they are not exclusively confined to a country or region. Suffice to say that wherever you find humans, you find both positive and negative tendencies and characters on display.

Indeed, it is true that systems and institutions are stronger in certain places than others. This however does not remove or reduce the propensity for people to exhibit anti-societal behaviors everywhere.

Think of describing all South Africans as being xenophobic, all Middle Easterners as suicide bombers or all American business executives as financial schemers. Indeed these descriptions are not true; they are rather sheer generalizations and they should be strongly condemned.

To me, life would be better if we do not build or place barriers in the way of friendships and relationships and feed separatism, favoritism and racism by holding on to baseless sentiments that moves society and the world nowhere.

Footprints of Change

I see footprints of change
I hear drums of victory; I sense freedom
The captives of hope are being freed
The beauty of life like a flower is again reappearing
....

Despair is giving way; Barreness is ending
Gain is coming for every pain; Glory for every story
Water is coming upon the dry lands
I see footprints of change

A POEM......When Will My Saviour Come?

The cross seems so heavy to continue with, support seems growingly out of view
I seem to be lagging behind; everybody seems to have gone far ahead of me
I am getting weak inside and it is become obvious outside
When will my savior come?
.........
The night seems to persist for too long, the day looks too far from coming
The dreams of my youth are almost lost, the passion for the days ahead are fading
Will it continue this way? I ponder; will I get out of this? I wonder
When will my savior come?
..........
My legs are gradually becoming heavy; my bones are daily growing weak
My bed is soiled with tears, my heart covered with fears
The past seems consolatory and thoughtful, the future uncertain and elusive
When will my savior come?
.....................................................................
I will wait for Him patiently; I will continue to serve the God of heaven diligently
He will not be late at His coming; He will not forsake me when He comes
His praises will be in my mouth; His worship will remain in my heart
For now is my savior come.
...........
My vision will be revitalized; my mission reenergized
I will fix my thoughts on Him; I will detach my cares from the world
Prayerfully & watchfully I will live hourly; patiently & thankfully my days will go
For now is my savior come.
............
He will come as a mighty king; He will come swiftly riding on His horse of glory
I shall be strengthened when he appears; He shall equip me when He shows up
My faith, trust and love will grow; my unbelief, fear and doubt will die
For now is my savior come.

.........................................................

Life might not be what you call it.

Life is a paradox. Some think it is an irony. Whatever you call it, maybe that is what it is.

In every human lies the capability for definition. A man’s conviction, passion, values and paradigm shapes his expression.

My rural sociology lecturer once said “there is no reality; every man constructs what he calls reality based on his challenges, failures, triumphs and overall experience”.

Some talk of the rule of thumb but I say life has no hard and fast rule.

I dare say that there are tendencies towards fatalism or egoism that often come with our definition of life. To a man who thinks life has not being fair to him, resorting to fate or going the ‘whatever will be will be’ way might be his best option and to man who feels life has afforded him all he wanted, being haughty and trailing the “I better pass my neighbour” route could just be a way of living for him.

Whatever it was yesterday, there is no guarantee that it will be today or tomorrow. It just might not always be as it is now.

A better appreciation of the key elements of life like responsibility, time, opportunity, friendship, love, prayer and of utmost importance, God, could open us to new experiences that will help us properly define life and make it more meaningful.

What is the wisdom in all these? What you call life might not really be what it is. You need to find out from the designer of life what life truly should be.

Help from ‘Abroad’- Making beggars or leaders

Sub-Saharan Africa is daily in the news. Horrendous statistics and terrible pictures are reeled out everyday to describe the ‘diagnosed backwardness and depravity’ in this region.

‘Help’ is coming from everywhere and ‘relief’ seems to be in the air.

While i am particularly not against ‘help’ as it sometimes could be the push or prod individuals or authorities in this region needs to open them up to empowerment and improvement, i am unsettled as to whether this ‘help’ will not institutionalize a sense of dependency and helplessness and utterly wipe out every iota of responsibility and creativity in the inhabitants of this region.

Already there is a huge increase in fatalistic mentality and a generation whose exclusive focus and competence is how to develop ‘help’ letters, is now growing. Men and women who are satisfied with being given fishes and never wanting to learn the art and science of fishing. They abhor responsibility, creativity and sacrifice and daily thinks that everything good only comes from ‘abroad’.

I dare say that every human, regardless of where he/she lives; in Africa, Asia, America, Europe has the inert capability to be a problem solver and there is no exclusivity of wisdom or capability in a particular region or people of the world.

SSA, as it is abbreviated, is now increasingly being driven by beggar’s mentality and not leaders’ mentality.

With the axiom, ‘Leaders take responsibility, beggars avoid responsibility’, i wish to elaborately stress that leaders not beggars are the future of this region and that men and women who beg are not fit to live.

‘Help’ where given should be channeled to raising leaders and individuals who wants to be leaders should be weary of begging.

The Walls are Broken

The eventual victory of Senator Barack Obama as the Presidential flag bearer of the Democratic Party in the upcoming elections in the United States brought two distinct messages among others to note:

(1) the age-long, elaborately perpetuated ideological conjunction and myth that being black or coming from certain unpopular background is disadvantageous and limiting, is erroneous and unfounded.

(2) the end has come to the division of humanity along the line of skin colour and pigment.

I dare to say that man’s greatest enemy to greatness is his mind. Success knows no ‘melanin or keratin’ (skin pigments responsible for skin colours). There are no superhuman or subhuman. We all create our world with the permission we give to negative or positive happenings around us into our mind and our life.

I challenge all seemingly-disadvantaged folks everywhere - Blacks, Hispanics, Caucasians etc to crave for knowledge and excellence and it will not matter where they come from or what their past looked like. They are to resist every iota of subjugation and devaluation and press on to achieve their dream because the walls are broken.

Supporting a Course

Sunday afternoon, 18th May saw me successfully participating in a 10km "Naturathlon 2008 - The Course of the World" representing Nigeria to join the campaign for the preservation of the world's biodiversity. The Naturathlon was part of the Bundesamt fur Naturschutz (German Federal Office for Nature Conservation) activity to commemorate the Planet Diversity Conference of the UN going on in Bonn.

By the way, biodiversity simply means the enormous variation, that we observe in biological agents like plants, animals, microorganisms etc. living in different ecological systems like land, water and soil.

Isn't it amazing how we move around and we see plants displaying intruiging characteristics some of which could be opening and closing their flowers upon receiving an external stimulus, trapping insects or just having different inviting and beautiful colours or how we watch in documentaries several types of animals living in water and in the wild exhibiting mesmerizing lifestyles that are related or sometimes opposite to human's way of doing things. Life couldn't have been better without these biologically diverse and intricate agents.

At the moment, a lot of them are at the risk of being lost owing to a lot of factors which are predominantly human-induced. The message again is, our world is loosing its beauty and some people must show concern and talk about it. This was why i felt obliged to support this course.

In life, you must stand for something or fall for everything. Men who follow their persuassion and support a course, particularly those that advances the betterment of human existence, are real men. There are too many people who think and dream about change, only a few effect and cause it.

I have decided to be a change-agent in my little capacity and within my limited sphere of influence. I believe i have a responsibility towards making my world a better place.

What is your conviction and what have you decided to do about it?. Support a course today.

Sons & Daughters Needed

It’s the last day in the month of April and I woke up today reminding myself of my origin even when I now have the opportunity to live and study in the country with the 3rd largest economy in the world and perhaps in a matter of time blend with modernity and development.

I reminded myself of Africa, my mother land. I reminded myself of Nigeria, my country of birth. I reminded myself of Lagos, my dwelling city.

I thought of the deprivation and lack that is reigning in these places and I wondered if things will ever get better. I am never a pessimist but I also do not always want to fool myself especially in the face of glaring evidences.

I believe in God and I believe in miracle and these are my only hopes for the coming years with respect to the emancipation of this great continent, Africa.

She has suffered a lot and she needs her sons and daughters to rise and deliver her from her pains. Her children are everywhere and they must heed the clarion call to rescue her now and not tomorrow.

They will need wisdom, commitment, focus, determination and most of all the Spirit of God to free this slave of time and age.

Rise, sons and daughters of my mother land. Rise and wrestle your birth-land from internal and external captors. There is no more time to do this but now. Sons and daughters of Africa needed.

I'm grateful to God

It's always being a dream to study outside the shores of Africa. I have applied at different times to different schools in Europe and America in a bid to fulfill this dream. I have gotten several admission letters and also several refusal letters. I have applied for visa and i have being denied and i have also lost some good opportunities because i could not raise money for the programme.

This whole exercise of applying for admission started in 2002 and today i am grateful to God that He made it possible. I am presently at the University of Bonn, Germany undertaking a Masters study in Agricultural Sciences and Resource Management in the Tropics and Subtropics (ARTS). This programme is one of the top 10 international masters programmes in Germany and the only agricultural programme on this prestigious label. It has students from everyone in the world and i am delighted that i have this opportunity.

I have debt hanging on my neck because i got a loan to finance my being on this programme but i am confident that God will help me to repay every dime i borrowed from friends.

I shall put in my best to get the best out of this programme and i shall hope in God for a glorious future.

I am also grateful to everyone who made my coming to Germany possible. Ayo Akande, Yomi Akande, Ranti Familusi, Samson Alabi, Raphael Oloke, Michael Ogunfuwa, Femi Thomas, Bolanle Oladele, Mr & Mrs Ikuomola, Mr Ademola Adebiyi, Mr & Mrs Ajayi, Bayo Ogunnami, Bola Adegboye, Tunde Adegboye, Michael Adegboye, Baba J.O, Iya, Mr & Mrs Onifade, D1, D2 and a whole lot of others that i hold so dear to my heart. Thank you everyone.

Again, i'm grateful to God.