Some say we lack Leaders...............

Some say we lack leaders
Others say we lack followership
 Some have gone as far as saying
Leadership is a result of the followership

Nigeria does not lack leaders
 Nigeria lacks a leader with a vision
We lack a leader who can see beyond his stomach
We lack a leader who can see beyond the need of his situation

Nigeria used to be a giant
But the need for today has put its tomorrow in jeopardy
Now everybody, leaders and followers
 Do not want to see beyond today as they fear for tomorrow

 Even the WORD asks us to WRITE the vision
Visions are never for today
They are for tomorrow
 A tomorrow that is far into the future

Nigerians need to begin its search for a visionary Leader
 A leader like Joseph who saw tomorrow
Because of it he didn't allow today to suck him in
His vision made him the first Prime minister ever

Nigeria needs a leader like Nehemiah
 He saw the desolation of his land
But he also saw the greatness of a better tomorrow
 He fought for and worked for that tomorrow

Nigerians need a leader that is not afraid to champion a cause for change
 A leader like Elijah
 He challenged the prophets of Baal and the whole of Israel
He made them see that God reigns over all

Nigeria does not lack leaders
We have leaders
 They are not just the type we need
What we have is a shadow of leadership

 We need leaders with vision
 Leaders who can run with said vision
Leaders who see a great Nigeria
Leaders willing and ready to build that greatness at all cost!

This is what we need
This kind of leadership is what we deserve
It is the leadership that ensures that followers "follow"
 Nigerians must demand for their right!

 ~Mariam Campbell 2015

What money cannot buy............

This week I came across a very beautiful woman who was nicely dressed. If she did not open her mouth to speak you would actually pray to have such a beautiful woman as wife. But when she opened her mouth to speak I almost cried. All I ended up doing was pray and pray. Today going back home I saw her again and I realized it is impossible to value sanity until we actually see those who have lost it. Beautiful people who are in a world of their own not knowing or recognizing life as we see it. Place much more value on the little things please because they matter. Little things like the ability to swallow, smell, feel, go to the loo, bath yourself, reason, etc are daily miracles and gifts from our maker who gives us a tune-up each day before we wake up. Wake up count your toes, fingers, speak and hear, touch and feel, brush your teeth and take your bath, go to the loo and do tha' thing. Open your eyes and behold the beauty of a new day! Recognize your siblings, husband, children, and home. Money will buy you cloths but not the skin to put it on, money will buy you shoes but not the feet its worn on, money will buy you books but not the eyes to read or mind to understand, money will buy you food but not the tongue to taste or the mouth to eat, money will buy you perfumes but not the nose to smell it, money will buy you a lot of things but then money will never buy you those things that we take for granted and which we sleep with and wake up having. That is not the end of it. Very few people who have an abundance of money do not have that which you wake up with; peace in your heart and home, joy that runs deep and a happiness that cannot be bought. The ability to think and create is a miracle, a special gift that everyone should have but not everyone does. We say common sense is not common, but do we know that money will not buy common sense? The ability to think and differentiate wrong from right, the ability to chose right in itself is a gift that we need not take for granted. Why? There are a lot of people out there who would love to be able to think straight and make the right choice but then they just end up making the wrong choices every step of the way. When we were asked to "count our blessings and name them one by one", the author of the song did not mean those things which we have worked for and bought with our hard earned money; those things that money can buy. The actual fact is that he meant those things which no amount of money can buy; those things that we wake up each day taking for granted. Our senses of sight, smell, hearing, taste, feel, or organs - the beating heart, functioning lungs, working kidney, our spleen, pancrease, bladder, brain; our limbs, even our natural clothing - our skin. Its so beautiful to have them and to have them working perfectly without any external use or aid. Learn to value those things in your life that money cannot buy, they matter a lot and the value of it cannot be quantified. God has made a perfect machine in us, one that cannot be replicated, duplicated or disengaged. That in itself is a miracle!

My people suffer for lack of Knowledge

You know a few months ago someone told me that my issues don't come because I had enemies or not. He told me just one simple phrase. He said and I quote "You lack understanding". Truly I was insulted and a little angry, but because He was older and a man of God I kept quite. Plus the fact that my mum instilled in me that you listen while people talk. So I kept quite and listened to him talk. Truthfully, I had this believe that I might not be very knowledgeable but that as long as I had the internet nothing was far from me. But that one phrase really undid me and kept me thinking. Today I know for a fact the meaning of what God meant when he said "My people suffer for lack of knowledge". God's knowledge is not the same with ours. The knowledge he was speaking of is not the same that I was thinking of. It was not the knowledge of what I could read online, neither is it the knowledge of what I can read in the bible. Yeah! I know we are all wondering her what I mean by "not the knowledge of what we read in the bible. But the truth of the matter is that like me a lot of us just "read" the bible and not get to "know" God through the words. I know that sometimes I would read and just sleep off, other times its like reading the same novel all over again. It was so bad I had some passages I loved to read and some I dont bother to open. I would read the book of Esther, and jump past job, I would read Isaiah or Ezekiel and past Jeremiah and Lamentation. I rarely read Revelation but I would glance through first four books of the new testament. Then someone told me that I must read a chapter of the bible every day and I just said okay. I tried doing so mainly because he would ask me everyday if I read my bible and I could not tell him a lie that yes I did. But after the experience and time getting to know i my suffering because I did not know God as I should things changed. Now I really do want to know God and in knowing God I am becoming more confident and doing away with old habits one at a time. Now I know that those habits are there because because I let them stay. I gave them room and bed to sleep, but now they have had to vacate and the power of the Spirit of God and His word is working miracles. Its a good thing that this is happening now because it is God's perfect moment. I really don't know of this is making sense but I hope that just one person gets what I am saying. That knowledge of God and who He is helps us to know who we are and the power we hold. Now I know that when I dream of eating I remember God's word that "I would feed and lay down and I shall not be afraid". At times when somethings come to mind and thinks it can scare me I remember the words of Apostle Paul is Colossians 2 "He stripped all the spiritual tyrants in the universe of their sham authority at the Cross and marched them naked through the streets." So I know that their power has been taken from them and they are exposed. So I don't have anything to worry about, just let God do His bit while I do mine by believing all of his promises. Now there is no room for any kind of doubt not one. I am not there yet my friends. Don't get me wrong. I still stumble sometimes but just like a child is with her precious dad I just smile at my dad and look up because I know he would kiss the pain away and make it better. In all truth I never meant to write a note, I was going to put up a status update but knowledge I know is of God and the note is a way for me to say thank you. I heard from somewhere that a lot of times we never give testimonies for things in our lives. We don't have success stories either or we do but don't share it. Most of us are worried that if we share our success stories something bad would happen. Don't worry I used to think that way but no more. I am happy to shout the good of God in my life, but when I am facing challenges I also know I can't walk it alone and I would share that too. Let us learn like me to actually take time to know God and not be one of those that only "read" the bible.

BRINGING FULLNESS OUT OF THE VOID WE SEE OR FEEL!!!

Most times we look around us and find nothing! We turn right, left, we move front and back and all we see is the void and emptiness. It’s a wonder why and how we can make sense of it all. Most times we just give up and make do with the emptiness. What is a void to you? Does your life seem to be empty? Or maybe it’s your business or the work you do. Are you finding it difficult to find fulfillment in what you do and how you do it? Sometimes it seems as if we have purposely put ourselves in bondage with no way to get out of it. Our life seems to be one form of emptiness after the other and we don’t know how to fill it up.

Well let me tell you or should I say it this way; “let me take you back to the beginning of life itself?” And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. Most times darkness and emptiness goes together, you hear people say; my life is a void, my life is empty, some say my life is going nowhere fast or maybe I feel a darkness inside of me. It a form of existence where everything to you is moving on but for you life is at a standstill. It’s like you are waiting for something or someone but you don’t know what. For most of us that time never comes for some we don’t know when it come, it just does and while for other something provokes the coming. However or whenever all it means is that we have been able to bring fullness out of the void or emptiness we find inside ourselves. We have been able to make something out of nothing. We have in essence become creators and drivers using the utmost capability that has been given to man to make something of the emptiness we feel inside of us, at our place of work, in our businesses. The hopelessness we feel has been converted into something with meaning and hope. Most often than not for most of us what we need is already inside us. All we actually need to do is to listen and be very attentive. Most times we are burdened by so much of what is happening around us that we fail to even listen to the voice and the creativity inside of us. We might come to this world naked with no cloths on but we never came empty, we came bearing gifts; we came full and brimming with those things that would make us stand out from the crowd. But the truth is that like the earth we must bring out of that formless void and darkness that has shrouded our fullness the great potential that we are. No one can do it for us, not even the God that you have will. It is your birthright to choose to look inside you and listen to the voice calling to you. Only you can hear it, only you can make sense of it, you alone can interpret what it is saying and make something of it. The beauty of who you are is that you are not empty, you are not a void, you are not a failure; you are unique human being born with talent and gift that which the world is waiting to celebrate. The only thing is this; what space will you fill. Who will benefit from the fullness and how will they benefit from the fullness? These questions are the things that are making it difficult for us to actually bring fullness out of the void of our lives or businesses or ideas. We fail to think of others or listen to the sound of their groaning. We most times focus only on our own pain and in focusing on our pain alone we fail to reach the maximum potential of our creativity. I could go on forever about this but in essence what I am saying is this; “we alone are the ones that can make our lives and those of the ones we love a better one”. Think about it!

Are you eating or sowing?

“That he may give seed to the sower and bread to the eater” This is a phrase that brings questions to mind. It begs the question “are you sowing seeds and what type of seed are you sowing? Or are you a eater, one who eats without giving back? The quote above is from the book I love most; the Bible! Here we understand that opportunity and time is open to two categories of people. 1. The sower of the seed 2. The eater of bread A lot of us find it hard to move forward due to the fact that we find it difficult to sow, especially within our youths in this present generation. We see our friends in big cars and flashy cloths but what we fail to see is the time they have put into acquiring that which they have. It has become difficult for us to actually have the mindset to sow and wait patiently for the harvest while we prune, weed and cultivate the land in other for the seed to germinate and produce the good tree and hence good fruit. The eater is only concerned with today and the satisfaction of the stomach. They find it difficult to wait for the process of productivity and the time taken to sow and harvest. The eater can only see the now and not the future or the idea of the small mustard seed become a great tree. To them they look out for immediate benefit or gratification. No! They are hungry now and so must be satisfied. The word tells us that the rain water’s the ground that it may bring forth and bud to give seed to the sower and bread to the eater. The question now is you a sower or an eater? Do you look out for the now and present not thinking of the repercussion for tomorrow? Or do you sow a seed of goodness and growth for yourself and your business? Luckily for most of us reading this words; we have heard the saying that “patience is a virtue” whether that is true for us or not, we must know that the energy you exert in running a hundred meter dash is different from that for a marathon. As individuals we need to realise that he who sows lives to eat bread for many days to come. But he who lives to eat bread will eat for today and begin to look for where to get bread for tomorrow. In business sowing your seed; means you are saving towards your future to ensure that your business grows and becomes great. That we must plant and water thinking of tomorrow and while we are patient we continue to water (follow-up) on the seed we have sown. The follow up and level of management input says a lot about the harvest we get when it is time to reap the reward of the labour of sowing. The farmer is a very patient man as he would work diligently to have a good harvest by going to the farm daily to prune, weed, fertilize and continually ensure that pests or unwanted harm does not come the seed he has sown. This should be the same with every entrepreneur with our business as we work towards having a good harvest. Entrepreneurship and business is not about the here and now but about the solutions we can provide for tomorrow. So now let us start by asking ourselves the same question; am I a sower or an eater? Do I live to eat or do I live to sow? This will give us a better perspective of who we are and how the future will be.

Creativity and beauty - the beginning

IT WILL NOT ARRIVE LATE

There is time for everything we hear
There is time for everything we know
We get a vision, we have a dream
We look for ways to make them a reality
Sometimes we are in too much haste
Sometimes we are not attentive enough
Even at times we are just indifferent
And in some instances fear holds us back
Just like we read of the story of the manna from heaven
No matter how much the size is
It will still be the same weight
So also no matter how hard we try to hasten it
That success we seek will arrive at the set time

Yep!
Their truly is an appointed time for everything
But what and when is that appointed time?
This becomes the question that we need answers to
How do we know that it has arrived and not a fluke?
Actually this is the easy part
When success comes it cannot be hidden or held down
Success speaks for itself and does not bring shame
It is not a thing to fear and is responsible
Success is not wealth or riches
These are just the elements that go with it
They are part of the rewards for success


Success does not arrive late
It comes gradually and is identified not by the beneficiary
At least not initially
But by the people around who can see the manifestation of it
It is an accomplishment that we get for working well and hard
Therefore if it is an accomplishment
Then it will arrive not late
But at a time when the seeds we have sown bring forth fruit
And you know that it is impossible to hide the fruits on a tree
Everyone that passes by will see it and admire it
They will want a bit too

Remember that success will come
Only if you have put something into getting it
It is impossible for something to come out of nothing
Therefore put in that effort that is needed
Do not relent
Don’t be shaken or blown out of course
For the success that we all seek
Will arrive just at the right time!

THE YEAR 2010: TAKING A LOOK BACK

“Defeat is a choice, so is victory; you can only be beaten when you decide that you can never win. As long as you have breath and life in you keep on fighting and you will come out on top! - Anonymous”

At the start of the year, I had so much expectations; some of which I achieved completely, some in parts and some not at all. But! There were also the unexpected that signified and brought to the fore the beauty and goodness of God and his enduring mercies. To a lot of us what I am about to do is “counting my blessing and reviewing my losses”.

“MY BLESSINGS”
1.It will be remise of me not to start with the greatest expectation of all i.e. been alive to see the end of 2010 and starting a new year. GLORY BE TO GOD WHO MADE THAT POSSIBLE!!
2.Good health, this year I have not been to the hospital for any kind of ailment but only to visit with my sister when she gave birth
3.I am still single but I am also happy in that God would do the best
4.My business is moving forward a step at a time
5. Made new friends, great friends so much so that if I start mentioning names I might have to write a book. I hope we enjoy many more years as friends!!
6. Got selected to participate in a Youth Entrepreneurship program bootcamp out of about 1,000 applicants. Made it to the top 30!!
7. Volunteered for a teaching project, PROJECT RAISE ONE MILLION. Taught English to WAEC students of a school in Lagos and got a certificate to show for it!!
8. My sister got married and in December gave birth
9. Was selected to be part of the SMEDAN training of trainers program organized for enterprise developers
10. Was and is part of a facilitating team teaching entrepreneurship to a group of young men
11. Attended a minimum of 10 seminars and conferences all of which have opened my mind to new and greater things
12. A year older and wiser
13. Helped a friend organize the flow of caterers on her wedding day
14. Was on radio; Unilag FM (stood in for a friend actually) to speak about “business planning”
15. Was featured in Vanguard newspaper in Patricia Omoqui’s column ALLURE
16. Started three (3) blogs and still run them
17. Volunteer for a leadership school, NGOs, and causes
18. Reconnected with old friends even some as far back as my primary school days
19. Visited another state in the federation
20. Started another income generating project a bit staggered but with good potentials
21. Discovered a new and vital service that Nigerians and Nigerian Businesses need to help them survive. All I need now is the right person that can run with it!!
22. Go to bed each night and wake up to a new and better day each day!

“MY LOSSES”
I would like to call this part moving experiences that tried my faith in God and myself and not losses.
1. Did not meet my expected number of clients for 2010 (and I know why)
2. Failed to make it to the top 20 list for the YEP trip to Miami
3. Ended the year with a broken relationship (his loss is someone else’s gain)
4. Made a bad investment decision and I have the scars and dents in my pocket to show for it!!
5. Discovered a new weakness in my business (although I am not sure if this is a weakness) which has resulted in slow growth of business
6. Was unfortunate to be introduced to 2 persons (make that three) who turned out to be untrustworthy. You know yourselves!! You cost me money and a lot of trouble
7. Worked on a proposal for a LGA project but due to bureaucracy and the choppers syndrome it did not fly
8. Was broke for a third of the year, I wonder why!!

Whichever way I look at it, I find that “MY BLESSINGS” far outweighs “MY LOSSES” for this I give all glory to God who has made me see this. But most importantly I thank God for my losses and those events that I have not listed (so many of them) for without them I can never be a better person come 2011!

“Don’t look down while passing through life for your vision and faith is not linked to the ground. Look up and ahead because your vision is from God (who is up above and inside of you) and the sky is just the beginning”

OUR DESTINY, YOUR DESTINY, MY DESTINY

Destiny?! A great word with the simplest of meaning, the meaning is so near you that we tend to fail to see it.

Destiny is like cake in the oven, beautiful and delicious, filling and satisfying. However, without the right heat the cake would not turn out as we expect. So is our destiny!

Destiny is like a well-laid out business plan, one that investors read and get moved to risk their money. However, without the right mindset, skills and motivation/innovation to implement and make it a success, the business plan is a waste of effort.

Destiny is like beautiful lyric to a song, it makes good sense and touches the soul. But without the voice and personality to carry it the beauty of the song is lost and has no value.

Destiny is like a well-written constitution that covers all the areas of importance to a nation and takes it people and their will into consideration for which it is written. But when the people have refused to read and understand it, or have no respect for it then it is of no value.

Destiny is a properly drawn out plan of a house, drawn with specification for a structural masterpiece. However, without workers and builders to translate the drawn out plan into a dream house, the house cannot turn out as it is on the plan or as the architect had drawn it.

Or maybe it’s like a building in which the contractor has decided to cut corners? The house would invariably crumble and maybe kill or injure people living in it.

Destiny is like a bundle of cloth that has been laid aside for a Princes, she decides the design and style that the cloth should be cut into. This she wears and must be proud of. THE CLOTH IS HER’S.

Destiny is like a beautiful clock bought and set in a place of prominence to mark time and sound the alarm but the owner forgot to set it to the right time. The clock would mark the time wrongly and wake its owner up at the wrong time.

Destiny is like a road to a magnificent house that has been left to crumble and overgrown by the owners, it becomes difficult every time they embark on a trip out and back to their magnificent home.

Destiny is like the ugly duckling, an eagle living with ducks. His life would be limited by the surrounding and environment he finds himself and it won’t be able to fly until it is among its own.

Destiny is like a talent that each and every one has, a talent like the proverbial guy in the bible who took his talent of gold and hid it in the ground, it would not multiply and yield fruit.

Destiny is like a beautiful lady who decides to not take care of herself because people have said she is beautiful believing that without care her beauty would continue to remain, and then wakes up one day to look in the mirror to see a fat and ugly woman instead of the beauty.

Therefore let us all remember that even though we have all come to this world with our own destinies, destiny is what we make of it. We have a choice to make good of it or make it bad. The life of man is like an open book and we have been given the pen to write the story of our lives. What you write in that book is dependent on you alone and no one else. NOT EVEN GOD CAN HELP YOU WRITE YOUR OWN STORY. Remember it is your destiny, your life and your story to tell.

Make your destiny your own today and take the choices that would take you on a journey of fun, success and the envy of everyone around you!

On This Land

On this land, I was Born.
Born to be Great.
Greatness, I shall attain.

On this land, I have Grown.
Grown with Pride.
Prideful joy.

On this land, I was Trained.
Trained to Be good.
Be good to all men.

On this land, my eyes opened.
opening to the greed.
The greed and selfishness of men.

On this land, I shall struggle.
Struggle for what is mine.
And mine it shall be.

On this land, I shall fight.
Fight for my freedom.
The freedom to live.

On this land, I shall battle.
Battle for the freedom.
The freedom of others.

On this land, I shall restore.
Restore our pride.
The pride that was in tatters.

On this land, I shall live.
Live and let live.
Live peacefully with others.

On this land, I shall multiply.
Multiply into dynasties.
Dynasties of heroes.

On this land, I shall harvest.
Harvest my fruits.
The fruits of my labour.

On this land, I shall die.
die with pride.
The pride of the land.

On this land, I shall live.
Live in the memories of men.
Men who will uphold the pride of the land.

©Idris Dosunmu 2010

A NEW BEGINNING

They were young in their teens, both Girl and boy
They were first love
They fell in love deeply with each other that it seems no one;
Even death will depart and leave them to enjoy their lives.
They dated for several years, knowing and loving one another
Each passing day.
Tending to one another emotionally, academically, and all you can think of
They seems to be inseparable as their feelings grows more and more
After several years, seven years of dating each other to be precise
They were forcefully separated, not by death though
But by obstacles beyond their control or understanding
Both went their separate ways
With pains and feeling of emptiness
On how life has treated them
But after several years,
Thirteen years exactly
They met again
Still in love.
LOVE!!!

This is a new beginning on another side of love

INSECURITY

I always told, Sandra Bullock was my student when she was younger, I always told her it's important that we hold on to our insecurity, the wisdom of insecurity.
Sally Kirkland

What you do to man
How far do you intend to go
And how long would you
Plague man
Looking back I behold so much destruction
And all along the way
I see bodies’ lying all around you
One man’s destruction and ruin
You have ruined many homes
Not to forget also many lives
From the beginning of time
The lack of believe in oneself
And the feeling that one can’t go on
Surely and gradually destroys
Until it is but a sure ruin
Once you are allowed in the door
Success will always flee away
And if it is attainable
Would never be enough
It gradually eats away and rots the soul
Widening the hole and causing a void
That cannot be breached
Unless will a strong will and determination
Man must find a way
We have found a suitable definition
We have tried to analyze
Categorize and validate
This great destroyer of mankind
But the bottom line we do not know
And as the void continues to widen
We become more venomous
Been destroyed and destroying
Not been able to hold back
We are like a driver
With all his weight on the brake
And find out that he can’t avoid
Hitting something or someone
And if we survive the crash
Will always bear the scars
But sometimes we find out that
Surely insecurities
Are shadows clouding life
And destroying it continually
It adds to your life inferiority
Flavoring it with sadness
And complicating the easiest things in life
Demeaning and ostracizing mankind
One from another

Life is worth a lot.

This morning I left my home for work, I was not very happy because I just got a disappointment. I was trying to push myself to point where nothing but God matters when suddenly.....................
The driver of the bus I had boarded started shouting, "that vehicle is going to turn over" over and over again. Before we knew what had happened a trailer and turned over on the express. We were in the bus and the driver did not bother to stop but this is what we saw.
The front wind screen of the trailer had crashed and the driver ran out with blood on his face, one of the passengers was lying on the road dead, while about two others were trapped under the vehicle. Its so sad that we have placed our quest and search for money even over the safety of our lives.
Why have I said this? Simply because the driver did not have a seat belt neither did the person sitting beside him. Then there is also the people riding with the trailer that sit in the section where the load is kept. They don’t even have any form of protection or safety.
Last year around December, another accident happened along Apapa-Oshodi express way that involved a heavy duty truck that belonged to a prominent company in Nigeria. Lives were lost, all because of carelessness and no value for life.
Is life so unimportant or of no much value and worth that we fail to protect it, even if it’s our life? Have we forgotten that it is only when we are alive that we can enjoy the money we struggle so hard to have? Do we not understand that the most important thing to us is the life that God has given us? What about the people we have left behind? How do they survive? How wicked can we be to ourselves?
Sometimes I harden my heart to situations like this, it’s so sad that a wonderful life that could end up been one of the greatest that Nigeria ever had was lost dues to carelessness. It’s a shame that today someone said goodbye to her son, or husband; a child said good bye to his or her dad with the hope of seeing him later in the day. The only thing they would hear today is the news of death, death of their loved one, the bread winner of the family and probably the only source of income. What they would be in search of now is not where the next meal will be coming from but how do we bury this man?
Please let us place more value on our lives if not for us then for those that love us and depend on us. Let us not give our families a pain which might never go away. Let us live our lives with the utmost care. We know that only God can protect, “but Folorunsho to figi ogede gun ope………” (he who says he has God and continues to put himself in danger…………) what will become of him?
Nigeria and your people need you alive, God needs you alive. Remember also that the good you do will speak for you on that day as well.
May God help us all!!