Category: Uncategorized

Ho-Ho-Ho…I’m Back…Maybe Not Yet!

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FIRST OF ALL…

I want to use this opportunity to give my warmest compliments to all my readers. Wishing you a Merry Christmas (in arrears) and a prosperous New Year in advance.

THAT SAID…

I’d like to sincerely apologize to my readers for keeping away for so long. I guess I’m supposed to be able to update more often after I shake off the Christmas Bug (or the Writer’s Block :-() that got me.

UNFORTUNATELY…that would not be!

As much as I HATE it, you’re ACTUALLY going to be seeing considerably LESS of me this coming year.

Yea. ;-(

2014, especially the FIRST TRIMESTER, is going to be a very IMPORTANT and CRUCIAL period that COULD potentially determine a lot in my LIFE. During this period, I’d be writing the final exams for my Degree.
As a result, I would be NEEDING a lot of my TIME and CONCENTRATION (and your PRAYERS) so as to attain my DESIRED GOAL!

DEAR READERS, do not be DISMAYED. This is not going to be a TOTAL ABSENCE from the world of blogging. I would still come around once in a while to share my THOUGHTS. It’s just NOT going to be as frequent as it was before.

Thanks for your UNDERSTANDING and SUPPORT.

God Bless

THE PLATINUM GIFT FEATURE ARTICLE: “GreenLanders, It’s time…” by MAYOWA BABATUNDE

GreenLanders, It’s time.

It is no longer news that our country Nigeria is massively blessed; we are the largest black nation on earth with a population of over 160 million people. Our soil is fully loaded with nature’s most desirable resources ranging from crude oil to the over thirty-four different classes of minerals.

The gospel is simple and true: The Land is green – rich, endowed and fertile, with abundant human and natural resources. However, very awful is the reality that a vast majority of the inhabitants of this globally acclaimed ‘green land’ are just nothing but an epitome of lack and unproductivity, thus making Nigeria earn the title- “The world’s best example of a paradox”- a paradox of the kind of wealth that breeds penury.

Nigeria is ranked as the 6th largest producer of oil in the world, yet 69% of its population (112 million) live below the poverty line of one dollar a day. Our land is indeed green, yet we spend millions of naira a year to import rice and some other foods that we eat. We are so blessed with a wide variety of natural resources yet our currency( which is supposed to be a reflection of our economy) experiences a daily decrease in value against the dollar( $1=N166.6 as at the time of this write up). I can’t help but wonder why our abundance in oil, people and resources haven’t worked favourably and placed us on the top echelons of the global economic ladder by now.

Other developing nations seem to be growing at a very fast rate, for example South Korea of fifty million people has a Gross Domestic Product(GDP) of $1.2 trillion, Brazil of one hundred and ninety-six million people has GDP of $2.4 trillion, Malaysia of twenty-eight million people has GDP of $278.6 billion, Chile of seventeen million people has $248.59 billion, Singapore of five million people has $318.7 billion, while with our population of about one hundred and sixty-five million people, we shamelessly boast of a GDP of $235.92 billion.

While it is very easy to blame it all on bad leadership(past and present) and lack of managerial competence, the aim of this write up is to call the ‘Green Landers’(inhabitants of the green land) to a higher level of responsibility and bring about a positive change to our dear nation.

Truly, we cannot over emphasize the role of leadership in the transformation of a nation, thus, it’s time for the Greenlanders to create a new political interest- to participate actively in the process of electing leaders into office, and to also demand good governance and accountability, thereby compelling those who govern us to persistently make choices that will more likely improve the outcomes of economic management.

Our country is not only blessed with deposits in the ground, we are equally blessed with deposits in the mind. But only a few ever leverage on this deposits. It’s time to turn the search light inward, to nurture and nourish our gifts, talents, strengths and abilities and also to embrace a new mindset- an innovative and entrepreneurial mindset that takes pride in problem-solving. With this, we can change the course of our history and place our nation on a new economic development trajectory.

And while so many Greenlanders can’t wait to grab the slightest opportunity of leaving this country in search of greener pastures, I strongly believe that if we can put in our best efforts as citizens, we can make our own land greener (after all, it’s our land). Have you ever imagined what it would be like, the magnitude of the result we would produce if every Nigerian (about one sixty five million of us) would labour (whether with head or hand) tirelessly, with dignity and integrity, all with the sole purpose of making Nigeria better?

We as citizens can make a huge world of difference in re-positioning our Nation, if only we are willing to take up the responsibility.

This is my message- It’s time for the GREENLANDERS to ARISE!

Babatunde Mayowa October, 2013.

08169796977, lordmayor90@gmail.com

Thank God For Dirty Dishes: A Poem

I didn’t write this poem. I found it in a book I am currently reading. I hope you’d like it:

¤ THANK GOD FOR DIRTY DISHES ¤

Thank God for dirty dishes; they have a tale to tell

While other folks go hungry, we’re eating pretty well

With home, and health, and happiness,
We shouldn’t want to fuss; for by this stack of evidence, God’s very good to us.

Mal a propos: On The LOL Side Of Malaproposms.

He picked up a knife. And continually stabbed the poor lady directly through the heart. She screamed and cried. She begged and pleaded for mercy. Yet, the young man was never going to let up. He kept on stabbing and stabbing, till Lady English gave up the ghost.

I’m not using this to spite anyone, but some people (especially in this part of the world) are really reckless with their use of English. They send poisonous darts and fiery arrows directly to their innocent audiences. But what ‘impresses’ me the most is the ability of these people to carry on with the speech at hand. And they usually go on with this in a gallant fashion, not giving a thought about their reputations or the ears of their listeners.

As I’ve said before, I’m not using this to spite anyone. I just wanted you to see something from another perspective. Things happen in the world out there. A lot of bad reports, as well as sad news here and there. But to the general mind, if you are hell-bent on getting happiness from the happenings around, all you have to do is to look carefully around you. Definitely, there is always at least one thing that would put a smile on your face. Yeah, even if they are Malapropisms.

By the way, we, the Children of The Light, exhibit Joy, which is the manifestation of the Holy Spirit that springs up from within our bellies.

Cheer up, already!

The Platinum Gift: Send Your Write-ups For Posting!

It’s more blessed to give than to receive. And as part of my birthday celebrations, I’d be giving back to my readers in my little way.

Starting from now, I’d be collecting write-ups for posting on this blog from as many that have something beneficial to share via this platform.

You can send your write-ups (not more than 500 words) and your name through:

A message to me on facebook at Promise ‘le Platine’ Tewogbola
OR
A direct message to my twitter handle @IamLePlatine
OR
An email to platinumdonmccoy@gmail.com

Please note that the duration of this gift would be dependent on the feedback I’m getting.

Thanks and God bless.

Because You Don’t Believe Doesn’t Make It Less True!

I had a discussion with a friend of mine not too long ago. He was shedding more light on some simplistic truths about life that seemed so good to be true. I like calling thes truths, ‘CHUNKS OF SOLID MEAT’ because you have to possess some level of maturity before you can believe them. I’m still having a hard time recovering my equilibrium after being hit by these truths. While I would not talk about these particular truths, I would like to talk about our attitudes to the truth. Especially when it is too good to be true.

Yes, we are living in a world with a lot of scam mails, get-rich schemes, lies and deception. And these have caused us to build an invisible wall around our minds as to what we decide to accept. In fact, we always point back to the fact that the quickest believers always need broad shoulders to bear the consequences of quick believing. True, trusts are betrayed on a daily basis but amongst that rubble of trash, there can always be the place of the pure truth.

This is the point where intuition and discretion are paramount. God has placed in the heart of every man a kind of sixth-sense gut feeling. Some could call it conscience but it gets sharper and more accurate when one is filled with the Spirit of God. This intuition/discretion/conscience plays an important role in helping us to sieve all that would come to us posing as the truth. Eventually, after our hearts and minds have tested all things, we are left with the truth(s).

Indeed, the reason why many people are hurt by easily believing whatsoever that comes their way is because they believe on impulse. Once the information appeals to their emotions, they immediately jump on it make it theirs. Acting this way is dangerous. Dont be brash. When next you are faced with a truth that you find so hard to believe, please do not hold on to your emotions, past experiences, personal prejudices or what other people feel about it. Instead, test the truth with your gut and if you have peace within you, you can go ahead and embrace it.

Aaaaaargh, Think!!!

I took the television set and smashed it on my head. There was blood everywhere. And glass too. Okay, I’m sorry to disappoint you but I did not actually do the aforementioned. I just decided to let you in on the situation I’m in now. I’m having a hard time here because I’m not having the inspiration to write anything. Nothing. Nada.

I tried writing a poem to express what my mind is feeling but all the words came out flat. I know there’s a lid covering the wellspring of thoughts. Usually, I try to locate the lid and do something about it. Other times, I simply wait for the inspiration to hit me. Today, I’m going to try something new; I’d just take a leap of faith and write.

The only word that is ringing in my head now is: THINK!!!
And that about sums up my emotions right now.

The world does not run on petroleum, coal or any alternative source of energy. Err….at least not primarily. The world is run on ideas. Ideas rule the world. Why? Because if the mind can picture anything, then that thing is possible (check my article on ‘Words Onwards).

For starters, how about working on that creative part of your mind that is still lying fallow after all these years? And for those who are thinkers, what do you allow your mind to regurgitate upon? Thoughts that can benefit you and the world at large or thoughts that would ultimately bring you down.
The choice is yours. Choose wisely

Crossword – A Poem

Yet again, as I continually
discover myself to be, always
Aware that I’m lost again
for the exact words to express my thoughts
Now they flutter,
sometimes in my head, sometimes in my heart
Maybe if I’m patient enough, I’d get
to taste and feel the flow
In the surreal, however,
they are quite vivid and real
Fair enough, I must struggle within myself,
searching with the light of hope, thinking,
‘Even if the words are few,
once found, they would amount to much’

Waiting for the good weather.

A couple of hours ago, I was lying down on my bed in my room at the topmost floor of Block D, Sultan Bello hall in the University of Ibadan. The weather was cold and chilly and I was trying to get some sleep but couldn’t, so my mind drifted back, floating in the recesses of my memory to a time when I was a young lad. I was wearing the blue and white stripes of my primary school uniform. I looked ahead and i saw a fair-skinned young man who happened to be the school’s newly recruited music teacher. He was teaching us something about the aesthetic values of music before he stopped abruptly and told us that he wanted to teach us a song. Up till this present moment, I still cannot fathom the circumstances that made him teach us this song. But what I do know is that, over a decade on, that song still plays itself over and over in my subconscious and has an impact on me one way or the other. The song went thus:
‘Whatever you can do today,
Don’t leave it for tomorrow,
Whatever you can do today,
Don’t leave it for tomorrow.
For tomorrow has it’s own problems,
And they would surely come.
Whatever you can do today,
Don’t leave it for tomorrow’

The reason why my primary school music teacher might have sang the aforementioned song might have been in order to curb laziness and procrastination in his young proteges. To think in this direction is very much proper and even plausible. But in my little experience in life, I’ve come to understand that the factors that militate against doing what is expected of you, when it’s expected of you is much more grave than Procrastination and Laziness. Oh yes, these two play their parts in not getting things done….and yes, they are the most important reasons why we don’t get things done. But how could we ever forget about the syndrome called, ‘WAITING FOR THE GOOD WEATHER’!

We are all guilty of ‘waiting for the good weather’. For some, this syndrome is mild, while for others it’s moderate while for some others still, it’s so severe and deeply ingrained into such individuals that they don’t even know that they are sufferers of the syndrome. ‘Waiting for the good weather’ is characterized by the desire and willingness to have all variables swinging in one’s favour before one decides to make any move in getting things done. The truth remains that no matter how much we want an ideal world similar to our worldview of how things should be, there is nothing that’s going to change the way things are-the real world-except we make moves NOW to create our ideal world. Many of us know what we do, in actions and thoughts, that typifies the syndrome of ‘waiting for the good weather’, so I’m not going to spend any more time on that. However, I have some recommendations that could be helpful for us in our bid to break away from the syndrome of ‘waiting for the good weather’. My recommendations are:

1. Don’t be afraid of trying new things. This might be difficult when all the resources you need are not in place. But you just have to start the new thing first. Remember, ‘To begin a task is to have half completed it’
2. Challenge yourself. You want success, don’t you? If yes, the fact that you want success in a task should provide enough drive for you to prevent you from ‘waiting for the good weather’. If conditions are not favourable, make them to be.
3. Reach out to others. Don’t sit still within your area of comfort and wait for others to meet you, as if they are owing you or something. Step out of your comfort zone and you’d be surprised at what you’d find.
4. Before you get into something, make sure it’s God’s will for you. Even if you wait for the ‘good weather’ and God’s hand isn’t in what you want to do, you are asking for frustrations and disappointments.
5. Expect criticisms and move on. Someone quipped that, ‘the only way to avoid criticisms is to say nothing, be nothing and do nothing’. Unless you have plans to remain a nonetity in life, I don’t think you will still want to wait for the ‘good weather’ just to avoid criticisms. Hear all criticisms, learn from the constructive ones and discard others.
6. Accept mistakes as the price of progress. Because you want to avoid mistakes is no reason to wait for the ‘good weather’ before performing tasks. A benefit of making mistakes is that you learn an additional way NOT to perform a task. A mistake every now and then won’t kill you. Learn from them and move forward.

Don’t ‘wait for the good weather’, but in your thoughts and actions, make the ‘weather’ how you want it to be!
YOU ARE A WINNER!!!