...AND OBASANJO WROTE JONATHAN!

In recent times, I have tried to think about 2015 and what it will mean to the Nigerian nation. I am wondering seriously because the breadth of fresh air which the Goodluck administration promised us is gradually becoming stale. I used to strongly be a pro
Goodluck person but how I wish I can still proudly say that now. We Nigerians do not know how to agitate and even when we do, it is laced with ulterior motives and various forms of sentiments if not, we deserve more accountability than we are being given currently. Why must government continue to serve as a get-rich-quick system in the Nigerian society.?
I have read with dismay the 18-page Obasanjo's letter and I am somewhat amused. Obasanjo is genuinely concerned about the state of affairs in the nation but that is simply because he is no longer the one wearing the shoe. As a General, being in power and issuing command is like a birth right but now, times have changed.
The Obasanjo letter has opened up a lot that deserves some deep thought but when it comes from a man who funded third term bid, it leaves much to be desired.
With all these inherent bitterness from many quarters and some sublime agitations for ethnic supremacy, what is the hope of our nation come 2015? Who shall take our nation into the promised land? Is it PDP or APC? Who is as detribalised and as experienced enough as to go for us come 2015?
The problem is that in the absence of a better option, everything might gravitate towards Jonathan again while the power-desperate north will still keep making the country ungovernable. My friends, when will quality of person and value consciousness triumph over some kangaroo ethnic and tribalism sentiments?When will competence over rule nepotism and partisanship?  Who will fearlessly dare to lead us into that Nigerian dream where we are in word and in deed the Giant of Africa?
I pray that Nigeria will continue to stand as one united entity for I can not bear to recite to my children, There Was A Country, and then I will be referring to Nigeria instead of Biafra. With what is happening, I feel a serious lack of sincerity in the current administration; especially towards corruption. If truth is told without sentiments, Nigerians cannot endure a slow-paced administration for another four years. No, we need something better!
For Mr President, GCFR, I believe you mean well for the nation and you have the key but where is the will? Please for the sake of posterity, fight the good fight against corruption no matter whose ox is gored and let your critics be drowned in a sea of your good works.
For you my friends, please don't give up on our nation but while you hold on, remember to fight your own fight of relevance for when the chips are down, only those who fold their hands shall be at a huge loss.
May God grant us a heart of wisdom!
D-Motivator.

THINKING THROUGH.

During Nelson Mandela's 19 years imprisonment on Robben Island, one particular commanding officer was the most brutal of them all:

"A few days before Badenhorst's departure, I was called to the main office. General Steyn was visiting the island and wanted to know if we had any complaints. Badenhorst was there as I went through a list of demands. When I had finished, Badenhorst spoke to me directly.

He told me he would be leaving the island and added: 'I just want to wish you people good luck'. I do not know if I looked dumbfounded, but I was amazed. He spoke these words like a human being and showed a side of himself we had never seen before. I thanked him for his good wishes and wished him luck in his endeavours.

I thought about this moment for a long time afterwards. Badenhorst had perhaps been the most callous and barbaric commanding officer we had had on Robben Island. But that day in the office, he had revealed that that there was another side to his nature, a side that had been obscured but still existed.

It was a useful reminder that all men, even the most seemingly cold-blooded, have a core of decency and that, if their hearts are touched, they are capable of changing. Ultimately, Badenhorst was not evil; his inhumanity had been foisted upon him by an inhuman system. He behaved like a brute because he was rewarded for brutish behaviour."

Source: "Long Walk To Fredom" by Nelson Mandela

Within these days following his death, the life and times of the former South Africa's President Nelson Mandela continues to draw attention. I remember him within these days and hope that in the days ahead we shall have same zeal and passion for doing what is right and good to the common man. His 27 years in jail is easier thought about than encountered. He understood that people do what they do because of what is motivating them but dared to preserve his own inner convictions of not holding grudges unneccesarily.These trying moments refined him and when he left jail, he left all the anger and bitterness behind because he believed he was truly a free man. Some people are free but live as slaves in the prison yard of an unforgiving heart. In his own words, “As I walked out the door toward the gate that would lead to my freedom, I knew if I didn't leave my bitterness and hatred behind, I'd still be in prison.”

Are you one of such that finds it hard to forgive? Dare to forgive today. Sometimes, love is the greatest weapon we use to win the war of hatred. I know it can sometimes be very hard to forgive but try and learn to forgive today and walk in a wider realm of freedom.

I believe in you!

D-Motivator.   

 

 

COURAGE

In recent times, I have been thinking deeply on the subject of courage. Courage is a rare virtue these days especially among young people. I have learnt that many times we dream big but often feel reluctant to pursue those big dreams or even do what it takes for the dreams to be actualized. There is always this initial inertia that gives our inner man a thousand and one reasons why what we want to achieve will not work. Well, courageous people stand alone on their convictions. Not everyone will support you initially. A courageous man is always on the go, he is always up to something. He does not postpone what he can do today for tomorrow because while we are postponing, life speeds by. While fear goes backward, courage goes forward. Which one will you choose today? Courage or Fear?
For you to take strong decisions as a leader, you need courage, for you to get to your next level, you need courage. Courage does not envy people. Courage understands that the sky is too wide for two birds to collide. Courage is that which tells you that even though you fail today, there is always new strength for tomorrow.

What ever is the challenge, stay courageous and you will surely win!
I believe in you!
D-Motivator.

Alexander and Diogenes

Now when Alexander [the Great] appeared before the Greek leaders in Corinth they greeted him warmly and paid him lavish compliments- all of them, that is but one. A funny fellow, a philosopher named Diogenes. He had views not unlike those of the Buddha. According to him, possessions and all the things we think we need only serve to distract us and get in the way of our simple enjoyment of life. So he had given away everything he owned and now sat, almost naked, in a barrel in the market square in Corinth where he lived, free and independent like a stray dog.

Curious to meet this strange fellow, Alexander went to call on him. Dressed in shining armour, the plume on his helmet waving in the breeze, he walked up to the barrel and said to Diogenes: 'I like you. Let me know your wish and I shall grant it.' Diogenes, who had until then been comfortably sunning himself, replied: 'Indeed, Sire, I have a wish.' 'Well, what is it?' 'Your shadow has fallen over me: stand a little less between me and the sun.' Alexander is said to have been so struck by this that he said: 'If I weren't Alexander, I should like to be Diogenes.'

Source: "A Little History Of The World" by E.H. Gombrich

The Moral of this story is that it pays to have an independent mind. Don't let people sway you from here to there. Get an identity, don't let the quest for material things destroy the you on the inside! 
Find something you are known for!
Best Wishes as always!
D-Motivator.

Pregnant at 18, Best Graduating Student at 25!

Seven years after an unwanted pregnancy forced her to drop out of the University of Ilorin, Aishat Farooq emerges the best graduating student of the Bells University of Technology, Ota, Ogun State, reportsTemitayo Famutimi

When Aishat Farooq gained admission into the University of Ilorin at 15, to study Zoology, little did she know that she was not going to be an alumnus of the institution. That was in 2003.

Despite the fact that she was a high flyer in her first two years in UNILORIN, the now 25-year-old indigene of Ilorin West-Local Government Area of Kwara State got distracted along the line. She played the campus love game and got a shocking result: she got pregnant.

It was in 2006 and in her third year. She was pregnant for a fellow student whom she had been dating. She was disappointed in herself and thought the whole world was crashing on her.  Yet, she vowed not to terminate the pregnancy.

20 Quotes To Fuel Your Passion!

1.Whatever the mind of man can conceive and believe, it can         achieve. –Napoleon Hill
2. Your time is limited, so don’t waste it living someone else’s         life. –Steve Jobs
3. Strive not to be a success, but rather to be of value. –Albert         Einstein
4. Two roads diverged in a wood, and I took the one less traveled         by, and that has made all the difference.  –Robert Frost
5. The common question that gets asked in business is, ‘why?’         That’s a good question, but an equally valid question is, ‘why         not?’ -        Jeffrey Bezos
6. You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take. –Wayne Gretzky
7. I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost         300 games. 26 times I’ve been trusted to take the game winning         shot and         missed. I’ve failed over and over and over         again in my life. And         that is         why I succeed. –        Michael Jordan
8. Every strike brings me closer to the next home run. –Babe Ruth
9. Definiteness of purpose is the starting point of all                 achievement. –W. Clement Stone
10. Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other               plans. –John Lennon
11. We become what we think about. –Earl Nightingale
12. Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the               things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do, so throw          off the      bowlines, sail away from safe harbor, catch the              trade winds in your         sails.  Explore, Dream, Discover. –           Mark Twain
13. Life is 10% what happens to me and 90% of how I react to it. –           John Maxwell
14. If you do what you’ve always done, you’ll get what you’ve always         gotten. –Tony Robbins
15. The mind is everything. What you think you become.  –Buddha
16. The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best          time is now. –Chinese Proverb
17. An unexamined life is not worth living. –Socrates
18. Eighty percent of success is showing up. –Woody Allen
19. Don’t wait. The time will never be just right. –Napoleon Hill
20. Winning isn’t everything, but wanting to win is. –Vince Lombardi

DON'T BE DISAPPOINTED!

Recently, I have looked at this phenomenon of expecting the government to do this for us and do that for us as a complete hoax. One day, while we were still in the University, in a lecture hall called Industrial Lab in the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, I remember hearing my lecturer, Professor Ogbonna (A professor of Industrial Microbiology) say that in the days of his fathers, Alhaji Shehu Shagari and Co. who were in government and by extension in the leadership class were to blame for the societal problems then. Invariably, his father and those in that generation blamed the then president. Today, from what he said, his age mates are the ones in the National Assemply and even in Aso Rock doing one thing or the other and we still vehemently blame them for our problems. Then his conclusion, fight your own fight and don't let government disappoint you. My own submission is that when you fight your own fight, you will find yourself being attentive to your truest self and the most creative realm of your existence. This way, you have no one to blame but yourself and you can trust, this will boost your productivity.

In our day to day life, we sometimes trust too much that those we love will fight our fight; that our parents will do this for us, that our uncles will do that for us, that our aunties will come to our rescue bla...bla...bla!