WHAT TIMIDITY WILL DO TO YOU.

 When I decided to learn how to speak in public, I was looking for a great platform, forgetting that there are platforms everywhere.
I did not know where to start from and my first outing had been pretty bad. I had been nominated as an Assistant Secretary in our youth fellowship and I was asked to give the announcement. I could not face our small congregation. Standing in front of everyone, bikemen were rioting in my head. The rioting bikemen in m...y feeble mind spilled the words out of my mouth. I was saying things but I could not hear myself.


To help my flustered confidence, I cracked a joke which refused to settle. Then everyone gave me this what-exactly-are-you-saying kind of look. What else will the righteous do? I began to explain my joke. But nope, I did not finish. Someone scratched his head, another batted an eye brow. I stepped down that podium, fired up that there has to be a better way.

After that encounter, the mirror in our room became a closer companion. I was always practicing, speaking, letting the mirror judge me, becoming the victor, triumphing over the vanquished. I joined the drama group, prayer group, evangelism, anything that would help. I practiced severally and my next assignment was like a stage play delivered with the precision of a well-rehearsed script.

Today I look back on those days when my lips were stuttering, when I would decide to preach in a bus I was traveling in, only to end up looking at trees and electric poles as they sped by. I see how God's grace was released to help my weakness, I see how the courage to speak up has shaped who I am. I am still becoming for according to Jim Conor, life is an unfolding process of becoming.

Many times, we want to achieve something but we don't want to do what the task demands. We want to wish the responsibilities away and embrace the result of the process. But the first task is to start the process. To ask the right questions. When we ask uncommon questions, we get uncommon answers. Yet it will take a measure of boldness to run towards the answers to the asked questions.

Today, much practice in the area of speaking has washed away my timidity. I have not attained the height I want but I am not where I used to be. Timidity rubs people of who they could be. It is the difference between schooled people getting nothing achieved and unschooled people accomplishing so much. Audacity will buy you more in the market place than timidity would give you in a life time.

No matter where you come from, no matter your religion, timidity will rub you of your shine while courage will push you a step further to the life you've always dreamed of. Which would you embrace today?
Timidity or Courage?
Stand Out, Be Exceptional.
Sincerely yours, D-Motivator.

Trusting God.

A song writer, Nicole Mullen wrote an interesting song, part of which says, 'Who taught the Sun where to stand in the morning?
Who told the Ocean you can only come this far?
And who showed the moon where to hide till evening?"
Thinking through on these important questions gives us a peek into the awesomeness of God. The creation proclaims His glory, from the earth hanging on nothing when viewed from outer space, to the ravens feeding fine, from the lilies clothed in beauty to the stars shining in silence at night. The works of God proclaim an immeasurable majesty.
And if He made these great things to be, how much more would he establish those who trust in Him. Life's stages can come with uncertainties, biting financial situation, family challenges, work pressures and many more. All of these may have the capacity to weigh you down. But before life breaks you, remember the one who clothes the lilies, who put the stars in place, who feeds the ravens and know that no one has the right to write you off except you consent. Would you accent that you're worth nothing? Keep daring and reaching for your dreams, if God has done it before, he can do it again. Trust!

No Action, Talk Only(NATO).

It's Monday evening in the quiet city of Abuja. I am rushing home after what looks like a busy day at work. The driver greets me, and tells me the fare. His face is set at angle ninety. He looks like someone to whom laughter is as costly as the fuel in his car. I don't argue. The heavens are grumbling with rain. Delay would be dangerous.

Along the road are flowers of people, and also shrubs, planted by the El-Rufai's FCT administration. There seems to have been no change in the look of the city centre since El-Rufai left.

Adorning the road side are fierce-looking, business-seeking, Jerry-Can-wielding, independent fuel marketers also known as black marketers. They spread out like electric poles, wielding gallons of hope. In front of each of them is their liquid gold with small hoses beside, with which they assist any car that might patronize their merchandise.

I am amused, everything happens in Nigeria. But this evening, my plight is not Nigeria. I am bothered because I am the one involved. How much I talk and how little I do. How much solutions are in my head and how little I bring forth. I want to fall down and wail briefly but I don't. There are goals our Organization can reach that it has not yet attained, an International Conference later in the year, the second edition of our magazine, books in my head that have not been written, the companies in my head that have not been incorporated, the people I am yet to help, our continent that is in need, out planet that is yet in peril. I cannot repair all these things, I agree, but I will have to fulfill purpose.

Lately, there's been lots of work on my table. From books to read to unfinished writing works, from letters to proposals and sundry office assignments. Sometimes it's difficult to stitch it all together. But when we were small, we used to build castles in the air, how to become a citizen of the world, live a little in America, a little in Germany, charge your phone in France, shop in Dubai, wield a passport, sagging with the weight of visa stamps. But growing up has numbed some of these imaginations, both the realistic ones and the unrealistic ones. I am waking them up.

It is true that I have hit some milestones but I find out, the difference between where I am and where I could have been is action, not talk. Even though talk, good, quality, polished talk has its place but the most positive of actions can supersede the most elegant words. Sometimes, we love people but we never say anything to them, we never show it. You want to get a job, yet you fold your hands and wait for the job to just fall. What differentiates the talker from the doer is what the doer does that the talker muses about. With little time, the difference becomes like 7up and coke, shining for the eyes to see.

Later, I wipe my frustration over a plate of Yam and beans prepared with some Orishirishi. This is how we roll. At least, man must wack to see clearly. In a few minutes, the food is working. I am a prophet. I get energy to see things more broadly. I become assured, I am not alone in this. No action, talk only group of people. We are many in Nigeria. Our minds are filled with possibilities that are shut out by realities. Our electricity supply is not constant, because we talk and don't take action, we're sandwiched in a fuel subsidy quagmire but we talk and do nothing.

This is why I am often hard on myself, because what goes around, comes around. This thing seems to be affecting me. For a split moment, I want to run away. I remember, the immigrant crises in the West. I calm myself down. I dey kampe. I open a software application on my laptop, Personal Brain, I begin to plan, strategize, restructure ways of bringing in more productivity and less activity.

I finish and I think about my friends, wonderful people on Facebook, who know all the solutions for Nigeria's problems but can't fix their small enclaves, who wear 'my money grows like grass' but know that the grass has long dried up. I remember those on twitter - who throw tantrums, with stone, weighing 140 characters, at the slightest provocation - living in glittering glass tombs, pretending that talk will solve all our problems. I also remember our President, who said he will make one naira equal to one dollar, who promised to stabilize oil price. Now he said we should have patience. But patience has just left. No action Talk only. Then, I wish myself and everyone well, Ogidichamma, Igobeta.

I repent. I quit the No Action, Talk Only group, as I am also not part of the original North Atlantic Treaty Organization, who sometimes, are plagued by no action, talk only. I know who I am; a concerned citizen of a fast-paced world.

Would you like to be all you were meant to be? Then join me, keep your fears behind you, let's walk the talk, take the step and win the race!
Be Inspired, Be Courageous, Be You.

WAITING WITH BATED BREATH.

At a time when the nation is going through a transition process, this painful metamorphosis, it's difficult to endure the dying days of this present administration. A few individuals have put the country on a standstill. In these last few days, systems are shutting down and Africa's biggest economy is descending on her knees. I wish I can hear our President speak to us and reassure us before the days ebb out. We can do better than this.

Sometimes, I'm choked by the air of current happenings. No power, no fuel, everything is rising and falling, no one is catching it. I heard the major oil marketers have called off their strike, interesting. But does this give us a lasting solution to the problem in our hands? How can we tackle this fuel subsidy problem? Can we have a ten-year plan to achieve self sufficiency in petroleum products? A ten year plan to increase refining capacity? A ten year plan to diversify from fossil fuel? What's the road map to leaving this subsidy rat race? Too many questions begging for attention.

In the last days of President Jonathan's administration, we are witnessing such a handshake with confusion. Everything seems suspended in limbo, except of course, occasional hasty sacking and appointment of new miracle workers in certain government parastatals, people who perhaps, the present administration have forgotten to appoint since its inception.But these we shall soon forget, because we are Nigerians. We don't usually remember too much, we forgive and forget as soon as the immediate evil is postponed for a later arrival. Nigerians do not usually demand so much from their leaders, just the basics and everything will be fine. But who will give us these basics?

Since the ruling party lost election, we have been served peace in chequered boxes. We thank God for Jonathan's peace-loving personality. We will always remember him. Yet, when the peace we have leaves us high and dry, hungry and angry over persistent fuel scarcity, it leaves much to be desired. From accusations to counter accusations on missing campaign funds to defections from PDP to APC and then fuel crisis, we have had a dose of activity, with little or no productivity. We have a fundamental value problem. Ours is a country where there is no political ideology, we are all crammed in like sardine, oiled by our collective poverty, wrapped up in our economic rat races.

I agree with Noviolet Bulawayo's title, We Need New Names. We need new names to redefine leadership for Nigeria. New names like Ben-Murray Bruce, who will not be afraid to speak his mind about issues, names like you and me, if we can stand up to be the change we seek and new names that will build on the good things that this present administration has achieved.

I am hoping Gen Buhari and Prof Osibanjo will change the status quo. But to how much? This is why I am waiting with bated breath. It's one thing to have good intentions just like this out-going administration, but to make that forward leap will need a strong will that can break the camel's back.
I fear there's going to be a fight soon. A fight between those who want to buy Nigeria and those unwilling to sell Nigeria. May we all be standing through the storm and the rain, to hug one another when all is said and done, with chants of 'We made it! We made it to a better Nigeria!'

Time To Man Up

When you are very kindhearted, many people will mistake it that you are weak. They often feel you won't do anything, afterall, you're meek. And the Bible says the meek will inherit the earth, right? But the meekness of a Lion does not change its identity to roar when the need arises. Many people want to shove every junk down your throat and have you say, 'Hey, brother, bless you!' You know what, no matter how kind you are, you will sometimes have to draw a line to sieve the chaff from the real deal. The Bible reminds us of something profound, wisdom is profitable to direct. Eccl.10:10
Jesus, at some point in his ministry came to the house of God and over turned the tables of those who were buying and selling, telling them that his father's house has to be a house of prayer, not a den of robbers,Matt.21:13. People would have been shocked, how would gentle Jesus be able to kill an ant. But he who is the Prince of Peace is also the Lion of the Tribe of Judah. It's a complete identity, a full package.

Sometime ago, we contracted a lawyer and he commenced the registration of our NGO, Motivators International. After he received all the payment and every other document processed, he kept telling stories before the certificate would be out, apparently something fishy has happened to part of the money. After more than three months of waiting, of calling, pleading, imploring, I drew the line. I went back to report him to higher authorities where he works and in less than 24 hours, the certificate got processed. When I saw the certificate, I found out that it was supposed to have been ready more than one month ago. Nature needed me to put in a little straight face.

Along the part to your next level, you may have to man up. You may have to stop petting your problems. Confront your challenges, head on. Look your mountain in the face and tell it, "Get lost!" This is what life is. Wisdom whispers to our ears when to hold on, when to go in for a fight, when to show restraint, when to have patience.

Diplomacy is important but in the event that this fails, draw from your arsenals, confront your challenges in the place of prayer, speak to someone, make a move, back up your faith with action. If you are married to a man who keeps using you as a talking drum, making you cry like you are married to Onions, you have to man up. Don't die in silence, seek counseling.

The only way to become a hero is to demolish your Goliath. But you can't be a giant-killer when you lack the David kind of guts, that runs after giants with a sling, a rock and the name of the Lord. You have to believe that your five loaves and two fish can feed your five thousand when you give thanks, you have to switch on your faith and trust that your pot of oil will not run dry if God is involved.
Man up friend, if God be for you, who can be against you?

BECOMING AN ENGINE ROOM

When I was in Secondary School, Government Secondary School, Owerri, that congregation of going-somewhere students, I belonged to the french club. At the supervision of our french teachers, we perfected the art of la-cram-la-pour of our french script. One of those scripts says something like,

"Dire que je suis Citoyen d'un pays petrolier, dire que je suis Citoyen d'un pays qui est geant d'un continent, citoyen d'un pay supposer d'etre un des plus riches du monde. Depuis deux jours, je n'aie mangeais que cet orange" (From the script Quel Pays. A character in the play was lamenting being a citizen of a rich Nigeria, yet suffering from hunger.)

Even though we didn't quite understand what the script was saying then, we would recite our parts in the drama, run up and down the stage like marionettes, trying to shine. And we did shine, winning the State level competition for almost 6 years if not more. We took the first, second, third and fourth positions at different times at the National Stage and we traveled to many places also.

One of our teachers at that time, Mrs Ebiringa, wrote those brilliant dramas; La Jalousie, Quel Pays, Le Mystere de L'Ordinateur, among others. She is such a genius. When she writes the drama, we will start the cramming and the other teachers will start directing. It was later we would unravel the meaning of what we crammed. But Mrs Ebiringa was the engine room of those french plays. She never ceased to amaze me, her creativity and imagination. We had other excellent french teachers but the success of the french club revolved around her innovation.

Then after we graduated from the school, she became a lecturer in Imo State University and little has been known about the french club ever since. She is still a lecturer there as I write this.

Looking back, I appreciate even better her commitment, her zeal and knowledge of her craft. I wonder how long it took her. But when you have one or two Ebiringas in your establishment, you will make progress, for her type is like a gift to a generation, like the light through which others see their dark tunnels.

Becoming an engine room most of the time, is a combination of talent and training and appreciation of small defining moments. I am wowed when I watch Usain Bolt on the tracks, Lionel Messi or Christiano Ronaldo in football and other persons who are the stars of their different niches.

In every company, someone is in the engine room, in every family, in a country, where ever. In every church, someone is the Engine room, praying. In a team, it could be the coach or a star person in that team. But it doesn't always take too much to be the engine room. Fulfilling that your little commitment could be what will keep the engine going. Will you do your best so that your own part of the engine will not suffer?


Today, I remember Mrs Ebiringa, the engine room of our French club, the Shakespeare of our winning dramas. May God bless her and all the people who are the engine rooms, making things happen, people who do their best to take responsibility where ever they find themselves.

 May your days be long.

VICTORY FOR DEMOCRACY.

Through out this Presidential Election period, I stood for my conscience. I wrote about the two major candidates and expressed my support for Goodluck Jonathan. It was something personal. But the Nigerian people have chosen the people's general.

The next four years will justify this choice or vindicate the people who stood for Jonathan. I'm proud to have flashed glimpses of my support at Jonathan; despite his mistakes. Yet, knowing fully well that I want a bigger and better Nigeria, I hereby congratulate General Buhari.

From the election results, we have a lot of work to do in building true bridges of Unity in our country. The lopsided voting between the North and South presents our country as a contraption of Kingdoms, Southern Kingdom and Northern Kingdom, united by the white man's language, perforated along its stitched lines by ethnicity and religion.

Congratulations to the APC, siamese twins with the PDP, they've wrestled victory from the party that boasted they'll rule Nigeria for 50 years. And will there be any difference? Time will tell. Truth is, change is never easy. For standing through the rain and the storm, victory can't be anything sweeter.



Despite the odds and the challenges, our democracy is making progress. This is a strong signal that power lies in the hands of the people and they must not be taken for granted. Nigeria is bigger than any one individual, and because what unites us is bigger than what divides us, we will keep moving forward. Congratulations Nigeria's President elect, General Mohammadu Buhari. Congratulations Nigeria. It's a victory for Democracy.