First Time!!!!!!!

The first time we do anything (good mind you) should be an exhilarating experience for anyone of us. I however found out that there are a number of firsts in our lives that we discount and do not revel in the joy of it. Some of us have been going round in circles that we think there is no room for firsts. It suddenly dawned on me that it was the first time I made someone's hair, the first time I got a bouquet of roses from my husband on our anniversary, the first time I went grocery shopping with a new friend, the first time I baked potatoes, the first time I wore a particular top... the first time, the first time.... I could go on and on... I am grateful for all the first and the new things in my life no matter how seemingly mundane.

It tells me that
1. I am able to do new things
2. I dare to do new things
3. Its not too late to have a first time of anything

Some of us have either forgotten how to do new things, are too engrossed in our same old habits and rots to bother with new things, are to scared to do new things or have forgotten to luxuriate in our firsts..... Dare to count your firsts... you might be surprised.

WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME IT WAS YOUR FIRST?

How do I satisfy them?

How on earth do you satisfy humans and our wants? Can humans ever be satisfied?

Three years ago, the face of public transportation was "Molues" (Humongous buses that mostly tilts at an angle of about 45 degrees to the side), "Danfos" (Smaller buses that sometimes have their trunks converted to chairs for people to sit in - in order to increase revenue), "yellow taxis" (Some shaky like jelly fishes and on the high end monetarily). A commutter was stuck with either of these. Today, gradually, the face of public transportation is changing thanks to the BRT, eko taxis and corporate cabs. I was pleasantly surprised a few days ago to find out that the newly procured BRT buses have functioning air conditioning units which means you do not have to sweat (considering the temperate whether). However, to my utter amazement, I heard a woman complain about the fare which by the way is lower tahn the Danfo's. She said she does not need the ac and she would rather board the old "Molues" as they were better, I chalked it up to her just ranting. However, I thought I'd vent about it when I saw the same woman again the next day making the same complaint even though she opted to board the fully - ac bus. It got me wondering about why humans are never satisfied. It also reminded me of a story.


Once upon a time in a land not so far away, there were men, women and children who were under the oppressive and heavy hand of a wicked task master. The yoke / burden was near impossible to bear so, these humans called unto a power higher than the task master to deliver them and releive them of the burden.

So, in came the higher power that delivered them with a lot of pomp and fanfair from their task master on the condition that they will go with him and work with him but the tasks he assigned them were light. These humans were grateful for a short period for the deliverance. However after a very short time, they began to complain once again, they even said the new master should have left them in the custody of their wicked, high handed task master. The new master was of course very shocked at this reaction. They did not enjoy their new found freedom because of the magnitude and frquecy of their complaints.


Lesson learnt:
Seek to do what is right and even though humans complain, realise that:

- Humans have an innate tendency to complain
- Human needs and beings are insatiable. Everyone cannot be satisfied all the time
- Change is very threatening for humans. We are comfortable and like to remain with the status quo
- Whenever you are about to complaint, think very deply about why you are about to complain and see if it really is a valid reason to complain

P.S:
To complain means to "grumble about" to whine or find fault. The opposite is to applaud, approve, be content, be happy, commend, praise, recommend, sanction

Police is your Friend (2)

Tunzie!!!!!!!!! What is it with the Police? I am beginning to wonder - Permit me to say that.

Let me quickly tell you what it is with them.
on the 6th of March, at about 6:20pm, The car I was in was moving towards its destination and had almost gotten there, I was contemplating whether to continue reading the book I had or just chill for a few more minutes till I got home, well, the desicion was taken out of my hands because I suddenly heard a loud sound and the next thing, the car rotated on its front tire axis and then I was on my head - a somersault. I saw blood but didn't realize it was mine. It was all so surreal. Well, now to why the topic... Guess who was at the accident scene.. Yep!!!! you are right. A Police man, he pulled me out through the window, I picked my bag and phone, I tried to make a phone call to my Sister and could not talk for long, so the Policeman took the phone and completed the phone conversation. He then took me to the nearest Hospital where we were told I couldn't be treated and to go to a more specialized Hospital. All this while, my blood was pouring. I kept on saying that "I was not going to die but I would live to declare the works of God in my life i the land of teh living". Well, someone that works with an NGO - non Governmental Organisation that operates an ambulance service had followed to the Hospital and organised for their ambulance to take me to the National Orthopaedic Hospital, it was rush hour and there was traffic, my blood was still flowing out. At this time, they had put something to collect the blood with. The Police man was there in the ambulance with me till I got to the Hospital. He called later to find out how I was doing. Waoh!!!!!! Police could really be your friend :-)

COMPARISONS

I just read two amazing books, one about Jews and the other about Blacks. It was fascinating to do some kind of comparison. It was an eye opener for me. I decided to share some the points of comparison and lessons learnt on my blog.

Jews and Blacks in the West

- Jews and Blacks were both "immigrants" into the west (first generation immigrants) Blacks went into the West through slavery and suffered a lot psychologically, physically, mentally and every form of "allys" we can think about. Jews too had their own share of discrimination and segregation one. In spite of the segregation, one can see that the Jews have certainly done better than the Blacks. One might also say it would have been easier for the Jews to blend in to the society because of the colour of their skin but even they had to live in closed communities by themselves and be self sufficient. The Black man however would stick out like a thumb in the midst of whites.

- Many years after the abolition of slavery, a lot of Blacks still live in abject poverty and even Native Africans that live in Africa don't seem to be doing any better than their counterparts in the developed countries. One would then wonder what is responsible and much more than that, what can be learnt and what can be done. If Jews, who make up only 2% of the American population, can have One third of all American multi millionaires as Jews, 20% of the professors in leading universities as Jews, 25% of all American Nobel Prize winners as Jews etc (The Jewish Phenomenon), then, I think we as a people can do better than we are doing right now.

Comparison

- Jews take care of their own because they believe that if you take care of your own yours will take care of you. This they do by supporting community based charity orgnizations, supporting issues that promote their cause and patronizing their group's local businesses. On the other hand we (Blacks) would rather patronize international / foreign businesses as opposed to local ones. Given, some of the products made/ distributed locally might not be as good but in some cases where they are equally good, it has become a classy thing not to use anything manufactured and produced locally. By doing this, we are not in any way helping our local businesses move forward. One word to the local businesses though, PLEASE!!! Produce good quality products and see us patronize you en masse. Also, the rate of Black on Black crimes is alarming. It almost seems like we are set on exterminating our race. People kill themselves for any and every flimsy reason imaginable.. I think its time we begin to take care of our own. Some of us have started doing one form of taking care of our own or the other. I want to encourage us to continue and if you have not started, now is the time.

- Successful people are professionals and Entrepreneurs - Jewish. On the other hand, the average educated Black person wants to finish school, get a job and sit tight with the job - serving the master. I was discussing with one of my colleagues last week, I asked him what he saw himself doing in the next 10-15 years and he said he would still be with the company. I must say that I was very amazed. I asked about him moving to another company and he said he didn’t see that coming. He is just satisfied with working with the company until he retires. A lot of us have the mindset of working with someone else till we drop. I am not saying that all of us should be entrepreneurs but I am saying that that is how successes are built. The Jeans industry was started by the Jews – Levis Strauss, the movie making industry MGM, Paramount Pictures, Universal Studios etc. These are a very few of the businesses started by Jews and passed on to the next generations. A lot of others that were not business owners were very successful and skilled professionals who left their marks in history. If we intend to be extremely successful, we should be ready to plunge out on our own, go the extra mile and leave an inheritance for our children's children.

There are at least two more points I'll like to bring out, that I'll do that in my next post.

Police is your Friend

As a firm believer in the "new Naija" (new Nigeria), I went to the lauching of the "new Naija" club that took place on the 1st January at the Balmora hall in Oregun, Lagos State, Nigeria - what a way to usher in the year. The interesting thing was that the PRO of the Lagos Nigeria Police force was one of the speakers of the day along with notable icons - Pat Utomi, Deolu Akinyemi, Fela Durotoye, Gbenga Sesan, Niyi Adesanya etc.

The speakers said a lot of notable things but since I had previously written some things on the Nigeria Police, the PRO of Police who spoke on the topic "Police is your friend" caught my attention. I eagerly awaited what he was going to say.

He started by acknowledging that the topic is a difficult one since a lot of people - (yours truly inclusive) are biased.

Amongst other things, He said that sometimes, the members of the public give the Police wrong information which sometimes leads to ambush and sometimes death of members of the Police force. He implored us to please cooperate with the POlice so that they can do their work well ..................

Anyway, the only thing he said that caught my attention and I chose to hold onto/ pick was that just as there are some young people who believe and are committed to working towards the new Nigeria, there are also some Police Officers who are committed to working towards a better Police force. I CHOSE to believe him. I therefore look forward to a better Nigeria Police force where the Police is really my friend.

WRITE THE VISION

Tic Toc!! The clock is ticking. Even though the year is already rolling, I believe I am still permitted to say a happy new year to my people and while I am at it, I will like to ask what you have decided to do this year.
Do you have resolutions or goals? Or are you just going to live out the year as it comes. Taking it one day at a time. Allowing circumstances to shape your year and invariably your life.

Some might say they wrote goals and resolutions in years past but they either didn't meet their targets or they totally forgot about the goals in the hustle and bustle of the year. So, they wonder “what’s the point anyway?”

I would say the point is taking charge, proactively planning and having a yardstick to measure achievements by quarterly, at the end of the year or whenever you choose during the year. After all, you wouldn't have known that you did not achieve what you set out to if you did not set out at all or if you did not have any goals/ resolutions at the beginning of the particular year you thought you didn’t achieve your goals. There would not have being a real measure of achievement.
Imagine that footballers play matches without a goal post. They'll keep running around aimlessly and at the end of 90 minutes, they would have succeeded in exercising their bodies. They would not be able to measure their performance. There would not be a measure of achievement.

I would say "write the vision and make it plain on tablets that they may run who reads it" - Habakkuk2:2. Have something to prove. Do not let the year just roll by. Install a goal post, be able to say at the end of the year that I achieved 1,2 and I need to work on 5,6. This way, we can continually strive to be better people, strive to meet the deadlines we missed.

This might be coming late but I don't think it’s too late. It should serve as a reminder for someone who has being procrastinating. Or even for someone who had not decided to "Write the vision"

Do you think the Nigeria Police Force is reformable (2)


I posted the first article on this subject on the 10th of August 2006. That’s over a year ago. At the time, I did not know that I would post a second and maybe a third article on the same topic. This post was actually triggered by an incidence that occurred around the Christmas season.

I was traveling by road within the country (Naija) with my Husband and we met a lot of Police "check points" on the road (as usual). We got to a particular point where the policeman who was supposed to check the vehicle particulars, drivers license and the insurance stopped us to check all our documents, he checked all the papers, returned them to us except for the drivers license and then he said, "Oga, do Christmas for us now." Well, since "doing Christmas" for people should be an act of free will, we said we were not doing Christmas for him so, he held on to the driver's license and refused to release it. At this point, it was already getting a bit late and we still had some way to go. The "Police Officer" could not be bothered that the roads were bad and unsafe to be drive on particularly at night, he was just concerned about us "doing Christmas" for him. Unknown to us, he had told his "Oga" - Superior that the papers of the car were not complete. He stopped a lot of other cars after us and told them to do Christmas too. We found out that the Police Officer is still a student in a Higher Institution of learning (assuming he was telling the truth to one of the numerous people he stopped)

When we had spent the greater part of an hour at their check point and it was getting dark, the guy's superior told him to give us the driver's license and that we could go. His name? - "Ojo Olayinka"

The incidence reminded of occurrences that people had gisted me about, articles I had read in the newspapers and of the article I had written over a year ago. All these brought waves of doubt to my heart. It made me wonder if the Nigeria Police is reformable... It made me wonder if I am right to be a staunch believer in the new Nigeria. But then, I decided that it would not be wise to allow my faith to be shaken, I reiterated my believe in Nigeria. I still believe in a new Nigeria. I believe that in spite of the efforts of a lot of people in authority the Police, the Government and even the society at large to dash my hopes and beliefs, I believe that a time is coming when people in authority like Officer Ojo Olayinka will realize that doing Christmas for a fellow human is by choice and not by force. That it’s not to be done under duress. I believe that a time will come when Police officers will ride brand new cars and live in fantastic houses. I believe a time will come when the Police will be respected as an authority not because they have guns but because they are doing what they ought to do. I believe a time will come when it will be an insult to offer a Police Man in Nigeria bribe because he will be too well paid and his mentality will not be that of a poor man, his mentality will not be that of a needy person, his mentality will not be that of a victim of circumstance but his mentality will be that of an office holder who has being entrusted with authority and the safety of lives and property of the people of the nation within his jurisdiction. I am a firm believer in a New Nigeria and I believe that we will get there in my life time.