THE PAINS AND GAINS OF NIGERIA: A REFLECTION AT 50 YEARS OF INDEPENDENCE

THE PAINS AND GAINS OF NIGERIA: A REFLECTION AT 50 YEARS OF INDEPENDENCE

In the heart of the terra-incognita tropical rainforest
Was rooted the grandest of all trees;
Nursed with great dreams, visions and hopes;
Accompanied by indispensable resolutions
Of a pursuit of surest realities.
The seasonless and unrelentful labours of our heroes past
Saw her breaking forth.

Through the early seasons of leadership rule
Were displays of her indomitable, alluring beauty,
Blossomed like a tree planted by the rivers of water
Bringing forth desirable fruits in due season;
With her flamboyant tentacles branching
From the north to the south and from the east to the west
Across the confluential rivers - Rivers Niger and Benue…

Long before remedy and prescriptions,
In season and out of season,
The luxuriant leaves of this tropical evergreen vine
Resoundedly fell apart painstakingly
Like an aborted baby – a shattered dream;
Like an angry torrential downpour
With its hypertensive thunderstorm.

The winter bugs and worms, cankerworm and spiteful pathogens
Have infested her with colossal wounds,
With insidious effects gangrene.
Causative organisms such as religious and ethnic intolerances, and crises;
Disharmony, egocentric dominance, political disparity;
Diverse inequalities, maimings, injustices, prejudices, hatred;
Corruption of esteem hierarchy, sclerotic economic miasma...

Defensively they invaded and polluted the great vine.
Some corrupted branches were grafted into her
Through restless, bloody and nefarious labours
Of the succeeding visionless uniform and non-uniform tenders.
What else will a corrupted vine bear –
Other than corruption, bribery, egocentricism, retrogression, social decay;
Depression, under-development, economic meltdown, pseudo beauty…

What a painful, heart-aching episode,
To see our scrupulous leaders trading our
Golden creeds for their greed,
Sowing seeds that may lead to division;
Seeds of corruption, hostility, hatred, prejudices...
That only God can permanently weed.

What a painful, heart-aching scene,
Like a congregation of people
Sobbing out their heart uncontrollably
For the demise of a cicero;
Or a mother that just lost her preemie;
Like an oak tree shedding thick, sticky tears profusely.

What a painful abortion of the founding dreams!
The founding dreams, visions and hopes that initialized her;
The painful cries from her differing parts
Resonate loudly through the woods seeking for a salvage.

Amidst all these,
From great and optimistic minds
Cognizant of the shattered past,
And ready to live above it;
With a passionate pursuit of rejuvenated dreams and visions;
Blossoms reality of unspeakable potentialities
Of incontestable beauty and great splendour.

Out of the pains that escribed eternity with hellish countenance
Emerge a convincing, unparallel, aromatic, indomitable, idyllic beauty.

A beauty symbolized by myriad of treasures;
Unquantifiable brilliance, greatness of entrepreneurial spirit;
Tolerable differences across ethnic groups, tribes, tongues and states;

A beauty of unimaginable, colossal and dynamic abilities
That makes her appear cinderellic;
That dispels blasts of the past from her heart.

A beauty which announces the dawn of a neo-Nigeria,
Dawn of a reality of hope.
The beauty of different tongues, tribes, cultures and people,
Like the tendering of the labyrinthine corridors;
Yet with a single vision, faith, dream;
One great and grandest voice that breaks cedars of Lebanon;
That enthrones her as the giant of Africa.

The beauty of the largest cluster of giant Negros
With oneness of understanding and commonality;
Living together in peaceful coexistence.

What a great beauty that needs to be discovered
As such to make our nation a better place to live in,
To realise the dreams of our founding fathers.

The discovery calls out to a duo, YOU and I;
You and I, to help discover and manifest her beauty,
The beauty of our great nation, Nigeria.

I BELIEVE IN NIGERIA...I BELIEVE IN HER DREAMS...I BELIEVE IN HER UNITY AND PEACE...

GOD BLESS NIGERIA! PEACE TO HER WALLS!! GROWTH TO HER LANDS!!!

BUTT PRINTS IN THE SAND OF LIFE

Butt Prints In The Sand of Life

One night I had a wondrous, yet awesome dream
One set of footprints there I saw
The footprints of my Precious Lord
But mine were not along the shore.

But then some strange prints appeared
I asked the Lord, "What have we here?"
Those prints are large and round and neat
"But Lord, they are too big for feet."

"My child," He said in somber tones
"For miles I carried you along
I challenged you to walk in faith
But you refused and made me wait."

"You disobeyed, you would not grow
The walk of faith you would not know
So I got tired, I got fed up
And there I dropped you on your butt."

"Because in life there comes a time
When one must fight and one must climb
When one must rise and take a stand
Or leave their butt prints in the sand."

"Life is a journey of faith, a walk with God."

"...the righteous ones shall live by faith. But I will take
no pleasure in anyone who turns away..." Hebrews 10:37-39 (NLT)


~~: ) PearlAdvocate

SOMETHING UNUSUAL ABOUT TODAY

I’m extremely excited and highly grate-Full to God for witnessing the euphoria and the atmosphere of joy today.

I can imagine the kind of unspeakable joy and happiness that is eroding the hearts of every citizen of US and even other meaning and concerned peoples of the world today.

Regardless the challenges of this day, history-making today has receded them into the background.

I have come to know and believe strongly that sincere optimism is the hallmark of Real Change. How much I wish our leaders of today and tomorrow in Nigeria and Africa as a whole will learn great lessons and teach others this principle of change.

Of a truth, history has already changed in US, and consequently some parts of the world. I mean a positive change they all believed in. Though, it is said that, “Change is the only thing that is constant in life.” Change is inevitable! Yet positive change comes only when positively changed people believe in it and selflessly pursue it.

To witness positive change, we need to believe God for a change, get a vision for change and passionately pursue change resolutely and tirelessly till it transforms into realities.

Everyone desires change in every ramifications of their lives; change of life, change of job, change of house, change of position and life status, change of education and economic status, change of possessions, change of anything you can imagine in life…No man is ever satisfied with a level but always want better, higher, greater, nicer, newer…life conditions. All these begin from changing our thoughts about life and our present conditions.

“Only a sincerely changed man can bring about a real change.”

For the peoples of US, they all believe with positive responses and encouraging attitudes that their dawn of change has come. “Positivism and Optimism are great catalysts of Real Change.”

For us here in Nigeria and Africa, we need to (with a seriously concerted and united spirit) pray for our leaders, citizens and individuals for God to change us all as such to have right, sincere optimistic minds and great thoughts for our Nation and Continent.

We need to begin to speak well of ourselves, conditions, and predicaments; dispose good and patriotic attitudes in manners that befit a changed man, witness by all and sundry and obvious to the reflections of the matters arising in our daily dealings.

The unusual thing about today is the unusual way God is sincerely changing people of this Nation and Africa. It will reflect in every area of our lives.

Remember, real change is only possible when only changed people optimistically, selflessly (with a strong passion) pursue a significant change.

And sincerely changed man today will ensure and secure a real change tomorrow.

There is indeed something unusual about today!

Be Positive in all things regardless the condition.

After the nights of -mares, nights of turbulence, nights of crises and wars of all sought, nights of fears and insecurity, nights of dearth/scarcity and darkness, nights of disunity and lack of progress yet with a strong believe; comes the dawn of a real positive change.

There shall be morning of the realities of our dreams and visions, morning of peace and serenity, morning of faith, morning of abundance, morning of full light, morning of unity and significant development, morning of real change.

There is a great hope and great future for our great Nation and Continent.

Real Change we believe in! Real Change we need!!! Real Change we shall achieve!!!