255 days on the 25th

Merry Christmas everyone!

Today 25th of December, we celebrate the Best Gift Humanity ever received, Christ Jesus my Lord. 

We will go ahead to eat and be merry and transiently forget our worries . We will cast our cares for a few moments in order to enjoy the bounty laid before us.

Today 25th of December marks the 255th day since our Chibok girls were abducted.  

Their families and friends would also prepare to celebrate this season amidst tears and hope, questions and queries. 

Today 25th of December, I urge us all to celebrate and be glad, yet not cast off all our worries. 

Our sisters are still missing, let's not forget their plight in the midst of the merriment. 

Merry Christmas Nigeria! 

Why, my soul, are you downcast?

Twice today I have been asked ' why are you downcast?" and twice I wondered what changed my countenance.  

I had a great weekend no doubt! Fun filled like I planned, and looked forward to activating my work mode. 

Unfortunately, I was greeted by the news of a recent video released by Boko Haram which showed them slaughtering 'infidels and non believers'. 

To add salt and pepper to my freshly bruised mood, I got to work hoping that JOHESU would have resuscitated the hospital which they paralysed, but alas, as it has been in the last 2 weeks, the JOHESU staff were available but doing nothing! 

They came to sign attendance yet they refused to retrieve medical records of patients, open consulting offices or give me something as simple as a sphygmomanometer to check my patient's blood pressure! 

Yet at the end of the month, they would expect to be paid afterall, they have evidence that they came to work! ( #no work no pay my foot!)

I soon realised that the state of the nation gave me little to be merry about in this merry season! But I refuse to let the state of the nation determine the state of my mind! Never!

Afterall, I am of the common wealth of Zion and I walk by faith and not by sight!  

Be not downcast my soul! Rejoice in the Lord and be glad! For He is thy shield and exceeding great reward! 

He makes me lie down in green pastures, he satisfies my soul and crowns my year with His bounty! 

A thousand may fall by my right hand and ten thousand by my left, it shall not come near me!

Even in famine I shall be satisfied!  

I bask in his love, 

I receive his love daily, 

I am his pet and Nigeria can't change these truths!

So if like me, you find yourself feeling sad or down trodden, remind yourselves of the truths, don't let the devil steak the joy of this season and everyday from you! 

In the Words of King David :

Why, my soul, are you downcast?

Why so disturbed within me?

Put your hope in God, 

For I will yet praise him,

My Savior and My God. 

(Psalms 42 : 5 and 11 ,and 43 :5)

Have a merry Christmas folks!

http://e.3875.com/christmas/ep2.html?stra=Ambimbola!20B8

6000th view, thanks to you!

Wow! 
Guess what guys, I hit my 6000th page view today with my 66th post in my 6th month as a blogger! 

Thank you all for opening my links, reading my posts and commenting both here and personally!

Thank you for keeping tabs on me when I went MIA! 

Thanks Bolu and Toba my esteemed Editors! 

Thank you all for listening and reading! 

Whoop whoop! 

The Nigerian Default Mode

Hi fellows.  It has been a while I posted here. It's not that I have been oblivious of the happenings around me, no; it's just that I find myself tuning towards the default mode of most Nigerians: ' that's Nigeria for you'. 

 Over the past few days, I have heard conversation after conversation about how awkward the Nigerian situation is with most of these discussions ending in phrases like: May God help us, Na wa for Nigeria, that's just Nigeria for you, there's nothing we can do etc. 

 I realise that it is convenient to take this stand and just believe that the system can't be improved, but the truth is this belief will cause our already sorry state to degenerate further. 

 The other day on one of the Rapid Transit Buses, I almost shut an elderly man up for spreading hopelessness and discouragement to every young person on board! 
Instead, I put his age into consideration and respectfully told him that his generation has failed and if he won't encourage the younger generation, then he should please stop talking.  

Here's my point: With all the craziness going on in the Nigerian system, it is easy to take the 'siddon look' approach and make ends meet enough to take care of yourself and your immediate family; that's what most of the older generation did. We can't afford to do that!  Not at this point of the Nigerian History.  Time will tell, our Children will ask. And like I always say, God forbid that they also say to us that we failed their generation! 

Let's start to act out our rantings! 
Let our actions be the change we so passionately talk about. 
Take a further step by being the change you wish to see. 
It starts with you and I. 

Insanity in the corridors of power 2

Honourable (ˈɒnərəbəl; ˈɒnrəbəl) or Honorable adj 1. (Government, Politics & Diplomacy) the Honourable(prenominal) a title of respect placed before a name: employed before the names of various officials in the English-speaking world Whenever I behold the actions of some of our lawmakers, I just assume that they do not understand some things. They simply do not know what it means to be an honourable. And that is why I have decided to look up the meaning of this title to ensure that its original meaning has not changed!  A title of respect! To be honourable means to be of high esteem. Not the same as pride, but very similar to being graceful and pious.  Over the few years of our democracy, we have witnessed recurrently, disgraceful and shameful actions from our honourables, both at the National and State levels; not just in terms of misinterpreting the law to suit their selfish purposes but also in their physical actions and reactions. It's no longer news that Hon Melaye and some others were almost stripped naked in the hallowed chambers, neither is it strange to watch honourables assault themselves with whatever they can lay their hands on, even if it's the mace. The chaos that ensues in the name of debates and the pitiful exchange of words and insults that fly around in the hallowed chambers make me wonder if hallowed has been redefined in the dictionary!         ( National Assembly Fitness Drill Video) The recent fitness drill and show of acrobatic skills showcased by some of our lawmakers is just unbelievable! My jaws refused to come together as I watched them perform! D banj couldn't have given a more captivating show than what we saw on Thursday! One thing I always ask is this, ' how will they look into the eyes of their kids and tell them to act honourably?' Politics in Nigeria has become a pitiable show of shame and lack of integrity! Only God knows what else we'll see in the corridors of power! I can't even guess, cause no where in this world would I have guessed that Nigerian Honourables would scale the gates of the compound to gain access into the legislative chambers! No I didn't see that coming. No one did!

Insanity in the Corridors of power 1

Today, I shall start my soliloquy by borrowing the words of the renowned Brainiac Albert Einstein who defined Insanity as " doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results"; because saying outright that our government might be insane would appear insulting albeit factual.  The presidency and Committee on Security matters have approved an extension of the State of Emergency Rule in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states for the 3rd time in a row! This is the first time a particular region of this country would be in a perpetual state of emergency for so long! The simple logic is that if a particular method isn't effective, change to something else.  Persistence and loyalty to a school of thought isn't the way forward when lives are being wasted everyday.  No. Trying whatever will work should be the approach of our government. From the look of things, it appears that while the citizens of these states are restricted in their land, the intruders, the insurgents have an unrestrained access to loot, plunder and devour the inhabitants of the land. My questions are these: 1. Are there no other methods apart from declaring a state of emergency? 2. If after so long, the state of emergency hasn't restricted or curtailed the operations of Boko Haram, what miracle will happen now? 3. What happened to all the foreign support we were promised by the First world countries? If the presidency wants an extension of this rule, then I assume there must be a change in the strategy and plans of our armed forces. I assume that there is a sure and better way they have devised that cannot be implemented without a State of Emergency.  If not, then I might be forced to agree with those who think that a routine psychiatric evaluation is a mandatory exercise for all our National leaders, afterall, only a mad man will do the same thing the same way and expect a different result. No be me talk am, Na Einstein say so.

A concatenation of my thoughts

In the space of 3 to 4 days, we had at least a major BH attacks per day on the citizens of Nigeria and while BH attacks have earned a regular slot in our news bulletins, I always try to put myself in the shoes of the victims and their relatives. Whenever I do this, it sparks up reactions that are fast becoming eroded by the frequency of disasters all around us.  This week, I have had to do this twice and these are the words I found to express my emotions:  MONDAY I am tired of this rubbish! Ahn Ahn! What is it sef? Every day some animals blow up people as if they are rocks that need to be blasted in a quarry! Yet our government and people are silent, parading themselves for 2015 election!  If the Federal government cannot provide security in Yobe, Borno, Adamawa, Gombe, every other state in this country and stop this crazy trend that is fast becoming a norm, let them forget 2015 election!  Let GEJ, TAN, Protectors of Nigeria's Posterity and all other supporters stop wasting our money on campaigns!  It's sad to think that they'll even talk about elections in the ears of Northern Nigerians ( and of course in the ears of every Nigerian) when daily, we mourn our people! I cannot imagine what would be going on in the mind of a people whose government has failed to protect them, yet ask to be reconsidered, let alone be re-elected!   It's appalling and totally unacceptable!  They should be slapped, stoned and mobbed! All of them!   Biko, we demand to be protected!  Going to school has become a crime and yet they say they are protecting our posterity!  Where's the future when our children are ignorant and uninformed?  What is there to preserve?   What do they look forward to preserving?  A country that is a shadow of its old self and loves to bask in that faded glory?   We demand to be protected!  We demand that Boko Haram be taken care of!  It's our right and the responsibility of our government!   If they won't be responsible, then they can't be re-elected!   Enough is Enough!  Our girls are still missing!  Our children are still dead and more are dying! Yet they parade themselves in our faces!   What nonsense!  FRIDAY So GEJ had his rally a day after scores of children were blown to pieces in their schools?  And people keep wondering why I can't stop ranting about our president!   I don't know if I am in this alone, but would it be too much to postpone that declaration in honour of these dreams that were suddenly killed under his watch? Would it be too much to ask?  That a father should mourn openly his lost children? That a leader should show empathy about the decaying condition of his institution? Are we asking for too much? Shouldn't GEJ be sensitive to the pains of the people of Yobe and Gombe?  Why can't he see what we see? Why can't he feel what we feel? Has he become so far above that he can't relate with the realities of the common man anymore? Has he forgotten so soon, how he felt when he had no shoes?  I am at a loss for words to describe my uttermost disappointment at this display of insensitivity by the Commander-in-Chief of Nigeria. Even if he is so ill-advised, shouldn't there be a voice of reasoning from within? How much more before tyranny sets in? Nigerians, THINK!