Supporting Mubarak Abdullahi’s Local Helicopter Project
July 14, 2008 by 
Guest Writer · Leave a Comment
Written by: ADEKUNLE THEOPHILIUS
With the current millennium and scientific breakthroughs, the essence of technological development as a veritable stratagem for socio-economic advancement is indubitable. Worldwide, most countries are strengthening their research and development efforts and pumping millions to their universities, private and public research institutes all in a bid to attain a strong technological platform that will translate into socio-political, military and economic advantages. Thus, the imperative for Nigeria is to intensify its efforts towards technological development, a global phenomenon which is the top priority of serious, visionary and ambitious countries.
But Nigeria presents an atypical situation; we are lagging behind seriously in terms of Research and Development despite our array of manpower, natural and financial resources. About a decade ago, I highlighted the achievements of two Nigerians, Ifeanyi Eze who invented a static generating set that uses electromagnetic induction, protective scud missile that can travel up to 5km, barometric computer that can preserve agricultural produce etc and Sale Zubairu who in 1989 designed the first astronomical telescope in Nigeria. I wrote about the need for government or private sector intervention for these inventions which if properly nurtured could put us on the highway to scientific progress. Sadly, nothing came out and only God knows where these two potentially great Nigerians are now and what happened to all their works. Probably in the archives like the great Ayodele Awojobi’s autonov!.
I am astonished that the Federal Ministry of Science and Technology, its relevant agencies and the private sector always pay lip service to Research and Development issues, especially when most of these inventions could have really enhanced our prospects for technological development. Sadly, we have lost a generation of inventors and limitless opportunities to become a technological power. One look at Autonov in UNILAG is just enough to elicit tears from any conscientious Nigerian!. But just what is wrong with us as a people individually and collectively?, what in the world could have prevented any reasonable nation from assisting citizens that are on the verge of great scientific discoveries no matter how infinitesimal?. The contemptuous manner we have treated indigenous inventors, various research centres and their products is a national calamity and an explicit vote of no confidence on all of us!.
We just forget that only a technological power will record sustainable progress and prosperity which invariably translates to economic clout. It is only when we are self sufficient to a certain extent that we can earn the respect of the developed nations and tell bretton woods institutions to go to hell (where they rightly belong). We have the potentials to compete favorably in this regard, so just what is happening? A country that imports used brassieres and pants will continue to be disgraced not only by western nations, but also by it’s minnow neighbors!. That small countries like Benin, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea can ridicule us is because we have never exploited our technological potentials, which would have led to economic development and occupying our appropriate position in the world.
Would Nigerians be treated with such disdain and derision at the airports of the world, were Nigeria an industrial or science oriented powerhouse? Inarguably, we can only restore the nation to the path of socio-economic progress by harnessing and developing our technological potentials to a level that will enable us interact or flex on the stratum with the developed world where we should be and rightly belong. We can only move Nigeria forward by having a holistic and sustainable science development plan to identify, train and support young scientists via assisting them to develop themselves and their inventions. At this stage, we should be able to boast of a special programme for young inventors that will aid the development of their skills for specific inventions all in a bid to propel Nigeria to the comity of technologically self sufficient nations.
The government should accord science and technology top priority by revitalizing and adequately funding all science oriented research centres and indigenous inventors and ensuring the patronage and development of the products of our research centres and indigenous inventors. Governments should also put in place schemes like attractive emoluments, research grants, conditions of employment, work tools, training and development etc. Infact, Government can devote a certain percentage of our oil revenue to fund scientific development. But can we ever get our acts right in this country? a country where treasury looters, film stars, 419 practitioners and other frivolous figures are role models, a nation where ephemeral issues are elevated to the stratos of national prominence, a nation where football bonuses for two matches far outstrip yearly wages for top scientists Read more
Orji Uzor Kalu on Yar’Adua’s 12 months on the saddle
July 10, 2008 by Che Oyimnatumba · Leave a Comment
Sir,
I read your leadership series of 5th July 2008 with a tablespoon full of salt.
This is predicated on my last encounter with you after your “Fidel or infidel” which I considered and still consider an unfair assessment of El-Comandante and the achievements he has made in Cuba in the face of relentless United States unwarranted assault.
I am forced to write you again, after reading your most recent article on Yar’Adua’s 12 months in office. Each time I am chanced to read your leadership series, I crave for insightful information but you always disappoint me.
As a governor of a volatile state like Abia, with ndi Ngwa and old Bende division att dagger’s drawn, one had expected you write about the intricacies of governance. The younger generation wants to know how a master strategist was able to rule and survive the 8 years of cold war with the maximum ruler of Nigeria. They also want to read and learn how to handle renegade deputies, of which you are not in want of experience to share. Generations younger than yours, wants to know how you pulled out the coup that installed Theodore Oji, who was in EFCC detention at the time of election.
These expectations have not been met, rather you write like a journalist and a sensational columnist in desperate need to butt in on all national issues.
Wisdom in deed is like a goat skin bag and everyone carries his own. With this ageless African adage, I will restrict my reaction to national issues you raised and let your personal opinion be yours, for I may disagree with what you said but I am bound to respect your right to say so.
According to your article, “Yar’Adua is a firm and no nonsense person..” A good look at Mr. President, shows that he is a fair weather president, a man who does not think deep about his actions before making it official and open. The most recent, is the Niger Delta Gambari saga. Hasn’t the president over ruled himself? Why heat up the already volatile Niger Delta with a choice the people are against? He kept mute and allowed all manner of feathers to be ruffled before he capitulated. At the dawn of his ascension, the announcement of Acting Inspector General of Police and the following reversal does not show Yar’Adua as a firm person. He is more like a man who stirs the pond and pitch his tent where popular opinion is, so as to come across as a listening president. This unassertiveness will not be long before the fifth columnists in his government will hijack him.
Your article also said that “He has surprised everybody by the way and manner he has run his administration”. Sir, any good student of political psychology won’t be surprised. Mr. President from the legendry Yar’Adua family, is playing true to type. What role did his brother play in 1976-79? Shadowy. Hungry for power but afraid to stand out. His younger brother is playing same, only that he has taken it to a greater art. Mrs. President does the daily running around and is the most conspicuous face of this administration. The president, runs Nigeria on an Auto-pilot. Each day will resolve its crisis. Like Abacha, Mr. President has landlocked himself in Aso Rock with minimal visit to the states of the federation. Mr. President has visited more foreign countries than the states in Nigeria. Is this a style of leadership to be proud of?
A leader who goes abroad to wash her dirty boxers. At the just concluded G8 meeting, Yar’Adua opened up that it is a cartel of buyer of stolen crude oil that is behind the Niger Delta crises. If it is true, what has Mr. President done about the porous boarders of Nigeria? An oil sea faring tanker is not too tiny that it cannot be sported by the Nigerian Navy, yet the Navy high command has not been reprimanded. Has there been any structural and administrative change in the Nigerian Navy or Customs? The guns floating in the creeks of the Niger Delta are not manufactured in Nigeria. They are imported in containers, some duly cleared, while others are smuggled into the country via a well known smugglers route. Yar’Adua’s administrative style is suspect rather than surprising.
Now to the burning issue. Niger Delta. Your submission is that “the present upheaval in the region is not totally the fault of Yar’Adua. It was there long before he came”. Let me ask, which problem was Yar’Adua’s? According to Lucky Dube, “people have problems since the Pope was an altar-boy”. Same applies to Nigeria. It is these problems and their resolution that we go to the polls every four years to elect (forget about Maurice Iwu’s 2007 wuruwuru), leaders who will shepherd us to the Promised Land, where these problems will be minimal. Yar’Adua when he was being led like a dog to an Akwa Ibom man’s kitchen by Obasanjo, was telling those who cared to listen that he will solve the Niger Delta problems, declare state of emergency on the power sector. 12 months after, what do we have? Over militarization of the Niger Delta with casualty rate higher than what it was under Abacha and the Odi massacre.
The problem with Nigeria leadership class is that most of its members are not qualified to be there. Did Yar’Adua indicate interest? Was he not forced on all of us? Even some of you who vigorously campaigned, where shoved aside for a man who has no understanding of the magnitude of the multi-facet Nigerian problems.All the quasi qualification of Nigeria leadership class is money to bribe the conscience of the electorate. Where this money fails, they resort to violence as is being unearthed in Rivers State Truth and Reconciliation Commission. These political leaders, never wanted to be leaders.
After amassing wealth, they believe that the next frontier to be conquered, is the political front and become his Excellence or Honourable this and that. If you read their biographies deeply a common trend runs through ie I never wanted to contest but my friends said why not go into politics. Some even go to the absurd by telling us that its their pastors who saw a vision that they should contest election. Haba African man. Leaders or aspiring political leaders should study, think of nothing but the problems of the constituency he craves to rule. Nelson Mandela took 27 years of his imprisonment to dream out the solution to a post apartheid South Africa. (What do we have in Nigeria? Leaders go to prison and come out with books on Women in the Bible, while others shed tears like babies.)
This way, once the mantle of leadership falls on him, he will not require one year to start consulting about the solutions to the problems of his people. Young Obama is mesmerizing the world because of his ideas and understanding of the problems of common Americans who want change. Obama’s war chest is contributions from people who believe in his solutions to America’s Republican battered image and failed economy. Would a Obama (Pat Utomi and his gang of vibrant Nigerians) survive intra-party garrison arm twisting in Nigeria not to talk of being on the national platform? Wouldn’t he be forced to float a political party that may never rise beyond a cultural association or a social club? Until we get it right that leadership is a passion and life long vocation, every four years, we will lose two years for the new government to settle down before addressing the lingering issues.
By the time you say Jack, they are campaigning for re-election to complete the good works (sic) they have started and the bold ones will ask for tenure elongation.
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WHICH GOD DO YOU SERVE?
June 8, 2008 by Che Oyimnatumba · 6 Comments
For me, I am confused. Every Sunday meets with great revulsion and to please my wife, I Zombie to church. Don’t condemn me yet of not being man enough to hold my own. This balancing is needful to grant me a steady “comfort” at the wee hours of any rainy night.
I woke up this Sunday by listening to BBC’s Reporting Religion. And this Sunday, it was Tony Blair ex-British Prime Minister advertising his Faith Foundation. My anger was hightened when the presenter asked him to justify the war in Iraq, now that all available reports – (declassified) show that there was no justified/justifiable reason for preemptive attack on Iraq. Tony Blair blared on without apologising to the Moslems, who are predominant in Iraq. Mind you, his faith foundation seeks to build peace, unity and understanding among the faiths of the world. After going through his parroting, I lost interest in following my wife to Church and prepared for the lonely “rainy night”.
Back to Nigeria, where the followers of the two sons of (I-A) braham, have divided Nigerians on religious fraternity line. With the Koran firmly dipped into the Atlantic, and the Bible spread across the desert, I am at sea why North and South Nigeria should still reason like a prisoner and a jailer, garnished with the animosity of the cat and mouse.
Instead of uniting in our Nigerian-ness and find solutions to our non-developing status, we allow the inheritance squabble of sons (I-A)braham to dwarf our reasoning and turn each other into sallah ram.
Another interesting division among the sons of Abraham that further confuses my quest to follow their god is the sect/denominations.
The Pentecostals see themselves as the heaven designate, castigating the Orthodox (Catholic, Anglican, Methodist, Adventist, C & S) as merely professing religion but denying the power thereof. A good number of Pentecostal preaching when not targeted at the bank account of her members is venom against means/method of the Orthodox churches.
In a counter insurgence move, resembling the counter reformation moves of the ‘Church’ against Martin Luther’s protest, the Orthodox goes to war, branding the Pentecostals – pentirascals, who merely read one verse in the Bible and go on spiritual gyration without substance; speaking in tongues without interpreters; they over emphasis prosperity forgetting that such unbalanced teaching, encourages members according to Pa Obafemi Awolowo, to strive by hook and crook, to be rich and socially important, in order to win recognition and prominence in the church, and if possible, to acquire one of the “christianised” pagan church titles.
Most Pentecostal churches have not survived after the death of their founder/overseer. There are always splinter groups leaving the Pentecostal flock to form a new church.
Of all these attacks, the one that trips me, is the tribal colouration of these Pentecostal churches, in fact all the churches.
The Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), whenever they are, must have a Yoruba Pastor as the Senior Pastor. Is it that the areas where they plant their churches have no credible local convert to hold the post?
Same applies to The Redeemed Evangelical Mission (TREM). An Igboman must lead; this is also the case in Church of God Mission and other minority tribe founded churches. The church has forgotten that the people of Nigeria today expect that the Church should completely identify itself with, and divinely guide them in their current earnest and anxious search for solutions to their myriad economic, social and political problems”. But what we have is enrichment of the pastor, who lives in the same highbrow estate with crooked politicians while his members die in abject poverty and live in squalor.
Among my Moslem brothers, the secrecy attached to the Koran, makes it difficult for the West and some of us to appreciate the Sunnah. This has made it easy for United States to brand any out-spoken Moslem a terrorist. Their collaborating partners in Nigeria shallowly report any protest in the North as religious.
They forget that Aminu Kano, J. S. Tarka and their Northern Elements Progressive Union (NEPU) United Middle Belt Congress (UMBC) were die hard revolutionaries and left a movement on ground that is still agitating for an egalitarian North. They also forget that the oppressed peoples of the North (the North has the highest number of minority groups, which the Hausa/Fulani has dominated via language and religion), has the right to protest devoid of religion. The Mallams, Ulamas and Emirs, have to open up so fence sitters can appreciate the Shia-Sunni dichotomy.
Back to the turf I know too well. The manner these Pentecostals are springing up in rundown hotels; tourists centres and rusty factories, gives me great concern about the direction Nigeria is sliding towards. Salvation of Nigeria from economic and political woes does not lie in facing the East but voraciously devouring manuals that come from the industrialized West.
The Nigerian salvation comes from the active participation of the people in how they are governed; it comes when the electorate wakes up to recall a representative for non-performance, or misrepresenting the constituency in a national issue.
In all honesty, I have tried to be outwardly religious but it has been hell. I cannot live with the hypocrisy I see. I believe that religion must touch and affect my environment. The religious mentality of a sugarcandy mountain in the hereafter does not appeal to me nor is the Open Heaven/Heaven on earth mentality being used by religious leaders to justify materialism any alternative.
I am confused. How can I pray with the RCCG when the GO, Pastor Enoch Adeboye has visited Yar’Adua? A Yar’Adua, who came through dubious means. The spiritual head of Yar’Adua the sultan of Sokoto, has kept a safe distance from politics. Obviously, am I praying/serving the same God with Adeboye, or these other pastors who advertise themselves conspicuously on billboards? So why go to their churches?
Or for that matter, why worship with men of God who run schools that the children of poor members cannot attend?
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University of Ibadan Celebrates 60yrs
May 25, 2008 by Che Oyimnatumba · Comments Off
This year 2008, Nigeria’s quest for inclusion into the league of the intelligentsia is 60 years old. In 1948, the University College Ibadan was born and consequently other universities took root. With the manner and means every rich man, church and organisations are getting licence to open a university, even the Nigerian University Commission cannot ascertain the number of degree awarding institutions in Nigeria. Despite this multiplicity of Nigerian universities, the quality of graduates produced is a sad story. Prof. Charles Soludo (Governor of CBN) said that 70% of Nigerian graduates are unemployable.
A good number of companies in Nigeria will rather employ a Diploma holder from Germany than a Nigerian groomed PHD holder in engineering. Same applies to other fields. A good number of corporations in Nigeria have at their top echelon Nigerians with foreign degrees. Their argument being that it is expensive to retrain a Nigerian graduate to fit into the work environment and compete globally in this era of global village.
How did we get here despite the promises of greatness at the wake of independence and the birth of Nigerian Universities? 60 years after, Nigeria cannot produce a table spoon, Nigerian undergraduate will rather leave at 400 Level to start year one in Ghana, Malaysia, Australia and other non-English speaking countries. There are more private/quasi-religious universities than those who can afford them yet there is no corresponding improvement in the quality of graduates we produce.
Nigerians once they leave the shores, do so well, in fact a study in the USA, puts Nigerians among the brightest and most educated immigrants. So what is wrong at the home front? Our men of intellectual timber and calibre are often brought to our notice by foreign institutions. The list of books read by Nigerian undergraduates should be critically examined. Agreed it is the lecturer that dictates what a student reads, but it should be remembered that the headmaster was once a student.
When I was an undergraduate, the easiest source of extorting more money from my parents and sponsors, is through presentation of list of books. As was the custom then, every lecturer gave a list of suggested readings for the course. What we did then was to follow religiously the lecturer for 3 weeks, spy out his favourite text book. Having done this, we present the entire list recommended to us to our sponsors and demand they give us money to buy from the University bookshop.
Need I remind you that of all the books on the list, we will only buy the one the lecturer lectures from while the money for the others slips into our pockets to be diverted to buying other extracurricular books not recommended by the lecturer(s) In this intellectual extortion, most of my “comrades in theft”, brakes book into two and collect double portion for one. If a book is co-authored, all they have to do is write the name of the book twice and place it against each author. Some even request money for two editions of the same book.
I am forced to reflect on this culture because there is a dearth of reading culture. I have engaged some undergraduates in a discussion. To say the least after talking with them, I felt too intelligent, or aptly, like a pastor leading a sinner to repentance. Mind you, despite our ingenious fraud, we still bought at least one and read it. Those who claim forced to study parents’ choice discipline, use proceeds from this venture to buy books in the field of their choice. Novels were voraciously read. In the interlude before another lecture, discussions hover around do you have this book that book or when will you lend me your novel.
These days, the object of loan among university students is musical CD, DVD and the centre of their discussion is when and where is the next bash. The “librated” lady on campus talks about fashion despite not knowing how to thread a needle. The conquest at the “senator’s” party or illusionary promise of a trip to Dubai by an aristo, keeps these ladies off their books.
For the gees wearing a bandless trouser that exposes dirty boxers, their talk centres around when next a GSM service provider will hit campus and the number of loose girls that will be tipsy and honey for a quickie. The guys’ greatest asset is the make of the cell phone he is hauling around campus, his tushed love nest and not his ability to intellectually mesmerise babes with his understanding of a complex theory.
There is another group of students, who are caught in between. They are hungry to read but there are no books. A carless browsing through books readily available on a book stand will show a collection of American manuals on how to be rich in a poor environment and not how to build rockets or other machineries needful for development.
These books do not take into consideration to economic policies and realities on ground, rather in the name of universal principles; they proffer solutions that can never work. What is the richest man in Babylon doing in Africa? A typical reading list of New Nigerian youths will read like this; Rich Dad Poor Dad; 101 Love text messages; Maximise Your Potential; ABC of Forex; How to make the internet make Money for you( euphemism for manual for yahoo yahoo boys). With active connivance of American evangelical, the capitalist west is underdeveloping Nigeria by corrupting the reading list of Nigerian youths with questionable religious books and self enrichment books that do not take into consideration the world of difference between America and Nigeria.
The dearth of reading culture among Nigerian University undergraduates has been attributed to handout culture introduced by lecturers. According to a lecturer friend of mine, the non-availability of text books and the collapse of printing press in Nigeria, made them to photocopy their rare books and give out to students, so long as students will bear the cost of “production”. From merely bearing the cost of “production”, lecturers have turned authors by summarising and binding these photocopied sheets into books. Woe unto you, if you do not buy.
In some Universities, security numbers are allotted to the students who buy these books. These security numbers are required to be affixed to your exam paper after your matriculation number has been written. Any exam paper without a security number (often the serial number on the lecturers purchase list), no matter how good, does not get a favourable marking. Some passable exam papers without security number, gets an outright carry-over.
Another lecturer I spoke with blamed this culture on students. His claim is that most students are not strictly students. They are involved in trading (both flesh and hardware) and do not have time to read voluminous text books. This group of students coaxes the lecturers into giving them a simple pill and areas of concentration and does away with the boring reading of Das Capital or Wealth of the Nation. But students disagree with these lecturers’ positions.
Accordingly, students lay the blame on the door step of the school authority that through their silence embolden these lecturers to extort students, despite the huge allowances they collect from government after each strike. It is surprising that ASUU and National Association of Nigeria students (NANS) have not deemed it fit to confront this monster. As an icing one student asked me what have my generation done with all the books we read if not to quote bits and pieces to justify our write ups. Interestingly this student referred me to Dele Momodu’s Pendulum on back page of ThisdayNewspaper of December 8th 2007 titled “What Books Do You Read?” and quarried what intellectual purpose does Ovation Magazine serve.(Dele Momodu is the publisher of Ovation Magazine that celebrates the rich without asking the source of their riches).
This student obviously well informed also referred me to Pedagogy Of The Oppressed by Paulo Freire, where the author stated that the end product of reading is action. As an epilogue, this student asked me to point out any community library or reading centre where good books can be accessed.
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Aliko Dangote Makes Forbes Billionaires’ List
March 6, 2008 by OCI · 5 Comments
The World’s Billionaires
#334 Aliko Dangote
Aliko Dangote has finally made us proud by being the first Nigerian to genuinely make it to the authouritative forbes list for 2008.
Aliko Dangote remains a true testament of what hardwork and dedication can bring. It may not be tasteful to a lot of people out there what this achievement entails due to certain prejudices they hold against him. However, you may want to look at it; whether he recieved favour from government or not he has keep the favours within and not away.
He has earned my respect as a foremost Nigerian that should be encouraged to do more and I wish also to call on other to be like him and use their wealth to creat more wealth for Nigerians and not citizen of foreign banks where they stash their money away.
Forbes reports that Dangote is worth $3.3 Billion and he is the 334 richest man in the world.
Here is the complete Forbes’ Billionaire List, Aliko Dangote makes it on page 14
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Seasons of Pessimism and Optimism
February 27, 2008 by OCI · Leave a Comment
These states of the mind are perversive amongst Nigerians today, having emerged from the high’s and lo’s of the tribunal rulings both at the state and national levels recently. Indeed, one’s mind remain the last bastion that the law courts cannot rule for or against; at least its independence to an extent is still intact.
In this season, one can decide to be a pessimist or an optimist about the way forward for Nigeria; even both feeling/state of mind can exist depending on the issue and its perspective. Whatever your feelings are, we have got a country to rescue and your fatherland needs you. However, you may choose to feel is your right but you have a duty to transform that feeling into something positive for Nigeria.
Whether you are a pessimist or an optimist, here is a heath check for you:
- Characteristics of a Pessimist and an Optimist
“Two men look out through the same bars: One sees the mud, and one sees the stars.”- Frederick Langbridge, A Cluster of Quiet Thoughts
If you’ve placed second in a writing contest, will you jump for joy and push for better results the next time or will you be discouraged and find an excuse not to join again?
In life, you are always filled with choices. You may opt to have a pessimist’s view and live a self-defeated life or you may decide to take the optimist’s route and take a challenging and fulfilling life.
So why nurture an optimist’s point of view? And why now?
Well, optimism has been linked to positive mood and good morale; to academic, athletic, military, occupational and political success; to popularity; to good health and even to long life and freedom from trauma.
On the other hand, the rates of depression and pessimism have never been higher. It affects middle-aged adults the same way it hits younger people. The mean age of onset has gone from 30 to 15. It is no longer a middle-aged housewife’s disorder but also a teenager’s disorder’ as well.
Here’s how optimists are in action and researches that back up why it really pays to be an optimist:
Optimists expect the best
The defining characteristic of pessimists is that they tend to believe bad events, which will last a long time and undermine everything they do, are their own fault.
The truth is optimists are confronted with the same hard knocks of this world. What differs is the way they explain their misfortune—it’s the opposite way. They tend to believe defeat is just a temporary setback, that its causes are confined to this one case.
Optimists tend to focus on and plan for the ‘problem’ at hand. They use ‘positive reinterpretation.’ In other words, they most likely reinterpret a negative experience in a way that helps them learn and grow. Such people are unfazed by bad situation, they perceive it is a challenge and try harder.
They won’t say “things will never get better,” “If I failed once, it will happen again” and “If I experience misfortune in one part of my life, then it will happen in my whole life.”
Positive expectancies of optimists also predict better reactions during transitions to new environments, sudden tragedies and unlikely turn of events. If they fall, they will stand up. They see opportunities instead of obstacles.
People respond positively to optimists
Optimists are proactive and less dependent on others for their happiness. They find no need to control or manipulate people. They usually draw people towards them. Their optimistic view of the world can be contagious and influence those they are with.
Optimism seems a socially desirable trait in all communities. Those who share optimism are generally accepted while those who spread gloom, panic and hysteria are treated unfavorably.
In life, these people often win elections; get voted most congenial and sought for advice.
When the going gets tough, optimists get tougher
Optimists typically maintain higher levels of subjective well-being during times of stress than do people who are less optimistic. In contrast, pessimists are likely to react to stressful events by denying that they exist or by avoiding dealing with problems. Pessimists are more likely to quit trying when difficulties arise.
They persevere. They just don’t give up easily, they are also known for their patience. Inching their way a step closer to that goal or elusive dream.
Optimists are healthier and live longer
Medical research has justified that simple pleasures and a positive outlook can cause a measurable increase in the body’s ability to fight disease.
Optimists’ health is unusually good. They age well, much freer than most people from the usual physical ills of middle age. And they get to outlive those prone to negative thoughts.
So why not be an optimist today? And think positively towards a more fulfilled life.
Why not look forward to success in all your endeavors? Why not be resilient? Like everybody else you are bound to hit lows sometimes but don’t just stay there. Carry yourself out of the mud and improve your chances of getting back on the right track. And why not inspire others to remove their dark-colored glasses and see life in the bright side?
Courtesy: Sulamita Berrezi
It is not just about your life, it is also about the life of Nigeria as a nation with a people. Let us all think positively for a better Nigeria; while looking forward to it success and greatness when this season passes-over.
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Life is About Choices and the Decisions We Make
August 13, 2007 by OCI · Leave a Comment
Life is like a road. There are long and short roads; smooth and rocky roads; crooked and straight paths. In our life many roads would come our way as we journey through life. There are roads that lead to a life of single blessedness, marriage, and religious vocation. There are also roads that lead to fame and fortune on one hand, or isolation and poverty on the other. There are roads to happiness as there are roads to sadness, roads towards victory and jubilation, and roads leading to defeat and disappointment.
Just like any road, there are corners, detours, and crossroads in life. Perhaps the most perplexing road that you would encounter is a crossroad. With four roads to choose from and with limited knowledge on where they would go, which road will you take? What is the guarantee that we would choose the right one along the way? Would you take any road, or just stay where you are: in front of a crossroad?
There are no guarantees.
You do not really know where a road will lead you until you take it. There are no guarantees. This is one of the most important things you need to realize about life. Nobody said that choosing to do the right thing all the time would always lead you to happiness. Loving someone with all your heart does not guarantee that it would be returned. Gaining fame and fortune does not guarantee happiness. Accepting a good word from an influential superior to cut your trip short up the career ladder is not always bad, especially if you are highly qualified and competent. There are too many possible outcomes, which your really cannot control. The only thing you have power over is the decisions that you will make, and how you would act and react to different situations. Read more
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