THE PLATFORM 2016: A RECAP

Pastor Poju Oyemade

"This generation must open its eyes to the way politics is played".

"Freedom of speech when used intelligently will always drive the wheels of change". 

"Words of wisdom are always better than weapons of war". 

"An enlightened populace is key to good governance".

"One of the works of the Church is to act as salt on the Earth".

56 INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT NIGERIA YOU SHOULD KNOW

As Nigeria celebrates her 56th Independence anniversary today, we bring to you 56 things about Nigeria that you should know. Happy reading!

1. The most commonly spoken phrase in Nigeria is "How far?”

2. Nigeria is home to seven percent (7%) of the total languages spoken on earth. Taraba State alone has more languages.

3. T.B. Joshua's Emmanuel TV, originating from Nigeria, is one of the most viewed television stations across Africa.

4. Nigeria has produced five presidents from the minority ethnic groups. They include; Ibrahim Babangida and Abdulsalami Abubakar (Gwari), Yakubu Gowon (Angas), Umar Musa Yaradua (Fulani) and Goodluck Jonathan (Ijaw).

5. In April 1994, the Super Eagles ranked 5th in the FIFA World Rankings, the highest ranking ever achieved by an African nation.

6. The Nigerian Stock Exchange is the second-largest in Africa.

THE SURVIVORSHIP BIAS: BETWEEN ME AND LINDA IKEJI

An old classmate recently tagged me on a group photo on Facebook. It was an old picture that was taken when we were in college many years ago. Out of excitement and more out of curiosity, I decided to view the profile of all my classmates who were tagged in the picture. My concern ranged from what they currently looked like to how their life had turned out. Have the ones who were really exceptional in school turned out to become the most successful in life?  

Back in college we had students who were top performers. They were the A students and the envy of all at every prize-giving day. The rest of us would sit back and watch them as they collected award after award. They were hailed as the stars of the future and they were treated specially because of their brilliance. And by every standard they were successful at that level and got all the attention they deserved.

As I clicked on each and every person, I was surprised to see that not every person turned out as was expected. Remarkably, passing examinations were no longer the basis for distinguishing between success and failure. That day, I learnt the incredible lesson that intelligence has little or no survival value. The measurement of success is not based on intelligence. In a layman’s language, a high IQ doesn’t translate to a high net worth.  

WHATEVER HAPPENS IN LAGOS STAYS IN LAGOS

It was one of those cold and gloomy Friday evenings. I wasn’t particularly excited like most people do at the end of the last day of work. A lot had happened to me during the week, and these episodes reminded me of the fact that I still lived in a world that keeps turning in circles. Tragedy, joy, defeat, fulfillment, grief, breakthrough and frustration; one emotion or sometimes more at a time.

On my way home from work that evening, Celestine Ukwu’s powerful and philosophical highlife tune from the 1970’s “Ije Enu” kept intercepting my thought flow. You know how a song just thoroughly captures your emotional state, almost perfectly. The song was a deep reflection of the journey of life and a reminder that our current emotional state is only temporary.

I quickly plugged my earpiece, scrolled through my highlife collection and let the song do justice to my emotions as it pleases. It turned out the song was the inspiration I needed to gradually snap out of the dark place my mind was persuasively taking me to. Its powerful message and melody brought sparks through my entire being. All I wanted to do was to recline on my sofa, be still and feel the anointing from the song until I became whole again.

WHO LOVE DON EPP?

Love can sometimes be so complicated that you give up ever trying to understand it on your own. Don’t get me wrong, I am not some heartbroken person trying to write from the depth of my disappointment. I am just another human being trying to make sense out of this thing called love.

What else do you do when you put all of your trust in people and they throw it right back at your face? Some of them are nice enough to announce their exit, others just walk away without warning or a sign. And for days, weeks, and months on end, you letting the feeling of betrayal strip you of all your sanity.

IF ONLY I KNEW: REFLECTIONS OF A LOVE LOST FOREVER

Every day, I tell myself I would get over this feeling. But deep down I know I will nurse this guilt for the rest of my life. Why did God bring you into my life, when he knew he will need you so soon? If only I knew it was for a short time, I would have loved you harder. You were so good that even heaven couldn’t wait to have you? Now my loss is heaven’s gain.

I remember when I first learnt of your demise. That moment I knew my world will never be the same. The next three hours were probably the hardest of my adult life. I don’t remember the last time I cried but that night I wept all through. A thousand tears will not bring you back. I realized this, because I have shed enough.

HOLD ON, PAIN ENDS

This is for everyone who woke up with their head aching and their heart hurting.

This is for those who have lost someone they truly loved and miss them so much that they don’t know how to survive alone.

This is for those who put on a smile and pretend they are fine when they are actually shattered and hopeless inside.

This is for the girl who feels worthless and too scared to fall in love again.

FIFTY SHADES OF INSPIRATION

1. Take kindness with you everywhere you go and deposit it at every stop you make. Never expect to get it back.

2. If you expect people to be kind to you because you are kind to them, you are like the man who expects the lion not to eat him because he doesn’t eat lions.

3. Forgive others not because they deserve forgiveness but because you deserve your peace of mind.

4. As much as you want the best for others, you cannot force people to grow. At the end of the day, it is their choice and their life.

5. Don't waste your energy on things that are outside of your control. Only focus on the things that you can control.

6. Define success on your own terms, achieve it by your own rules and build a life that you are proud of.

7. In life, you will rise and fall so many times but never rise up by pulling others down. On your way up take people up with you. On your way down don’t let them down.

8. Tell everyone around you to be strong, even though deep down you know you are the weakest person in the world. It might not be convenient but therein lies greatness.

9. At your absolute best, you still won’t be good enough for the wrong person. At your worst, you will still be worth everything to the right person.

10. Whatever you do, never run back to the things that broke you in the past. Some things will never change and you have to accept that.

STRAIGHT FROM THE HEART

You,

Ever since you walked into my life with a ray of sun that has never stopped shinning. I have thought about you all day and dreamt about you all night. You had this mystery about you but I chose to call it divine.

I have never loved someone so much. I can't find the right words to express how I truly feel? I feel like I can be my true self around you. That part of me that nobody else can see.

They say that true love is like a ghost, everyone talks about it but very few have seen it. That is what you have given me, the purest of love.

FOR FIRST LOVES ONLY

Let us take a moment today to remember your first love.

The first love that split you open and made you blossom. The one that carefully unwrapped the secret desires that were buried inside of you and stayed with you until your heart found a home.

He was like your safe, where you hid all your treasures because you thought he would love you forever.‎

You laughed at all his jokes and made him feel like the funniest man in the world. It didn’t matter to you if anyone else found him hilarious.

THE SEXOLOGY X-RAYS: MEN ARE VICTIMS TOO

It will seem strange that in the year 2016, our society has not come to terms with the reality that boys and men are sexually molested and abused every single day. All we hear in the media are cases of women and girls who are victims of extreme sexism. So because men are more likely to rape women, they should be ignored when they fall victims?

As a particular gender, our perception of issues concerning the opposite gender is often skewed or selfish. Women are used to believing that sexual abuse affects boys and girls in different ways. That girls suffer more long term emotional damage than boys. Are we not all human beings?

How many times have the social or mainstream media reported a case of a boy or a man that was sexually molested by a girl or a woman? Let’s face it, men face sexual assaults everyday just like the women. But they are often regarded as the stronger gender, so they have to swallow the assault with pride or take it as a man.

THE SEXOLOGY X-RAYS: DEAR MEN, WOMEN ARE NOT PREYS

As someone who grew up without a sister, it took a while for me to understand women. My mother was more of a man than a woman. The tough job of nurturing 6 boys and her husband was enough to dilute her feminism to its barest minimum. She was the commander-in-chief of her army and I still hear her orders n my head many years after. 

The first time my mother spoke to me about girls was the day I was about to leave for college. Her words were firm and straightforward ''When you get to school, you have to be very careful with girls. If you get any girl pregnant, you are in soup''. Knowing my mother very well, I reckoned the soup would be hot enough to decolorize my future. So I stayed away from the girls but not for too long. 

Over the years, I have interacted with various shades ‎of women that have greatly shaped my orientation of the female folk. No two women I have met are the same but they all share one thing in common. The desire to be loved and protected. Unfortunately, men often take advantage of this for their own selfish gain. I have grown to respect women, even the ones that have lost it. It takes a man to deprive a woman of her pride and it takes another man to restore it.