WELCOME TO A NEW WORLD!!!

  "A lot of people resist transition and therefore never allow themselves to enjoy who they are. Embrace the change, no matter what it is, once you do, you can learn about the new world you are in and take advantage of it."...Nikki Giovanni.

American rapper "Nas" can be easily mistaken for a prophet or philosopher by many, especially after listening to his fine rhythmic track "Welcome to a new world". In his Rap / Hip-hop track, he described the effective use of modern technology and also as new successful people not only replace the old but how their success supersedes those of the old. Ultimately, he passed an important message of stepping up our game or risk being left behind.
Well, America is internationally known as world power, so obviously since they have a high standard of living which allows it's trickle down effect include not just freedom of speech, but also a wide range of opportunities for the citizenry to express themselves through art, inventions and what have you, they definitely see further than the rest of the world, additionally due to their exposure and emphatic liberty.

It is a new world indeed, more extraordinary inventions and discoveries have graced the track records of humans in just one century to dwarf the entire ones earlier put together. Population has exploded with geometric progression, there has never been so much weapons and subsequently this much massacre be it during war or terrorism.
Piracy is like the order of the day, so is high rates of rape, suicides, corruption, propaganda, conspiracies, high profile government scandals, classified information leakages, global warming, oh i wish there wasn't any more to count, but there certainly is, and referring to them as disturbing is very much an understatement.

"For in much wisdom is much grief, And he who increases knowledge increases sorrow."...Ecc 1;18

It is a new world quite alright, but what is new about it really, more discoveries to alleviate the troubles of mankind or the constant intrusion of tragedy in our so called peaceful human jurisdiction?
Well, the Holy Bible gives us a timeless insight filled with unmatched wisdom in the Ecc. 1;18 text, "For in much wisdom is much grief, And he who increases knowledge increases sorrow" which has had many a holy men proffer different schools of thoughts in it's regard.
Yes, acquiring knowledge is a very good thing, so much that knowledge is being referred to as power, although new thinkers further interpreted knowledge as 'potential' power, explaining that you have no power when you don't use the knowledge you have acquired.

Apparently, there hasn't quite been an invention or discovery meant to improve the existence of mankind that does not have a downside.
Crude oil for instance has been referred to as 'The Black Gold', which is confirmed with the present and consistent rush for it all over the world, with the Arab nations being the highest producers and the United States having about the highest refining and storage technique. The disadvantages are very obvious, namely environmental degradation, piracy on oil vessels, international propaganda and classified conspiracy, wars and many more.
Guns and bombs are also great inventions right? hmm, majority would rather say wrong, because even if fire power vaguely helps the armed forces protect territories, records have shown that they do more harm than good, with unsolved cases of merciless massacres are all around us.
Jets, trains, automobiles and boats give pleasurable rides across cities, but loads of families have been made to endure sorrowful times when members of their families pass away fatally after been in involved in accidents through these media.
Maybe we actually have to keep our heads up as we happen to be stuck with this fast world which is about to get even faster and as you would guess, more complicated, so seat belts on.

This is a world where you have to multitask to keeps tabs with the current events and to remain relevant, teens have a language beneath the language, one which they so modify slang you might be left to wonder what they are talking about. For example, younger guys use bad to mean good, crazy to mean awesome and surprisingly, sick or ill could actually be attributed to  mean genius while you might actually have difficulty in distinguishing between hot and cold, hmm interesting.

Evolution is actually meant to be a good thing, but it is incredible to note that wrong prioritization grossly ripping away ever fibre of the society, especially due to the concentration of government towards the bottom line through taxes rather than focusing on the lives that make it up, and companies would rather expose the populace to environmental hazards in order to make profit, and only participate in or initiate a social responsibility project just to get a tax rebate and not because they like us. It is all entirely whopped up.

I would seriously like to say that there is a glowing light at the far end of the dark tunnel, but that will be more of a wishful thinking laced with fantasy than the reality one should actually stick tightly to, so much for optimism, being a realist will probably keep one saner in an uncertain terrain.

On a lighter mood, the new world is actually a good one, you can achieve quite a lot of transactions dividend from just the smart use of your mobile phones, you can view alive feed of your favorite event online via the internet or video call your family when you are away, catch a last minute flight warming up to cover over 6,000 miles. See? The new world does have a whole lot of opportunities to offer, positioning Information Technology as a gargantuan leverage, with the new money makers' success dwarfing those of the old school success, even Rockefella the oil guru. It is just that back then, they had business models that incorporated the interest of most people, allowing them stand the test of time, one would say.
So, what is your view of the new world, better or way worse?
Whatever your answer, one thing is for sure, it is here to stay, you just have to live with it or make it better in any way you can.

Thank you.

Akin Abimbola (akinzogee@gmail.com)


SOURCES: Google
                      Brainy Quotes
                      Club of Rome
                      Holy Bible (NKJV)
                      Ebony
                      TIME

RELIGIOUS LEADERS IN OUR HOMES...

"I love you when you bow in your Mosque, kneel in your Temple, pray in your Church. For you and i are sons of one religion, and it is the spirit."...Khalil Gibran.

  When i heard a mind blowing song of one of the off springs of popular Reggae legend Bob Marley of blessed memory, "Love is my religion" by Ziggy Marley, i bonded with Reggae music even much more than ever before.

Both the rhythm and content of the song literally reached out to my soul, spurring me to not only reminisce on my experiences when it comes down to love shared between i and my fellow brethren, but to also do a brisk mind survey of love between people in general. Unfortunately however, in as much as religion is welcome to stay, we not being able to understand it has left us bewildered as to weather it's merits outweigh it's downsides.


"Nature abhors a vacuum"...Aristotle.


Aristotle believed that nature required every space to be filled up with something, even if that thing is colourless or odourless air.
The same principle is presently at work in our spiritual lives. When the holy spirit begins to convict us of sin, the idea of starting a self-development plan immediately comes to mind.

We put in our best efforts to defeat our worst habits.
Apparently, there actually exist a justification to the saying that "An idle mind is the devil's workshop" and being religious, for extremely cautious minds is an alibi to be out-rightly passionate and enthusiastically over the board to motivate a people to hold tightly to a faith which has now become sensitive to publicly talk about or criticize.


"When the missionaries came to Africa, they had the Bible and we had the land. They said 'Let us pray', we closed our eyes. When we opened them, we had the Bible, they had the land"...Desmond Tutu.

From the history of the introduction of religion into Africa, criticisms have trailed the entire process which claimed that the foreigners greatly exploited the black continent.

The white folks have been accused to have brainwashed innocent sleeping giants with strange cultures which had a peculiarity destined to make ill enlightened minds overtly inquisitive enough to dump the prevailing stereotypes only to easily follow the leader.

It is funny that more than half of the population that so passionately clamour for the excesses of religion happen to be ignorant of the history behind it.


"Preach the gospel at all times and when necessary use words"...Francis of Assisi.

In Africa for instance, how many people do take time out to vigorously research the state of things before and after the advent of religion?

What if a group of people that dominated the scene at a time decided to silence the weak minority in order to propel a conspiracy into the future, making their own beliefs prevail for the gullible unborn to voraciously and blindly feast upon, i am just saying, who knows?
For instance, how many people are aware of the "39 Articles of religion" an essential belief of Anglican Church codified? which were established by a convocation of the church in 1563.
Which people apart from philosophers and students of classical studies have dug back in time to seek clarity over the controversy behind the clash of Christianity and science and the participation of Constantine, King James and the likes?
If we do not have these information, then perhaps we are not different from the sheep being led to slaughter.

The way most people hypocritically practice religion is much taking it's toll on the kids, it confuses them. It further goes ahead to be a double jeopardy when they have no choice but to take the seat of "Follow the leader" as they live by the examples they see.

Religion or the misunderstanding of same has been known in history to tear up families, rip apart friends and dismantled the very core of the existence of peaceful mankind.
We have become holier than thou, helping God get rid of the sinners, casting the stones at our fellow brothers like we are any better than the devil himself.

"It is wonderful how much time good people spend fighting the devil, if they will only expend the same amount of energy loving their own fellow men, the devil would die in his own track of ennui"...Helen Keller.

Sometimes i wonder, is it that we are ignorant, or we are just comfortable with letting the foot prints of the human race become a sign of havoc and making environmental degradation be our lasting legacy?
Our environment has become the kind that we are scared to criticize, not only due to fear of the unknown, but because of the space it will take in our minds and the impact it will make on our conscience which is ruled and misguided by prevailing unethical acts of our so called 'leaders' in all sectors.


Due to corruption and mediocrity weighing on the national system, places of worship are being built in areas that were not zoned for the purpose, conflicting with the living standards of residents, and they are cast down as sinners when they make complaints of not enjoying the quietness the area was zoned for.
There is high rate of employment and the major solace of the unemployed is the religious body that openly emphasizes the imperatives of  financial commitment, with the spiritual leaders living the first class life, with their influence growing massively in our homes.
See? it is difficult to talk about it already, but the moment we constructively criticize these occurrences, perhaps we can chart a clear headway.
It is clearly reasonable to appreciate the positive impact of religious bodies, for instance of course as Catholic, Methodist and the likes blaze the trail, bringing education and healthcare freely into Africa.
Religion is a very powerful bond which strongly holds together those that share a common faith, so much that when it gets a hold of you, depending on the strength of the fibers of your conscience, it can make or mar you, leaving you reasonable or defensively fanatic so much that you will probably become a fuse waiting to go off in just a matter of time.

It is however unarguable that some religious bodies have ulterior motives of milking the innocent public, making them amass huge amount of wealth, so much that it is mismanaged and not accounted for, while poverty still comfortably and violently rages the land, therefore giving us a second thought as to whether these role models of faith qualify to be our guardians. .

"I like your Christ, i do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ"...Mahatma Gandhi.


Thank you.

Akin Abimbola. (akinzogee@gmail.com)

SOURCES:  Google
                   Our Daily Bread
                   Brainy Quote
                   Britain Express
                   Wikipedia

#LEADERSHIP: SUCCESSION PLAN AND BEYOND...

 "We'd never know how high we are till we are called to rise; and then, if we are true to plan, our statures touch the sky"...Emily Dickinson.

"It is the fault of our bad leaders that our country is in such terrible state!!!"

This is perhaps the most common saying or rather the most consistent fall back of the average citizen of a presumed failed or failing state, predominantly in Africa.
Criticism of government is actually healthy, as the popular saying goes "only the test of fire makes fine steel".
The citizenry (well...optimistic or do i say good willed ones?) do help shape the nation through their strive to make living richer and better by criticizing the policies of the government, especially when the government officials seem to stray, after-all, partnership is gaining new meaning.

What is Leadership by the way?
There have arisen many a word, love for instance, that various prominent thinkers have tagged to"mean different things to different people", surprisingly, leadership is not one of them.

Leadership is an oxymoron of sort, being strongly embodied by a consistently strong and unchanging principle, there is no two way about it, you are either a leader or you are not.

You might say there are many definitions of leadership, but if you look very closely, you will find that they are all actually saying the same thing.
Warren Bennis defined leadership as the capacity to translate vision into reality.
Napoleon Bonaparte said a leader is a dealer in hope.
General Montgomery said leadership is the capacity and the will to rally men and women to a common purpose and the character which inspires confidence.
Peter Drucker described leadership as the lifting of a person's vision to high sights, the raising of a person's performance to high standard, the building of a personalty beyond its normal limitations.


   "Before you are a leader, success is all about growing yourself. When you become a leader, success is all about growing others."...Jack Welch.

Most people like to be referred to as leaders, even without doing anything to warrant it.
Robert Kiyosaki answered the presumed and so called self exalting leaders beautifully in his rich dad, poor dad series: Cash flow Quadrant by saying "You have to qualify" although he meant it in the financial context.

Leadership happens to be a principle which thrives with the embodiment of discipline, vision, focus, consistency and wait for it, and believe it or not, PMA a.k.a Positive Mental Attitude, why not? Bruce Kasanoff Co-Author of Smart Customers reiterated the inspirational phrase "The best talent is bringing out the talent in others" A superior leader is therefore described as a person who can bring ordinary people together to achieve extra-ordinary results, and you definitely cannot do that if you haven't first of all loved yourself so much that it spills over, prompting you to extend the gesture.

A leader knows the right direction to take when in an unfamiliar terrain, as John  C. Maxwell professionally put it in his motivational best seller "21 Irrefutable laws of Leadership".
He painted a scenario where different people from varying backgrounds were put in a room, they all move towards different directions to prove that they know which way to go, eventually, they all line up behind the person that actually knows the right path to tread.
There is actually a distant distinction between sight and vision which is really awesomely imperative for a leader to greatly possess or armed with on a first hand basis to the view of the enthusiastic followers.
Even the Bible emphasizes it in Book of Proverb 29:18


"Where there is no vision, the people perish".

As the saying goes, "Stagnant water stinks", when someone who is respected as a leader falters, it is quite natural for a more discerning and qualified one to emerge possibly from the back seat to take over the steering of the vehicle of leadership, in order to avoid a crash that can annihilate the greater population that will dictate the course of the future.
So, this is probably a wake up call.
Are you a leader, and do you have a follower that you are grooming up to continue in your hard earned and proud legacy?
Remember, the key word here is qualify.

"Lead me, follow me, or get out of my way"...General George Patton.



Thank you.

Akin Abimbola. (akinzogee@gmail.com)


SOURCES:   Google
                     Forbes
                     SearchQuotes
                     Rich Dad, Poor Dad : Cash Flow Quadrant (Robert Kiyosaki)
                     21 Irrefutable laws of Leadership (John C. Maxwell)