My Fellow Nigerians!

It's another Birthday for our great nation, Nigeria - she's going to be 53 tomorrow! And like every other year, our President is going to give the usual October 1st broadcast to his 'Fellow Nigerians'. But like most other fellow Nigerians, I'm tempted to scream 'Enough already!' The trick is old. These broadcasts have their place but they need to be put aside and let real work be done.

It can be hard to keep hearing of promises that you know (and they know) will not be fulfilled. Our leaders seem to make light of the situation of the nation but really, they are just hurting themselves too. They don't seem to realise that this is about us as a nation.

Right now, I'm at a place where I know our cries for better governance may never be heard. And no, I'm not frustrated - just introspective. I believe earnestness and seriousness often go hand in hand, and those are qualities our leaders don't seem to possess. The obvious way out is for each of us to do our little parts to better lives around us. Let's start with showing some commitment and diligence on our jobs. How about helping to fix that road, drainage or electricity problem if you could afford it? These seemingly inconsequential deeds when put together will most assuredly make a difference. May be not immediately or even in our generation but they are sacrifices worth making for our unborn children.

I would feel sad if this came off as one of those 'My Fellow Nigerians' speeches. Let's face it; it's time we put our hearts, hands and money where our mouths are or else we would be just like the leaders we complain about!

Yippie! It's Friday!

Howdy peeps! This is somewhat late but I decided to write about it anyway. Reflecting on God's immense love for me has  always made me want to scream out. Now that I'm a blogger, I love that I can scream all I want! I also understand that there's an added responsibility attached to every post I write. That's why I always feel the need to make sure that whatever comes out on this site is worthy of your time. So as simplistic as it sounds, that's how I'll be  approaching my blog posts. 

        

Now check out what I mean in  these photos:

Limbless Nick Vujicic and his Wife and Baby Son Kiyoshi

Nick Vujicic is a limbless evangelist and motivational speaker who got married in February, 2012 to his wife Kanae Miyahara. Recently, he announced the birth of his son, Kiyoshi Vujicic on his Facebook page, writing, “Dream come true. Holding my Baby Boy Kiyoshi. Amazing grace and gift from God. Love you all so much. Thank you for your showers of prayer.”

Indeed, God is awesome, and loves us than we know. 
I'm happy to share. Enjoy your day and please stick around for more posts :)

Maximizing the Rest Of The Year: Be Enthusiastic!

For some reason, at some point in our lives, we all have to deal with feeling down. The same reason why, personally, I've never stopped wondering why Mondays always signal the end of a carefree weekend and at the same time, the beginning of a work week! You're practically left to motivate and inspire yourself or the chances are that you'll end the week in a grumpy mood.

It's interesting to note that the word enthusiasm comes from the Greek word "God within". It's just something you've got to pull out from somewhere within yourself. I remember walking past a man years ago - he was almost jumping, speaking words to himself. I knew he was turning himself on because I heard some of the words but for all the world, he looked like a charging lion! I thought, "My goodness, he has flipped!" I have never seen anyone act so strangely. Though, I know better now but I don't think I'll act differently if I saw someone acting that way. Mehn... that was some scary stuff!

I have learnt to let my enthusiasm come out. If I'm excited about something, it shows (let's not even consider the opposite!). Enthusiasm is contagious - even for yourself. I truly believe that if you act enthusiastic, you'll become enthusiastic! Not just for a day - but for the rest of the year!

I love shoes and I'm not pretentious about it!

 

I saw this photo of this awesome but insanely expensive wallpaper shoe online (20,000 whooping dollar!) and I've been mulling over it ever since. This shoe is impossibly stylish, I don't even know where to begin. It's so cool. Oh, the power of shoes :)

Although it will take me years before I actually save enough money to get a shoe like this :) But thank God there are still a lot of good quality shoes out there that I could subscribe to! In fact, I remember making it a duty to check out a few other shoes online not minding whether I could afford them or not.  I can proudly say I've stuck to my "no shoe shopping" rule for three months so I could allot my budget to food and other secure way of spending my hard earned money! hehehe.  I just wish it were possible to get an authentic designer shoe without paying a big sum for it!

Hmmn.... I've been looking to sprinkling  a bit of sophistication to my collection of shoes but I guess for now, all I have to do is just make more money and then my dream shoe will arrive!!!!!  Chai, I just love shoes. We all have weak points, right? What's yours?

Progress Report, Anyone?

Happy new month friends! Yep, I know it's been a while. And no, I didn't forget I owned a blog. I had to give some attention to the job that pays my overdue bills ...hehehe. And I've gone back to school! Not exactly sha - I've been studying for a professional exam. So you see, I've had my hands full considering that the year is fast running to a close. Wasn't it just yesterday we were saying "Happy new year?" . If you're like me, you'd be a bit concerned about some plans that haven't quite turned out as expected. Talking of plans and timing, I have never really been a deep sleeper, so I haven't religiously set an alarm for years. No need to. When you've had a mum like mine who will always barge into your room at 5:45 a.m to wake you up for prayers, you have substantially less need for beep, beep, beep. But occasionally, when I have something that just can't be missed, I'll set the alarm. And check it. And check it again. And then check it again, because maybe I unset it the last time I was checking. And then again. Okay, I know it's a few months to go but we still got some time! Maybe not much but we can get at it again and maybe this time it might just work.

While we're at this whole end-of-year talk, have you seriously thought of learning a new craft? Hmmn... a while ago I was writing a scholarship essay on the practicability of some of the things we learned in school. You remember quadratic equation, right? What did you do with all that knowledge? And what exactly have I done with all the algebra I was taught? I'm kidding o...hahaha. Ofcourse I know we're to apply the knowledge gotten in our daily life dealings. I've also wondered why people can't get trained (professionally) in fields ranging from housekeeping, painting, vulcanizing, weaving to brick layering to raise their profile or seek better employment in a crowded marketplace like ours. I also think blue collar jobs should pay better! Yes, the amount of physical and mental efforts put into these jobs just wows me.

I've decided on an idea that instead of just having random blog posts, I want to talk about selected topics that would be an interest to you - like me scheduling short posts once during the week on how to maximize the rest of the year. We're here to encourage each other, right? Let's get at it then!

Love you guys
Ibe