This My Addiction

I used to be an addict who discovered a way to deal with addiction. Please it’s not what you think; there is no ‘drug’ in my own ‘addict’. Addiction is addiction but some are dangerous and deadly. Some time ago, I was addicted to eating Calabash Chalk or Nzu in Igbo. Some call it Bentonite Clay. As at then I can lick as many as I could get before it is dawn. At the village then, if I pass through a mud house with some splash of water, I will be drawn close by the Nzu like aroma coming from it, to cut out some bits of red clay and eat. There were also times that I found it difficult to stay without chewing gum or licking powdered milk, but gradually I overcame them.

The most recent addiction that I had to deal with was the habit of watching Philipine/Mexican movies and Nollywood movies. As each day passed, I found out that a lot of personal resolves were left undone. One thing led to another and EEDC disconnected our light. Maybe God wants to help me deal with that addiction, I thought. After a while, the light issue was resolved but I decided not to recharge my decoder at the moment. After about three months, I recharged my decoder but discovered that I no longer sit tight to watch but watch those movies when necessary. Since then, I have been more productive. Hallelujah somebody!

Some are football addicts. They can leave their commitments just to watch football. Some can even hurt themselves or kill unconsciously if their team looses. To many others, it is phone addiction. Most people have failed in their responsibilities because they hold tight to their phones and will not stop surfing the net for irrelevant information and activities. Some accidents that occurred have been attributed to careless use of mobile phones on the road and while driving. People are addicted to one thing or the other because they failed to control such when it is just a habit. Addiction occurs when we fail to control most habits that are not normal. 

Drug addiction is the worst because the victims do not have control over what they are doing. An onlinesource defined Drug addiction as a compulsive and chronic disorder of the mind that leads an individual to habitually use a substance in an effort to achieve a desired outcome from it. Some people become drug addicts because they could not resist the temptation to experiment such hard drugs or substances, to some others, unfriendly environment drove them into drug addiction while some are as a result of peer influence.

We are human beings with self control. In one way or the other we can figure out how to control those abnormal habits we have noticed, before they become addiction and lead to regrets; it will make us more responsible. Drug addicts need our help because they can no longer help themselves. Let us encourage those who are in the mission of restoring drug addicts. Encouragement, acts of love and kindness can stop that neighbor of yours from becoming a drug addict; please do not fail to give those. Most extremist who destroy lives and property do so under the influence of hard drugs and substances. We can do what we can.

Written by Olive Chinyere Amajuoyi

Taradiddles of Nigerian Leaders

The controversies over Ms Kemi Adeosun’s forged NYSC certificate since the past three months have no doubt brought the taradidles of Nigerian leadership to broad day light. It is exactly how TheCable online described it:  “Nakedness of what we call Nigeria”.

The fact that Ms Kemi Adeosun, former Minister for Finance has been parading a forged NYSC certificate is no longer news. There is no explanation to the fact that a person like Ms Kemi Adeosun obtained NYSC certificate and has been using same without the knowledge that it was faked. It is unfortunate that when Nigerian leaders tell their cock and bull story, they imagine Nigerians as morons that has no reasoning faculty. At least if they must lie about important and serious matters, they should accord Nigerians some respect; taradiddles are for children and not for adults.

The story line is that Ms Adeosun  never worked in NYSC, visited the premises, been neither privy to nor familiar with their operations, and had no reason to suspect that the certificate was anything but genuine. According to Kemi, she presented the certificate at the 2011 Ogun State House of Assembly and in 2015 for Directorate of State Services Clearance, as well as to the National Assembly for screening. It is impossible that none of these bodies detected the forgery.

According to Premium Times, Some federal lawmakers revealed that the forgery was detected by the Senate during the minister’s confirmation hearing. But rather than probe the issue, they turned it into a tool to blackmail Ms Adeosun. Our law makers became blackmailers while our dear former minister fell for their blackmail, just to cover up her fake certificate – parody of a nation. This only shows that in National Assembly routine screening, integrity and merit are meaningless.

It is good that justice has been served, as Court has given an order compelling Ms Adeosun to refund to the Federal Government of Nigeria all the salaries, emoluments, allowances and such other benefits she has enjoyed since her resumption as a Minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in 2015 up to the point of the filing of the instant suit”. This justice should also extend to all the parties to the certificate forgery and certification; those mistaken “genuine associates” who are party to the issuing of the fake certificate should be found and punished accordingly, Directorate of State Services and National Assembly should also be questioned and punished accordingly - If there are no mistaken “genuine associates”, that means Ms Adeosun planned the forgery along with certificate forgery experts; Whichever the case, let justice be done. Let all those behind this crime be named and handled according to the law.

We are certain that why the right thing is been done now is because the truth was revealed after all, and some people must protect their so called integrity by doing the right thing. Before this certificate forgery came to limelight, so many who knew about it must have kept quiet to protect the rotten system, but now, they have to save their heads by doing the right thing. The corrupt practice of Ms Adeosun has been revealed, there are yet other leaders, including our so called lawmakers with worse cases, hiding and covering their illegality up among themselves. “Men of integrity” they shall remain until the light shines upon darkness and reveal their nakedness. One by one, their brooms will sweep them into their gutters and dustbins, and sun and rain will scorch hard and pour heavily on them through the holes they have personally formed on their umbrellas.

Written by Olive Chinyere Amajuoyi

2019 Elections: Who are your Suitors?

When it comes to marriage, women have their expectations. Any woman that is ready to say yes to any kind of man is either desperate or lack self definition. Nobody is perfect but there are certain qualities that a woman will see, that are personal to her, and she will tell herself: yes this man is good for me. Why? It is because her life depends on that choice.

As Nigerians, what are our expectations? What are those developmental and growth needs that we have been denied of? Who among those that are wooing us has the qualities to meet our expectations and needs? These are some of the questions we need to ask ourselves and answer before we say yes to any candidate.

2019 elections are fast approaching and candidates are wooing us to accept and vote for them. They will come with gifts of money, food items, promises, etc., which are not good yardsticks for measuring their credibility. Are we again going to sway towards them like hungry chickens just to eat our cake today and go hungry in the next four or more years?

What shall it profit us to gain the whole world (which of course they can’t give us), and lose our souls? Yes, our souls; because when there is unemployment, some youths go into kidnapping, prostitution, drug addiction, etc. When there is bad governance, the masses loose the most and die the most.

This is the time to scrutinize those that are wooing us to accept and vote for them come 2019 elections. Let the following selected quotes on leadership guide us to chose and vote wisely.

Quotes on Leadership

The supreme quality for leadership is unquestionably integrity. Without it, no real success is possible, no matter whether it is on a section gang, a football field, in an army, or in an office - Dwight D. Eisenhower

A leader is one who knows the way, goes the way, and shows the way - John C. Maxwell

Leadership is the capacity to translate vision into reality - Warren Bennis

The art of communication is the language of leadership -  James Humes

Leadership is practiced not so much in words as in attitude and in actions -  Harold S. Geneen

Where there is no vision, the people perish. —Proverbs 29:18

Leadership is lifting a person's vision to high sights, the raising of a person's performance to a higher standard, the building of a personality beyond its normal limitations. —Peter Drucker

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, concerned citizens can change world. Indeed it is the only thing that ever has. —Margaret Mead

The most dangerous leadership myth is that leaders are born-that there is a genetic factor to leadership. That's nonsense; in fact, the opposite is true. Leaders are made rather than born. —Warren Bennis

To command is to serve, nothing more and nothing less. —Andre Malraux

He who has never learned to obey cannot be a good commander. —Aristotle

A leader takes people where they want to go. A great leader takes people where they don't necessarily want to go, but ought to be. —Rosalynn Carter

Leaders think and talk about the solutions. Followers think and talk about the problems. —Brian Tracy

It is absurd that a man should rule others, who cannot rule himself. —Latin Proverb

“It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you’ll do things differently.” – Warren Buffett, investor

“Perfection is not attainable, but if we chase perfection we can catch excellence.” – Vince Lombardi, legendary Green Bay Packers coach

“Be faithful in small things because it is in them that your strength lies.” – Mother Teresa, Catholic nun and saint

“Great leaders are almost always great simplifiers, who can cut through argument, debate and doubt to offer a solution everybody can understand.” – Gen. Colin Powell, former U.S. Secretary of State

“A leader . . .is like a shepherd. He stays behind the flock, letting the most nimble go out ahead, whereupon the others follow, not realizing that all along they are being directed from behind.” – Nelson Mandela, former President of South Africa

“There are two kinds of people, those who do the work and those who take the credit. Try to be in the first group; there is less competition there.” – Indira Gandhi, former Prime Minister of India

“Do you know that one of the great problems of our age is that we are governed by people who care more about feelings than they do about thoughts and ideas?” – Margaret Thatcher, former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” – Maya Angelou, poet and civil rights activist

Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail. – Ralph Waldo Emerson, poet and essayist

“To be persuasive we must be believable; to be believable we must be credible; credible we must be truthful.” – Edward R. Murrow, American broadcast journalist

Good leadership is built with the bricks of criticism. A true leader sees criticism as grease to lubricate his elbow, and praise as a sign to work harder; He values his critics more than his flatterers – Olive Chinyere Amajuoyi, a poet, novelist and blogger 

Ideal Olive says #votewisely because our lives depend on our votes.

Written by Olive Chinyere Amajuoyi