Keep It New

The Mercedes-Benz 190 was 20 years old. Since it was a Mercedes – the ultimate utility car – it still drove me from Lagos all the way to Akwanga, somewhere in Nassarawa State of Nigeria, approximately 1029 kilometers from the commercial nerve center of Nigeria, Lagos, where I reside.

Intermittently, I would experience a few hiccups in its ability to take me from one part of Lagos to another during a given month. This was as a result of a combination of a dishonest motor mechanic, fake spare parts, and certainly the advanced age.

After using the car for 3 years, one day I woke up to the reality of the fact that the car had served me enough and needed to serve a new owner. To give it a new lease of life, I told the next owner, who bought it at a giveaway price, to buy a newer engine.

Subsequently, my Wife and I decided to buy a more recent and fairly used car. This time around, we opted for a five-year-old Nissan Altima, American specification. It was a big difference from our ultimate utility 190 Mercedes-Benz. Even at five years, the car drove like it had just left the factory. I decided in my heart of hearts to keep it as new as it was the same day I bought it, to retain a considerable amount of utility value.

To do that, I realized that I had to adhere strictly to a recommended maintenance schedule in the car’s manual. Now that’s a tall order in our part of the world, what with bad motor mechanics, fake spare parts, bad petrol, and terrible roads. However, it occurred to me at that point that there’s nothing as good as when a utility item is brand new or kept close to brand new.

With this conclusion in mind, I began to understand better why we need to not only develop a maintenance culture in our hospitality establishments but also why we must also embark on training our staff on how to properly manage a facility.

The deeper understanding was established in my psyche on my first flight with Arik Airlines when I boarded their brand new Canadian-made Bombardier CRJ900 Aircraft. I could smell the newness of the interior of the plane on boarding. I not only felt the strength of the engine purring, but also its effortless flight to Lagos. In years of flying the Nigerian skies, this was the first time I didn’t feel a sense of trepidation.

It is said that a stitch in time saves nine. This truth is easier said than done. The bottom line is that maintenance must be a culture for a facility to make good on its promise of delivering the desired Return on Investment (ROI) to investors.

Investors and managers in the industry need to understand the implications of an excellently maintained facility. Excellent Facility Management will ensure that a creative maintenance plan is put in place. This plan will become operational and strictly adhered to, becoming a staff appraisal issue. Staff must be trained to understand the significance of maintaining the facility management plan and how it impacts the bottom line.

Services and Maintenance, or Facility Management, is the key to keeping your establishment new and a fundamental aspect of ensuring repeat business. Facility Management must be integrated. The practice of coordinating the physical workplace with the people and work of the organization must be ingrained into the psyche of management, which must be established as a culture in every hospitality establishment. Integrated Facility Management integrates the principles of business administration, architecture, and the behavioural and engineering sciences.

Facility Management dynamics relate to two key areas, which are Operations and Maintenance (O&M) and Soft Services. O & M has to do with the execution of technical tasks to ensure availability of engineering services, while Soft Services ensures the availability and functionability of business support services, such as security, custodial, janitorial, landscaping, catering, mailroom, reception, photocopying, and pest control services, which many times is outsourced.

Benefits of Integrated Facility Management (IFM)

Some of the benefits of IFM are as follows: -

• Improved levels of service
• Cost savings
• Strategic focus
• Innovation
• Accountability

The simple equation of a Cost Saving Mechanism (CSM) is Management System + People = Guest Satisfaction + Reduced Cost.

Good Facility Managers must establish key performance parameters for O&M. This will be in the areas of Corrective Maintenance, Scheduled Corrective Maintenance, Routine Corrective Maintenance, Breakdown Maintenance, and Emergency Maintenance.

For as long as the desire of owners and managers is to ensure that their Facility must be profitable, these basic principles outlined in this article must not be compromised. The Facility must continue to look new in the eyes of the Clientele.

As I cruise around in my Nissan Altima, the challenge of “keeping it new”, for it to keep serving me, is strengthened by its willingness not to break down on the streets of Lagos due to its “maintained newness”. Daily, I measure the related cost of “keeping it new” and realize that the benefits far exceed the challenges. This is the fundamental principle to ensuring that your hospitality establishment retains its benchmark position amongst your competitors – “Strive to Keep it New”

Adedayo O. Adesugba - 2007

Demystifying An Agent of Death

Demystifying an Agent of Death

It’s a month since the Nigerian Government declared a total lockdown of the City of Lagos the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja and Ogun State in the South West of the Country, due to the apocalyptic pandemic known as covid-19.

Covid-19 is the killer virus that causes the disease known as corona virus. It was said to have originated from a City in China known as Wuhan, in the Hubei Province. The Wuhan Municipal Health Commission on the 31^st of December 2019, reported a cluster of 27 pneumonia cases (including seven severe cases) of unknown aetiology, with a common reported link to Wuhan’s Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market, a wholesale fish and live animal market.

This totally unknown virus was reported to cause acute respiratory syndrome in Wuhan City. The disease is now referred to as coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and the causative virus is called severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). It is a new strain of coronavirus that has not been previously identified in humans.

This disease is an agent of death, a very devastating one. The most common symptoms are fever, cough, shortness of breath and breathing difficulties. In more severe cases infection can cause pneumonia, sever acute respiratory syndrome, and even death. The period which the symptoms would appear is 2-14 days.

Within a period of less than 4 months, the world has recorded 3,128,692 of corona virus infected, while 217,082, had lost their lives to the virus, with 950,878 surviving the infection. In the United States, the number of known cases is doubling about everyone week. (Johns Hopkins University Center for Systems Science and Engineering).

As we proceed through the early stages of the pandemic – note that until a vaccine is discovered, the spread can only be contained through social distancing and lockdowns – I begin to ponder just like everyone else, what is the true source and final outcome of such a devasting intrusion on the normal day to day activities of mankind.

With the availability of the World Wide Web, It’s not surprising that humans will stay true to their natural affinities. It’s natural to pander to the informal channels. We live by rumor. Despite the dangers inherent in living by a lie, it aligns with how we’re configured so it’s more reassuring and easier to build a mindset from an illusive and fabricated medium or narrative. It’s a make-believe world we live in.

Digging deeper into this thought, a post-truth world is evidenced by the fact that mankind lives in the shadows. The sinister image of a Jack the Ripper beckon’s much more on our morbid nature than the image and motherly gait of Mother Theresa striding through the corridors of hospices filled with the beggarly and the sick, in a quest to bring succor to many sufferers while fulfilling her commission in a crisis ridden world. A good case in point are many Americans that feed on the absurdities and figment of a man’s imagination, since the lies fit into their morbid desires to propagate and further their self-interest to the detriment of the common good.

A shadow is the companion of death. The shadow comes first before death. The Book of Psalms in Chapter 23 speaks of the Valley of the Shadow of Death. Life itself is that shadow that carries death in its wake. Man has become the host of death. Shakespeare was a master in unveiling the physiology of the mysterious element shrouded in its shadow. I remember studying Macbeth in my High School days. In poetry he noted life being stalked by a shadow that ends in the inevitable and its deathly definition as a “walking shadow” – “Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player, That struts and frets his hour upon the stage, And then is heard no more. It is a tale Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, Signifying nothing.”

To throw a little light on death, let’s look at the meaning from a dictionary perspective - the action or fact of dying or being killed; the end of the life of a person or organism:  • the state of being dead:  • the permanent ending of vital processes in a cell or tissue. • (Death) the personification of the power that destroys life, often represented in art and literature as a skeleton or an old man holding a scythe. • the destruction or permanent end of something:  • a damaging or destructive state of affairs: 

(Death) the personification of the power that destroys life – This definition brings the subject into proper perspective. Death destroys life, but life is synonymous with death. The good book says “And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment” - Hebrews 9:27. Suffice it to say that every human has a one-time appointment with death.

Since death arrives with the intent to destroy, man will always be averse to it and its power which usually carries with it an inevitability of morbidity and end. Death is described in the good book as the last enemy - 1 Corinthians 15:26: “The last enemy that is to be overthrown is Death”

The fight against this formidable foe has been from time immemorial. The battles it wins over the human specie can be empty and purposeless if it is well understood. Firstly, death is a concept that activates a continuum. Without death life ceases to exit. Death recedes into nothingness and darkness recedes into light. Death is not designed or conceptualized to overpower life, but life is designed to overpower death. A life filled with light, will not end in darkness but in light. Concepts of light are synonymous with life.

Light brings forth energy, an element that adds immense value to life; it brings forth food, that nourishes life, through a phenomenon that’s called photosynthesis which is also the primary catalyst that produces oxygen which without it, life ceases. Nonetheless, death goes forth before life. The good book reflects on this mystery by revealed truth; “I assure you: Unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains by itself. But if it dies, it produces a large crop.” John 12:24. The word apothnēskō in the Greek language of the New Testament literally means to “die off”. In other words, this conveys that understanding of the cessation of life. a permanent cessation of all vital functions: the end of life (Marriam Webster Dictionary)

On the other hand, life which is an outcome of death is described as the principle of life in the spirit and soul. From a natural standpoint, death must be the precursor of life. So, why must mankind fear death, if without death there will be absence of life? Why would mankind fear death if life and death intertwined, brings forth life as a continuum – “life to death to life”. Just like darkness precedes light, shadows recede in the face of light. Shadows fall where light dictates.  

Men will usually fear what they do not understand. The fear of the unknown Is said to be man’s greatest fear. Isabel Allende in her book, “The House of the Spirits”, said that “Just as when we come into the world, when we die we are afraid of the unknown. But the fear is something from within us that has nothing to do with reality. Dying is like being born: just a change”

A deeper and magnified look into death reveals that what man truly fears, is not death itself, but the fear of change into what has very little verified first-hand information but much speculation. Raheel Farooq, who wrote the book “Zaar” said “The greatest fear in life is not of death, but unsolicited change.”  Simply put, man fears death because they can’t unravel it, it’s a mystery. Moreover, the thought of departing from loved ones, loved habits, loved environments and hope for a better “next day”, brings a foreboding fear of perpetual demise.

As the Covid-19 pandemic continues to ravage mankind, why must the streets empty out in trepidation of death lurking the vast expanse of the earthly divide? What is that which fuels this shadow that is hid from the naked eyes? The sense of loss produces fear and brings immense sorrow amongst humans. No man in his right senses would like to lose a loved one. After death comes sorrow. I’ve seen people loose quite very old family members and the response is sorrow, even when the departed had become a huge burden on the living towards the end of death.

In the true sense, for the deeply thoughtful, death is a reality that beckons and must be prepared for. The preparation is to ensure the state of the continuum as a constant. In other words, the nature and circumstances of an individual’s life does not change after death. A life enshrouded with darkness on finding death, continues in darkness. A life enshrouded with light, on finding death overcomes the dark shadow of death, by dispensing of it through  intense light that characterized that life while here in the physical realm. To this death, life is a choice while death is also a choice.

Christ the harbinger and Master of Truth and Grace on His sojourn here on planet earth, described light that shines in darkness “…light shines in the darkness, yet the darkness did not overcome it.” John 1:5 (Holman’s Christian Study Bible). Another translation reads it this way; “The Life-Light blazed out of the darkness, the darkness couldn’t put it out”. (The Message).

Covid-19 is a merchant of death. Mankind has retreated into his shell in fear of it. It’s changing how life interacts with life, yet, it’s obvious that what has woken up this agent of death has not changed in form or substance. Mankind despite the lockdown, has found a means through technology to continue business as usual. Death is yet to be overcome.

Governments would naturally prefer economies failing to preserve life, since this is politically correct. On the other hand, amongst men are men who serve as the agent of death and life who understand that life must be given for life to proliferate. What if it is understood that life is a phenomenon that’s birthed by death and that life continues as the skin of a Snake and the beak of an Eagle falls off to usher in new life? It is just natural for man to fight death without much thought for its significance.

To conclude, death will be the last enemy. The good book captures it this way; “For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead also comes through a man. For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ all will be made alive. But each in his own order: Christ, the firstfruits; afterward, at His coming, those who belong to Christ. Then comes the end, when He hands over the kingdom to God the Father, when He abolishes all rule and all authority and power. For He must reign until He puts all His enemies under His feet. The last enemy to be abolished is death.” – 1 Corinthians 15:21-26.

As we desperately search for a vaccine to beat back the spirit of death called Covid-19, death may recede but will seek other means to perpetrate its primary assignment, and that is to kill until it finally completes its assignment and its destruction comes. So, since it is destined for man to die, it is also within the grasp of man to determine whether death will be a transition into life in the light or will remain as darkness in death.

In a moment, in the blink of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we will be changed. For this corruptible must be clothed with incorruptibility, and this mortal must be clothed with immortality. When this corruptible is clothed with incorruptibility, and this mortal is clothed with immortality, then the saying that is written will take place: Death has been swallowed up in victory. Death, where is your victory? Death, where is your sting? Now the sting of death is sin,

and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ! 1 Corinthians 15:52-57

Back to Basics

Successful bloggers know one thing. Blogging succeeds because the blogger is disciplined, committed and lives a lifestyle of inquiry. Few humans have this capacity, so few humans can succeed as bloggers.

I remember many years ago, when I started this blog, I didn't give this fundamentals a thought, and as many as have started a blog at one time or the other, setting out without understanding how to develop a successful blog, ends with the fizzling out into nothingness of another failed venture, conscripted to the annals of an inglorious past of mere wishes.

Mere wishes don't make quadruplets for commuting for the beggarly. Blogging is a verb. Verbs are synonymous with doing; with activity and action. This action borders on constant research and experiencing a life that's significant for the purpose of others to learn and live. To succeed in this, bloggers must be adventurers that engage, learn and disseminate their lifestyles and that of others they've engaged and learnt from. Thus bloggers are active verbs. They are doers.

To be a doer, certain concepts of living must be alien to the blogger. The spirit of lethargy, drabness  and procrastination is the enemy of successful blogging. The ability to create order and impose authority over the mental space by the blogger assists in achieving predetermined attainable goals.

Now, note that knowledge of a thing does not necessarily infer that that thing is functionally in existence. The greatest purpose of knowledge is the creation of value. Value can only be worthy in functional existence. Blogs add value when they function within their purpose. There has to be function before form adds value. For blogs to function, bloggers must be active and thus functional in adding value.

As we arrive at a season of assessment, every human alive arrives with it, particularly a season evaluating given potentials; if evaluation ends in assessment of converted potentials or discovers that potentials have stayed potentials and not converted into skills that add value, then the assessed will be found wanting and consequences will be commensurate to the dormancy of the potential.

As I once again attempt to access the blogging world and be an accomplished blogger in blogosphere, the basics of blogging have been laid bare and it's up to me to subject my existence to a life of discipline. I hope you'll join me on this journey and act for me as a cheerleader and an opponent in assisting in attaining my goals.

Nigeria is at the threshold once again. It is election time. Any one that knows the country knows that it's always living on the edge. The Nigerian takes risks with everything. You can observe this spirit right on the streets of Lagos and other cities when you see the Okada rider (commercial motorbike rider) dipping and diving inbetween heavy traffic and fast moving vehicles oblivious of the inherent dangers. This is a reflection of what obtains within the psyche of the average Nigerian

That is the Nigerian spirit, foolhardy, disorderly, haughty, and simply one step close to the precipice, with a fire brigade attitude towards organising major events that affects the continued existence of the country. We are hearing now that Jega, the INEC (the election commission) Chairman is claiming that the commission was not adequately funded to conduct the elections, while it's obvious that the commission is ill prepared to succeed in its mandate. To this end, there is a rumour that Jega is about to be replaced at the 9th hour. As expected this has thrown all manner of turns into the already fast spinning contraption, faster down the downward slope. The opposition is crying foul and promising fire and brimstones if this is carried out. Where can such a decision be considered and carried out, only in Nigeria where we are comfortable standing at the precipice.

For me, looking at past elections, I've never voted for the popular candidate, right from 1999. I've always realised that the candidate being presented was a front for a cabal. It is not different in this case of the 2015 elections. Unfortunately, we have both candidates fronting for cabals.

Observe closely, both are not visionary leaders, but products of circumstances. This can be proven by their bent towards favouring their own personal, immediate ethnic constituencies. The clamour that MGB has metamorphosed is a claim in futility. His first primary assignment once he was nominated as the candidate for the APC was to to appoint Tanimu Yakubu Kurfi, the Chief Economist in Yar'adua's regime who was renowned for scuttling several good projects, including the sale of the Warri refinery to Aliko Dangote and Femi Otedola. Kurfi is also Buhari's kinsman. This is obviously bad judgement which visionary leaders are not subjected to.

As for our present "Oga on the top", the evidence is very clear, (except to the clannishly blind  and biased individual and hater of "Jagaban" as Tinubu is derogatorily referred to) primarily his inability to provide electricity in 6 years of his leadership (though he set a good foundation to salvage the sector, by working assiduously for its privatisation), coupled with the inability to have foresight, evidenced by the exchange rate, which has reduced the value of the naira considerably, thus increasing the hardship of the man on the Nigerian streets.

So, where do I turn to this time around? Tough decision. I'm someone who likes to exercise his civil obligations to its fullest, albeit with a sense of pride. I always want to look behind and look people in the face and say "I told you so". This time around, I may not have the liberty to exercise that right as a matter of conscience.

NINETEEN YEARS AFTER

19 YEARS AFTER

Exactly 19 years ago I walked down the isle with my Wife, Bolanle. When I look back, 19 years has being just like yesterday. For me, It's been years of living with another person that without her, life will not be complete. This has brought me to seat in my study on the early morning of our anniversary and take stock.

Life with Bolanle - A Snapshot

My Wife is an exceptionally strong woman internally. She is courageous, tough and strong in character, nonetheless, retaining a soft and gentle mien. Many times when I pause to take a second look at her, she reminds me of the woman the scriptures speaks of in detail, the virtuous woman in Proverbs 31.  Recently, we started a fashion business, and she passionately took it up and simply took a go at it relentlessly. Her capacity to pull up strength from the life within is amazing.  Coupled with the fact that she has 3 strong boys in her immediate life, our 2 boys and myself and a family in our Kingdom Community (Church) where we work as Undersheperds, her ability to meet everyone's demands is certainly commendable.  She is definitely a pillar in my life.

As I sit to take a backward look at the last 19 years with her, reasons for the short description of who my wife is began to unfold. Some of these reasons I will narrate in this script as we take a forensic look into the institution of marriage.

Marriage is a Contract of the Spirit and not of the Flesh

• (1Cor 7:28 [NKJV])
• But even if you do marry, you have not sinned; and if a virgin marries, she has not sinned. Nevertheless such will have trouble in the flesh, but I would spare you.

Many years ago, while studying the scriptures, I came across this verse and the Holy Spirit who authors these sacred words threw light on them. It gave loads of meaning to defining how a couple must relate in a marriage setting. I understood by this statement that for marriage to succeed, it must be approached from the perspective of the principles governing the spirit of mankind an internal dimension, rather than that of the flesh, an external dimension of life. To this end, principles governing the spirit have to be understood and lived by each spouse in a marriage for marriage to succeed.  A simple explanation is unveiled in Galatians Chapter 5.

• (Gal 5:13-15 [NLT])
• For you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don't use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature (the flesh or self). Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love. For the whole law can be summed up in this one command: "Love your neighbor as yourself". But if you are always biting and devouring one another watch out! Beware of destroying one another.

Many marriages fit this script - husband and wife literally are on the road to destroying one another. The outcome of a life lived for self or in the flesh in a marriage context is trouble, in other words, the flesh or self is synonymous with crisis. I listen to troubled marriages during counselling sessions, and all I hear is "me", "I"; it's all about the self, what gratifies the "me" and not what sacrifices the "me".

Good marriages are not the outcome of the works of the flesh, they are the manifested life of the Spirit, expressed through the flesh. Further unveiling of the study in Galatians 5 from verse 16 deepens the instruction in this manual.

• (Gal 5:16 [NET])
• But I say, live by the Spirit and you will not carry out the desires of the flesh.

The flesh is the active component of life on earth. Spirit and soul, utilize the flesh to carry out their pre-determined activities here on earth. The soul life if configured by the earthly realm, manifests a set of degenerate activity, again detailed further in this letter written to the church in Galatia.

• (Gal 5:17, 19, 20, 21 [NET])
• For the flesh has desires that are opposed to the Spirit, and the Spirit has desires that are opposed to the flesh, for these are in opposition to each other, so that you cannot do what you want…..Now the works of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity, depravity, idolatry, sorcery, hostilities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, selfish rivalries, dissensions, factions, envying, murder, drunkenness, carousing, and similar things. I am warning you, as I had warned you before: Those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God!

Now, I've listed some of these character traits observed in couples in my many years of counselling. They are the outcome of a life lived by the dictates of SELF. Now, note that nothing is mentioned here about the devil. These traits when manifest in a marriage environment results in Gal. 5:15 - But if you are always biting and devouring one another watch out! Beware of destroying one another.

Continuous practice equals, either separation or divorce and sometimes destruction of a spouse - remember the young man that bludgeoned his wife to death about a year ago. It was orchestrated by the highest level of self manifestation and not the devil. Therefore, the marriage institution is not just under siege by the devil but also by man which it was designed for.

Truth is that bad marriages record high mortality rates. The more a marriage is subjected to the flesh, the higher the chances that both spouses may die early.

On the other hand, marriages succeed and bliss is experienced when Galatians 5:18, 22, 23, 24 are been practiced in a matrimonial setting.

• (Gal 5:18, 22,23, 24 [NET])
• But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. 22. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23. gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law. 24. Now those who belong to Christ have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

Note the word "crucified". It literally means "put to death". In other words, do not let the flesh be under the dictates of the human soul that is structured by earthly principles. The manifestations are listed above and tagged the "works of the flesh". They will destroy any marriage. The most anointed bishop's marriage will end in destruction once these traits become prominent and are allowed to fester. This revered institution that sustains mankind, symbolizing God and glorifying Him, will end up in fire, if it is not subjected to the principles of the Holy Spirit which governs a regenerate spirit. A healthy marriage is characterized by the principles of "death to self". Paul in 1 Cor. 15:21, declared "….I die daily". The fundamental principle of a successful marriage is to "DIE DAILY", in other words, mortify the deeds of the flesh, EVERY DAY.

Maturity & Marriage

Maturity is the key to a successful marriage. Another word for maturity is perfection. Simply, it is only the Holy Spirit that is perfect. He produces maturity in a human being. One will know a marriage will succeed if the intending couple are both mature. Truth is that it's only a man and a woman that can make a successful home and not a boy and a girl or a male or female. Maleness doesn't necessarily confer manhood on a human, neither does femaleness confer womanhood.

On a lighter note, I've heard the cliché "Lagos Big Boy" used many times. Watch their homes, it never succeeds. I have a 4 year old son. I see him in many married men. He throws tantrums when he can't have his way, misuses and destroys his toys and tears his books. He can be rude and impetuous and wants to basically keep everything he likes to himself. Sharing his not his strong point. He always seeks for attention and when he doesn't get it, tries to manipulate his way to have it. He loves power and he's highly competitive. He boasts of his strength and always seeks to be praised. If you wake him from his sleep before time, he becomes irritable. That is the story of many married men. They are mere boys in the garb of a man. I've met many male adults who are boys within. They will never make solid homes.  Solid homes are built by complexified manhood.

On a final note as I put the final dot on this script my conclusion from many years of counselling couples is that most homes that don't do well are homes headed by boys who have not become men. Husbands demand obedience from wives they don't love - sacrifice. Love is not emotional in nature, it is a deliberate, conscious and mature decision made by a complexified man who defers his will to that of the Holy Spirit and sacrifices for his wife.

I've often traced the fault of broken marriages to men. It all started with Adam. His inability to oversee his home, lead by example and govern himself created room for satanic incursion. I've seen the male figure literally tear down and destroy their own homes out of immaturity. To be mature is to be self governed. To be mature is to have the ability to lead another life to a place of fulfilling destiny. Men are raised by other men who have traversed the courageous path of complexified manhood. Thus the need for mentoring. There's no self-made man. A self-made man is at best a wimp of a boy.  A virtuous woman will love to marry and follow a mature man. This combination of mankind is what will occupy an enviable position in today's world and ensure that a righteous generation keeps the way of the Lord alive in the hearts of humans on the earth.

I leave you with a scripture:

• (1Pet 3:7 [NET]) - New English Translation
• Husbands, in the same way, treat your wives with consideration as the weaker partners and show them honor as fellow heirs of the grace of life. In this way nothing will hinder your prayers.
• (1Pet 3:7 [NASB77]) New American Standard Bible
• You husbands likewise, live with [your wives] in an understanding way, as with a weaker vessel, since she is a woman; and grant her honor as a fellow heir of the grace of life, so that your prayers may not be hindered.
• (1Pet 3:7 [NLT]) - New Living Translation
• In the same way, you husbands must give honor to your wives. Treat your wife with understanding as you live together. She may be weaker than you are, but she is your equal partner in God's gift of new life. Treat her as you should so your prayers will not be hindered.

As I celebrate 19 years of "death to self", I pray for troubled homes. May the spirit of brokenness rest upon you both. May the fire of the Holy Spirit reform you both. May the power of the Holy Spirit empower you to mortify your flesh as I speak to dead bones to come alive, in the Almighty name of Jesus.

These perspectives are what has created a virtuous woman called Bolanle Ifedolapo Adesugba, an instrument in the Hands of the Lord. Once again, I salute you Ma.

God bless you all.

9ja - again?

If you’re going to bash Steve Ballmer, don’t hold back on the ammo by ZDNet's Larry Dignan -- Mandriva CEO François Bancilhon takes on Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer in an open letter and is getting a good bit of attention. At issue is Mandriva’s skirmish with Microsoft over a deal with the Nigerian government, which was looking to procure some Classmate PCs from Intel loaded with Mandriva’s Linux distro. Bancilhon writes (Techmeme discussion): We recently closed [...]

Prov 20:27 – The spirit of Man, the Lamp of the Lord

Reminiscing on this scripture generates a deeper understanding of the connection between man and the Spirit of God. The scripture relates how man communicates and transacts dealings with God, by His Spirit. Literally the scripture explains that it is the spirit of a man that operates as God's compass and search light. In other words, it acts to illuminate the internal parts and depths of a man's being to locate the true intents which lies deeply in places that cannot be easily accessed.

Accessing these places is not even easy for the man involved himself, since he doesn’t even know that they exist. Prov 24:12 sheds light on man's ignorance - "if you say, 'surely we did not know this,' "Does not He who weighs the heart consider it? He who keeps your soul does He not know it? And will He not render to each man according to his deeds?" The ability to discover the hidden things of the heart is non-existing. The mandate of a man's spirit is primarily a tool for searching, as the lamp of the LORD.

What are the implications of this activity? Man is known to operate many a times without due recourse to well thought out plans. Activities are embarked on with the end product being more detrimental to the collective and progressive emancipation of mankind. For instance, in a bid to keep a few privileged humans in a state of excessive luxury, mankind will by his activities jeopardize her overall collective and continued existence.

It is known that the green house effect which presently is sending global weather on an unpredictable, abnormal and uncontrollable downward spiral was primarily caused and presently aggravated by economic policies relating to the manufacturing industries in so called advanced nations. These policies allow industries in these nations to operate their plants with cheaper technology devoid of adequate emission procedures which ensure that these industries will reduce to its barest minimum toxic waste and pollutants released into the atmosphere. By these corrupt practices of a few nations, the whole of humanity is subject to extinction. Of cause as you will note, it is the less privileged and weaker nations that firstly feel the effects of these inordinate policies. Eventually it will affect the initiators themselves, then, mankind will self-destruct.

Come home to Africa, where corruption is endemic. Man’s inability to visualize and reason deeply places him in a most unenviable position defined simply as avarice. Miserable African, who he is, with a less than sane mind, lacks understanding that people who live in glass houses don’t throw stones. The African, apart from being the greatest exploiter of his fellow African, can be myopic. He kills to seize political power to loot the state treasury. With the funds looted, he builds a massive house in his village, and the money which is meant to build a road to get to the house is squandered. He then buys a jeep to get to the house on an un-tarred road. He squanders the money to develop the power sector. Obasanjo’s government spent over 4.2 billion dollars on the quest to improve power supply, but it’s obvious that huge sums went into private pockets. Power supply is still epileptic and there seem to be no hope in sight. The response of our policy makers and the populace is to expend 67 billion naira every year on generating sets. What a most abnormal line of thought. He quickens his death sentence by polluting his environment with carbon monoxide and the noise produced from the generating plants, of course will not allow him to hear the voice of the spirit; so he operates in the natural.

It is obvious that man in his inability to locate the deepest recesses of his own innermost being cannot subject the elements of this dwelling to selfless scrutiny; thereby defining their true nature; with the final intent that after critical analysis using parameters generated by the LORD, to further generate the action which will place the collective good of humanity as the foremost priority.

Now it needs be understood that the nature of the parameters utilized in this critical analysis will determine the final outcome of the thought process, which is the generator for man's activities. It is true that it will be the nature of the LORD that stands as a determining factor for the nature of the parameters.

Furthermore, if the nature of the LORD in itself is corrupt and devoid of truth, then the final outcome will bear the same nature. However, the LORD as we have come to know Him, not only by the scriptures, but also by experiential and revelatory knowledge possesses a fundamental attribute, which is incorruptibility and truth.

Therefore, critical analysis of the contents of the innermost being of man, once subjected to thorough scrutiny, using parameters generated from the LORD, will be accurately judged; if it is corrupt or incorrupt, since, to know incorruptibility or corruptibility the deepest musings of the heart must be subject to the scrutiny of incorruptibility.