An ESSAY ABOUT THE JOURNEY FORTH (part 7) Hope: Driver of the Journey Forth

The real tragedy of our age is the vicissitude of hope. We live in an age where, more and more, the virtue of hope is deemed unnecessary and being subtly murdered. It is the calamity of our time that, that which is the great motivator of life and civilisation has been reduced to a passing emotion. Hope, which breaks us from the shackles of mediocrity, this great passion which forges us on, this deep breadth of mankind, has been strategically eliminated out of the necessary sequence of growth. I mourn the demise of hope.

Let’s start from a very familiar discussion:  What is it for instance, that would forge us to care for our environment or to be passionate about life? The debate about global warming is as critical as that of abortion; and just like abortion, the experience of climatic change is as vivid an experience, as it is denied. The will power to do what we are meant to do to correct a negative anomaly seem to be lacking, we ignore the moral discipline needed to avert an ultimate climatic calamity,  just as we do not own up to the consequence of our actions in bed, by creating havoc for the next generation when we kill the unborn. The inertia preventing us from powering down is that stopping us from zipping us. But that is not the horror – after all, we are all a society of sinners-  the horror is in the scepticism of reality, it is in the justification of wrong, and that is what I call despair, the death of hope?

We see no potential for a journey forth, that is why we lack the charisma to journey through our actions. Materialism has slipped into our cerebrum and we justify our ‘throw away ‘mannerism with every fallacious argument.  Another word for caring for our environment is rightly referred to as Sustainability, which is, saving something for the future, thereby averting an insufficiency for the next generation.

But we say: what is the need of saving for posterity? Why should I be stopped from making an immediate gain right here, and now? What, for instance, have I got to lose by taking a few pills and getting things straight rather than having an unwanted child lock up my progress and destiny? Or why should I care for the habitat of my children’s children since when I am gone I am gone?

No, my friend, you are not gone! The truth is, life is a continuum, and death is not an escape. Lay your bed well so that you can lie peacefully on it. Charity begins at home. When we treat our earthly home shabbily what shall we say across the Bridge? And over there is the reality of this Vain Shadow; and over there is right here! We kill and get rid of anything that would give us paranoia about hope, as such; we strangle the life out of an afterlife. The virus of despair is a cankerworm that has eaten deep and subtly into every arena of our age. What happens to you when you are gone is very dependent on how passionate you are about posterity. ‘E s’a ‘ye‘re o ‘(Threat the world benevolently).

When there is no hope, time is reduced to a strange ephemerality and confined into an awkward space, thus humanity is seen as nothing but a materialistic phantom. She becomes more and more narcistic. She corrodes everything, and nothing lasts neither anymore nor forevermore in her eyes. She turns all antiques into fiscal aggrandisement and monetizes everything into the vapour of vanity. She sees herself as the ultimate object for service and whatever does not serve her appetite for immediate gain is fatally eliminated. Man becomes a Lord unto himself, relationship is weakened the more, family life is crushed and posterity becomes more and more devoid of a moral compass and is bereft of an integral leadership needed to satisfy his deepest longings. Man loses faith because he breaks up with hope; he has mortgaged time and space for the porridge of immediate mammonistic gratification.

When we break with hope, when this continuum is snapped, posterity suffers, and when posterity does suffer, no one would actually acquire that complete rest in which everyone craves. But when we hope, whether we work or rest, we adopt mercy as our kin. Think about it. Not until moments become memory and memory becomes reality and everyone live in spirit and truth, we shall always have lies undermining the truthfulness of hope and thus shall true freedom and liberation be locked up under the shackles of despair.

If you have ever had the rare privilege of losing a really loved one, you’ll realise this point better. This transport into another realm, the voice that secretly tells you it couldn’t be the end, the longings, the desires, and the serenity, the enigma of continuum which produces a radiant calm and an aura of awe. But then the powers-that-be snap this reverent experience with the noise and commotion of time. I pray we grasp the meaning of life at this point of loss and let not go of it, because therein is freedom. And if you are like me who twitch at the thought of physical death or dread the idea of losing a loved one, I’ve got a far better solution: Fix your gaze to the cross of Christ, there you shall find the source of the journey forth. Just look and keep on looking. Something tells you to venture deeper into this continuum but you quickly find an alibi in a lie that says the link is forever snapped. Blessed are those who mourn. Christ is risen from the dead!

Epilogue:

This piece concludes The Essay about the Journey Forth but the experience of the journey forth itself continues in you and in me, it is an inexhaustible vista. That is what has been opened forth for us in the celebration of this day: Easter.

And I must say it is a pure coincidence that the final piece of my essay falls on Easter day, I never planned it as such. This day summarises all I have ever wanted to say and all I am yet to say.

The journey of this write-up is in itself a parable which I shall continue to decipher its meaning and reason with time. A few weeks back just before lent began, I felt a deep urge to put forth my experience as I never dared in public. It was not such a big sacrifice writing all these voluminous scripts, for I love writing, and I confess that I have gained so much from the write-up myself, probably more than anyone who would be patient enough to read anything of these ‘baggadashes’.

What costs me is having to put down some issues about me, both around my ideas and within my experience and not knowing how it would be perceived, yet the fact of doing so has only given me an impetus to be more daring. It has lightened me and I am literarily filled with a greater momentum to travel farther than I have done. Thank you for reading. Wishing you a happy Easter, the source and summit of our journey forth.

An ESSAY ABOUT THE JOURNEY FORTH (part 6) Ecumenism:The Future of Religion

Religious crisis in our age is just as messy as the political one. The West looks at Islam as a growing ground for terrorism; Islam looks at Christianity as a breeding space for sinfulness, materialism and atheism. Christians look at atheists as fools with whom no discussion whatsoever is worth; Atheists generally view religion as the arena of mediocrity and the proliferation of crisis and war. Christianity suspects Islam for anti-Semitism, Islam suspects Christianity for aiding Zionism. Even in the midst of each religion you have multiple fractures, Sunni against Shiites, Catholics against Protestants etc. Most of these friction and crises come from stories from our individual bases and stem from the danger of generalisation. We generalise because we are lazy to verify.

 Amidst massive distrusts between Abrahamic families and huge suspicions about the Western agenda, there permeates, a sort of egocentric complacency regarding spiritual engagement with the wider ecosystem. Multitudes in the Western religious sphere who have ideologically ‘kaferise’, ‘haramise’ and ‘infidelise’ the vast polytheist, pantheist and atheist world and would rather ostracise them from their perception on matters of truth rather than risk being tainted with their views.

 I have my own little story to tell to clarify this:

With my Catholic background, I grew up to regard  modern day ‘Born Again’ churches as preys, pests, wolves in sheep clothing and advocates of shallow forms of Christianity by the propagation of prosperity and a suffering free life.

Back then during my university days, I’d often seen these ‘mushroom churches’ (as we call them) lobbying around the Catholic premises, sometimes holding crusades thereabout, trying to win Catholics whom they equally perceive as ‘not saved’ ,‘not redeemed’, idol worshiping Christians.

It was like war, I had often been outraged by the daringness of these people. In higher Institutions, they would often sneak into Catholic churches; mix with the congregation with a mission of convincing Catholics of the erroneous outlook of their beliefs; their access point often being the Catholic Charismatic Renewal, a Catholic group with Pentecostal spirituality. I Joined the Charismatic myself, and was only motivated to remain, not because they practice my kind of spirituality, but to ‘defend Christ’s sheep from these wolves in sheep clothing’. For me, it was a ‘versus’ and nothing else counted.

But then, along the line, in the University, something else happened to me. I liked a girl who was Catholic and was not attending Catholic Church but the interdenominational fellowship of the university’s Christian Union. Partly in an effort to bring the girl back and partly out of shear being where she was, I began to attend the University Christian Union (UCU) prayer group at least once a week. There was nothing interdenominational about this particular church though, at least from a Catholic perspective. There was always this round of lengthy prayers that go on and on, I remember it was in that church I  stabilised my praying 15 decades of rosary (with my hands in my pocket) Sometimes I do 30 decades before the prayer sessions end, It was always lengthy, but the girl was my motivation to stay.

That was my first full experience of Pentecostalism, for until then, there was little or no motivation towards attending these ‘born again’ churches .Prior to this experience, my knowledge of this group was limited to the TV, and then I simply switch channels. I had a better experience with Islam, having had Muslims as relatives, and being raised together with them, we grew to respect our common point of divergence: The Divinity of Christ. As a Catholic, I was more at home with our share of calm orthodoxy compared with the raze and fire brand manners of Pentecostalism.

Trust Pentecostals Christians to do follow ups on new members, The moment I started attending the UCU, I began to have visitors from the church and it was during visits like these that there developed sincere friendships between me and some great Pentecostals who would go extra miles at helping me out of issues completely outside faith in other to win me. Pentecostalism is filled with energy to assist and I admire that a lot. Zeal and energy is what you cannot deny of Pentecostalism.

I wouldn’t have had a balanced perspective, for instance if I had not ventured into Charism and Pentecostalism. I would still have become an active Catholic, but an opinionated one, and one that is completely oblivious of the outer world. Of course Pentecostalism is loaded with proselytes, there was more than enough doctrinal frictions between us during those days, and if I had not been constant in my journey back by knowing good Priests, making great catholic friends, and studying catholic literatures , or if I had found an attraction in Pentecostal spirituality, I would either have been consumed hook, line and sinker into Pentecostalism, or our relationship would either have been snapped or it wouldn’t have resulted into that mutual respect that I have with my Pentecostal friends today.

Pentecostalism and Charismatic have helped deepened my spirituality, I see myself better placed to speak from either perspectives because I have not simply heard nor read about them , I have also experienced them and I am able to manage our shared differences with respect. Though I will say that you need to be steep in what you believe if you would like to venture, otherwise one would be swept off by the littlest tidal wave of attractive but unverified emotion, doctrine and ideology. Our journey to Truth can often take an Israelite (lengthy) turn when we are not adequately prepared to venture.

It was a struggle but it was worth the venture, I corrected and purified my Catholicism by contact with Pentecostalism; I can only hope that my friends who journey forth from the Pentecostal perspective would also gain from our relationship. If you don’t want what is mine, I take from what is yours and add to what is mine and become richer while you still look at yourself as a champion. You are nothing but a local champion. He who is graced with the art of balancing wins all and journeys farther. Prejudice does one little favour, but the capacity to journey forth together in peace, love and humility lies in the mastery of ‘the journey back’ for it stamps the assurance of truth. We change sincerely what we should because we love truth and we have to learn to experience this Truth.

From my refined experience, I vindicated the ‘Born Again’ who says Catholics were not truly converted, I have actually come across numerous Catholics who follow doctrine without this personal touch of Christ (Though, a lot has changed and is still changing in the catholic world of today regarding a lively experience of Christ) just like my opined perspective of Pentecostalism lacking depth and stopping on the level of emotion, has also been justified. But my error from both perspectives lies in generalising, and that can be dangerous.

My journey with Pentecostals has deepened my personal experience of Christ because this appears to be one of the most popular dictates of Pentecostalism: experience. Which is true, and this has helped me a lot. Catholicism, until recently, tends to lean more on the bend of communal experience than a personal one. While I have seen the great truth in personal experience, it has in no way diminished my position on the affectivity and unification of faith which is collegial and I can only hope that my friends also see this great unity of and communion of saints, both living and dead. Man is never an island.

This is my story, back to my point on religion:

Far from being an advocate of Relativism, I see that Ecumenism, albeit risky, has been and will continue to be the great driver of the religious outlook of the 21^st century, and he who does not journey back , rather than being helped by its variety, would be swept off by the tidal wave of its complexity and shall not be able to journey forth in the ocean of sincere ecumenism.

The Pope once said that the call of faith no more calls for the discussion of Theology while sipping tea, it is an engagement of love , and because we shrink from the journey back we dread journeying forth with our Abrahamic brethren , much less our Godly brethren. Far from being a rosy gentleman’s affair, issues relating to truth demands energy and that energy is love, and love is a verb, it takes place in journeying.

I presently live in an environment of deep seated scepticism of God, and this has made me value the more my shared destiny with anyone who does believe in God. I accuse Monotheism of having the hidden tendency of monopolising God. In Shakespeare’s Hamlet, it was said to Horatio: ‘There are more in heaven and earth than exists in your philosophy’. God is more to and more inclusive than whatever you are thinking of Him right now.  And as we engage (when we are sincere) we shall find in the most unusual places and faiths, people of truth who would inspire us to become more faithful and loving.

Ask of Peter what it must have cost him to eat that ‘rubbish’ Christ proffered to him, he ate and you and I were assimilated into God’s mystery. Let us go and do likewise.

An ESSAY ABOUT THE JOURNEY FORTH (PART 5) My ‘Obesereic’ Conversion

I call it a conversion, and by the time I finish narrating my experience, many who are familiar with what I write about will either affirm the steepness of my error or appreciate the ‘paradoxity’ of my experience, but first, you have to be rooted and familiar with the cultural topic which I describe: Music.


Music is described as the food of soul, I agree. There is something deeply spiritual about music no matter how vulgar. It creates like nothing else; it sips into the marrow and spirit of man and subconsciously dictates our reactions to life. Some have referred to Musicians, however unserious, as Prophets. I agree.

I love music. I have a rigorous passion for it, but regrettably I have also been deeply cultural in my appreciation of it, and because of its deep rooted vocabulary I will still limit some language in this write-up to its vulgar description from my root in order not to lose its meaningfulness. It’s like reading the Vulgate Bible or the Arabic Quran. These tend to lose their deep rooted meanings once translated to English, which is why I hope to stay with some local vocabularies as I describe my experience. I shall try to describe the meaning in parenthesis though.

Sir Shina Peters and Abass Akande (Obesere) in my opinion are the protagonists of the sexual revolutions in Nigeria. The musical craze that started during the late 80s is mysterious. Many of the music albums that erupted immediately after the release of SSPs ‘Ace’ were nothing but vulgar and over erotic .There began an unusual boom in the sex trade during this period: School boys started dating girls openly, vulgarity and foul language became rampant, eroticism was institutionalised, abortion became an open illegality and teenage delinquency was as rampart and widespread as dust. Multitudes mortgaged a part of their souls to the lust of Babylon. The musical Pandora’s Box that was opened during these years is what has borne the entire boom we have today.

There has always existed a real appreciation of ‘alujo’ (beat and dance) and ‘saje’ (levity) during my teenage years; nothing was esteemed of music if it doesn’t have those rhythmic beats in which you can dance. We cared little or nothing for the sluggish, slow moving, sheepish rhythms of old timers. But underneath the boundary of ‘alujo’ and ‘saje’ lay the shackles of obscenities and eroticism that arrived later when Obesere’s first album was released in the early 90s, what occurred was not simply a new dimension of ‘saje’ and ‘alujo’, what happened was an escalation of obscenities and the complete demise of the wisdom of oldies. With the duo of Shina Peters and Obesere, conservative musicians were left with little choice than to be bought over into the craze or die out of the industry and the populace also either massively followed suit or loose a great deal of their jolliness in ‘alujo’ and ‘saje’, in the attempt to run off the chains of eroticism. I found myself a party of the latter. There began the death of wisdom.

I simply blanked and labelled some songs as purely evil. How on heart would you listen and dance to a music like Obesere without being obsessed with obscenities? I ran! Looking now at our age, lithered with musical obscenities and lyrical frivolity, I am torn between two choice when advising young ones: either to tell them that it is no use running like I did, or to affirm that they run like I did, (for it ultimately benefited me, albeit on the long term), but I wont tell them neither. Run if you would, but mind the danger of being Pharisaic, of being spiritually aloof from the plights of the downtrodden, of not being whom you are meant to be. I am also well aware of the multitudes that have not run like I did and have been overcome by the deluge of musical craze that has permeated all the 21st century which is a direct result the ordeal of many today.

Compare music with wine, woman, sex, and drug. If you make the wrong choice, it permeates all your being and takes over your senses and drives your will and kills you. These things are spirits. I surely loved the beatings and rhythms of Obesere’s song, which, even more than Shina Peters, was accountable for our societal sexual revolution.

More than my fear of being corrupted then was the fear of being thought of as being corrupt by the masses. The expectation of the masses was my dictate, labelling and caging my nomenclature into what they think I should be and not, deep inside me, what I was made for. I was standing for something, but I was losing the naturality of my being, I was losing myself by not owning up to what I loved. It took me more than 20 years to break off from the shackles of ‘alujo’ (beat and dance) and into the vast wisdom lurking beneath the lyrics of songs of the ‘condemned’ like Obesere, while still retaining my love of beats, dance and rhythms. I found lying beneath the erotic surface of songs and beats, vast depth of wisdom and teachings. How was this possible? Without the journey back, it would be nearly impossible separating the vast tares from the wheat.

Our society is littered with ‘don’t’ morals, which is often escapist. If we refuse to ‘do’, there shall be no journey forth, and understandably, ‘do’ morals without the ‘journey back’ is a risky business. And our liberty should also not be occasions for scandals.

I confess that you can make a journey back and come forth to look at anything in the face. As someone said: evil does not lie in things, evil stems from a corrupt mind. When your mind is pure, nothing is impure. I was determined not to be affected, so I lingered in the arena of societal dictatorship and nomenclature. If you would be free, there is a limit to which you can be nice, likewise when you have not fallen or known sin, do not count yourself worthy of being counted among the court of the elect. We would like never to fall. Many have fallen and have stood up becoming invincible. Go and watch the film Matrix. People’s falls are often their journey back.

Obesere says and I quote; ‘O’o loogun arindo, o lo n je aayan, wa wule bi danu….’. Meaning: When you don’t have a tummy palliative and you are eating cockroach, you will simply vomit what you have in your stomach. The 21st century is not built for the survival of the fundamentalist who believes that running away from corruption is an antidote (like I did), nor is it built for the ‘yuppie’ who takes everything as a given and delves into all the bits and pieces proffered by modernity. No, the survival of the 21st century lies in he who knows how to journey back so that he can journey forth without being harmed by the spirit of modernity, manifested in many things and the particular issue we discuss of: music. I call our age an age of quantum, where two plus two is no longer equal to four. Morpheus told Neo in the Matrix film: ‘No one can tell you what the Matrix is; you need to experience it yourself’.

Life is like this; don’t delve into things until you are ready. Guidance is important but don’t let your guardian become your God. We all have one Master. The little lesson in my musical conversion story is about moving on and not being stopped. It’s about the journey forth. We should not presume yet we should not despair; nothing is impossible and no area is out of bound, but you are to be alert to the capability of your resources. There is a great error that lies underneath ‘generalising’; only laziness and ignorance facilitates our generalising.

Postscript: After my Obesereic conversion, the sky became my limit. I still have some nostalgia about the demise of Juju and Fuji music. I still listen mostly to them because I find a ready made appreciation of the wisdom therein because I was born during the Fuji and Juju age, but amidst the noise and higgledy leapture of 9ja music , I have come to appreciate depth out of them, I appreciate the new rhythm of Davido, Olamide , Nice, 2 Face and Whiz Kid. I know who to listen to when I want to meditate and the man that is appropriate when I want to dance.

For those of us who grew up in the 70s and 80s , we can be tempted to be judgemental about the recent western music. For instance what have we to learn from Rihanna, Miley Cyrus or Lady Gaga if not nudity and obscenity? I thought as much until I started watching programs like Nigerian Idol and X Factor and their songs were being subtitled on the screen. Blank what you see , even the most obscene musical song has a deep spiritual meaning, but you must journey back to facilitate your passage out of eroticism that can affect your being negatively.

My final advice: ‘O’o loogun arindo, ma lo je aayan o, waa wule bi danu, o o ni se gbangba girijigba’

Meaning: ‘Do not try this at home’



An ESSAY ABOUT THE JOURNEY FORTH (PART 4) Black, African and Proudly 9ja!

The irony is that, the more the world shrinks and becomes more and more global , the more  ignorance and cultural biases  still prevailing among humanity is astonishingly growing, and at such an alarming rate.

Sarah Palin once described Africa as a ‘vast country’, and this was after her nomination as Republicans vice Presidential flag bearer of the greatest country on earth. If such naivety occurs from a person we would readily assume to know, you can then imagine the level of ignorance in the mind of ‘commoners’.

From realistic comments from friends who are non-Africans, I see there is still a current and widespread perception of Africa as a large dark continent where primitive people still prevail and where scantly cladded tribesmen with bows and arrows for hunting are still rife, even amidst the progress of internet and success of media culture, to many Westerners, Africa is still synonymous to hopelessness and poverty, a region that needs the sympathy and charity of Western aid to survive.

I can go on and on to describe the concept of Africa from a typical Western perspective, this is borne, not out of prejudice but from blatant ignorance and inertia. Don’t be angry if you are black, just be surprised. In spite of the media propaganda about anti-racism et all, it is still ingrained in a white person’s brain that he is superior to Black; God help you if you are Black and African, the Lord is your strength when you are Black, African and Nigerian. I call it ‘Triple jeopardy’.

Contrarily, I come into my land and I notice the wide respect we accord to White skin. An average black man has it ingrained in his psyche that a White person is superior to him, even if he has a Master’s degree holder and the latter has an NVQ1. Hahahaha! Comedy of error.

Without gaining knowledge of the journey back, we shall be trapped. First, we shall be affected with all these apparent biases and instead of doing something to better our lots and correct the disparity with love, we either develop a complex: we accept and live with our ‘inferiority’ or we become angry and respond in such manner that we become far worse than our accusers.

A typical African, in order to survive amidst all these misconceptions, returns either to the abandonment of religion or to the violence of war- or both. We seem unprepared to combine the talk of education and the walk of pragmatism into the emancipation of the mental slavery resident in us. We still rubbish the energy from our root and continue to follow the acute detailed dictates from the West. If Africans don’t discover themselves and still bin their identity and culture, they shall continue to see themselves as second rated citizens. You cannot imitate somebody and expect to be more than him.

In spite of humanity’s advancement, I confess that this racial and cultural ignorance is not often borne out of ill motives, but out of what I call disinterestedness and inertia.  There is a level of ignorance permeating the entire earthly horizon, it is as easy as falling into the wide and fallacious opinions of saying Jamaicans take pots, or that Muslims are terrorists, or that Indians use ‘jazz’, or that white girls are cheap or that all sleet faced Asians are Chinese . For instance, back home, I often wonder at the number of fundamentalist Christians who think Jerusalem is a Christian land filled with churches! All these misconceptions are borne out of our ignorance to read and laziness to venture.

I feel hurt when I am assumed for less than I deserve, but I try not to retaliate. I laugh over the ignorance and try to improve on myself. Martin Luther King once said that the law may not be able to change the heart, but it can restrain the heartless. I commend the effort of some Western countries in tackling this anomaly by implementing laws to discourage the opinionating of its ideology, but the workability of these laws in individuals is another topic. John McCain once said something about Vladimir Putin, he said: ‘when I look into his eyes I see 3 letters: K-G-B. McCain has been affected. I don’t wish to get to a stage where I will look into a White man’s face and see 6 letters. R-A-C-I-S-M.

The journey forth thus calls precisely for what is being denied in our world today in order to truly progress. Think of definitions like Big Society, Multiculturalism, Multi-ethnicity, Solidarity etc. The heart might have failed in the workability of these things, but as long as the Heart still breathes there is still hope.

I passionately work towards being influenced by goodness. The British Empire came to my land for money, but without them today, I wouldn't have gotten my Christian faith, I wouldn't have been educated, if for the single fact that I met with Christ, it is enough reason to see the advent of the White man as a journey forth. But when I bin what I already have instead of working to refine it and guarding it jealously, I am then behaving like a child who sees honey and throws away bread. A wise adult would see honey and consume both bread and honey.

As I become a citizen of the world and I see the great hospitality of the British, the deep rooted culture and creativity of Italians, the diligence of Eastern Europeans, the faith and generosity of the Arabs, the discipline of Asians, the magnanimity and zest of the Americans, the sophistication of the French and the pragmatism of Russians. I would like to purchase these ingredients, add the salt and condiments of African passionate energy and vast abilities, mix and cook these together to produce a tasty menu for the advancement of humanity.

An ESSAY ABOUT THE JOURNEY FORTH (PART 3) Go On With One Nigeria

Of the things most difficult for man is cultural integration. Our environments do have a massive impact on our beliefs and our lives.

One of the best experiences produced from the core of my nation is the programme called the National Youths Service Corps (NYSC), a compulsory one year integration and service programme undertaken by every university graduate in Nigeria, established after the end of the country’s civil war. It is easy for us to take this scheme for granted, but think about it: how many friendships it has fostered, how great the unity it has advanced, how multitude the prejudices it has banished!

We grow in our individual cultured environments and develop our respective prejudices, fostered by stories from our communities. We make little effort to verify these conceived opinions and we learn to live our lives without adjudicating their veracity.

It was a great opportunity for me experiencing this scheme. It remained one of my best life experiences. I was opportune to interact with individuals from virtually every part of the country and this exposure has informed and reformed my attitude towards the subject and importance of verification. During this time, I met with great men and women from all across the nation and some of whom their friendships have remained relevant in my life, even today.

Not that I did not perceive some of the so-called ills about others and about respective cultures, as  picked up from my environment, as others would definitely have perceived mine, but when we gather a discernment from an experience from the journey back, we are not overly surprised about others weakness ( because we have ours),  the inspirations we gather from their virtues, I see, quite  outweighs the impact of their ills, and it was this I determined to build on, and I have not been let down.

It’s a complex world we live in, but I’ll rather put myself in a position to be affected positively by goodness rather than to be harmed by ills, and the capacity to do this lies in the grace of the journey back. Two things happen otherwise: Without making this journey back I either think it all a bed of roses regarding people and thus unknowingly become ‘conquered’ into their respective ills, that is, if I presume to follow through the perspectives of people’s peripheral goodness; or else, I become opinionated and join the league of the expose in having a more prejudiced judgement and distorted biases when I decide to live on the negative perspective of others. So either way,  I end up thus becoming worse without knowing it, I become so to say, mastered by evil. Give or take, without an adequate journey back, there is no going forth.

There is strength in numbers when we transcend petty bickering. My experience of the NYSC scheme for me did actually become a “Go On with One Nigeria” (GOWON). What I am passionate about and indeed want to build on is my discovery about the communality and uniqueness of Nigerians, the all-round zeal of the Igbos, the creativity from the Niger Deltans, the easy going attitude of the northerners, the intuitiveness of the Yorubas, and the sociability from the middle belts.

Historically, Nigeria as a country is a project borne out of commerce; money was a huge factor in the amalgamation of respective protectorates by the British. It probably would take some experience of the journey back, albeit uncomfortable, to break off the shackles of money and realise the deeper destiny that we truly have in common. Some have already despaired about this, but through projects like the NYSC I see hope.

Now, my personal political conclusion is this: Justice can, or rather should entail concessions and compromise for the sake of the common good and this often is easier realised in the arena of charity and humility, otherwise when forced upon, it becomes far calamitous and drives back the speed of progress.

The civil war is a scandal and is a thing hard to let go off especially by those most affected by it, but without the sacrifice of those who fought and gave their lives, wither or thither, the shackles off money, which is still a work in progress, would have been little come by, and I see that strength is made perfect in weakness, the foundation of our country is laid on the blood, not so much of the ‘victor’ who are alive, but of the ‘vanquished’ who are dead.

On a personal note, the ordeals I went through during the June 12 saga has made me value and esteem the more, the democracy project.  My passionate solidarity is borne out of this ordeal which is a memory I shall not let go of because it has built whatever I have become now and is building that which I will be in the future. I am part of the job, as important as the President, because the struggle takes place not so much in the citadel of Abuja as in the heart of man, and because the evils and corruption of the junta years are not an option for me, I do whatever I can to join in the solidarity for the emancipation of the spirit of man starting from my root.

My June 12 ordeal was unwillingly laid upon me, but this struggle was willingly taken up by others. It is of these heroes, both living and dead, whether of the June 12 saga or the greater ordeal of the civil war, that keeps the spirit and soul of Nigeria going. The labours of our heroes past shall never be in vain: this is indeed a great and worthy prayer.

I wasn’t born during the Nigerian civil war, but I was alive during June 12 crisis and I affirm that without such journey back, without such struggle of the mind, will, soul and intellect, there would have been no democracy for anybody or the masses. This is the journey forth; it is all about freedom and liberation!

We have Principalities, bad ancestors, corrupt institutions and the love of money on whose foundation this glorious country was laid by the British Empire, to contend with, so the struggle still continues. And amidst all the ordeals and calamity that beleaguer our dear nation, I see a positive exodus, a common journey forth towards the emancipation of the mind, spirit and soul of man out of the shackles of slavery.

In God’s eyes, this journey is nothing but positive; only with Him is there actually no Victor and no Vanquished and in Him only can we go on with one Nigeria.

An ESSAY ABOUT THE JOURNEY FORTH (PART 2) The Journey Into Love

Without love, all that we do is worthless.

As we grow, the definition of love often acquires a rebirth and exposes a broader horizon to our journey.

I start this second essay with the depiction of a young girl who is in love. She has her whole mind and heart revolving around this young man, the object of her love. She is prepared to leave whatever she’s got at any inkling for this cupid. She would not imagine a life without him; this would simply be nothing but death. This feeling and desire is what I shall call Eros, and Eros is a very beautiful experience, but that which has got to be managed, otherwise it becomes dangerous.

Many grown-ups are aware of this necessary phase in the life of a young person. The imprudent adult rubbishes and zeroes this experience and leaves the young girl feeling bewildered and more confused. The wise ones guide her along this dangerous but necessary path whatever be the outcome.

Back to our story. Eventually the worst happened: our young girl became heartbroken: the boy leaves her. Her life support was snapped; life seemed nothing but wicked. She felt suicidal; she couldn't go on of her own strength.  I maintain that this is Destiny’s way of calling her unto something greater, even though she knew not, this is her own personal journey back and it becomes eternally fruitful, if she remains faithful and true to her experience.

Then, she could see nothing but misfortune, but in actual fact, painful as it was, the experience was simply an invitation to advance in wisdom, to be detached and to venture more into the more honourable path of true love. To her, life seemed no more to go forward anymore, but for Destiny, it is simply a journey to the truth.

And this depiction of Eros is not limited only to young people; it is as wide and varied. For instance, I once asked a friend what his ultimate motive was .He replied that he hoped to work hard, retire and spend the remaining part of his life fishing. He was passionate about this hobby. I delved into the issues of family, community and suggested if he would be interested in impacting his society, but he would hear nothing of such, his ultimate goal in life is a time for his passion: fishing; I admire a man with a passion which is the starting point (many there are who don’t have future ambitions), but I just couldn’t bring myself to understanding a whole life spent in an inedible fishing pastime in the midst of all opportunities. This sort of passion like that of my friend is as varied, it could be love of music, fashion, food, money etc. While I consider these the starting point, I cannot see it as a destination in itself.

Back to the story of our girl. The experience didn’t break her, she was instead detached by it and understood deeper the sole purpose of love. Years passed and  she got married to a man she loved sincerely and maturely , being no more attached to the frivolity of emotion but to the truthfulness of love. During her married life, something else began to crop up, something unlike the ‘shaky’ love she felt as a girl, a love more gentle, calm and more reasonable, but equally disturbing; that which, however plausible, was not the ultimate (though she thought it was then until she had to face another reality): It was the love for her family, most especially her children who were indeed everything to her. Life without them became unthinkable. This is a kind of love I shall describe as Filial.

The older she grew, the more attached to her children she was, and the more ‘responsible’ for their destiny she became. Then, these children began to leave home; they started graduating from school and getting married. She knew sooner she would have to face the reality of being without them. Even though she had been a faithful wife and a wonderful mother, she discovered that love goes deeper than family ties, that which were now being snapped from her, for good.

Events in life and ageing could force us out from Eros to Filial, but without early practice and constant faith, dedication and commitment, it would be difficult to proceed from Filial unto the next stage. Most fall from the snap of Filial, not back unto Eros- which would be nothing- but further into what I call Principality. Upon reaching the Filial spot, the journey further would be impossible without the Divine.

I once asked a woman what her ultimate motive for hustling so much for her children was. She replied that in the hope that, one day they would be well learned, get good jobs and be able to support her and the family. Plausible, but short sighted and in danger of an aversion unto this Principality that I talk about.

Many there are who after the Filial snap find succour in altruistic deeds like community works, charitable deeds or Godly service. These are very commendable but in danger of an escape from the Agape call, which is the destination of this journey of love because it is where authentic freedom and liberation resides. The novelty of fathoming the inaccessible horizon which is the summit of our journey belongs only to a faith assisted by humility and charity. Agape does not blame Filial and Eros; it journeys with them, without being attached to them.

Agape stems from a detached heart, a detachment from self, from loved ones and from the world, and it is of such that makes a companion of Filial and Eros without being a slave to them. This novelty of love becomes like a horizon which broadens unto infinity. Love becomes purified and everything points to this purity of love. The journey forth is not about us, it simply happens because of us. For instance, we see daily, all around us, those good examples of people who fast, keep long vigils, pay tithes, offerings and stipends, who perform all forms of ascetic practices and altruistic deeds in order to venture towards this liberating path, but this journey to the truth of love is not a guarantee even for them, it belongs entirely to the choice of the Divine. According to Christ: Many would seek to enter through the narrow gate and would not succeed. If such plausible deeds would not succeed therein, what then would become of us who don’t even venture at all?

But my consolation is in this discovery: this power of truth which liberates goes hand in hand with a holy dissatisfaction, it belongs, not to those who visibly make the effort, not even to those who are aware, but to those who know they are not where they should be and passionately long to be where they should without ‘killing’ themselves over it or arrogantly judging the others who venture, albeit not like them. The victory lies in our desire, not in our arrival. Blessed are the poor in Spirit; blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness.

I would like to end this 2^nd of the 7 parts of my essay with a quote from the Little Flower which summarises the summit of this journey of love. She said about herself: “Because my heart is centred on God, it has manifested a more purified; sincere affection farther than it would have done if it had spent itself in selfish and barren loves. All things have come to me because I no longer seek them for myself”.

An ESSAY ABOUT THE JOURNEY FORTH (part 1) Life and the Quest for Power

Some 6 months back I wrote an essay about the journey back. This second essay which I shall put in series concludes the previous.

No pain, no gain; no cross, no crown. The journey forth is an attempt at expounding our conquest when we dare journey back in faith and confidence. It is the residence of mercy, the acquisition of power.

Life is full of mystery. At the micro level, life seems to be going back and forth. ‘Atori l’aye’, life becomes like a yoyo; but when we look at it from an acute macro perspective, when we see the big picture, life is actually, truthfully, realistically moving in one direction, and that is forward only; because the ruler of this world has already been judged, and the more we accustom ourselves to looking at the big picture, the more positive we become and the more we are unaffected by the earthly and ephemeral. But we cannot see the big picture unless we broaden the heart, and we cannot broaden the heart unless we embark on the journey back.

Life moves forward, it journeys in search of truth and truth beckons to visit her. The man who journeys in truth knows that all falsehood shall ultimately be destroyed, and an adept at this journey forth knows that all falsehood has already been destroyed. When we venture back, we definitely return with power; we acquire power, so to say.

Now, this definition of power has the tendency of being viewed from a negative perspective. When we think of power we immediately think of something akin to greed and personal acquisitions, because, just like love - and perhaps more than love- power’s definition has been tarnished. In fact, if love has been wounded in our age, power has been murdered.

Power is the ultimate capacity to influence. When we sincerely journey back, we acquire power, but because the journey back can be tasking, a great multitude ‘cut corners’ to acquire power and here lies the death of power, in my land and in the world in general. We have murdered power by ignoring its route, thus no man is at peace.

This desire for power, the capacity to influence was the reason which propelled the Magi in their long search for Christ, it was the longing of the Queen of Sheba which enhanced her journey to Solomon, and it is what every single earthly and heavenly ruler craves for, rightly or otherwise.  If you cannot influence, of what benefit then is your power? You can use force of course, but force and coercion deplete the source of power the more and ultimately dries and kill it off. Herein lies the death of power: Not keeping to the rules of its path.

Life in fact is full of powerful people who are not aware of their power, and of powerless lots who in fact think they are powerful.  Power in truth was what Christ acquired through His death and Resurrection, or rather that which He has bequeathed us, and thus hope is reborn because, even in our age, real power seems though it is dead, but it lives.

Power comes at a cost, whether you travel in truth or falsely, the difference is that one is sustainable and the other ultimately crumbles. You cannot ‘sit down’ and manage power; if you do you shall ultimately be consumed. Power moves, it moves with the body, heart, mind, intellect, will and memory. If you really want power sustained, most especially: you've

got to learn to let go.

One person would say, ‘I don’t care for this power thing anyway. I am contented the way I am, why should I be that ambitious?’  I reply that you either do not understand what real power consists of or that you are still disillusioned regarding your reason for living. Your essence is made for power, even simple laws of Physics point to that fact.

Another person would say, ‘yes I am in charge, I grasp this concept of power, I am superior.’  I say: good for you, but you still do not know what this power is, because it has nothing to do with you. Even if you know what it is, be careful, for you are threading a very risky ground by deciding to be in charge, you are already in the realm of great temptations and may not last.

We live in an age where power is directly motivated by the material, but acquiring true power demands rising above the material. This rectilinear journey requires an education which is equipped towards enabling the 21^st century man to rise beyond the material, but we don’t seem to be ready.

For every journey back that we make, we acquire the capacity to make 7 journeys forth (and I use 7 figuratively to depict perfection), thus I have decided to divide this essay into 7. This is just one of them and the forthcoming topics shall equally be as diverse as they are provocative. Stay tuned…