PURITY (Part 3): The Search for Truth

One would think we have reached the apex of our responsibility after the ponderation of last week’s logic on Purity, but today we see a deeper and purer dimension of this subject and we shall consider how salient the search for truth is to the subject of purity and how the perversion of this search is more widespread than imagined.

Every human heart has an intrinsic desire for freedom and for happiness, and these are such factors which form the basis for work, which is the propeller of man’s search for knowledge. The passion of every leader of knowledge should thus be geared towards fostering this correspondence between the heart’s desires and truth which becomes the pillar within which any works of life is built, and the more that this truth is purged, the more its horizon is broadened and the freer does man become.

Truth is very necessary for man, because we work to be free and every work that finds no basis on integrity becomes a perambulation in toil. Truth is found within the confines of knowledge, it is an experience. Any civilisation that does not strive based on truth is headed for disaster. But, what does this truth consist of?

I will start from Faith. Perhaps we have experiences, or have come across someone experienced in a certain form of ‘wakefulness’ that is peculiarly different from an everyday living. It is useless to get people to deny this experience for it forms the basis of their self, that is why I believe issues of faith will become more relevant as the supernatural gets more involved in our time, and it will be useless for either Politics, Economy or Science to disregard or dismiss these claims because they lie deep within the human experience of truth.

What we should rather rebuke in Faith is the prodigality of this wakefulness which manifests in hypocrisy, pride and the absolute reluctance to broaden the mind and embrace the totality of all factors. Remember, your wakefulness may be sleepiness to another, so there should be no reason for pomposity. Fake awareness finds an alibi in propaganda, which is why a true test for the purity of truth is found in humility. The higher you go on this journey, the cooler you should become.

The worst crisis of our age is not that of sexual proliferation, it is not even that of a loss in the purity of the collegiality in our humanity. It is the aggressiveness, bullishness and dictatorship of what is often referred to as Relativism. Relativism is an awareness, and upon issues of awareness as this does the other previous factors of purity, either of sex or collegial humanity depends. It is thus necessary to be on a good pedestal when dealing with Awareness and be careful that it is not founded on Relativism, or we run the chance of losing all.

What is Relativism? It is a Quantum spectrum where the diversification of knowledge has led to an opinionated proliferation and liberalisation of truth and where the individual has become his own correspondence. This started presumably as a response to a previous annexation and systemic boxation of truth, that which Religion has often been accused of. It is useless to dismiss either our Quantic or Religious reality, the antidote is ‘owning up’, and this is easier to be done by Religion than the Quantic reality, for within Relativism, everyone is involved but no one is responsible.

Within Faith reality on the other hand, we experience a flaw in the subjugation of Awareness to the powers of divination. This is an unfortunate demeanour of truth, that which fosters fear arising within competition because man becomes impatient and gets deeper and deeper within the matrix of a quick fix, thereby complicating an ongoing forlornness. When we act purely out of emotion, we mortgage truth and sink deeper into misery.

Our random -grocery-like- pick and drop livelihood which forms the basis of Relativism is rooted in a derailed knowledge and a search for truth gone haywire. We have lost both the driver and compass of our collegial journey and have succumbed to the competitive desires of Consumerism and Materialism, and the resulting catharsis has affected every facet of our lives from Marriage to livelihood to faith. We have a crisis of Orientation because we have lost the path towards living.

This issue is complicated more by a crisis of leadership. There is no guarantee that those that you follow are not steep into this divination too. False leaders abound, both within Faith, Knowledge, Awareness and every facet of life. They propose an attractive but shallow, ephemeral, peripheral kind of truth and we fall prey. Divination is thriving the more within the spiritual and is becoming more and more its driver, just as the idolatry of Technology is driving the material. Flee spiritual divination; resist this path to knowledge for you will be locked in fear and toil. As of the idolatry of Technology, it has the tendency to suck your heart and mind. It is enough to shine your eyes and reason; we are arriving at a point of the dictatorship of the Inanimate championed by Technology, and when you wake up, it will be no Science fiction.

Back to my question: What is truth? Truth is one, it is unity, it is the totality of all factors and the meaning of everything. You shall not find it within Relativism because it happens outside our caprices, and you cannot force yourself upon it, you have to follow.  It will also be foolish of Faith to dismiss either the Quantum theory, or Relativity theory or Gravitational theory, or any Scientific postulation for that matter, just as it would be a mistake for someone not bolstered by Faith to dismiss faith, giving the historic chaotic nature within religion as excuse. Even within Science lies a clearer perception of truth for a man of Faith. Be careful to condemn nothing in totality and be slow to dismiss their capability of conveying truth and reality. How can you presume to condemn out-rightly what you know little or nothing about?

Mind comes before Matter. The mark of any genius lies in Creativity, and this spark of ingenuity is an other worldly affair, it is not born out of any caprice. Keep purifying this desire, this search for truth.

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PURITY (PART 2): THE HUMANLY PURE (Inu-kan)

Addiction kills vision. I mean vision -not as in sight- but reason. Bad habits deaden the sixth sense. Purity is all about clarity and its canker worm starts from the scrotum and has the society as a consequential end.

As mentioned in previous topics, this sexual problem is not so much about its sincere struggle but about its denial and defence. One wonders how a private issue as sexual addiction can transcend through social dimensions; whereas not every defaulter suffers its consequence, but every defaulter sure becomes the cause of any devalued relationship and social breakdown. (Flash back to my “3SU” story last week).

Consequences are easier avoided with a broadened mind and a spirit steep in charity. People whose magnanimity transcend selfishness and act with sincere empathy escape the consequence of beleaguered sexuality. Charity covers a multitude of sins.

The humanly pure. Who are these? They are such who act within relationships. Relationship here is described in its broadest term. Not only sexual relationships; but also family, social and every human relationship regardless of class, status and creed. Issues pertaining to human relationships are of a graver dimensions than sexual relationships and as I explained in my Intro to this topic few weeks back, its defiance is more common and easily contravened, even more than sexual divergence. And this Human purity is the greatest driver of our civilisation.

Sexual addiction destroys but the socially pure builds up. I live within a positivity frame that believes in the reality that, for every unit of life destroyed through a beleaguered sex, its hundred fold is built up by the truly humanly pure. But how and where do we encounter this humble and meek, steep and broad-minded, without animosity, unprovoked, capable of letting go, willing to forgive and ready to ask for forgiveness. ‘Inu-kan’. There is a beautiful depiction of such heart in the film: Forrest Gump. I recommend it. These are the truly pure, a higher grade of purity than the sexually pure and these are the drivers of our civilisation. Blessed are the meek, they inherit the earth.

Do you fit into this category? How happy and desirous of another’s progress are you? What are your feelings at hearing of a friend, family or work colleague’s progress? How passionate and desirous at the collegial thriving of everyone are you? How desirous of pulling others up to attain your status are you, or how forlorn do you become about another’s progress relative to yours?

As in the case of sexuality, be not dismayed about your feelings, but do keep up the struggle against negativity. Do you act positively against any negative feeling or do you give in to the evils of envy, anger, jealousy and wishing evils upon anyone? Even your worst enemy, as long as he is human, does not deserve your evil wishes.

If you transcend all these, how beautiful and lovely are you. How wonderful that which you contribute to humanity’s progress, more than Newton’s Theory of Gravity and Einstein’s Theory of Relativity combined. Even though you may be locked within the remotest corner of the world, in truth, it is because of you that all these beautiful civilisations and freedom occur. You are the real protagonist, the richest treasure upon which the progress of this world depends. You are the truly pure of heart and you shall see God.

PURITY (PART 1): THE SINS OF THE FLESH (2)

Few years back when I was making preparations for my wedding, I was confronted by some of my friends who were surprised to find out that I was organizing a Bachelor’s eve prior to my wedding day. I asked why not, and it was from one of my friends that I discovered the rudimentary perceptions of Bachelors Eve within my cultural entity, which made me realize why such proposition by a crude person like me was awkwardly received by some friends. The gist of it is that Bachelors’ Eve is generally understood to be a sort of hedonistic correspondence where the Groom normally has a ‘last try’ at sexual exploration before settling down with his wife and where every friends both male and female have to follow on this correspondence of sex, booze and every vice permissible during the night.

I am still not sure how general this unwritten perception is but I mentioned this because of the concept of the ‘last try’ that was mentioned to me which is very much an illusion. With sexual pervasion and addiction, there is most likely little question about a ‘last try’ because an unfaithfulness that is not curbed right until the eve of the wedding night is not likely to be curbed within wedlock. This most likely would be that this ‘Mardi Gras’ would translate into a lasting struggle that is very likely to have a negative effect on the wedlock itself and such that would create a potential for an ultimate extermination of personal, social and collective structure of well-being. Many private and collective sufferings of today are borne out of the sexual mistakes of yesterday and the great ordeals of tomorrow are budding out already from the senseless sexual pervasion of today.

If we are to call a spade by its name, sexual addictions take place generally within the least notable to the most diabolic. From lusts (in all its forms), pornography, masturbation, fornication, adultery; down to homosexuality, paedophilia and bestiality. The ‘but’ of these addictive natures is that they do not correspond to our desires of happiness, in fact they kill them. Another important notion is the fact that, the ‘Eureka’ of our liberation lies not so much within ‘Cleanliness’  against this pervasion (which is very much desired)as what goes on within a sincere struggle against it. The killer of our humanity and civilisation lies within its denial and justification.

It is easier to blame perverts and overlook the cause of the multiplicity of these pervasion but an imbalanced deliberation will do little justice to the debate. Very little are those who ponder how we arrived at this structure and civilisation that enhances this sexual expediency to the utmost level. We are living within an age of an intense sexual pressure and while we do well not to permit the blame game, we should nevertheless not cease the ponderation of the cause of this banality which is likely to increase the more.

I believe the present structure which makes it so herculean to maintain sexual sanity is borne out of the plausible desire for knowledge, that which has unfortunately been seduced and hijacked by materialism and consumerism. It is amazing how knowledge is increasing with its accompanying pressures. You see how a University degree is becoming an equivalence of former Secondary degree towards job security in our day; and we see –for instance- how an IT novice is tending more and more towards illiteracy, and we see how the bulk of this knowledge is tied within Capitalism which drives our thirsts for consumption and self-indulgence.

Energy cannot be created nor destroyed, what you gain within an entity, you probably loose within another entity; so who suffers from this structural consequence? I’ll tell you, it is another structure: Marriage and family life which has at its heart the question of the sustainability of sexual libido. How would nature, geared towards sperm production at 15 years and menstruation at 14 years and the full development of every sexual drive, be asked to wait or survive within an age where you are surrounded by hedonistic proliferations from the media, and the marriage benchmark has been raised above 30 years, or you risk not fulfilling knowledge and maturity that is increasingly geared towards individual survival in the 21^st century? The result, we develop an alibi, we relegate any discussion on the right use of authentic libido, we deny its Reasonability and we justify its expenditure, even to the utmost extreme, but it is well catching up on us. And it is no use spending our energies blaming out the cause but we need instead to face up with the challenge of its remedy which lies mostly within the concept of a ‘struggle’.

The sexual spree of today is not going to last forever; it is like our modern day fossil fuel which is depleting our natural habitat. Those who are better positioned to manage this pervasion (and I do not talk so much of the complacent chaste settlers as of the weak lipid Strugglers; but definitely not the sceptics and desponders) will be the champions of the new enlightenment which has already budded. The future is for Sinners, but sinners who know they are and aspire by actions to be saints,  mark my words.

The pervasion of sexual purity is a social and ancestral vice, it would be better were it a private issue, but few realise how extremely social and collegial any individual pervasion is. In the case of a sexual ‘spreedom’, the perpetrator may even scale through (but not often) but the banal consequence rears its ugly head sooner or later through love, bloodline and community. Pervasion has a social dimension, so it’s no use standing aloof and folding hands off this debate.

I started in Part 1 with the Global Warming story and I’ll end with it. Regarding this private, social and collegial consequence of this pervasion, Borrow a leaf from the Industrial revolution and its Global warming consequence. I’ll tell a little story and I call it the “3SU” story: The Industrial Revolution was “Started” by the “UK”. The energy proliferation borne out of it was “Spread” by the “US” and its dare consequence is being -and if nothing is done- and will still be “Suffered” by “us” all. It is also as such with sexual pervasion

when nothing is done to counter it, starting from ourselves, for it is useless to do battle without, without a conquest within.

PURITY (PART 1): THE SINS OF THE FLESH (1)

I have struggled to avoid a division of this subtopic but the nature of my schedules and the broadness of this particular subject has warranted that I subdivide them once more into two, the other part I shall publish next week.

Our modern mind seem fixated upon sex and rightly so, considering the pervasion of a great many sexual distractions within our cultural vicinity. Sexual disorders are arguably more widespread than any other known disorders of our time. Being masters against sexual prodigality, herculean though it is, is indeed an avenue towards subsequent mastering of worse disorders.

We need a broadened mind when discussing sexual pervasion, the temptation is to simply assume it as a moral discussion, even though, while one cannot deviate from the morality of the topic, the objective consideration of the totality of all factors would allow a vaster digestion and comprehension of the chaotic nature of sexual disorders, that which I have simply termed ‘The sins of the flesh’.

The world thrives on energy, both seen and unseen. Close your eyes for instance and wonder for an instant the consequence of a world without fuel. Many past and ongoing wars have their cause rooted in the quest for Oil, which powers our works and life; and this is only energy in its most simplistic form. There are many other sources of energies driving life which are both physical and spiritual within our domain; whether this is at or without the expense of other lives is another topic entirely.

I do not think many see sex and everything surrounding it as an important aspect of energy. In fact in the physical realm, sex is arguably about the greatest energy, without which our humanity cannot survive. Everything seen is built upon this mysterious force, this masculine momentum and feminine drive that fosters subsistence. The whole industrial age combined is just a tiny fraction of the energy that thrives between a man and a woman. A man without this drive or a woman devoid of this grace has a minimal role to contribute into our physical world. So for starters, this piece of writing is not about killing sex but about fostering it.

Permit me a piece of seemingly digression, but I shall confluence my argument soon: The Industrial Revolution brought about many chaotic disruptions that are easy to understand in our age because we are experiencing something very similar with our modern day ITC Revolution where among many things, gadgets and components are taking over many human jobs. Those who readily embraced the industrial revolutions then, even when they were peasants, became most powerful Lords. Those former Lords who were resistant to the Industrial age were later peasants in life. We see how seemingly learned men in our age who have not embraced the ITC Revolution have turned half illiterate.

But history and life experience has shown that practices which may be regarded as benevolent today may turn hazardous tomorrow. The world is starkly facing the consequence of extreme Industrialization today with the realization of global warming which puts the ultimate survival of our human race under so much risk. It’s worse than you probably imagine, and we are just beginning. A drastic ethical change of a whole industrialisation process is needed to avert seemingly imminent dangers. Sceptics may object because change is difficult, but data hardly lies.

You wonder how this affects you. Because even our present discomforts and lacks already have their root causes linked to global warming. The more the earth warms, the more poverty spreads. Any indiscriminate depletion of energy has a consequence and a dare one at that.

Now, let us link this Industrial and sexual experience within the energy concept. The global warming brouhaha described above is intrinsically linked to the utilisation of our sexual energies in its behavioural perspective. I have often said there is a close synonymity between our callous utilisation of fossil fuel, the prelude to global warming, and the erratic expedition of our sexual urges, a prelude to –permit me to be fatal- death. The holistic behavioural remedy of our energy trespasses is that it is not simply enough that we power down our lights in order to save the earth, it is also necessary that we zip up our jeans and avoid depleting our sexual energies outside the scope of Reason.

We need to grasp this ‘theory of everything’ when discussing energy. It is ultimately useless to curb Industrial energy without mending our sexual manners. In this battle to save the world, we have to start by saving ourselves, and there is no ‘default’ within the scope of self as the sexual default; literarily speaking we are the world, we are mother (or father) earth; has no one ever told you that you are dusts, we are all dusts, crusts from the earth?

The second part of the Sins of the flesh, part B of Part 1 of Purity shall be published next week. Thanks for reading.

PURITY (INTRO)

Purity is a cherished -but no longer in vogue- word. We still value spotlessness, even in our banal age, though we often dread or loath the path towards it. ‘Pure water’, ‘Virgin lands’, ‘Natural foods’, ‘Unadulterated minerals’: these are some contemporary depictions portraying the subtle desirability of this spotless state.

The subject of purity is something I will attempt during the next 3 or 4 weeks, to discern, digest and expound. Our first thought of purity is to assume it as a topic simply within the realms of religiosity and morality and pointing solely to bed and sex.  Purity should indeed be based around ethics and morality but it is not a subject bound under their monopoly. It is also wrong to narrow purity down simply to bed and sex, they are just the beginning of the banality opposed to this lauded virtue. The worst evil against purity is a far cry from sex and these are the ones most treated with levity. The worst evils are the other two forms of purity that I shall later discuss, and they are more common and rife than the corruption that plagues the evil of the sins of the flesh.

From next week I shall begin from the factor best grasped about purity: Sex; but following weeks, I shall move on to the other two more ‘boring stuffs’. I call these boring because, in spite of them being most important, they have not been properly grasped nor taken very serious within our cultural milieu. We have stopped paying attention to what matters most for life, we have forgotten to regard the other two factors as matters of purity. I shall refer in general terms to the sin of the flesh as sex, but remember that I mean sex when it is acted outside the scope of Reason.

Jack Welch, a Business and Management guru once argued in one of his books that Shareholders comes third (behind Customers and Employees) in the hierarchy of factors that should be involved towards business sustainability. But the reality in our age is that Shareholders wield so much power in business, to the detriment of Customers and Employees who should be treated  first and second respectively, but these other two are paid lip service and often disregarded. That is why Tom Peters, another Business guru , proved in his book ‘In Search of Excellence’ that hardly does any company remain in Fortune 500 (World 500 best Companies) for 50 years, because CEOs are too absorbed with their desires to please the Shareholders, rather than Customers and Employees, who they see as too weak to oust them, but to the detriment of the future sustainability of the Company.

Why the digression? Because the Business Scenario is similar to the Purity scenario. I make to say also that, in the hierarchy of purity, sexual purity actually comes third (just like the Business Shareholders) behind the first two virtues which I shall later expound. if you focus too much on mastering sexual virtues without paying more attention to the other two, you shall be deformed and your freedom may be less sustainable. Though indiscriminate sex corrupts the other two virtues that are often taken for granted and even more widely committed, if you don’t master sexual purity, it will be difficult to see the acute importance of the other two virtues, but any chastity that is not founded on the basis of the other two becomes a wild goose chase.

So much for an introduction.  just in time for Valentine. I love you all, accept this writeup as a token of my love. I shall continue next week.

Ma w'ariwo oja.

We wonder how the Lord permits us to see some deeply disturbing and negative things in our dreams, and this is to our benefits, for this mere permission is an opportunity for awareness , conquest and complete obliteration of such issues. In this we are more than conquerors, for evil shows itself in the life of a believer in order for it to be defeated the more. And the first temptation happens in our intellect as we struggle to trust in the rectification of such calamities and accept the fact of God's triumph  and the utmost efficacy about the simplicity of our actions which is that of just trusting in Him. 

What I have learnt, is to pray in full confidence, trusting in Him, and believing that any calamity, no matter how terrible or fatal, are not unavoidable, by the complete reversal of fortune, mitigated and leveraged by His eternal and merciful blood and water which gushed forth from His side a fount of mercy for us.

Also, we should not be afraid to revisit the event by writing them down in order to cure the calamity, with courage and trust in His Divine help, since 'b'Oluwa ba ti fi ota eni han ni, ko lee pa ni mo'. Once something is named or written , its strength is decapitated. 'Ala ki i ba omo l'eru ki o ma le e ro'.

Ills are most efficaciously resolved only by facing the ills head-on. And in this case, they become nothing but a mirage. All falsehood indeed are. We must not give in to despair.

As He has many times shown, evil dreams are phantoms even amidst its bullying effect and even when we perceive their effects in real life, they happen as tamed, ineffectual, mitigated events that have been leveraged in the supreme efficacy of His Blood and Water. And we wonder wether the simple prayer made during the night after the evil experienced in the dream suffice to ameliorate the issues, and this is the big temptation, for the knowledge of a simple trust is the power of God and the mustard seed required of Him to move the mountains of evils in our lives and that this prayer said does not happen in isolation, but begs of all the good deeds we have done and soaks them in the ever present Supreme sacrifice which He has gone through for us and this, with our work, passion, trust and faith in the efficacy of it, and remembering we are not alone - we belong to a body of faith, the church - whose petitions and faith are joined with ours. 

Do not swerve from trust in His mercy no matter the evil of the experience in dreams, they are phantoms, but only derive their strengths when we succumb to their fears. They are lifeless on His sight. Devil is simply a bully, look not him in the face. Ma wo ariwo oja. Simply trust.

'They' may call the name they cannot touch on the person that is rooted in Christ. Even though if on waking the trend of fear lurks but a greater conviction of its fantom will prevail. 

This is Similar to sin for a Christian. the knowledge that there was no question of such sin prevails (because of Christ) even though the necessity of confession is required to kill of any guilt from the 'Accuser' that wars on the intellect in the quest of making one believe there is one. 

That is why the Divine Mercy prayer is necessary (in lieu of confession )upon waking after a bad dream. It is a mind war taking place on the level of the intellect, on one side is our sins catalyzing the fear and on the other side is grace catalyzing faith and trust in the absoluteness of the goodness of Christ.

This is also reminiscent of Moses placing before Israel life and death: keep the law or die; and in our case it is between that of fear and faith. Believe in fantom, fear and die or trust in Christ, thrive and live. It is the question of faith and reality, fear is simply a fantom , bad dreams are bullies, they don't exist, grasp on the good dreams and hold on to them in hope, any negative perception is false, the mind is that as great, what you see and believe is what you get. The mind's gift to a Christian is his strength.

And talking of the mind and its magnanimous creativity is a thing of great joy. Whatsoever is good, lovely and of good report; The ability to build on virtually anything, to believe and effect in spite of time and space. But realizing this truth is not the ultimate, it is aligning it to the will of Christ that is. 

We should not get carried away with power. The ultimate prize is staying at Christ's -and the Church's - frequency. Every other thing, even in spite of their altruism falls into nihilism.

Do you believe this or not?

What you believe is ultimately what you get. Stick with Christ and His body, the church. Do not be tempted astray by the magnitude of such power given to a man of faith.

One thing is that, no matter how horrific a dream is, one must not succumb to the temptation of falling prey into believing that they would come true, the devil would then have succeeded in lurking you into fear. Just pray the Divine Mercy, sing psalms, do good works and have confidence. If these things are revealed, it is for you to do what you can to rectify the situation and leave the rest to Christ in prayers, not to mortgage your life to fear. Bad dream for a christian is full of mercy.He normally would shield you and yours with His mighty and holy Arms.

A fool normally would wake up from a bad dream, be gracious it was all a dream, and go back to sleep. A wise person would wake up, pray, with much trust and without fear pick up d story and ponder on what lessons to be learnt from the dream.

Dreams act like this: they pick up occurrences and thoughts from reality, bring them up from the memory bank and knit them into seemingly coherent acts during sleep. A christian would pick up lessons proportional to his depth of thoughts and clarity of opinion in real life, and would, without emotions,be able to separate the tares of the horror from the wheat of the lesson. He would pick up salient lessons while discarding the junks and dreads which occurred during the dream into the ocean of His Mercy.

Bad dreams can be dangerous when you believe more in them than you trust and confide in God.Your bad dream, experienced in purity, aided with prayer and borne in trust is really a form of exorcism. Rather than harming anybody, it purifies you and yours.

Characters of the 2015 Election.

I have come to the realisation that the frivolous factorisation of the many Niger area tribes and the amalgamation of the northern and southern protectorates into an entity called Nigeria by the colonial masters have had a divine hand and that in spite of the hidden commercial motives of such marriage, The United Tribes of Africa (UTA) - as I call my nation- has come to stay. The earlier we admit this and work towards fostering its unity and progress, in this era and time where size matters, the better it shall be for us.

The past election which shattered forecasts and proved pundits wrong is another proof to this fact. Prior to the election, many have had to battle with presentiments about the state of the nation and about the aftermaths of this exercise; but as we can see, rather than break, it is time to move on.

I scribbled this write-up down just after the election in April, but ‘busy-ness’ would not permit me to have it typed and published. Most of these reflections were taken as I saw it then, and reading it back now, 95 percent of how I see issues then still applies, the remaining 5 percent I have edited to suit my present feeling . I personally believe that upon the 2015 election and its success has hung the future of our Fatherland. This writing is an attempt to pen down my own contribution of this great event and give my sincere, candid opinion about how I feel and what I believe, for the sake of posterity.

I am aware that I am only a tiny speck in the universal ocean of the entity called Nigeria, a nation where I have seen personalities great and horrible. I am convinced of personalities abounding who stay at the pinnacle of the realm of heaven and those who languish in the deepest recess of hell. I have seen that Nigerians, if they are to be parred with personalities that we spend fortunes to read about around the world, would either equal such or even surpass them by miles. In Nigeria, truth cannot merely be worked at; it has to be warred at. So, at this point in time, before the smoke of time puts them into oblivion, I pen down this history in time.

We lack being serious about our entities, we refuse an intense study of our environmental Characters, we value little of those we have at home and the events within us count as nothing until a similar happens abroad and it is propagated, mailed, written, watched and broadcasted, and we consume this and opine it to be more worthy of note than that of our environ.

This is for memory sake, it is my observation about the 2015 election, and it is my look at history as I contribute my quota to the foundational happenings of this land that is so important in the eyes of Destiny. Nigeria has a potential for greatness and it is made for greatness, depart or secede at your own risk. In fact, this write-up is not about convincing anybody, so be prepared about not agreeing with me on everything. It is my personal archive for posterity. I call it ‘Characters of the 2015 Election’. I feel very proud to be a part of this great nation and I am very convinced about its positive place in the future, which is now!

Welcome to the world of my opinion as you read through Characters of the 2015 elections (This I have divided into 4 parts). To be continued tomorrow.

Goodluck Ebele Jonathan (GEJ)

It is not always that one comes across a character that has been held by the hand of luck and helped by fate as Goodluck Ebele Jonathan. His rising to the pinnacle of power in Nigeria is a dramatic story that should be ruminated upon and foretold for time to come. In my opinion, the gods have not deserted Goodluck; he is simply moving on to a broader responsibility. He has a destiny to fulfil and his time to depart has not yet arrived. An ‘erratic’ country as Nigeria is way behind the personality of Goodluck, which is why he struggled to cope throughout his presidential career. He was simply not ‘competent’ enough to handle Nigeria and he obviously did not enjoy his term as President. Part of the reason also would be the way and manner he arrived at the top job, the question I keep asking myself is that, was there really an agreement between the North and the South about power rotation in spite of the absurdity of such notion in modern day democracy? Anyway, I will dwell on this later on, all I know is that GEJ would have been a perfect president for a more serene and developed country, like the Scandinavian Countries for instance, but definitely his sort would fail at handling the complexities involved in a country like Nigeria.

Nigeria is not ready for a ‘gentleman’ President. This brings me to the utmost importance of personality when one is making life choices, whether in marriage or leadership or politics. I have seen how personality should be the dominant factor, if not the most important factor to consider. GEJ, in spite of his altruism and integrity, simply hasn’t gotten the toughness and gut to confront Nigeria’s most critical problems. He felt he could succeed by simply ignoring these critical issues and build prospects in their stead. He brought about a magnificent change to electoral reform such that it would be difficult, if not impossible for this process to be done without in future. He managed to bring about the economic progress of the country at the international front, though many would still argue this has not translated to the average masses. People naturally have the tendency of warding off the big picture and focus on how they are personally affected.

GEJ’s singular act that has made me dole my hat for him is the fact that he conceded to GMB. This makes my heart melt.This is the mark of a real protagonist, and such are in short supply throughout the world. He is a man of peace. Some would argue that he had no option, but tell me, since Nigeria’s Independence in 1960, how many leaders have done this? In spite of setting up an electoral process that worked against him, he nominated an incorruptible personality to be the umpire; he allowed this man to pick the best men from respective universities and ultimately gave up power without a blood spilled. If that does not move your heart, few things on earth would. This man is unique.

I have seen people who loose elections and have let out the poor to die on their behalf. I have seen someone who completed his term and would change the constitution to permit his 3rd term, and shed tears openly when he faced the inevitable. I have seen someone, who rather than vacate was prepared to die – and whether by God or by ‘jazz’ , I don’t know, he eventually died between two women. I have seen someone who in spite of the tumults and death and open injustice could only say he was stepping aside….Go down the route of Nigeria’s history, you’ll discover how tough it is for the powerful to come down from the top. Death was simply easier. Okay, you say it’s easy, how easy is it if you have ever lost a job or failed a class? And that is just a tiny speck in relation to power. I know GEJ has a phlegm charism that has depleted Nigeria’s choleric personality, but all I can say with all boldness he’s got a beautiful heart. You aren’t seen all of him yet, I know.

General Mohammadu Buhari (GMB)

I strongly hope GMB’s arrival would bring real change back to the country. I'm convinced that, had his reign not been thwarted in 1985, Nigeria would have become a much better nation than we have today. GMB’S brief reign in 1983 was harsh for the corrupt but welcomed by the sane, and the economic improvement between 1983 and 1985 until he was overthrown is a fact we can all Google out. Nigerians got tired of a ‘Theory X’ President in GMB and willingly welcomed the intelligent ‘chop I chop’ smiling stylish man, IBB. And IBB bastardized everything.

I would say though, It was really during Shagari’s reign between 1979 and 1983 that I started witnessing economic collapse and how the prices of every products sky-rocketed, disappeared from common markets and became the exclusives of the rich, all in the name of his ‘Austerity Measures’ programme, whose windfall ended up in the pockets of corrupt officials. GMB took over in 1983 with ‘WAI’ programme and things were getting better, but IBB thwarted it in 1985 and came with ‘Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP)’, and our suffering simply continued.

The test of Buhari’s spirit is in his incorruptibility and his never-say-die attitude, the attitude for instance, in his ‘clean sheet’ profile in every government position he has held (Remember PTF?) and of contesting four times before victory.

But certain things need to be soul-searched about the man GMB. The question may be asked: At what point does ambition become desperation? In the pursuit of personal goals, should it become a do or die affair? To what extent did Buhari and his colleagues take part in fuelling the Boko Haram crisis? Was Buhari a face of the Northern oligarchs bid to take power at all costs? Did he really say he would make Nigeria ungovernable or not? In the pursuit of success, to what extent shall we battle until we accept ‘destiny’?

What goes around comes around. I strongly believe we would find these questions answered in the performance of GMB in his current tenure. Events have a way of either vindicating us or bringing us to justice. Nevertheless, this is another character, tested of resilience and courage which duplicates the true Nigerian spirit.

Prof Attahiru Jega

Jega is a personality that shows how worthwhile it is to go to school and to be confident about what you are doing. To me, the best man of the election is Professor Attahiru Jega with his colleagues. Professors are not bunch of idiots; they know things we don’t know. Jega articulates professionalism, leadership and proficiency. The smoothness, openness and systematic manner of his procedure, I would say, is not something that is normally witnessed in our ‘Cowboy’ culture. His manner of approach would naturally attract one to the academia. Jega has a leadership quality of a President. He is calm, composed, intelligent, respectful and devoid of the ‘giragira’ mannerism that has characterized the average Nigerian citizenry. The way he buckled Orubebe and the calm composure he displayed during the tense counting procedures are vivid examples of his competence. It is not enough to be schooled only in the head, but also in the heart. In character and learning, And Jega epitomises all that.

Bola Ahmed Tinubu (BAT)

BAT is a fighter, a warrior. A real political leader who knows how to get his hands dirty when it matters. I was a witness of how BAT checkmated OBJ from catching Lagos in 2003 and 2007. Some say BAT is corrupt, which most likely is true, but Tinubu sure knows how to battle the Nigerian Principalities and win. Even in an increasingly complex but open national political terrain as we witnessed in the last election, BAT has been able to manoeuvre himself unto supremacy amidst the quantum terrain of Nigerian politics.

I know how this battle against the powers that be leaves very few politicians untainted; and Bola Ahmed Tinubu, though smart, is not part of those few. In fact BAT has become what he has warred against, even though few would equally argue against the fact that Bola Tinubu is not a renowned and well deserved political leader. He is a game changer who knows when, how and with whom to align his political comradeship.

Like him or loathe him, BAT has become a mighty factor in determining Nigeria’s political future and all power brokers as of now have to pay him some respect. But BAT’s position will soon get archaic; I'm talking of the Godfatherism position that acquires everything for survival. The very position that Tinubu has warred against is what he has become, and the end of such position is nihilism. Anybody beside BAT should give him a pinch and tell him to wake up and be a real man.

Principalities

Principalities can come in the face of a person or they manifest through clumps of bodies within an entity. They are such that hinder – knowingly or unknowingly - the progress of an institution. And there are many principalities in Nigeria, quite many. GEJ had the lofty vision of ridding the country off these principalities, but his being too nervous and being over calculative about it was his main undoing. The Principality culture got him overwhelmed and in the end,he would rather ignore them and focus on development than confront them. Would confrontation have worked? We don’t know, but what is obvious is that his other nonchalant strategy did not work either.

I see in Nigeria a country whose elders are not ready to let go, and are hell bent at retaining power at all cost, this is quite worrying. Not because elders are not needed in positions of power, but the continual perpetuating and recycling of these structures do not ultimately do well for the prosperity of the nation. The GEJ’s experience shows how really powerful, deeply entrenched and wildly desperate these Principalities are (I shall avoid naming names); and how experience, influence and strong character is needed to defeat such. These were often lacking in him.

The notion of principality is in a heart that is solidly opinionated, that believes in a sole singular mannerism and action, that languishes within a petrified heart, that bullies his or her way to get whatever, and the longer that he remains in this petrification, the more difficult it is for him to accommodate any other opinion, idea or ways that are contrary to his or theirs. Principalities are rife within our Politicians, in the Army, in our Monarchies, within our Business cultures, in our religions and in our families; all around us we see this deadly virus of death within our populace.

GEJ was well meaning, but the Principalities are still very powerful. Like my brother once said: ‘If the devil were an ugly black horny being with long tail, holding a long fork, few of us would be underneath its yoke’, but devil resides in the characters that I have just described above. May God deliver us. Amen.

Religious

The religious saga of the 2015 election is reminiscent of the middle ages. It became an open defiance as clergies entered deep into the forays of Politics, leaving vacant the position of Fatherhood. You may disagree with me regarding whether religious leaders should play open and active parts in partisan politics, but posterity will judge this.

On a personal note though, I have always been wary of a Church-State dichotomy, even though I know such ‘temporary’ divide is necessary for certain peace to prevail, but such model is ultimately unsustainable. One thing is certain though, it is better to talk and take action regarding events within our environ than to stay aloof. It is better to be hot or cold than to be lukewarm. I know of religious figures who stayed so much aloof during this important period of our national history that one often wondered whether they were Nigerians. Virtue lies in the middle, but it is not lukewarm.

In 2015, I witnessed prophecies about the election conflicting between respected Pastors, I saw those cursing the opposition and whoever dared support them, in the name of authority from God. I read about Pastors being involved in arm conflicts. I saw Imams and Sultans openly vying for Boko haram and their deadly causes. God shall tell. That is the scandal that takes place when elders become over active in kids plays.

We have a popular folk-song that goes as such: ‘In a village where the leader sells ‘pot’, where his wife sells booze and their son is a hooligan , you should naturally expect the reign of evil to persist’. That is not far from the truth about what is happening within our religious bulwarks.

South-South/South-East

The issue of allotting a position simply because of a person’s jurisdiction, even with the open knowledge of his lack of competence at tackling an entrenched anomaly, is a myopic view with the assured consequence of perpetuating mediocrity. Wole Soyinka said most of those who would vote for GEJ in 2015 would be doing so, either for selfish reasons or out of ethnic biasness.

We arrived at deep tribal and religious biases in our nation as a result of an entrenched distrust within the populace. Have we healed the deep rooted scar of the Biafra war? No we haven’t. The 2015 election was a revisit of the Biafra war in another dimension. It never ceases to amuse me how droves in the South-East would opt for GEJ in spite of his blatant incapability. It worries me how the nation still remains deeply divided between pure geographical, ethnic and religious sentimentality.

The South-South cum South-East have seen how big Nigeria is. In spite of the rocky solidarity that transpired within this block, it counted as little towards the ultimate number that allowed GMB’s victory, even though I suppose any attempt by GMB to take his pound of flesh and not to be broad minded enough to work at an open integration of the nation, would only open the unhealed Biafran wound. I see Biafra may just lurk at the corner without proper care.

North

Was there really a pact? Was there a gentleman’s agreement amongst PDP stalwarts regarding the shift of power back to the North after Obasanjo? How true is the notion of an agreement about rotational Presidency between the North and the South, or is it between the North, West and the East? In Law, a verbal agreement is binding, to what extent was the Northerners’ claim, after Yaradua’s death, that there was a power rotational agreement that was not honoured? Is Boko Haram a response to the dishonour of this pact by the Southern Oligarch’s or is it simply an extraneous reaction? To what extent is Boko Haram more political than religious? These are questions whose answers would become clearer in the time to come.

South-West

The South-West’s mix and match politics is how I would love Nigeria’s politics to evolve, transcending at large both tribal and religious biases. With the notoriety of the core north, the South East and South South, in line along deep seated biases, the South West for once became a swing region where no political domain was assured of any control. This was more as a result of the fact that no South Westerner was vying for the Presidency.

It could be argued that the APC worn virtually all the states aside Ekiti, but the beauty of this Zone’s politics in 2015 is that, except for few states, APC only won by ‘whiskers’ and as such there was no guaranty of any future domination. It took an open bullying from the Oba of Lagos before Lagos could escape the demise of the PDP.

It is the first time that the South West whose majority states were won by the APC, would be streamlined into the core ruling party of opposition (Remember, they did not vote for Obasanjo’s PDP then and MKO was not allowed to rule). Amidst all their cries amidst opposition, the ball is in the South West’s courts to make claim of the change they have always clamoured.

Conclusion

This marks the conclusion of my essay , just in time before the New Year. Wishing you all a happy new year.