BENT LIFE; POOR PEOPLE ARE UNFORTUNATE....

They are victims, I was a victim, and you could be a victim of the poverty syndrome that makes the poor dejected. Muhammad Yunus writes, "Poor people are bonsai people. There is nothing wrong in their seeds. Simply, society never gave them the base to grow on. All it needs to get the poor people out of poverty for us to create an enabling environment for them. Once the poor can unleash their energy and creativity, poverty will disappear very quickly." What Muhammad insinuates, is that the society is a supporting factor that oils the engine of poor people, thereby making them stagnant. 

Charles Barkley says "Poor people have been voting democrat for 50years... And they're still poor". This is extracted from the US electioneering, and it's glaring what Barkley asserts, that poor people sometimes lack discretion. They vote people that are not profitable to change their situation, and in the end, leading to their stagnancy. 

Laying credence to this fact, Mother Teresa explained in one of her notes, "I try to give to the poor people for love what the rich could get for money. No, I wouldn't touch a leper for a thousand pounds; yet I willingly cure him for the love of God". She was of the opinion that, love and care are the tools to make the poor fit into the society, and that could be gotten with money when the rich needs them. She would do anything for the poor to recuperate, while the rich will spend to get cured.

E.M Foster says; "We are not concerned with the very poor. They are unthinkable, and only to be approached by the statistician or the poet". Here, the poor are forgotten, why? They are disgusting, a friend said. They are only remembered when the nation needs their statistics either to compare them to the rich, or for record purpose, but definitely not for economic reform to favour them. And the poet writes about them as inspired by him. This is one of the inspirations that turn a leaflet to the dark side of the world.

 

I say therefore, this life is Bent, that the poor on bended knees cannot afford a Bentley. They walk in dark alleys, subways, bus stations, pathways, under the bridge, beg and take shelter there. Why are they unfortunate? A social media expert says; their fore fathers are lazy, and the laziness brought about the unfortunate circumstance. Can we justify that saying? In my opinion, I believe they are the unfortunate sect that strive to make ends meet, do odd jobs, beg to put food on their table. I have the opinion that most fortunately rich people are not often hardworking, and a reason for the bend. 

Some people however categorise themselves as the average members of the society, but in a case where the economy is bent, they might be a victim of poverty. This is where discretion comes in. We are the product of our society. The leaders that govern us can mar or bless us, and this is an eye opener for an average citizen that is learned. If care is not taken, an average man could turn to a poor man overnight, and a rich man a beggar, so being poor is relative.

 

SHE'S MY BABY!!! YES, WE KNOW!!!

Oshodi was always a drama centre when my mum was selling there...no, not in a shop...by the road side. It coloured my entrepreneurship journey and made me street-wise. You can't rule out the drama that accompanied each day. It was a setting of unlettered women selling by the road side to support their husbands financially in order to help their kids through their tertiary education. That time, I was in school with two of my siblings. When my mum woke you at five in the morning...congratulation buddy! You have just won yourself a free ticket to see "ere-ori-itage" (stage drama).

If there's a  'customer', my mother would snatch my James Hadley Chase book and asked me to remove my hands from my pocket and convince the customer to buy her goods. She had to remind us always that we were not "butty" (affluent)  and should stop behaving as  one...but I can't let a course mate see me again after Simbi had seen me...but she couldn't tell anyone in class because I had once seen her too buying used clothes at gatankowa market. So it's 50-50.

This particular Saturday was drama filled. "Area boys" had come to collect their usual money. They asked,  "owo bukky da?" I was rebuking the devil tempting me to ask who bukky was because, if the huge guy with black lips and red eyes like hot charcoal in my grand dad's cherished local iron that burnt my "ileya" cloth and primary school uniform when I tried to iron them myself should hit me, "walahi" hospital would reject me.

My sister observed that I was going to be in trouble, she quickly gave them three hundred naira but she was too afraid to ask for fifty naira change. After they had left, she told me they meant booking fee, "owo booking". That was just a build up to the dramatic day...

A beautiful lady was pricing "Dustin powder" from "iya oyinbo" (the name she got after giving birth to albino two years earlier)...phew! The little girl she was backing just slipped and fell.
From nowhere, iya Ogbomoso just surfaced. Her face was a replica of Gbenga Adeboye's friend who fought lion in one of his comedy album.

 My brother was of the opinion that the person who made her tribal mark though was wicked but had a good handwriting because the lines were well drawn and neatly arranged. For me, the person should be on terrorist list, because eleven lines on each cheek was act of terrorism.

The lady was trying to pick her daughter but iya Ogbomoso stopped her. "She's my baby!" "Yes, we know!!!" The women replied. "If you're careless enough to let your baby slip from your back, you must face the consequences and what the situation demands to save your baby" iya Ogbomoso said.

"Naked yourself, start dancing round the baby seven times or else there would be problem for her when she gets married...she would be losing her husbands" the crowd started giving different versions of their beliefs. "I don't believe this! The beautiful lady managed to say as she cried. "It has nothing to do with your belief, 'alakowe'" said iya oyinbo.

The omo ibos, (as they call the Igbos in the area) started encouraging the lady to go nude, not because they believed in the superstition but because they wanted to see movie you can't see on AIT.

Dear friend, things get complicated when we refuse to cater for and guard jealously our brain-child. Some things we do kill our babies at conception or tender age. 'Its your baby! Yes, we know!'
You've got to birth the idea and nurture it. Don't mind the deafening and direction-less noise of the crowd. You've got to do what you need to do to save your brain-child. Follow the necessary steps...

*Think deeply and conceive the baby.

*Like a great mother, put things in place before the birth.

*The place of birth is not so important if you have vision and purpose. Remember that Jesus was birthed in a manger but He's world brand today. Henry Ford birthed and nurtured his brainchild at his father's garage. Facebook was abnormal baby when it was birthed in a college.

*Nurture your newborn. Get a good mentor to wash your baby thoroughly to avoid body odour in future.

*Guard it jealously from abnormal growth.

...just like twins, raising them is challenging but when they grow, you can point from afar to any of them and say to anyone with pride...that's my baby!

Written for Global Purpose Network

Odunmorayo Olalekan Matthew
Author of the new book EXITING YOUR RAT RACE
olalekanchams.oo@gmail.com

QUESTION FOR FAYOSE, FFK AND THE ACTING PRESIDENT

 I was on my way home from school when I saw a boy raining curse on a boy of his age but well built. People around were trying to prevent him from advancing toward the calm boy, but he was blinded by his anger and he threw punches at the two older people trying to restrain him. About half of the gathering shouted, 'let him go!'. Simultaneously, the people holding him released his arms and off he went towards the well composed opponent...You want to know what happened to him?
He was flattened by few punches that landed on his jaw...
I think Nnamdi Kanu is fast approaching that stage but I have no message for him before his sympathisers starts asking what concerns Yoruba with Biafra. I will rather ask our man with presidential ambition a simple question: PRESIDENT FAYOSE, IF A MAN CALLED NNAMDI KANU CONSTITUTED BIAFRA SECRET SERVICE WITHIN THE TERRITORY YOU ARE GOVERNING, WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO?

In my opinion, Femi Fani-Kayode is more intelligent and more strategic, and should have a good answer: Dear sir, WHAT WOULD YOU HAVE DONE IF YOU WERE THE PRESIDENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF ODUDUWA YOU WERE AGITATING FOR?

TO THE ACTING PRESIDENT
Dear leader, when many Nigerians are at the brink of taking your party to abattoir to be sluttered, you are one of, if not the only one we look up-to to wave the magic wand. As a Senior Advocate, what would you call what Kanu, who was seven months old in his mother's womb when biafra war started in 1967, just did?
Becoming a doormat is not a sign of humility, it is a sign of weakness.
It is the day referendum is conducted that Kanu will know he has been betrayed. Just like the boy in the story was released, I wish Kanu is released to be given a sucker punch at referendum. No igbo wants him as leader. He lacks the qualities, only stubbornness like the one that killed Pharaoh.  

Odunmorayo Olalekan Matthew                 Author and Speech writer

THE STORY OF AB' ELEJA YAN ( THE MAGNET THAT ATTRACTS WASTAGE)

Ab' eleja yan is a particular tag used for a zealous person who goes into roasting a fish without the owner's consent and who at the end of the day do not get a reward for the selfless service. Ab'eleja yan is a word coined out of yoruba words mostly given to time wasters who will not subsequently be the owners of a particular thing, lover, job or anything related that they have toiled to get. 'EJA' in this context is fish and it could be a human being or thing. This tag is given to Waje because of the circumstance she found herself.

 When she was younger, she used to live like the world was free, NAIVE, INNOCENT and SINGLE MINDED, but when she took a step out of her comfort zone, she got trapped. She got intertwined in a love web which created a WELL SEASONED TRAUMA that hunts her to cover all her shame in her closet.

  

A peasant farmer is her father and a lover of a girl child indeed! All his effort to plant and harvest in due time was to meet up with the payment of his daughter's school fees. Lima toiled day and night to see Waje succeed, and also to travel round the world in search of GREENER PASTURE. Waje used to be a good girl who loves to work harder to get whatever thing she wanted, and this led to her career pursuit in the college.

According to the aesthetic design
and vision of life, as ONE GOES HIGHER, the MORE LIBERATED the PERSON BECOMES, and the TOUGHER the GAME BECOMES. Waje used to be a great personality she had been over the years while in school until she met a young boy who disguised like a saint. She was in her second year when the murmurs and whispers of love songs started approaching her ears. Cornell is a handsome boy with GREAT INTELLIGENCE in WOMANIZING and Waje wouldn't escape his trap.

Waje fell victim of his lies and deception after series of attempts to win her to his side. A year and few months after the duo had been together, Cornell broke up with Waje, and the agony started.  She started counting her loss, her WASTED TIME, EFFORT, INACTIVITY TOWARDS HER EDUCATION, AND ABOVE ALL, HER LOST VIRGINITY. After few months, she heard that Cornell has been hooked up with a rich man's daughter whom he will get married to after leaving the college. WAJE IS INDEED AN AB'ELEJA YAN!

Waje's story is just a fiction, but ab'eleja yan surely exists. At one stage or the other, we have been trapped by what we love to do, LOVING, WORKING, and OTHERS, BUT EVENTUALLY GET TRASHED OUT AND OVERRULED BY OTHER PEOPLE.  How can we avoid the tag 'Ab'eleja yan' ? The race of life is endless until death comes, and there is no definite way one can escape this at a point in time. If  you dont get tagged now, maybe later, because we have all invested in things that did not yield reward and some will still do too. WE WIN SOME, AND WE LOSE SOME...

IS JESUS A NECROMANCER?

Necromancy is a method of divination through alleged communication with the dead; black art, magic in general, especially that practice by a witch or sorcerer; sorcery; witchcraft; conjuration. According to the above, can we liken Jesus to a necromancer? Some people with the vague knowledge of existence and the creations of God have and could have likened Jesus to a necromancer, but the fact is closer than anything, the account, the BIBLE!

According to the bible, Jesus is the product of God; John 3: 16. In Genesis when God created the heaven and earth, it was only pronouncements, example; "Let there be light", and there was light. He owns the word and He controls it. This shows that God is the author of word, because he never consulted any sorcery book or divination to make anything come to being.

The act of the Trinity, God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit is key here. God created man, made him in his own image and crafted beings in different forms, woman and man through his deed. There was no account of consultation from any other party; Genesis 1:27-28.  Imagine a maker of a flying plane running out of ideas to repair a plane he built, that's not possible. That's a human being at work, and now the maker of human being running out of ideas to make the man he created live again after death, it's super impossible! He can never run out of ideas.

Jesus needed just words to make Lazarus and Jairu's daughter live, and exactly what He did; John 11:38-44, Mark 5:21-43. He said to Lazarus; " COME FORTH LAZARUS", and to Jairu's daughter; " TALITHA CUMI" which means, little girl, I say unto you, arise. Jesus never walked with a book of consultation, he never conjured, because he owns the set and reset button of humans. HE HAS THE KEY TO THE WORDS, HE IS NOT A NECROMANCER!

How Fear Kills Your Dream "The Shadow That Scares You"

When I was younger, I used to love the skipping over a rope game. I would watch my sister play, my neighbours compete and that was how my love for the game built up, but I was scared of something, skipping the rope because of fear of losing. There was no time I was called to play the game that I wouldn't make out excuses like, I don't like games, I don't want to fall, the rope is lengthy, the rope is not lengthy enough, and the list goes on and on.

This fear built in me that I practically hated all games. What is this fear? the "Fear of the Unknown" , losing before being defeated! I held grudges within me for my inability to face this monster named fear, but it conquered me times without number, the common ludo game became a PS4 games, the well known WHOT became xbox one games. Little did I know that it was killing my power to explore my abilities, talents and technical expertise. I continued in this manner till I started getting challenged by people that go to training schools to learn what I am good at naturally, then the fire arouse.  The fire to keep walking like the lame that got freed. I started daring things I wouldn't give a second thought, and the chains of fear started breaking.

There is nothing like "phobia", we created it in our heads. Fear lives in us because we allowed it in the first place. A timid soul will never be daring, he hides under the canopy of humility, avoidance of I-too-know tag, but all these are EXCELLENT EXCUSES FOR STAGNANCY. I woke up to one reality that, if I do not dare it, I will never get it, be it game, career, extra curricular activities in all facets of life, I will be like a novice who is worse than an illiterate and eventually die with virtues people would have remembered me for. All these put together formed a creative slogan "DON'T LET YOUR INNER ABILITY BECOME YOUR INABILITY".

In as much as you created fear within you, maybe through a failed attempt, actions of people against you, or your personal defect, you can kill it. That moment you stand up to the task, raise your head high and get focused on the goal, game, project execution, speaking up for your right, whatever it may be that is right, you are heading towards the sky. Competition is a necessity, putting your best in the right way by not getting distracted by your competitors, because in that competition lies the existence of such business, service, career, games and all. DO NOT ALLOW FEAR TO SILENCE YOU FROM ACHIEVING WHAT YOU LOVE, DEAL WITH IT!

SEDUCTIVE MIS/MARKETERS

A decoy they say it is, the recruitment of young, beautiful and talented ladies in the marketing industry. An application which reads that:" a young, not above the age of 30, beautiful, specifically fair complexioned, intelligent, with an upper credit from a notable university is required in a marketing firm... Note, the applicant must be a female" has a clause, and what is this clause? This and many more will be discussed  subsequently.

A human resource representative knows each and every implication of recruiting a figure with no input in an organisation, hence the fast track of job specification with a defined qualities of who to be expected, so as to avoid delay of service. According to the above requirements, an old cargo is not required, a dark complexioned lady will be an after thought, a beautiful person with a shallow mind might have little or no chance of getting the job. Who exactly are we looking for, a model with beauty quality or a genius in the marketing field?

According to Michelle Krier of Clear Edge Marketing, she says; Because marketing is always evolving, and keeping up with the latest and greatest is a challenge, I look for things on the resume that demonstrate this person is go-getting and has initiative to keep pace. Have they taken on greater responsibilities, either with a long term employer or through job changes? Are they involved in industry or marketing organisations? Those small cues provide important insights for evaluating if the candidate could be the right fit. There are some soft skills that evaluate in conjunction with the skills and qualifications of the candidate. Do they seem excited about what they do? Are they naturally curious and eager to learn? Do they seem to have initiative and drive to succeed?

Professionally, skills in the desired area are firstly considered before any other thing, but recently, appearance has the lead. Most HR representatives hinge this on the common saying which goes thus; You are addressed the way you dress. Dressing is not the major consideration in some firms, good looks, stature, beauty have stolen the original idea of competency in the marketing industry and this makes females the targets. Going by the unprofessional way, they believe that getting what you want with what you have is the speedy way to achieve success, by neglecting the integrity that such companies, firms, organisations mostly include as part of their missions and visions.

Going by what Michelle Brammer of eZanga said; "The world of marketing evolves so quickly. If you're unwilling to learn, you'll miss out on excellent opportunities to move marketing efforts, and brand, forward. Candidates should have a verifiable curiosity to learn, and not just in business. Personal interests are very insightful too. Did a candidate learn a new language, take online courses to learn how to code, or even take up a complicated hobby? Awesome! This tells me that they are okay with being outside their comfort zone too", a marketer should learn how to diversify, be proactive, smart enough to see opportunities on his or her toes, but the reverse is the case now.

Scandals are on the increase due to lack of professional methods of marketing services and products of companies to prospects. Could this be a cue from the HR representatives inability to be professional, or the major intentions of employees (prospective marketers) to take the bull by the horn, taking the competition to another level? This negligence in most cases makes most organisation lose their integrity and completely get beaten out of the labour market.