Can You Afford Me?

Excuse me miss, the question isn't whether I can afford you but if you can afford yourself. The only reason to why you keep posing this extremely intriguing question (Can you afford me?) is because you are certain that you can't afford the very lifestyle you desperately wish to live. In simplistic words: You can't afford yourself.
In this present day and age, most nubile ladies who wish to marry are tossing away great opportunities following a fallacy of whether the gentleman in question can afford them.
For most ladies if not all, the phase 'financially stable' has become a litmus test on whether they should marry someone. That's why today's marriages are holistically based on money and material possessions where morality, virtues and good values have been disdained where opulence have continued to take the center stage. My humble and sincere question is: Where did the rain start beating us that virtuous qualities like; God fearing, rectitude, chivalry and visionary gentlemen no longer carry the day?
Times without number, I've said that money is a good servant but a bad master. The fact that money is a good servant makes me understand the Solomonic wisdom inked in Ecclesiastes 10:19 c '........, and money answers everything.' Nonetheless, I will never lose my train of thought on monetary matters by failing to acknowledge the advice that St Paul gave to his mentee Timothy in his first letter to Timothy 6:10: 'The love of money is the source of all evil.' Beyond a reasonable doubt, this truth proves that money is indeed a bad master. What about the famous marital advice: If you fail to marry a man with a vision over a man with a television you'll watch the man with a vision in the television.
In matters marriage, it's not about what a man drives, it's what drives him. While the physical is variable, the intrinsic is immutable.
While there's nothing wrong with marrying a financially stable man whom riches and possessions are just but a means to an end rather than his idol that attracts you to 'love' him, there's more happiness and a sense of belonging that contrives the greatest aspect of social capital in marriage namely: Place Attachment, when the wife and husband accumulate riches and possessions together. These are the couples who later in their marriage enjoy each other to the fullness by looking back and seeing how far they've come together. Their present and future glory can never resist their former story which was just but an impetus towards both their successful future and their graceful aging. That's why the bible says that a wife is a suitable helper to her husband. (Genesis 2:18.)
The fact that a marriage is born (is supposed to be born) out of the highest level of friendship where two best friends intimately become one necessitates reciprocity in value addition lest your spouse perceive you as a liability in his or her life.
The perception that your spouse is a liability in your life is one among the leading reasons of the present day relationship disintegration and marriage dissolution. That's why you should marry or get married to your best friend of the opposite gender whom apart from being God fearing, rectitude, having a great personally and an amazing character must also hold both integrity and intellectual proficiency in order to add value in your life and ease your trajectory towards your greatness in life. 

Because You're Not My Friend

A while back I wrote a blog titled: Because I am not your friend. This was a self-arrived conclusion having observed that; how you treat me is totally different from your verbal claim that I am your friend. In other words, not even one among your myriad assertions have stood the test of time or correlated with your actions to sincerely prove that I am indeed your friend.
They say words are cheap but I beg to differ and say: "Words are free and that's why your claim about our friendship is just but a trifling rhetoric without any commitment whatsoever"
Having declared myself a free person from your ingenuine friendship where you have been using me for your selfish gain whenever an opportunity is at hand, I want to be so candid to you and to everyone else who perceive me as his or her friend because of the benefit (s) he or she derives from our friendship; You too are not my friend whatsoever. True friendship is founded on mutualism and reciprocity not on individualism and selflessness.
My honest declaration that you're not my friend is not out of pride or a sense of superiority complex, it's just a fulfilling sense of self-awareness to the fact that I have outgrown your friendship and you're no longer adding value to my life. If anything, you've turned our friendship from mutualism into parasitism. 
While it's inarguably true that friendship is a value addition zone, it's likewise true that you're an average of the five people you associate with. The fact that you can no longer challenge my thoughts means you've knowingly or unknowingly settled in mediocrity. Regrettably, you're on your own because I am not willing to follow suit. Your stagnation in a comfort zone where growth is impossible is an irrefutable evidence that you can no longer add value to my life hence my immutable decision to eschew our friendship.
Friendship is the greatest social capital not necessarily in terms of financial benefits but also on constructive criticism, you will never ever add value in someone's life if you keep telling them want they want to hear instead of what they need to hear with no exception whatsoever.
Now that my eagle mentality must soar on a high altitude, it's inarguably true that it can't correlate with a chicken mentality lest I stagnate in mediocrity and fail to achieve my exceptional goals in life.
Although not obliged, in matters friendship, giving you closure is not only a respectable thing to do, it's also a humane way of terminating friendship since it eliminates hatred as a factor of friendship dissolution.
As I pen my closure to our friendship, I hope you'll understand that: A person's network determines his or her net-worth, (not necessarily on monetary matters but also on personal productivity) and thus my honesty about my decision to renounce our friendship will save you from any agony, postulation or gossip of any kind.
My decision to repudiate from our friendship is an inference following our friendship inventory which has times without number proven beyond a reasonable doubt that our friendship has ceased to add me any value and thus my decision to shut off from unprofitable friendship. 

Having set the records straight, the next time you reach out and fail to get my response promptly, you'll have yourself to blame. 

Money or Marriage?

Kindly allow me to take you back in mid 90S on one of the best reality game show that ever featured on Kenyan television screens. This famous reality show was featured by Kenya Television Network. (KTN) Hosted by two stupefying people, Martin Mburu and Regina Mutuko. The show was eagerly awaited by millions of Kenyans from all walks of life every Sunday night immediately after the seven O'clock nightly news.
Unless you're a visitor in Jerusalem, by this time you are aware that I am referring to: OMO PICK A BOX show. This was a reality show that left a remarkable memory in the minds of millions Kenyans.
If you're wondering the relationship between this blog's title and a two decades old reality show, the  show is just but an analogy. Even though the primary idea of every person who was selected to participant was to settle for the lucky box, both hosts took turn to lure the participant into settling for the highest amount of money that was offered by one host instead of choosing the box.
When the money was offered in plenty, the opposing host could humbly remind the participant that his or her primary objective that saw him or her on the show was to win big from choosing the box. Times without number, the tag of war that contrived a total dilemma between choosing the money or the box could always take the center stage.
In reference to marriage, my question is: What informed you into marrying or getting married to your spouse? Was it the famous phase among vast majority of ladies: A financially stable man? or was it the uncertain probity that could only be manifested through time? In other words, was your decision to marry or get married based on money and material possessions or your prospective spouse integrity and visionary?
From our omo pick a box analogy, how many participants were adamant about choosing the box but got carried away by the amount of money that was offered in place of the box? In the same way, was your reason to marry or get married based on values, personality, character and integrity to begin with and are those the very reasons that have sustained your marriage to this day or your  insatiable greed for money contrived a diversion, or did you begin your marriage with ulterior motives?
It's very unfortunate that most marriages in this day and age are founded on the wrong reasons of visible and tangible riches rather than invisible and intangibles values. Even though I am not ignorant of king Solomon's words, 'A feast is made for laughter, and wine makes merry; but money answers everything.' Ecclesiastes 10:19, the love of money is biblically unacceptable. 'For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs.' 1Timothy 6:10. Money is a good servant but a bad master. The love of money contrives insatiable greed where marital love is compromised in place of opulence. 
Being in a marriage because of money is like taking a job solely because of the salary without a smidgen passion of that job. If you don't have a passion for your job, you can never ever become productive satisfactory. Likewise, if you don't have a passion for your marriage, you can never ever become a productive spouse.
Before you point your finger to your spouse, chances are, you're married to the right person but your ulterior motives are the reason to why your marriage is on the rock. A marriage can only work if  husband and wife share mutual interests of serving one another unabatedly. Marriage is a union of servanthood not a master versus a servant.
If you're in marriage to serve each other, you will always find a million reasons to stay married. But if you are in a marriage to get your own interests served without serving the interests of your spouse, you're a selfish person and your marriage won't pass the test of time because of your selfishness.
In that regard, before you point a finger, lay a blame or accuse your spouse because of your failing marriage, first ask yourself this extremely imperative question: Have I been serving my spouse's needs relentlessly? 

Because I'm not your friend

You  can't talk about friendship without talking about Proverbs 17:17; a friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity. This is one of the greatest proverbial wisdom of king Solomon on matters friendship. 
A chapter down, Solomon accentuates the indelible importance of true friendship through inking the scriptures in Proverbs 18:24, There are “friends” who destroy each other, but a real friend sticks closer than a brother.
The question that the above wisdom loaded scriptures begs is: Who is this true friend who loves you at all times and sticks closer than a brother? The primeval English proverb, 'A friend in need is a friend indeed,' have crossed my ears times without number since my childhood days. Regardless of how old this proverb is, the truth behind it is a daily reality that can never ever be ignored. 
Even though some people will genuinely befriend you, a great number of people befriend you with different ulterior motives and when thier need is met, they disconnect themselves from your friendship lest you need their help in the foreseeable future. 
Is it only me who have 'friends' who only call when they have a problem that they need me to help them solve? As  unfortunate as this is, there's no shortage of this kind of 'friends.' Most people who are in your life in the name of friendship are in to fulfill their ulterior motives. 
Friendship is a value addition zone. This means that: Apart from general social interaction, a true friend must add value in your life on matters self-improvement. Hitherto, there's a misconception that's ingrained in most people's minds that friendships are for insolvent adversarials. As a matter of fact, a true friend is the one who constantly implores you to resist your mediocre mindset and challenges you to think big. My arguement aligns well with the African proverb: Great advice transcends gifting.
I am not ignorant that there will be desperate moments when you'll urgently need material help, all the same, if you attentively hearken to your best friends advice on self-improvement, moments of despair will become a history. Great advice is the greatest moral support that a true friend can accord you.
Unfortunately, most people want to befriend you for material gain rather than advisory. These are the 'friends' who tell you what you want to hear rather than what you need to hear lest they hurt your feelings and ruin their opportunities of gaining materially from you. These are opportunists not friends. To their hypocrisy I say: I would rather have one true friend who challenges my probity than ten who appreciates my idiocy. Any  friend who tells you what you want to hear rather than what you need to hear dosen't add any value to your life. These are the 'friends' who make you settle in a comfort zone since they can't challenge your mediocre thoughts.
On the other hand, people who befriend you to sate their ulterior motives are more often than not the very fast people to accuse you of being aloof regardless of your efforts to meet their needs.
Although the saying 'no man is an island ' holds vast truth in it, it doesn't mean that you're to be stuck with 'friends' who don't add any value in your life. There's a role for everyone you encounter in life. Some people will test you, some will use you. Some will love you and others will teach you. All the same, the most important of all are the ones who will bring out the very best in you. These are the people who genuinely love you. Friends who will celebrate your win however smidgen it is and render you a shoulder to lean on during your troubling moments. They will be there for you come rain, storm, snow or sleet without making excuses whatsoever. They will sacrifice their time and resources to first and foremost meet your needs before their own. Friends who will call you not because they need your help but just to check on you. 
If you've been hanging around a circle of 'friends' who have not been adding any value in your life, I dare you to break that camp and afoot in search of new friends who will challenge your thinking and deconstruct your comfort zone. Life is too short to live by chance and too precious to be exposed to ruination. 

Comrade in Crime

Barely a fortnight after the sentencing of the former South Africa president Jacob Zuma to a 15 months prison term out his defiance, 72 people and counting have lost their dear lives and properties worth millions of rands vandalized where looting has become a full time job for idlers all in the name of protest. 

The fact that it's the largest ethnic group in mother Africa, spreading from Sub-Sahara through the Savannah grasslands of East Africa, down to the Victoria falls and all the way to Kwazulu province in South Africa, the bantus find pride in their centuries old humanitarian phrase, 'UBUNTU NGUMUNTU NGABANTU' which in a shortened version is UBUNTU, which literally means: 'I am because we are.'
This compassionate phrase finds its origin from the primeval African proverb: 'It takes a village to raise a child.' It's inarguably true that, a child's moral rectitude or lack of it thereof is a direct reflection of the community the child was brought up in.
Unfortunately, most Africans are yet to understand that ubuntu doesn't have a connotation whatsoever. In other words, the term ubuntu dosen't invoke a negative implication on solicitude. Ubuntu is strictly applicable on moral rectitude and doesn't have anything to do with moral turpitude. In simplicity, the term ubuntu is only applicable on matters morality not immorality. 
That notwithstanding, the aggression,  hostility and unrest contrived by the arrest and conviction of a nefarious member of the society especially someone with a leadership position clearly shows how our morality have continued to decay by each passing day. Instead of letting the victims to carry their own cross as per the injurious consequences of breaking the law, we hold demonstrations claiming that: He is a criminal, but he is our criminal. This bizarre behavior is not only an immoral depiction of comradeship in crime, it's also a conformation of PLO Lumumba's claim that: 'Most of us are probable criminals, it's only that we don't get a chance to exercise our heinous intentions.'
If you think by any chance that my claim is far-fetched, don't look far than the recent ruling of the constitutional court of South Africa that saw the former president Jacob Zuma guilty of contempt of court for refusing to appear before the State Capture Commission to answer intriguing questions on matters corruption that occurred during his presidency.
The fact that he was sentenced to a 15 months jail term has contrived chaotic demonstrations in different cities where looting and destruction of property have become rampant. Unfortunately, this inessential unrest will eventually render the economy of South Africa into an extremely deplorable state amidst covid-19. If anything, this irrepressible unrest has clearly vindicated that: Although he's a criminal, he is our criminal.
It's extremely unfortunate how we mercifully sympathize with politicians who are found guilty of corruption in a total disregard of how mercilessly they impoverish us while enjoying different positions of leadership and simultaneously wallowing in opulence using the public funds that are meant to improve the lives and livelihoods of their fellow citizens. 

Our leniency amidst their immorality makes them perceive us as indigent fools who can be subjected to any act of injustice without any complains whatsoever. In other words, we have not only become their enablers towards their dreadful acts on humanity but we have also made them our demigods by protesting against their warranted convictions. That's why they will never ever learn the simplest disciplinary rule of life that: 'Choices have consequences.'
As sure as death, sooner than later, some of the people who are spending restless days and sleepless nights protesting the jailing of Jacob Zuma will soon meet him in prison, regrettably not to sympathize with him but to serve their jail term out of their indefensible fanaticism. Therefore, if you can't do the time, don't do the crime. 

With that truth well encrypted on your finger tips, before you engage yourself in unworthy demonstrations and gratuitous protest following a court ruling where the culprit is lawfully sent to prison, kindly remember that; A society that despises justice can never overcome criminality.

Tom Mboya: The president that Kenyans never had.

This week on 5th July 2021, Kenyans marked 52 years since the gruesome assassination of Tom Mboya. Born as Thomas Joseph Odhiambo Mboya on Friday 15th August 1930 in Kilima Mbogo in Kiambu county where his parents were casual laborers in a white highlands sisal plantation, Tom Mboya would later emerge to be an International icon on different capacities. He was a trade unionist, an educator, a Pan Africanist and an activist towards independent Kenya. At home, he served in three different ministries as a cabinet minister. 
In his mid twenties, Tom Mboya had already managed to secure a scholarship which saw him graduate with an industrial management degree from Oxford university at 26 years of age. Two years later, he was elected conference chairman at the All-African Peoples' Conference that was  convened by the founding father of Ghana, president Kwame Nkrumah. He later helped to build Trade Union Movements across Africa.
In 1959, Tom Mboya was the Africa representative during the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) conference that was held in Brussels, Belgium. Still in the same year, he called a conference in Lagos, Nigeria, to form the first All-Africa ICFTU labour organization where he profoundly talked about Africa Development Strategy.
As a true Pan Africanist, he believed in independent Africa where moving from International aid to intra-african trade would liberate Africans from poverty. His long-term objective as a trade unionist was to see Africa minimize aid and maximize trade. Even though it has been a long overdue, one of Tom Mboya's strategies of intra-african trade was recently realized on 1st January 2021 when African Continental Free Trade Area (ACFTA) kicked off. Noting that it has been 62 years since Tom Mboya's Lagos speech of 1959 on intra-african trade, we can all agree that; better late than never.
It's inarguably true that 1959 was the best year of Tom Mboya's life and the most busy of not the busiest. This is the year that he was invited in Washington D.C. by American Committee on Africa where he managed to secure scholarships for East African students through African-American Students Foundation. (AASF) This scholarship program saw 800 African students travel to the United States of America to advance their education between 1959 and 1963.
On Friday 11th September 1959, eighty-one African students from East Africa arrived in New York City on a chartered flight to start their college education. Among them were the late Professor Wangari Mathai who would later become the first African woman to win a Nobel prize and also Barrack Obama senior the father of the first black president of the United States of America. In the same year, Howard university which is a predominantly African-American institute of higher learning honoured Tom Mboya with a Doctorate Degree.
Tom Mboya's charisma on human dignity, political freedom and economic opportunities for all as stated on his 18th April 1959 speech while addressing American civil rights movement gathering in Washington D.C. caught the attention of John Fitzgerald Kennedy (JFK) who was then the senator of Massachusetts and a 1960 US presidential aspirant. 
On Tuesday 26th July 1960, JFK who was now a Democrat presidential nominee met with Tom Mboya who had traveled back to the United States in a desperate need to secure travelling funds for more African students who were still waiting to travel to the United States on  scholarships. JFK agreed to help with the travel expenses and established the Kennedy Airlift Program which saw more African students travel to the United States to further their education. 
The fact that Tom Mboya was a very close friend of Dr. Martin Luther king jr. and had subsequently developed close friendship with JFK is believed to be the reason behind JFK's November 1960 presidential victory where he garnered a lot of votes from African-Americans becoming the 35th president of United States of America. 
Although JFK raising to presidency came with vast responsibilities, he continued to support Tom Mboya's initiative through the Kennedy Foundation. Unfortunately, financial remittances were cut short after the November 22nd assassination of JFK in Dallas,Texas.
Five years and seven months later on Saturday 5th July 1969, just like his friend JFK, Tom Mboya at a tender age of 38 years was assassinated for political reasons while leaving a pharmacy on government road which is today Moi avenue. To this day, most people believe that Tom Mboya was indeed the very best president that Kenyans never had. 

The plight of the Boy-child

It first started with a feminist slogan that read: What a man can do, a woman can try. That was the kindergarten of feminism. However, it didn't take long to advance to: What a man can do, a woman can do. Sooner than later, the slogan then changed to: What a man can do, a woman can do better. In this day and age, that very feminist slogan has attained a masters degree and it now reads: What a man can do, a woman can outdo.
While myriad girl-child empowerment organizations and feminists are quick to convince the world that all the above slogans are as holy as heaven, my conscious force of reason begs to differ. To my best of knowledge, the objective of girl-child empowerment was to contrive gender parity through inculcating moral values not to bring a competition between the two genders through instilling a superiority complex mindset to a girl-child.
Unfortunately, the present day girl-child is being empowered in expense of a boy-child no wonder the rampant silent cry of a boy-child who has already found a spot in the world list of endangered species.
 In their incessant speed towards the realization of a gender parity world, what most if not all feminists have forgotten is that; diversity is the equity that contrives equality. This literally means that: If we empower both boys and girls  simultaneously and with equal measures, we shall happily achieve a complimentary virtue in place of the already existing competitive vice. While complimentary is the most suitable relationship virtue since it contrves tolerance,  the present day girl-child empowerment campaign is responsible for the unnecessary competition between boys and girls which has contributed to rivalry between the two genders in a dire quest of wanting to prove who's more superior than the other.
Noting that the boy-child is already in the world list of the endangered species, when push comes to shove, the number one question that every boy-child must have the courage to ask is; when did the rain start beating us?
To put matters into perspective, the boy-child has been neglected for way too long which makes his long awaited sense of patriarchy to seem unachievable. Even though it seems like  boy-child empowerment is unattainable primeval endeavor, with unabated commitment and relentless efforts, every predicament becomes a story of victory.
In order to close the gender parity aperture that's widening by every passing day, we must understand that boy-child empowerment is a responsibility of a man who must be totally ready and wholeheartedly willing to mentor young boys from preteens to young adults lest we continue to witness a generation of impotent and irresponsible young men.
'A boy needs a father,  in order to love himself as a man, he needs the love of a man. This means that; boy-child empowerment is not about the presence of your absence,  (physically present but emotionally unavailable) it's about being physically present and emotionally connected to the boy-child under your watch. 
It's extremely tough being a man since failure isn't an option. The worst thing about it is, there are no shortcuts whatsoever. Due to the very high societal expectation of leadership that's bestowed upon a man regardless of whether he was mentored or not, any mistake be it morally, spiritually, socially, financially and the like tends to diminish his sense of manhood, a view that makes most men to live with unforgivable and unforgettable social gaffe.
While my intention isn't to discredit the decades efforts that have made girls to believe in themselves, I am calling forthright on the need to stop empowering girls in expense of boys. Setting a competitive mood between the two genders is going more harm than good in the present day society.
Nonetheless, the boy-child should be taught how important it is to enshrine good morals and hard work because sooner than later his future will be at his doorstep demanding virtues which he won't afford simply because we never gave him some.
It's our responsibility as concerned and caring fathers to instill the boy-child with good morals and equip him with adequate skills for running his future socioeconomic affairs. 

By so doing, we shall have subdued the present day generation of majority of disoriented boys with sociocultural direction in matters, authority, work and morality.
Men, kindly don't give up or shy away even when you encounter failure. While your failure is an inspiration to the boy-child, your furtive quiting discourages the boy-child from staying focused and determined to accomplish the extremely demanding race of masculinity. In the very words of Nelson Mandela: The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling but in rising up every time you fall. 

JUNETEENTH

On 1st January 1863, the 16th president of United States of America president Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation proclamation that declared the end of slavery in all the Confederate territories. Nonetheless, two years and six months later, slavery was still alive and well in some Confederate territories. Texas was the last Confederate territory reached by the Union army. This happened on 19th June 1865 which is popularly known as Juneteenth when Union Army General Gordon Granger announced General Order No.3 in Galveston, Texas.
Worse still, slavery continued in the border States like Kentucky and Delaware until the 13th Amendment to the United States Constitution on 6th December 1865 that abolished slavery entirely in the United States ending the distinction between slave and free states.
On Thursday 17th June 2021 which is 156 years later, the 46th president of United States president Joseph Robinette Biden signed the S.475 JUNETEENTH NATIONAL INDEPENDENCE DAY ACT into law designating the Juneteenth National Independence Day as a legal public holiday.
All the same, my force of conscious reason begs to ask one intriguing question: How free are we 156 years after the abolishment of slavery? In the very words of the the 32nd first lady of the United States, madam Anna Eleanor Roosevelt: No one can make you feel inferior without your consent,' i am persuaded to believe that; superiority and inferiority complex perception is entirely a personal choice. That's why I totally agree with the words of Bob Marley: 'Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery, none but ourselves can free our minds.' These very challenging words are inked in the lyrics of his 1980 reggae song namely: Redemption Song.

The fact that the greatest wars are won or lost in your mind validates my claim that: The greatest rewarding act of freedom is fleeing self from mental slavery. Anything that your mind perceives impossible is totally unattainable in your life.
Although physical freedom is an important aspect in a human being's life, failing to free yourself from a mediocre mindset is the worst form of slavery. That's why I believe that: In the occurence of failure, the chains that buckle our mind are more strong than the shackles that fastens our hands. Success in life is entrenched in your ability to emancipate yourself from a mediocre mindset. That's why failure isn't aiming high and missing but aiming low and hitting. 

International Day of the African Child

It was Wednesday the 16th day of June 1976 which is exactly 45 years ago today. The place was South West Town popularly known as SOWETO in South Africa.
A while ago, the apartheid government of South Africa had passed a decree to impose  Afrikaans (the Boer language) as the medium of instruction in half the subjects in middle school and high school. This malicious intentions from the oppressive apartheid government wasn't far from what Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon did to the four Hebrews boys (Daniel, Hananiah, Michael and Azariah) when he tried to lure them into worshipping the idol gods of the Babylonians. As unfortunate as it might be, when someone wants to rule over you, he deludes you into believing that your language and culture is inferior thus the need to impose his language on you.
Nonetheless, black students perceived imposing Afrikaans on them as an insult because this was the language of the inhuman apartheid government.
That Wednesday morning, about 20,000 unarmed school students from all over Soweto marched towards Orlando soccer stadium where a peaceful rally had to take place. En route to the stadium, they were confronted by heavily armed police who upon a futile attempt to disperse the black students decided to fire life bullets.
That's when hell broke loose. Although some students decided to run for their dear lives, some students retaliated by pelting the police with stones. 
Even though the apartheid government never came clean to the number of students who were killed, it's certain that more than 700 hundred students lost their dear lives. This extremely dreadful atrocity which is popularly known as SOWETO UPRISING  saw the inception of a YOUTH DAY HOLIDAY in South Africa and 15 years later on 16th June 1991, Organization of Africa Unity (OAU) present day Africa Union (AU) initiated the International day of the African child in honor of the 700+ students who lost their dear lives during the Soweto uprising plus their colleagues who survived the massacre.
Apart from commemorating the Soweto uprising of 1976, the International day of the African child raises awareness of the dire needs that African children are facing to this day in quest for quality education.
With a new theme every year, this year's theme of the International day of the African child is: 30 years after the adoption of the charter, accelerate the implementation of Agenda 2040 for an Africa fit for children. Agenda 2040 is a 25 years aspiration that consists of ten items. It was initiated by Africa Committee of Experts on Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACERWC) on 2016 with 2040 being the expected year of full achievement.
Among other things, the paramount objective of the agenda is to restore the dignity of the African child through assessing the achievements and challenges faced towards the effective implementation of the African Children’s Charter.
As we commemorate the international day of the African child for the 30th time, we must not forget the 2014 theme which was: child-friendly, quality, free, and compulsory education for all children in Africa. 

Even though some countries have already attained quality, free and mandatory education, in most nations, this aspiration seems far-fetched. Needless to say, education aspiration must be attained by all means if we are serious about the attainment of all the ten 2040 aspirations coined by ACERWC. 
  

It's a marriage not a business venture

Apart from missing heaven, the next worst thing that can happen to a Christian is to be in a bad marriage. Without a blink an eye, or a smidgen fear of contradiction whatsoever, I will confidently say, "besides companionship, marriage becomes irrelevant."
Unfortunately, in this day and age, most marriages if not all are just but a competition in a dire need to outdo each other especially on financial matters and the pecking order of life.
In the very words of Idris Elba, "ask a lady to define a man and she will define you a slave," to most young and nubile ladies in pursuit of marriage, these words are not far from the truth. Times without number i've asked numerous ladies on the qualities that a gentleman pursuing them for marriage must hold. To my greatest surprise, eight out of ten ends up using the very famous phrase among most bachelorettes: 'A financially stable man.'
It's extremely unfortunate that we have a generation of young ladies who have totally disregarded integrity and morality in place of money and material possessions. Although it's a bitter pill to shallow, the truth of the matter is; any lady who believes that her success will become a reality out of marrying a rich gentleman is a lady who is unknowingly stuck in identity crisis and is far from finding her purpose in life. 

In this day and age, most people fail to find their purpose in life simply because of the centuries old misconception that ties success to financial achievement.
Just like the old English adage, 'fire is a good servant but a bad master,' from the force of my conscious reason, I do believe that; money too is a good servant but a bad master. Please be advised that your chances of urging otherwise are extremely slim due to the dire consequences that comes as a result of dissenting with the word of God. In his first epistle to his mentee Timothy, apostle Paul inked these words; 'For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. By craving it, some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows.' 1 Timothy 6:10
Kindly let me address nubile ladies who think that they're ready for marriage. The sole reason to why these scriptures, (The LORD God also said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make for him a suitable helper.” Genesis 2:18) are recorded in the book of Genesis which literally means beginning is because, as a responsible lady, you are supposed to be a suitable helper to your husband right from the beginning. Becoming a suitable helper is the only way your husband can become what most present day ladies are looking for: 'A financially stable man.'
Marriage is neither a business enterprise nor an investment. If you're an intrigant wife who is in a marriage to carry out surreptitious monetary achievements, you are not better than a fraudster.
In inarguably true that, any person who is money hungry is also a selfish person. In other words, a lover of money or material possessions is also a narcissist. This is the spouse who will never ever care about you as long as he or she is okay.
For a great marriage to happen, both the husband and the wife must be okay not one of them and no argument about that whatsoever. Having understood that truth, my school of conscious thought compels me into saying: "If your spouse's problem is not your problem, your marriage is a problem." Although it's very ironical to be okay while your spouse is not, to a self-centric person, this isn't much of a bother. As long as he or she is okay, nothing else matters.

On the other hand, it's extremely imperative for every gentleman to always keep this in mind that: 'Any lady who is not a suitable helper can never ever make a great wife.'
Apart from being selfish, a lover of money and material possessions is a proud and a conceited individual who holds an insatiable sense of entitlement. When the bible says that the love of money is the source of all evil, the fundamental of all these evils is pride, conceit, selfishness, self-importance, greed, jealousy, pathological lying and an insatiable sense of entitlement.
Narcissist are the people who operate under the entitlement mindset namely: Me, Myself and I. As long as he or she is okay, nothing else matters. And if you have any good thing, to a narcissist, it's never good enough unless it belongs to him or and her not to mention that, to a narcissist too much is never enough. No amount of love, money or possessions can satisfy a self-centric person. In other words, selfish people are unlovable not only because they can't love back but also because you can't love them good enough. 

The fact that a lover of money and material possessions is also an intrigant means that; if you're married by such a person, developing yourselves in life as a couple will be totally impossible. From opening and operating secret bank accounts to making secret investments, an intrigant spouse does it all. A self-centric wife hold an extremely biased mentality that; her money belongs to her alone but her husband's money is their money. 

A marriage is not about what you can get, it's about what you can give. That's why I can confidently say: "When everyone meets to give, everyone receives."

Since selfishness and conceit is a vice whose formation goes back to the formative and developmental years of a person, it's almost impossible for a selfish person to change. If you are already married to a selfish conceited spouse, my recommendation is a spiritual deliverance. 

Noting that selfishness and conceit doesn't start when you get married, if you're dating a selfish person, kindly don't ignore that red flag lest you spend the rest of your life in total regret. I rest my case.

A Century after Tulsa Massacre

The year was 1921and the day was Wednesday 1st day of June. That's exactly 100 years ago or simply a century ago. By then, the state of Oklahoma was only 14 years old having gained its statehood on 16th November 1907 after the 780 presidential proclamation of president Theodore Roosevelt that abolished the Indian and Oklahoma territories making Oklahoma the 46th state of the United States of America.
The northeast oil rich town of Tulsa was developing in an alarming rate and by 1900, Greenwood district which was and still is predominantly African American had already been dubbed 'Negro wall street' due to the wealth amassed by the African Americans who were residents of Greenwood. 
With an estimated population of 10,000 African Americans living in Greenwood who were largely working-class blacks, Greenwood was not only perceived as a black freedom colony, it was also the richest African American community in the entire United States of America.
As fate would have it, on Wednesday 1st June 1921, the dreams and prosperity of American Americans who called Greenwood home were totally shattered during the racially motivated Tulsa massacre that saw 300 plus African Americans killed, over 5,000 left homeless and over 6.7 million dollars black wealth in form of businesses and real estates burned to ashes churches notwithstanding.

The community which was once the richest African American district became one of the poorest town in United States of America. To this day, a century later, Greenwood hasn't recovered from the deadliest United States massacre and justice or reparations are yet to be served.
From slavery to segregation, lynching, police shootings and police brutality, racial profiling, prejudice and racism, African American have experienced it all for more than 400 hundred years. And if you think that a century later after the Tulsa massacre that things have changed, I beg you to awake from your slumber.
Even though you might not be aware of the most ten deadliest racial massacres that have seen thousands of African Americans killed, it's too soon to forget the racially motivated Wednesday June 17th 2015 Charleston church massacre in the state of South Carolina that led to the killing of nine African Americans in the hands of a white supremacist.
In his first day in office, the 46th president of the United States of America president Joseph Robinette Biden signed an executive order condemning the wave of racism towards Asian Americans and Pacific Islander community in reference to the covid-19 pandemic. On Tuesday 18th May 2021, both chambers of Congress overwhelmingly and unanimously passed the Anti Asian Americans hate crimes bill which was signed into law by the president two days later on Thursday 20th May 2021. This was exactly four months into Joe Biden's presidency.
I totally agree that the overwhelming bipartisan congressional effort to halt the rise in bias crime that has recently sparked fear among the Asian Americans which was evident during the recent shooting on Tuesday 16th March 2021in Atlanta Georgia where six women of Asian descent were killed was neccessary. All the same, my conscious force of reason begs the question: When will both houses pass one (not two) among the two hundred plus of the Anti lynching bills that for years have been introduced on the floors of both houses?
The fact that I am a humanist who wholeheartedly believes in egalitarianism compels me into citing the irony on the Covid-19 Anti Asian Americans hate bill which has a reference of one year of racism towards Asian Americans against the 400 years of African Americans segregation, racial discrimination, lynching, prejudice, racial profiling and the like and to this day, no executive order has ever been signed or a law enacted for African Americans. 
With the knowledge that 4,742 people were lynched between 1882-1968, and more than 200 anti-lynching bills introduced to Congress since 1918 all of which have been voted down, it seems that the long awaited justice is far-fetched. Although I am not lost of the fact that on 19th December 2018 the United States Senate passed the anti-lynching bill, the 115th House of Representatives took no action on that bill. Later on February 26, 2020, the House of representatives passed a revised version of the bill namely: The Emmett Till Anti lynching Act, by a vote of 410–4. All the same, as of today, 100 years after the deadliest United States massacre (Tulsa massacre) no anti-lynching bill has been passed by both houses. 

It goes without saying that; justice delayed is justice denied. Nonetheless, there is a dire need to keep fighting for justice as a way of correting the centuries old wrongs in order to sate the minds of African Americans with a physiological sense of liberty. 

Integrity Deficiency Syndrome (IDS)

Times without number I've said that integrity isn't a matter of intellect. You can get all the education you want to a point of having more degrees than a thermometer but without integrity, you will just be a learned or an educated fool who can never ever score anything on the real decisions of life that demands wisdom.
Kindly allow me to jog your memory by reminding you that; unlike intelligence which is dependent upon integrity, integrity is holistically independent. As a matter of fact, integrity can beget intelligence and not vice versa. In other words, wisdom can beget knowledge but knowledge can never beget wisdom.
The fact that wisdom is independent means that the decisions rendered out of wisdom are sound without a need for consultation. This is because wisdom isn't a terrestrial trait sort from a human being, it's a supreme power bestowed by God on a person as a consequence of fearing Him.
With wisdom comes great leadership and a sincere sense of humanitarianism where decision making isn't a matter of self-interest as it have been for the longest in our beloved nation. Having known that, we can reference this truth to the present day leadership in our motherland and notice how this fact concurs with the day to day self-centricity governance.
Somethings are a no brainer whatsoever. Calling back the members of parliament and the senators from a recess not to debate on the most pressing issues of saving Kenyans from the deadly covid-19 pandemic but to vote for an illegitimate bbi bill is inhumanity of the highest level.
To add salt into the injury, some of the so called leaders who argued on the illegality of the bill were in the frontline during the voting process. This reminded me of my high school days when we could constantly complain of weevils in our food as we ate that food to the last grain.
The inanity of our so called leaders on the burden that they are subjecting Kenyans to in a dire need to appease their kingpins and sate their self-interests is a clear indication of integrity deficiency syndrome.
While the academic certificates that saw them earn their positions of leadership might have costed them a number of years in school, (unless gotten from river road) the wisdom they desperately need in order to become great leaders is just a decision (to fear God) and a prayer away. In other words, Integrity Deficiency Syndrome might be chronic but not a terminal ailment. It's cure is just to fear the  Lord.
Our time immemorial mistake has been an assumption that educated individuals make great leaders. That's why we set a threshold of a bachelor's degree for anyone seeking for public leadership. Unfortunately, education can only contrive knowledge not wisdom, that's why we have so many educated fools. The primary source of wisdom is the fear of God. In his proverbial wisdom, king Solomon puts it this way: The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. Proverbs 9:10
While the law of the land requires a minimum of a bachelor's degree when vying for public leadership, as patriotic citizens, in the footsteps of our brothers and sisters the Malawians, kindly let's have a mandatory societal requirement with an agreement to start voting for God fearing candidates who holds a captivating track record on leadership from whatever background. That's the only way we can bar individuals suffering from Integrity Deficiency Syndrome (IDS) from occupying public leadership positions. 
My advice to our so called leaders if by any chance they care to listen is; when legislating or passing any bill, diligently observe egalitarianism because sooner than later the shoe might be on the other foot.

MOTHERHOOD

7.8 Billion and counting, that's the present day population of the world and every person is on earth through a mother. What a blessing. Mothers are extremely special human beings. Each mother deserves a Nobel prize for carrying a life in her and delivering that life secure and sound into this world.
It goes without saying; 'once a mother, always a mother.' The fact that women are nurturers by nature relates very well with their ability of motherhood. Although a man is gifted with physical strength, he is totally lacking on matters psychosocial abilities. That's the reason to why the bible says; 'it's not good for a man to live alone.' Genesis 2:18  Be it as it may, that's a story of another day.
With a population of 7.8 billion people in the world, everyone was born into this world by a woman. If childbirth was a preserve of men, more likely than not, the population of the world today would be one million or less. Men don't do well with any kind of pain. When the bible says that a woman is the weaker vessel, it means physically not psychologically or socially.
The fact that physical strength supports a very minimal percentage in matters human survival helps us understand why women have a longer life expectancy compared to men.
On the other hand, it's important to understand the origin of mother's day. Although the establishment of mother's day has multiple dates which goes back to the ancient times depending on the locality, the celebration of mother's day on every second Sunday of May was the idea of Anna Jarvis back in 1908 when she decided to celebrate her late mother in Grafton, West Virginia.
Nine years later in 1914, president Woodrow Wilson, the 28th U.S. president of the United States of America signed a measure officially establishing the second Sunday in May as Mother’s Day. Unfortunately, by the time of her demise in 1948, Anna Jarvis had already denounced mother's day. Her reason to disown mother's day wasn't because she lived her entire life without a child, her claim was that the commercialization of mother's day made the occasion to lose its objective. She argued that mother's day had become a lucrative occasion rather than a day to celebrate mothers.
As you we observe the 113th mother's day come Sunday 9th May 2021, kindly make some efforts to visit or call your mom and remind her that she's a special person in your life. You don't necessarily have to break your bank account in surprising her with extortionate gifts, a phone call or a visit to remind her of how dear she is will be enough. All the same, if you're abundantly blessed monetary wise, go ahead and share your blessings with your mom and any other mother out there.
For the married men, make a point of calling your mother-in-law and wish her a happy mother's day as you thank her for birthing you a sweet wife. Likewise, to the married ladies, surprise your mother-in-law with a phone call and thank her for birthing you a handsome loving husband.
For anyone who has lost a mom, I am deeply sorry for the loss. Even though my words can never sate your loss, if you're a gentleman, don't hesitate to celebrate your wife who's the sweet mom of your children. For the ladies who have lost their mothers, you are at liberty to celebrate any mom who have changed your life in one way or another. If you're  a bachelor or a spinster and you don't have a biological mother, just make sure you celebrate any mom out there because every mom is your mother.
To all mothers I say: " HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY AND MANY MORE YEARS OF GREATNESS." YOU'RE INCREDIBLY WONDERFUL AND AMAZING LADIES."

Freedom: A matter of WHY not WHAT

I am yet to find out whether Ronald Reagan, the 40th president of the United states of America was a theologian or a biblical scholar. Be it as it may, my dilemma is based on his all-time veracious qoute: 'There is no limit to the amount of good you can do if you don't care who gets the credit.' His qoute corresponds with the scriptures recorded in the book of St Matthew 6:1, 'Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them.' 'If you do, you will have no reward from your Father in heaven.'
The worst occurrences that we have continued to experience to this day from most if not all activists is a dire need for recognition, fame, publicity and monetary gain in reference to humanitarianism.
It's very unfortunate that, in today's world, vast majority of the so called activists who identify themselves as humanists are self-indulgent individuals whose objective is only to feed their insatiable greed for fame and money, possessions notwithstanding.
Even though Paul wasn't a prophet, his true allegiance to God proffered his profound wisdom. My claim is evident through the wisdom loaded words he inked in his second letter to his mentee Timothy. 'But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power. Stay away from such people.' 2nd Timothy 3:1-5
These scriptures begs the question: In whose terms did you respond to your calling of serving humanity? Most people who establish nonprofit organizations in the name of serving humanity respond to a calling if any on their own terms that are suitable to feed their greed of terrestrial achievements.
In the gospel of St John 8:32, 'You will know the truth and the truth will set you free.' The greatest decision that can usher you to a life of perpetual freedom and profound happiness is the choice of being true to self. It's inarguably true that you can deceive everyone but yourself.
I totally agree that you're an assiduous  person and a conscientious hardworking activist who have always been in the forefront on matters humanitarianism. You spend restless days and sleepless nights thinking of how you can positively change the lives of the underprivileged. Nonetheless, the question still remains: Why do you do all these things? What you do can only be right if you do it without an ill motive. With ulterior motive, all you do is in vain. Freedom is not a matter of WHAT you do, it's a matter of WHY you do it. Motive is equally better if not more better than the deed.
As you put in long hours in humanitarianism or in whatever ways you extend your helping hand to the needy, just be advised that; however sympathetic or empathetic your deeds might be, with ulterior motive, (s) your help can only accord you self-abasement in place of freedom.
In a dire quest for freedom and happiness, you must ask yourself this intriguing question; Am I chasing power, possessions and publicity in the name of fulfilling my purpose? After all is said and done, it's worth noting that: Legends are born out of ascendancy of nobility over ignobility and their legacy is eventually realized.


 

LIVING A LIE

A while back, I wrote a blog namely: Me, Myself and I mindset. This is the kind of selfish mentality that contrives to living a lie. In exercise of my full force of cognitive thoughts, kindly allow me to refer you to a biblical compendium recorded by St Luke in Acts 5:1-10. Luke narrates to us the story of Ananias and his wife Sapphira who upon selling their piece of land lied to Apostle Peter on the money they had collected. Their lies led to their subsequent deaths on that very day.   

It's very unfortunate that we are living in the days where human beings have become so dishonest that you can hardly trust anyone including your spouse. Even though the present day high levels of  dishonesty are yet to contrive to physical deaths, (some already have) they have killed uncountable relationships and marriages.
The foundation that marks the inception of most if not all of todays marriages is lies. Most married couples are living with total strangers in their homes in the name of a husband or wife because their 'marriage' was established on a foundation of lies. But why is this happening? The answer to this very intriguing question is; since most people are in marriages to serve their selfish interests, they have to live a lie in the name of love in order to conceal their true identity of selfishness. These people have an insatiable appetite of receiving but will hardly extend their hand to give.

As long as you keep meeting their needs, they don't care about you or your needs. While your objective is to have a happy, healthy and a lovely marriage where reciprocity in equity contrives equality, they only heed to the needs that feed their greed. To them, you are just but a bridge towards the fulfillment of their selfish gains.

Selfishness goes hand in hand with pride and that's why selfish people will hardly apologize whenever they are wrong. On the other hand, they are lovers of money, fame, publicity, high lifestyles and material possessions and they can do anything to achieve these things. That's why they are serial liars and cheaters to a great extent. To them, too much is never enough. 
Unfortunately, most people who fall victim of such marriages are honest people who are true to self and true to their spouses as they hold a high level of transparency and accountability. 

To demystify the centuries old belief that marriage is a 50/50 union, in great marriages, both the husband and the wife will sometimes outdo each other depending on one's ability and acumen in certain areas of the marriage and life in general. Both of them must attend to their marital duties and responsibilities though not necessarily in equal measures. The sense of selfishness kicks in when either the husband or the wife thinks that he or she is there to be served without any reciprocity or responsibility whatsoever. 

Noting that living a lie is attributed to selfishness, a selfish spouse will open a bank account behind your back, lie about his or her income so that he or she can accumulate savings in that very secret bank account and always make sure that your income is used to the last penny in meeting all the needs of the family lest you save a coin. These are the people who will never ever help their spouse whenever he or she is financially stuck or otherwise. They operate under the famous selfish slogan, 'my money is mine but your money is ours.' 

If you are reading this blog and I am addressing the very situation you're going through, kindly be advised that; If your problem (s) isn't your spouse problem, your marriage is a problem.
In reference to the saying, 'when we all meet to give, everybody receives,' the question I beg to ask is: "Why are you in a marriage to receive without giving?" To anyone who is in a marriage to receive without giving, your selfishness is the number one cause of the problems in your marriage. Your selfishness does not only portray laziness since you can't meet your spouse needs, it also depicts a master versus slave setup where you are the master to be served while your spouse is the slave.
Times without number i've said that marriages aren't for selfish people. Even though you are getting married to be served by your spouse, that thought must be secondary to the primary thought of you serving your spouse relentlessly. The bible clearly says that then two shall become one. The question then remains, "why have you allowed your selfishness to subject your marriage to living a separate life marked with total dishonesty?"
If you are that selfish spouse, as you continue to get your every needs met by your angelic spouse who understands the true meaning of marriage and have chosen to live an honest life and to have unabated commitment in meeting your needs, please be advised that life doesn't have a vacuum. The more you fail to meet his or her needs, the further you're pushing him or her from yourself. One day when push comes to shove, your spouse who you've for a long time treated like a slave will get fed up by your selfishness and the marriage will be no more.
With or without closure, when you decide to leave your selfish spouse, don't be surprised if he or she comes begging for reconciliation. I am neither a prophet nor am I a clairvoyance but when that moment comes, please be advised that your selfish spouse desire to reconcile will totally be out of his or her self-interest of getting his or her cash-cow back and not about changing his or her selfish ways for a happy marriage.

Oh how I wish that I had an instant resolve for the victims who have fallen into the hands of selfish spouses. It's very unfortunate that selfishness is an inherent problem that's attributed to self-importance. Even though you can never ever talk your selfish spouse out of that detrimental vice, he or she can decide to change. With that change humility, honesty and generosity will be realized. 

To the selfish people I say: "Never push a loyal person to a point where they no longer care." I rest my case.

Was he or she your best friend to begin with?

The year was 1990 when Keith Wonderboy Johnson released his gospel track; Let go and let God. Fourteen years later in 2004, Hezekiah Walker followed suit when he released a track with the very same title, 'Let go and let God.' Things didn't stop there because twelve years later, Paul S. Morton decided not to copy and paste the same title although the title of his 2016 track, 'I let go, I let God' came too close to the two previous titles. 
Unfortunately, the words 'let go and let God' are easier said than done. Nonetheless, if you are in a dire quest of a healthy longevity, you don't have any other choice but to adhere to this phrase 'let go and let God, ' regardless of how impossible it seems. Yes it's painful but it's important. According to prophet Jeremiah; This is what the LORD says: “Cursed are those who put their trust in mere humans, who rely on human strength and turn their hearts away from the LORD." Jeremiah 17:5
Times without number, we have been told that love is the foundation of every great marriage. This is a centuries old mindset that I beg to differ with. As much as I believe that love is the greatest commandment as per the teachings of Christ, on matters marriage, love takes the second position while friendship occupies the throne. 
You may urge it otherwise till the cows come home but one among the three causes of present day marriage distegration is marrying someone who isn't your best friend. I am not talking of a comrade here, i am talking of a friend whom David in Proverbs 18:24 says that he or she sticks closer than a brother. I am referring to a confidant whom David refers to in Proverbs17:17 ; 'A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.' 
It's extremely imperative to understand that love develops out of genuine friendship and not vice versa. Without a smidgen fear of contradiction I've the audacity to say that; friendship is the fundamental foundation of every great marriage not love.
Noting that we have three different types of friends namely; a comrade, (temporal-illusory friend) a constituent, (seasonal-capricious friend) and a confidant (permanent-genuine friend) it's very important to weigh you friends and know which category each one of them belongs. Since friendship is the greatest social capital in life, (or it's supposed to be) it's primary objective is to add value in your life. If you have people in your life whom you consider to be your friends but they don't add any value in your life, kindly think twice about that friendship  lest you continue wasting your precious time with the wrong people who have an insatiable appetite of taking but will never ever give. 
This principle is applicable in marriages too. Marrying or getting married to someone who isn't your best friend is close if not equal to signing your own death certificate. The next worst thing that can happen to a human being apart from missing heaven is to be in a wrong marriage. If my problem is not your problem and vice versa, our marriage is in a problem. 

It's very important to know that; the greatest virtues that are needed in a marriage don't develop out of love. True friendship is the inception and the  nurturance of trust, honesty, unabated commitment, sacrifice, humility, generosity and the like, love is only an additive. 
Now that you have allowed stress and depression to take toll on your health out of days and months of restless days and sleepless nights just overthinking about a 'spouse' who proudly and selfishly walked out of your life after using you to achieve his or her selfish gain, do you honestly think that he or she was your BEST FRIEND?
I choose to be honest with you and tell you the bitter truth; to him or her,  'marriage' was a bridge towards fulfilling his or her selfish and manipulative gains and to lift his/her pride. That's why he or she decided to demolish the bridge after his or her achievement. To you, 'marriage' with that selfish and egocentric narcissist was a school of life. Now that the syllabus is well covered, it's your time to graduate and move on. The only thing you must do to him or her is to forgive for the sake of your happy and a healthy future. Although life lessons come with difficult experiences, every bit of them is worth what's awaiting.

In life, we don't meet people by accident or happenstance, they are meant to cross our path for a reason, a season or both. If a relationship doesn't stand the test of time, it doesn't mean that it wasn't meant to be. Not all encounters with people are meant to last forever.  Sometimes people are in our lives to teach us something. Sometimes the forever isn't the person but the lesson we learn from them. 
On the other hand, it's always important to know that there isn't anything that happens in your life without God's knowledge. None of your life's dreadful experiences have ever taken God by surprise. That's why He says that He can't subject you to temptations that you cannot overcome. Since God is supernatural, in your unhealthy state of lamentation and overthinking, it's worthy knowing that; God saw something you didn't see, heard something you didn't hear and He knows something you don't know. That's why He saved you from that dreadful marriage. What about this amazing scriptures; 'There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death.' Proverbs 14:12
Now that the 'marriage' is over, kindly don't perceive yourself a failure, that was a lesson in life, and since the best gold has to go through fire, you now have what it takes to establish and nurture a happy, healthy, lovely and long-lasting marriage whenever time will be at your exposure. 

Finally, I don't want to leave you without the answer to our question; Was he or she your best friend to begin with?  The answer is; NO, he or she was not. He/ she was in your life to feed her greed and sate her needs out of selfishness contrived by; me, myself and I mindset. That's why he/she left you without a smidgen thought of how you helped him or her to positively change his or her life. 

As you comprehend to start another relationship with marriage in mind, kindly remember that; the only two friends you must consider are; A genuine friend (confidant) who can stick with you through thick and thin, a genuine friend who will always have your best interests at heart. The other friend who will never  ever leave you or foresake you is God. He will always sail you through life challenges. And for that 'spouse' who left you, kindly let go and let God. 

LEADERSHIP: A DIVINE CALLING NOT AN INHERITANCE

I believe i am not the only person who times without number have heard this phrase, ' like father like son.' While it's inarguably true that we inherit genes from our parents, leadership isn't an inherited disposition but a divine calling that must be nurtured for fruation .
The greatest problem that have continued to vitiate the minds of most Kenyans is the mentality that you can become a leader just because your father was a ruler.
Kindly allow me to give you a perfect analogical example that will help you understand my conscious force of reason. The bible says; 'Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.' Mark 10:9 

This is a scripture whose objective is to warn a third party from disintegrating a marriage joined by God. These scriptures notwithstanding, what we fail to understand is that ; not all marriages are joined by God.
The above scenario is applicable when it comes to leadership. Times without number I have heard people say that we shouldn't raise a finger to our leaders since they are appointed by God. In the same manner that some marriages aren't joined by God, not all leaders are appointed by God. That's why the ones that aren't appointed by God are so insensitive to humanity as they rule us with an iron fist instead of exercising servanthood-leadership on us.
In my motherland to be precise, most of the so called leaders are just but rulers who are power drunken with a sole objective of feeding their insatiable greed. Their quest for leadership has nothing to do with improving the lives and livelihoods of the ordinary people but a golden opportunity to enrich themselves through the taxpayer's money. That's why becoming a politician in Kenya is a matter of life and death. In the words of Michela Wrong, 'it's our turn to eat.'
When the founding father of our neighboring country Tanzania,  the late mwalimu Julius Kambarage Nyerere said that Kenya is a man eat man nation, he was right. And when Josiah Mwangi Kariuki popularity known as JM said that Kenya is a nation of 10 millionaires and 10 million beggars, he too was right.
Getting back to our neighbor Tanzania, we have a lot to learn from them. After the fierce struggle that liberated Tanzania from colonialism on 9th December 1961, as a true leader, mwalimu Julius Nyerere took an initiative of uniting the 120 tribes in Tanzania to one united nation. Today, despite having 120 tribes, Tanzania is an enthicity free country. On the other hand, unlike most of the African presidents, he never saw the need of clinging onto power. In 1985, he relinquished his post voluntarily saying that he was paving way for new leadership and new ideologies. To this day, neither his children, nor the children of the other four presidents who came after him have ever run for presidency in Tanzania.
This is a valid proof that leadership isn't a  matter of inheritance but a divine calling that must be nurtured and proven through a track record of servanthood that changes people's lives and livelihoods way before running for a public office. Although we have previously made a mistake of perceiving leadership to be an inheritance and voted the wrong people into leadership positions, kindly let's not repeat this costly mistake again. Once bitten twice shy.
If Tanzanian is a far distance to learn from, we can learn from Mwai Kibaki who was the 3rd president of our beloved motherland and so far the very best president that Kenya have ever had. This is a great man who came from a humble background and greatly changed the economy of Kenya to a middle income economy within five years of his presidency. 
It's very unfortunate that we have eyes but we don't see, ears but we don't hear. Failed leadership cannot be salvaged by BBI. Unless we become true to ourselves, we will continue to change our constitution instead of changing our mindset. Likewise, we will continue to vote more politicians to power instead of demanding the present ones to serve us efficiently and effectively.
"Every Kenyan man, woman and child is entitled to a decent and just living. That is a birthright. It is not a privilege." Even though these true words of JM may have costed his life, hitherto, we have no choice but to speak true to power. As we come closer to the 2022 general elections, my question remains; will you vote a leader with a track record of serving Kenyans relentlessly or will you vote a son or a daughter of a former someone? Although the choice is all yours, kindly be informed that choices have consequences. 

JOHN JOSEPH POMBE MAGUFULI: A TRUE LEADER NOT A POLITICIAN

Born to a peasant farmer on 29th day of October 1959 in Chato villige along the shores of lake Victoria in Tanganyika which is present day Tanzania, Dr. John Joseph Pombe Magufuli, aka Bulldozer/ JPM was raised by a single mother after his father's demise while JPM was a young boy. His poor upbringing not withstanding, he became an iconic visionary and a servant leader who has set an extremely high presidency threshold in Tanzania and indeed in the entire continent of Africa.
As a bachelor's, masters and doctrate degree holder, JPM started off as a high school teacher and then an industrial chemist who would later become a member of parliament, an assistant minister and then a minister in different government dockets and eventually get elected on October 2015 to become the 5th president of the republic of Tanzania.
Without any doubt whatsoever, JPM was a visionary and servant leader who slowly but surely climbed the ladder of leadership with total leadership acumen leaving a great legacy in every step of his way, his presidency notwithstanding.
Tha fact that he was a locally sourced leader with both integrity and intelligence and never left Africa to any western country for further studies is something we Africans should learn from. The lesson is; Africa has the potential of producing highly educated people and nurturing great morals and ethics if we liberate ourselves from mediocrity and mental slavery that makes us think that nothing good can come out of Africa.  JPM was a living proof of my claim since he was a visionary and a servant leader who earned his bachelor's, master's and doctorate degrees locally in the university of Dares Salaam plus an honorary doctorate from the university of Dodoma for appreciably improving the economy of Tanzania. In myriad cases, most people who leave mother Africa to study aboard develop a certain kind of laxity and a negative perception that hinder them from going back home to apply the acquired knowledge towards improving mother Africa. My fellow Africans in the diaspora, mother Africa is calling. 
JPM was a president who saw no need of holding public holidays which would cost taxpayers an arm and a leg. His idea saw the cancellation of independence day celebrations where he declared it a national clean-up day and requested Tanzanians to spend the day cleaning up their cities and towns. The photo taken while he was collecting trash within the vicinity of the state house went viral,  trending with a hashtag #whatwouldMagufulido. By canceling foreign trips for government officials and declaring that government meetings should be held in state buildings in place of expensive hotels, he was able to save 429 million dollars annually. And for those who might have missed his big three agenda memo, the man was out to intensively fight corruption, laziness and excessive bureaucracy without fear or favour. Making incognito raids in government offices was habitual. His raids saw myriad civil servants fired for absenteeism, laxity, dishonesty and unprofessionalism. It didn't matter whether you were a sacrosanct government official or not. If he deemed you to be a dereliction, your goose was cooked. Any nonperformer government official who had mysteriously escaped what was dubbed as 'operation squeeze the boil,' (not the Samidoh version ) during JPM's surprise office raids, there wasn't a safe haven for you. Sooner or later, you had to brace multitude shame of being fired in public. Unlike my former late president of 24 years who had the audacity to hire and fire government officials of different ranks on the roadside for his own political interests, JPM did so out of visionary and servant-hood leadership and for a progressive welfare and the best interest of his fellow Tanzanians.
From corrupt civil servants to ghost workers who were costing the government of Tanzania a sum of 2 million dollars per month, not a single one of them was wise enough to escape JPM's scythe.
His leadership was neither rhetorical nor theoretical, it was a practical, visionary and servant-hood leadership that brought a total transformation in the lives of Tanzanians. From free primary and high school education to free healthcare  for the elderly, relentless fight against drug trafficking, construction of roads, bridges, railways and port, tax collection reform among others, his government had zero tolerance in laziness, corruption and inefficiency and ineffective service delivery to the citizens. In his fullness of power, he never believed that he was a politician. He perceived himself as a servant of the people who cared less about honorable titles. His persona portrayed humility at its best. 

Nonetheless, it goes without saying that; no matter how great you are, you cannot please everyone. To put it in a biblical context; 'He came to his own and his own rejected him.' John 1:11.
Unfortunately, just like Jesus, JPM wasn't an exception to this scriptures. He had a legion of critics. While his supporters believed that the country had been in shambles for the longest and that he was a God sent leader to transform their lives and livelihood together with the lives of future generations, his critics perceived him as a dictator.
From my school of conscious thoughts, I can understand the critics argument. Most of them were beneficiaries of corruption from the previous governments who were robbed the luxury of self-enrichment through embezzlement of taxpayer's money which was a total unethical act that had for years impoverished Tanzanians. 
If remaining adamant on the issues of fighting the decades old unethical dragon namely corruption is dictatorship, I am hesitant to accord his critics their biased dues but hasty to let them know that; democracy isn't a matter of one size fits all. 

As the world mourns JPM, the people of the republic of Tanzania and the rest of the 54 African States are also mourning the loss of a true PanAfrican leader who served as the chairman of Southern African Development Community. We however mourn him with mixed thoughts of heartfelt gratitude for a life well lived and on the other hand, we have a deep concern whether Africa will ever have another leader of his kind. Indeed, he was the new sheriff in town.

Although the future of Africa looks grim in the absence of JPM, I am so confident that; he fought a good fight, he finished the race and he kept the faith. 

FARE THEE WELL PATRIOT. 

HANDOUT MINDSET

Times without number I have said that; the greatest battles are won or lost between your ears. It doesn't matter how often you get motivated or by whom, every moment your mind perceive a defeat mentality, your entire body registers failure spontaneously.
Although fleeing oneself from mediocrity is extremely demanding, I beg to differ with Michel de Montaigne who once said, "Poverty of goods is easily cured but poverty of the mind is irreparable.” Although it's inarguably true that a defeat mindset begets poverty, with a visionary mind and relentless efforts, success awaits. 

In other words; poverty is just but a defeat mindset. The moment you shall believe without a smidgen doubt the words that apostle Paul used when he addressed the Christian church in Philippi; 'I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me,' Philippians 4:13 that's the moment you shall begin to free your mind from mediocrity.
One mediocre mindset that we have to free ourselves from is the handouts mindset. The fact that we have baptized it with a more enticing name; bursary dosen't exclude it from being a handout. School bursaries are just but handouts that have fostered a mediocre mindset among many Africans for decades. Having a mindset that you can't afford to educate your children unless the government helps is a mediocre mentality. Unfortunately, most of us are now victims of our own mediocre mindset and our politicians can now lure us with ease into voting for them through school bursaries and endless empty promises. The truth of the matter is; the government is never interested in positively improving the economic policies that will create jobs lest we become economically independent and rob our politicians their 'golden chance' of extorting public funds to enrich themselves and to bribe us in the name of handouts so that we can vote them into their political seats for a continuous cycle of extortion and corruption. 

To my American friends who can't relate with bursaries, i am sure you can relate with food stamps that most recipients perceive as a way of efficiency in executing government policies but fail to understand that; food stamps are great enticements that render you to a comfort zone and restrain you from applying your full force of reason on how you can liberate yourself from mediocrity to greatness. In other words, just like bursaries, food stamps robs you the ability to think of your greatness and your remarkable potential of how daring you must be to step out of the confines of mediocrity into luxuriation of greatness. 
Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime. While politicians don't like the latter part of this qoute, they are so passionate about the former part since it's the part that they have for a very long time used to render their empty promises in order to feed their greed of being voted into office. My interpretation of this qoute is; every time you allow someone to give you a livelihood rather than teaching you how to earn a living, you render that person the power to determine when you are hungry, what and when to feed you. In other words, you subject your life and that of your family under his or her mercy.

It's extremely unfortunate that this is the life that most people lead on daily basis. We have given our so called leaders too much 'power' because of our mediocre mindset and they have for a very long time continued to take advantage of our mediocrity by impoverishing us and later  giving us smidgen handouts from the same resources they extort from us. 

As much as politicians aren't angels who should walk scot free on all ill matters of their failed leadership, I am raising awareness on our laxity that have continued to hold us in a 'comfort zone' regardless of our mediocrity. 
Noting that we are living in the days where most people are upgrading their smartphones now and then, why are we so reluctant to renew their mindset as often as we do with our gadgets? Just like the biblical words in Romans 12:2; '..... but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.' 'Then you will be able to test and approve what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God,' if you have a pressing need to transform your life, you must first transform your mind. In other words, transformation of your mind is the first step towards the transformation of your life lest you live in mediocrity. 
On the other hand, transforming your mind becomes easier when you have long-term challenging goals that keeps you on your toes. In a comfort zone, there's no growth but mediocrity. You must always subject yourself to challenges in order to develop yourself. If your dreams for success don't scare you, they're too easy to achieve and mostly likely they are just moderate. I do believe that; failure is not aiming high and missing, it's aiming low and hitting.
It's also extremely imperative to know that transforming your mind is a personal responsibility not a collective one. Nonetheless, choosing the right friends who will constantly challenge your thoughts is a great way to help you in transforming your mind. You're an average of the five people whom you hangout with. If your friends aren't challenging your thoughts, your life is in a stagnation. It's time to break that friendship and make new friends who can positively challenge your thoughts and keep your mind engaged. 

BBI (BLINDED BY IGNORANCE)

"When I was a young man, I wanted to change the world. I found it was difficult to change the world, so I tried to change my nation. When I found I couldn’t change the nation, I began to focus on my town. I couldn’t change my town either, and as an older man, I tried to change my family."
"Now, as an old man, I realize the only thing I can change is myself, and suddenly I realize that, if long ago I had changed myself, I could have made an impact on my family. My family and I could have made an impact on our town, my town's impact could have changed the nation and I could indeed have changed the world." By Monk-11 A. D.
Even though the above conscious thought which is loaded with vast wisdom dating back to 11 A.D. is still inspirational to this day, the fact that this advice eminated from a monk portrays ambiguity of both wisdom and regrets.
Learning that he could have first changed his mindset before trying to change the world is a great lesson that contrived this wisdom loaded advice. To his regret, he learned a lesson at an old age meaning that he couldn't recover the time he had already wasted.
Noting that fools learn from their own mistakes while erudites do it from other people's mistakes, oh how I wish that; just like myself, this monk's mistake have taught you a lesson on the need to first change your mindset before you embark on a trajectory to change the world.
While our so called leaders have intentionally been blind to the plight of ordinary Kenyans for far too long, we have also been blinded by our own ignorance and that's why we never hold them accountable for neglecting their constitution mandated responsibilities of serving Kenyans relentlessly.
Out of our own ignorance, these selfish 'leaders' have now taken advantage of mutilating the constitution and they have the audacity to deceive us that they are doing so for our own good.
Although it's inarguably true that a great percentage of my fellow citizens are well educated people, it's extremely unfortunate because our knowledge have not brought any change for the longest. This is a clear indication that; intelligence without integrity is futile. In a more simplistic way; knowledge without wisdom is useless. That's why despite of our immense knowledge, we can't resonate with a commonsense issue like being aware that; Adding 70 more members of parliament and creating five new positions in the executive will automatically add a heavier burden of footing an enormous wage bill to the already heavily laden Kenyans.
In order to foot the proliferated wage bill in the BBI, there must be an increase on revenue. This begs the question; WHERE WILL THE INCREASED REVENUE COME FROM? The answer to this question isn't a matter of rocket science but an issue of commonsense. THEY WILL RUTHLESSLY CONTINUE TO OVERTAX US. Without perusing the entire BBI document, the fact that we will knowingly but ignorantly subject ourselves to higher taxes makes BBI a malicious and a devious plan to advance personal interests and simultaneously nurture a few individual's sense of self-entitlement. 
In his Solomonic wisdom, this are the words of Winston Churchill; " A nation to try to tax itself into prosperity is like a man standing in a bucket and trying to lift himself up by the handle."
When moments of total ignorance from Kenyans are at hand as it is now, I inadvertently find myself quoting the great words of wisdom from the 32nd first lady of United States madam Eleanor Roosevelt; 'No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.'
The naked truth is; we have ourselves to blame for our total ignorance. Indeed, we have for a very long time allowed our 'leaders' to manipulate us to a point that we are now brainwashed to a point where we perceive them as demigods whose tune we must dance to unquestionably as we continue to live in extreme indigence. Whenever they ask us to jump, instead of asking WHY, we 'innocently' ask; HOW HIGH? Infact, we are the people in the biblical reference; 'Listen, you foolish and senseless people, with eyes that do not see and ears that do not hear....Jeremiah 5:21 Just like the boers,(Afrikaans) our so called leaders have for decades continued to impoverish us in order to forever rule us. The most vexatious thing is how they take advantage of our ignorance to effectively manipulate us. 

Out of his ingenuity, Bob Marley once said this words; "Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery, none but ourselves can free our minds." If anything, His three decades old words of wisdom tells us that; each one of us have a personal responsibility to redeem his or her conscious mind lest we fail in our collective responsibility of liberating our beloved motherland from decades of tyrannical rule.

Unless you are a visitor in Kenya, you know very well that we are deficient of servant and visionary leaders but surfeit with selfish, corrupt and power hungry politicians in the name of leaders whose agenda is to sate their greed for power and opulence. That's why amidst covid-19 and medic's strike, their concern is how more positions of power will be created for them to continue to rule over us. Our government times without number have approved the words of Ronald Reagan; "The government is like a baby's alimentary canal, with a happy appetite at one end and no responsibility at the other."
Turning to the word of God; Then Jesus gave the following illustration: “Can one blind person lead another? Won’t they both fall into a ditch? Luke 6:39 While most of our leaders are blind to the plight of ordinary Kenyans, we on the other hand are blind to their evil strategies of impoverishing us for their gain. 
In their selfish quest to change the constitution, please be advised that; they can keep on changing the constitution every year if they so wish, but their unsustainable greed for power and their unwillingness to honor the constitution at hand are a crystal-clear indication that; NO MATTER HOW MANY TIMES THEY  COERCE US INTO CHANGING THE CONSTITUTION, THEIR CONCEIT AND LACK OF GOODWILL TO HONOR THE CONSTITUTION WILL ALWAYS PREVAIL. 

In other words, any person who lacks self-discipline to necessitate a sense of responsibility to support, obey, uphold, defend and protect the very constitution he or she vowed allegiance to when he took the oath of office, but out of his or her sense of superiority complex, ignorance, self-importance, ego, pride or whatever other reason decides to dishonor the constitution, that person is a recusant and is not fit for leadership whatsoever. 
As we await for the referendum with mixed feelings and anticipation, kindly liberate yourself from the blindness of ignorance and remember that; the mouth that consumed the seedlings will be the same mouth that will ask; what will I sow? Please don't be an enemy of your own and always remember the wise words of Albert Einstein; 'Insanity is doing the same thing, the same way, over and over, but expecting different results.' Before you consider changing the constitution, first consider changing your mindset because that's the root cause of all the problems. 
 

Coming to America

'Over the land of the free and the home of the brave.' These are the words that mark the last sentence of the United States of America national anthem. Since it's only in the bible that you can't add, remove, adjust or change not even a word but a punctuation mark lest the curse of death befell on you as it's written by apostle John in Revelation 22:19, I've choosen to change the last sentence of the United States of America national anthem to read; 'Over the land of the free because of the brave.' 
The reason behind my need to restructure the last sentence of the national anthem is in reference to the centuries old misconceptions that the myriad opportunities that denotes United States as a land of milk and honey are in reference to a collective responsibility of every American being a hardworking and law abiding citizen. This misconception pushes me to recall the words of an American musician and Grammy award winner, James Antony Carmichael;  'if wishes were horses, beggars would ride.'
Even though I don't disagree with the part of myriad opportunities, I beg to differ on the part of opportunities being realized out of a collective responsibility of all Americans. While a great number of Americans are hardworking people, truth be told, a smidgen of Americans are opportunists who suffer from what I call; Work ethics deficiency syndrome.
Work ethics is the term that will allude to most of my statements in this blog. In reference to the wise words of pastor Charles R. Swindoll pertaining attitude; “Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% of how you react." It's inarguable true that; in the United States of America, you will encounter numerous trials and tribulations of many kind, racism and prejudice notwithstanding. All the same, your reaction and resilience towards all these challenges must stand the test of time if you are determined to succeed. 

On matters work ethics, it doesn't matter which country you migrate to, without great work ethics and resilience, you will never ever realize your potential and the potential of the country of your residency. 

The greatest aspect of suitable work ethics is attending to whatever legal job that comes your way. In support of my conscious thoughts, the scriptures are at the surface in the book of Ecclesiastes 9:10a; Whatever your hands finds to do, do it diligently......As you attend to whatever job that comes your way with total deligence, it's very imperative to know that;  United States is a country where your might be judged by the color of your skin rather than the content of your character and in isolated cases, your accent might as well follow suit. Whenever such moments are at hand, kindly remember that; it's not about what someone does to you or say about you, it's about how you react. You should never ever allow such moments to deter you from your trajectory towards success. In the very words of Eleanor Roosevelt; 'No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.'  The the distractions of the naysayers nessissitates a biblical reference from Exodus 1:12; 'But the more they were oppressed, the more they multiplied and spread; so the Egyptians came to dread the Israelites.'

On the other hand, the primordial perception in the minds of most people that dollars are harvested from the trees is just but an absurd myth. If by any chance this perception is true, I must then admit that I am either myopic or the fact that dollars are green like tree leaves has always robbed me a golden chance to see them. 

Noting that most people emigrate to the United States of America for greener pustures, i feel a pressing need to dymistfy a decades old misconceptions that tend to define green pastures as a continuity of the career, profession or occupation that you were pursuing in your motherland. Unless you are emigrating on a company's exchange program to pertake a specific job, as far as securing a job is concerned, kindly equip yourself with a variable job mindset. Such a mindset will enable you to attend to whatever job that's available before you settle and comprehend to pursue your career or occupation of choice.
On the other hand, I totally agree that United States of America is indeed a land of golden opportunities, nonetheless, succeeding in United States isn't a walk in the park. It's an endeavor that will cost you an arm and a leg. 

In many occurrences, I tend to differ with the person who said that experience is the best teacher. My contrary arguement is; some experiences are far much tormenting than the lesson they teach. If you decide to settle with the school of my conscious thoughts, please be advised that; emigrating to the United States of America without a very clear conscience of WHO you are or WHAT you want is the greatest mistake you can make in your life. I have seen people quit great jobs in their mother country only to end up depressed in the United States of America to a point of using and abusing drugs in quest for solace. Worse still, others sell their valuable properties and possessions with an extremely strong self-conviction that they will buy properties of a greater value than what they sold, only to end up in total disappointment after realizing that they can't even afford a property of a lesser value than the one they sold. With that knowledge in your mind, apart from re-consulting your thoughts before you decide to migrate to America, you should as well consult God for clarity on your decision lest you the one bird in your hand for the two in the bush.
The very first thing you must train yourself as soon as you migrate to the United States is being time conscious or in other words, time management. The decades old mediocre mindset that allows most Africans to find comfort in getting late with a ridiculous excuse namely 'African time' should never follow you to America. What will save you from waisting this most precious and free asset called time is an extremely clear conscience of WHO you are and WHAT you intend to achieve in life after migrating. Anything less will be a true recipe of future regrets. The answers to your WHO and WHAT will simultaneously answer the third most important question in a human being's life; WHY AM I HERE?
United States of America is a country of great opportunities on both spectrums of life. By this I mean, it's a country where you can move from rugs to riches or from a morally devoted and focused person to the worst criminal on the face of earth. The greatest and most powerful people on earth are here and so are the worst malefactors. For you to resist the snares of the American temptations, you desperately need God's presence in your life and sobriety in your conscience. Making a rigid decision to always stick with God like prophet Joshua will be a great decision. "..choose you now......but for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." Jushua 24:15 As a grownup, you certainly have the freedom of choice. Indeed, the choice is all your, nonetheless, never ever forget that choices have consequences. 

If by any chance you will forget everything else in this blog, kindly don't forget the wisdom packed scriptures in the book of Ecclesiastes 9:11; 'I have seen something else under the sun, the race is not to the swift or the battle to the strong, nor does food come to the wise or wealth to the brilliant or favor to the learned; but time and chance happen to them all.'
These scriptures are a perfect reminder that; you don't need any supernatural power to become successful in life. As long as you get 24 hours a day just like Elon Musk, Aliko Dangote and the like, you have what it takes to become successful in life. Kindly spend your time wisely with the knowledge that: Failure is not aiming high and missing, it's aiming low and hitting.