THE POWER OF DREAMS

Hello pals,

When I look around today, I see thousands of people on the roads, in the streets, in the market, in various offices and places of social gathering. But when I take a closer look at these people (including my own life), I discover that we are not all in the same level, some drive around town in classy and flashy cars, some live in big mansions (heaven on earth), some wear very beautifully woven laces, some wear very expensive watches and jewelleries and so on while others trekked long distances everyday without any hope of an end to it, some do not even have a roof over their heads, some wear the same clothes everyday and some don’t even have at all not to talk of putting on jewelleries. Then I came to the conclusion that ‘Life is in phases and men are in levels’.

I went into extensive research and found out that some of these people living a mediocre life didn’t plan for it, they didn’t have it in mind that one day their lives will be this miserable and frustrating. But I also found out that they didn’t equally have a definite plan for their life. They lacked a definite dream which they ought to have held on to during their youthful age and now (in adulthood), they are paying the price.

The power of a dream cannot be over-emphasised. Look at the lives of the world’s richest men today, it’s worth envying but ask them how they started. They will tell you that most of them were not born with silver spoons, they came from very poor homes but one thing kept them going- Either it’s ‘A Dream not to end up like their parents’, or ‘A Dream to live their lives to the peak of their destinies’.

I tell you this- a time is coming when you are expected leave your father’s house (even if he is very rich and willing to support you), when you will not only be responsible for your own life but also the lives and well-being of those around you. And when that time comes, what will speak for you is the dream you had some years back.

You must Dare to Dream. If you don’t have a dream, I beg to say- you are putting your whole life at risk and you are also a threat to humanity. Come to think of it, if hundreds or thousands of years ago, nobody dared, just imagine what and how humanity and the earth will look like today, imagine the extent to which the human race would have de-generated if nobody dared to expand his horizon, imagine if people like Isaac Newton did not dare some hundreds of years ago, imagine what would have become of South-Africa today if Nelson Mandela lived within the comfort zone and never dared, imagine how ignorant we would have been if the scientists of old did not dare to experiment. Anybody that is an international figure today did something yesterday- he dared to dream. And in like manner, those who will be international figures tomorrow are those that dare to dream today. Sex is never a barrier to dreams, in Nigeria today, there is no way you can talk about the Medical sector reforms without mentioning Mrs. Dora Akinluyi (NAFDAC Director during Pres. Obasanjo’s tenure), and there is no way you can talk about the Financial sector in Nigeria without mentioning Mrs. Ngozi Okonjo Iweala (Minister of Finance during Pres. Obasanjo’s tenure), and there is no way you can talk about the Banking sector without mentioning Mrs. Cecilia Ibru (Former MD/CEO of Oceanic Bank). In the United States, there is no way you will talk about politics that you will not mention Condolleza Rice and Hillary Clinton. These are ladies that had dreams. You too can become an international figure.

I bet you, if you dare to dream today, tomorrow you will be glad you did.

Conflict Resolution and Peaceful Co-existence

In a world where conflict is trying to become a way of life, there is every reason for you to learn how to live peacefully with your neighbour and make this world a better place. It’s very common and natural for conflicts to arise because we are human beings and we all have different mentalities, ways of thinking, capacities to accept changes and so on. But when these conflicts arise (whether at home, in the office, in the church, in the market, in the school or even in the streets), do we kill our selves because we want to prove a point?

Here is the key to resolving conflict and still have your relationship in-tact: Be soft on the person involved, but be hard on the issue.

Now this is what I mean, if there is an issue (whether at home, in the office, in the church, in the market, in the school or even in the streets) that needs to be treated, have this in your mind-
• The person involved is more important than the issue. Therefore treat the person with some sense of respect, have regard for his personality because if you destroy a person’s confidence and positive self image because of one issue, you might have destroyed the person’s image for life. So try as much as you can to separate ‘the person’ from the ‘act’. Be soft on the person.
• Be hard on the issue. No matter the level of relevance or importance you attach to an issue, one thing is certain, ‘if it’s not right, it’s not’. Treat every issue (remove the person involved) as hard as you can so everyone can know it’s a wrong act.

THE ONE AND ONLY RESPONSIBILITY OF A LEADER

After all the celebrations on the day of swearing – in, one thing is certain, responsibility has been actually and indirectly transferred to you. And the earlier you realise that people’s life and destinies are in your hand, the better for you.

Permit me to say this; if you are a true leader, your heart is not likely to be at rest because people’s lives are in your care.

Here is what the bible says about a king- 1 king 20 vs 39.

Your sole responsibility is to-

• Diligently guard the lives of your followers (you are accountable to God for their lives, harness their potentials and talents, let them not get missing in the things pertaining to good living).

Of course you know that when you fail to carry out your responsibility, you should be prepared to bear the consequencies.

As a leader, if you fail to guard the lives of your followers, two things are involved:

• You either pay with your life or;
• You pay a talent of silver (money)

NOTE that when we say you are going to pay a talent of silver (money), we are not talking about being fined, we mean you are going to go down financially and economically.

Check a nation that is very poor, you will discover that either the leader has not been able to manage the resources in the land or he has gone about being a busy body and not realising that there are untapped potentials in his people.

Pals, I like you to know one thing, if the present Government is failing in it’s duties and we the up coming generation are ignorant of why they are failing, we will continue to build a country whose citizens do not have the slightest idea of who a leader is supposed to be. And that means doom for us.

Make a choice today and stick to your decisions, I bet you- this Nation will be a better place to live in.

Enjoy yourself

THE ONE AND ONLY QUALITY A LEADER NEEDS TO POSSESS

I believe that if there is one quality a leader must possess, it should be “the ability to cover his followers and be transparent (that is: a leader must relate with all his subjects on an equal bases and not operating with a biased mind.)”.

No doubt, with the kind of leaders we have today, one can easily tell the mind of the leader, we can easily know who he is referring to when an issue is been tackled, we can easily know those that are more favoured and those that are less favoured in his government. This is not a quality of a true leader.

I believe a leader can actually get everybody involved in his operations, take decisions about an issue without fear or favour and relate with the people on an equal ground.

Envisage a scenario like this one in our time / generation: your leader comes out one day and says one of his followers is going to kill / betray him. And I guess based on his relationship with the individuals in his group (the followers), you can easily tell who he is talking about. These days, leaders no longer work in transparency, they no longer treat all people equal, they no longer carry everyone along in their operations.

I will show you an example:
In the book of Mark 9 vs 31, the quality we are talking of here can be seen there. The lessons about leadership you see there is an attitude of a fine relationship with everyone in your group.

In that portion of the Bible, we see that Jesus so had a fine relationship with all his 12 disciples that even when he said- “one of you is going to betray me”, the disciples were confused, they could not guess who he was referring to. He had a very plain Leader – Follower relationship with his disciples.

And this is the key to a perfect leader in this generation- relate with your followers on an equal basis, when taking a decision regarding an issue; try to be as honest as possible and one of these days, people will actually look back and say “Thank God for this person’s life”