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The Empire State of the Mind: Acts of Being Responsible in Trying Times
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By Tolulope A. Adegoke
“Man, has failed in his responsibilities to life, if he would refuse to overcome his greed.”- Tolulope A. Adegoke
Let’s share, not out of pity, but responsibility just like the Cubans in trying times. The Cubans’ lifestyle speaks volume and worthy of being painted on the canvass of responsive leadership:
Cuba has sent over 400,000 health professional to work free in 164 countries. Italy is now the epicenter of the Covid-19 pandemic with deaths in the past one week, averaging over four hundred. Almost all countries in the world are protecting just themselves and conserving their finances, health workers and medical supplies for their citizens. In contrast, Cuba is mobilizing and sending thousands of its medical professionals to countries ravaged by Covid-19, just last Saturday, it sent 52 doctors and nurses to Italy, a developed European country, to help battle the virus. Italy’s Permanent Representative to the European Union (EU) Maurizio Massari, had complained that his country’s cry to the EU member countries for medical help to combat the corona virus had gone unanswered. The Cuban deployment of its “armies of white robes” to Italy, was the sixth international medical brigade it was sending out to fight Covid-19. It had sent them to Grenadad, Nicaragua, Suriname, Venezuela and Jamaica. When the 140 Cuban medical professionals arrived Kingston, the Jamaican Health Minister Christopher Tufton greeted them thus: “in a time of crisis, the Cuban government, Cuban people…have risen to the occasion, they have heard our appeal and have responded.” The Cubans are dogged fighters who no matter how bad the situation becomes in those countries, do not turn their backs. For them, no matter the battle field; military, medical or humanitarian, neither retreat nor surrender is an option. Watching a video of the Cuban’s arrival to the applause of grateful Italians was emotive for me. It was a definitive statement that all human beings are one irrespective of ideology and colour, and even level of development. The acts of the Cubans in rescuing passengers of the British ship MS Braemar and sending doctors to Italy, is also a lesson that a financially poor, underdeveloped country can come to the rescue of rich and developed countries. It is instructive that Cuba, an Island that is just 110,860sq with a population of 11.3million, relying over the decades on raw sugar and Tobacco export, as being under American economy, commercial and financial embargo since October 19, 1960. Yet, is has an almost 100% literacy and one of the most developed health systems in the world. In fact, one of the main medicines that China used successfully to treat Covid-19 patients is Interferon Alpha 2b, a drug Cuba produced in 1981 to fight the dengue virus. For many years Cuba stood alone and isolated in the organization of American States, but through commitment, will-power, consistency and development paradigm, it won over most of the States to its side. Cuba teaches us in Africa, particularly Nigeria that there is no alternative to being self-reliant; to building basic institutions and investing in the people. It teaches the Nigerian elites who appropriates the countries resources to themselves and their Western masters, that there is no alternative to building indigenous or local capacity. That if they had built the health system rather than think they can always go abroad for medical treatment they would not be patients in the dilapidated hospitals now that the corona virus has shut out the outside world to all Nigerians irrespective of status. Cuba as great exemplar here is no fluke. It is built on the foundations of its founding fathers like the poet Jose Marti 1853-1895, general Antonio Maceo ‘the Bronze Titan’ 1845-1896 and the later generations like Fidel and Rauel Castro, Camelio Cienfuegos, Haydee Maria and Celia Sasanchez who taught that humanity is one and that its resources must be deployed for common good, particularly in favour of the poor, the weak and marginalized. The Cuban philosophy embedded in the thoughts of a man like Ernesto Chez Guevera who taught that: “the life of a single human being is worth a million times more than all the property of the richest man on earth.” The Cubans are living Chez’s advise that: “we must strive everyday so that this love of living humanity is transformed into actual deeds, into acts that serve as examples as moving force.” I strongly believe that Cuba would be ready to help in Nigeria’s Covid-19 battle. Let’s continue to stretch our hands friendship for the good of mankind, to the glory of God Almighty.
My Charge!
Let’s imbibe care as a lifestyle.
Let’s share, not out of pity, but responsibility just like the Cubans in trying times.
Let’s read facts & figures of local, national & global events so as to know ‘how’ and understand ‘what’, ‘why’ and ‘where’ to wire or harness our energies for outstanding impacts.
Everything, no matter how little or frail is worth studying. It’s an act of responsibility (pills) that must be swallowed & executed by all.
In truth, the plague is over.
We have cried to the Almighty to heal our lands (across the nations of the world).
And truly, God has fulfilled His part of the deal (of healing).
But, it’s time for us as humans to heal ourselves (race, status & endowments notwithstanding) by spreading genuine love to one another in deeds (practical expressions).
The word ‘Love’ is a practical experience. It is a right that must be experienced by all.
Man, should stop giving out of pity, but out of responsibility to life!
No one is above another, it is by the order of Grace that ‘we’ are not consumed. It’s a privilege to ‘have’, but is right to ‘give’ especially in trying times.
Cuba, (a developing nation) great exemplar of responsive leadership continues to give her best to developing & developed nations across the world. Cuba only survives on raw Sugars & Tobacco exports yet heals the world kindly in her own gentle capacities void of the shame of grieve & greed!
Shame on your energies as a wealthy entity if you cannot be responsible in trying times!
Shame on your pride & ego if you cannot relief others of their pains in trying or trauma times!
Shame on your abilities or skills if it’s not wired for humanistic ideals!
Shame on your status as feathers that cannot even father the poor or the needy in trying times!
Shame on your anointing if you cannot kneel for others across the world to rise in trying times (as this)!
I charge you all to launch out in your best capacities as given you by Grace to heal the world by starting with the ‘living’ sitting or standing next to you!
Avarice is a demonic ‘missile’ fired at Man by ‘evil’ to destroy the world; forgetting that haven destroyed the world, he (Man) has consciously & unconsciously helped himself or herself to destroy himself or herself!
I ask you, would you live alone in a world that you didn’t create but given unto you by Grace?!
The moment you decide to start living ‘alone’, then, you start dying alone.
Ask yourself: Who gave you ‘life’?
Are your efforts really worth the grace or wealth that you carry?
(I guess you know the genuine answers to that).
Then why live like a container?
Why not live as a channel (as a useful tool in the hands of the Almighty)!
Why watch & starve others to death!
Why hoard the wealth & grace that you carry?
Who are we, if not Grace?
For it has been given to be (genuinely) GIVEN.
What do you have that you were not given? Nothing!
Kindly come down from that evil clouds of ‘self’ and release that which you have as a healing balm to the oppressed, tormented and the poor around you. Here, you have naturally proven worthy of the scepter of grace for greater wealth, capacity and channels to flourish in trying times.
Lights shines brighter in dark places.
You will only be used and dumped if you submit your (scepter of grace) powers to the administrations of evil tidings consciously & unconsciously!
Man, therefore, has failed in his responsibilities to life, if he would refuse to overcome his greed!
- Be aware
- Be awake
- Be strong
- Be safe
- Believe
- Become
It’s time to share.
It’s time care.
It’s time ponder.
It’s time to relief, not relent.
It’s time to love again.
It’s time do what you can, where you can.
It’s time to let ‘life’ flow again (through you).
It’s time not to be farther, but nearer than ever.
It’s time to be a responsible father and act as feathers unto the ones in your care.
It’s time to be a dedicated mother, not a murderer.
It’s time to wipe your tears and widely open your ears to learn reigning trends, so as to avoid being a ‘sophisticated’ prey!
Yes, you are an extension of God Almighty on Earth to power and extend His Grace upon the earth as kings and priests!
That’s exactly why He has created and blessed you for such a time as this (trying time).
Be humble, it breeds compassion.
Be compassionate, it breeds inspirations.
Be inspired, it breeds revelations.
Be revealed, it breeds illuminations.
Be illuminated, it breeds divine creativities (in the order of Grace).
It’s time to be divinely ‘human’, again! Activating this power & prowesses, you are simply doing no man any good, but yourself!
When God blesses you in areas of endeavour (work), be responsive enough to put life into it.
Be responsible!
God bless!
Watch out for the Book titled: “The Power of an Empowered Zero” (From Zero to HERO) by Tolulope A. Adegoke. Foreword by Dr Yomi Garnett (CEO/Chancellor, Royal Biographical Institute, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania U.S.A., U.K., Abuja, Nigeria.) Edited by Ola Aboderin.
Accomplished media entrepreneur and chieftain of the African Democratic Congress (ADC), Chief Dele Momodu, has said that nobody trusts President Bola Tinubu to conduct a free and fair election, including the President’s own supporters.
Momodu also noted that there is a belief that if the President does not win in 2027, he will not want to relinquish power.
He added that if Tinubu refuses to step down, he would be chased out of the Presidential Villa.
Momodu made the revelations while speaking on Arise News Prime Time belt.
“If you ask an average Nigerian today about Tinubu, ‘Do you trust Tinubu to conduct a free and fair election?’ I can tell you, 90 per cent of them will say no.
“Look, nobody trusts Tinubu to run a free and fair election, including his own supporters. They will tell you, ‘Oh, we are going to win. There is no way we won’t win.’ Ask them why, and they will say, ‘Oh, you know our oga now.’
“In fact, some people are even suggesting that if Tinubu loses the election, he will not agree to step down. I say, why won’t he agree? We will chase him away.
“Look, you do not know the determination of Nigerians. And now, I’m not resting my confidence on just my party. I’m talking about the ordinary man on the street who cannot imagine Tinubu coming back again. They just can’t.
“I can’t tell you our strategy in public. What we know is that, once upon a time, Tinubu fought for himself to secure a second term as governor of Lagos State.
“So, others are also working very hard behind the scenes. We are not going to come out in public and say this, but we know what to do to make sure that he does not get that second term. We also know that some of the people pretending to support him today—and I’m not trying to trivialise this thing.
“I know some of them. They are praying fervently that they will not have to go through this situation where governors become like houseboys. Governors are scared. Judges are scared. Legislators are scared.
“So, Tinubu has become a god whom nobody is ready to confront and say, ‘Oga, you’ve done your best. Please, go home.’”
The Social Democratic Party (SDP) presidential candidate, Prince Adewole Adebayo, has urged President Bola Tinubu to go home and let Nigeria breathe.
Adebayo said this in a statement in Abuja on Wednesday.
He was responding to the President’s plan to excuse himself from the rigors of physical campaigns in some states ahead of the presidential polls.
Tinubu spoke at the inauguration of the APC Presidential Campaign Council in Abuja, urging members to take the party’s message to Nigerians across the states and local government areas while he continues to attend to matters of governance.
In response, Adebayo argued that, if Tinubu is too tired to campaign, he is too weak to govern.
In a statement signed by his Presidential Campaign’s Chief Communications Adviser, Comrade Mark Adebayo, the SDP standard bearer described Tinubu as a “president in absentia” at a time Nigeria needs hands-on leadership.
Adebayo said: “Nigeria is too complex, too dynamic, and currently too distressed to be governed by remote control.”
He cited what he called repeated instances of the President governing from a distance, including prolonged medical vacations disguised as working visits, absence during national emergencies and reliance on proxies to announce State policies.
Adebayo further said: “We have seen repeated instances when the President was visibly missing when the country needed reassurance.
“From unannounced foreign trips during critical economic decisions to his complete silence during widespread regional protests, he has consistently acted like a president in absentia. If you are too tired to campaign, you are too weak to govern.”
Adebayo alleged that the decision to stay off the campaign trail was not about strategy but fear.
“The excuse of bowing out of the 2027 campaign is a cowardly smokescreen. The truth is that the President is terrified of the Nigerian people,” he argued.
According to him, the administration’s economic policies – fuel subsidy removal fallout, skyrocketing inflation and currency instability -have made the President unpopular.
“He knows the pain his bad policies have inflicted on families. He is hiding because he cannot face public anger, and he knows any appearance on a campaign trail will be met with collective booing of a betrayed populace.”
Adebayo also said: “It is time to face reality: step aside, go home, and let this country breathe.”
He called on the administration to prioritise national interest over political survival and be transparent about the President’s capacity to lead for the remainder of his term.
Arsenal Fans Club Nigeria is set to be officially unveiled in Abuja this weekend, as the organisation prepares to strengthen the club’s fan base and promote community development through football.
Amongst the high profile personalities lined up for the unveiling ceremony include, business leaders, celebrities and notable Arsenal supporters like former Gunner, Kanu Nwankwo, former Senate President Bukola Saraki, Emir Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, Senator Dino Melaye amongst others.
The unveiling will form part of a two-day programme beginning on Friday, October 16, with delegates from state and city chapters expected to converge on the nation’s capital for the club’s second Annual General Meeting (AGM).
According to a press release issued on Monday by the organisation, the celebrations will feature sporting activities, a community sanitation initiative and a formal launch event attended by prominent personalities and Arsenal supporters.
National President of Arsenal Fans Club Nigeria, Charles Ojugbana, said the organisation draws inspiration from the achievements of Nigerian-descent footballers, including former Super Eagles striker Kanu Nwankwo and current stars Bukayo Saka, Noni Madueke and Eberechi Eze.
The former General Secretary of the Nigeria Football Association (NFA) said the club aims to improve the football fan experience while expanding support for Arsenal across Nigeria.
Activities scheduled for Saturday include aerobic sessions and a novelty football match before members proceed to Wuse Market for a clean-up campaign.
As part of the outreach, the club plans to donate refuse bins and other sanitation materials to the market’s leadership, in line with its commitment to philanthropy and community development.
Arsenal Fans Club Nigeria operates through a governance structure comprising a Board of Trustees, a National Executive Committee and a General Assembly, which serves as the organisation’s highest decision-making body.
The club also disclosed plans to promote awareness of Down syndrome among children in March 2027, as part of activities to commemorate World Down Syndrome Day.
The programme expresses the organisation’s ambition to extend its activities beyond football fandom to charitable causes and support for vulnerable members of the society.
