Tolulope A. Adegoke

Scars that makes ‘stars’.

Actions with the right motives.

Creativities that guarantees productivities.

Responsiveness that unveils passion.

Illuminant.

Favour that compels envy.

Independent.

Crosses, crowns, cares & cures.

Expectant, experienced, expressions & excellence.

“Sacrifice is the scar(s) we bear in the processes of carrying our ‘crosses’ (responsibilities) towards getting our ‘crowns’ (desired results)” – Tolulope A. Adegoke

Sacrifice is the scar(s) we bear in the processes of carrying our ‘crosses’ towards getting our ‘crowns’. There is no star without a scar! The scar of every star is sacrifice. It is nothing else! It is simply the ticket towards delivering possibilities. Sacrifice is going the extra mile, paying the extra-price and taking the extra steps to deliver your mandates! Your extra-ordinary inputs determine your extra-ordinary impacts! You need to go the extra mile in your “disciplined” life. You must pay the extra-price in your “diligence”; then, the star in you emerges! Do not envy success, envy sacrifice!

Many around the world are embodiments of extra-ordinary potentials (gifts), but have found themselves in fields that are different from their real (divine) calling(s). For example, some are gifted footballers but have found themselves in the Engineering sector… Not until they subject themselves into the diligent sacrifices of football training and timings (age-wise), such people will not manifest or fulfil their original destiny. They would only be engineering stars by chance or by force. It takes sacrifice for the star in us to manifest!

You cannot eat your cake and have it! You cannot make an omelette without breaking eggs! Not even faith is a substitute for sacrifice. Vision is not a substitute for sacrifice! Sacrifice is a covenant requirement of every kingdom star! Apostle Paul in the scripture (Philippians1:21) said: “For me to die is gain, for me to live is Christ.” I will rather die than allow anyone make my glory in Christ vain is a typical description of the term Sacrifice. Being crucified with Jesus Christ is Sacrifice! Every star has a story of sacrifice to tell! Bishop David O. Oyedepo is used to saying: “If you do not improve on where we live of, then you are a failure!”

The above means that, you must wake up from your slumber and invest your time in creating the future that you desire! Until you do what others do not do, you will still remain on the same spot as others! You must therefore wake up and tell yourself the bitter truth and design for yourself a new programme and do not let the year to end without a schedule for next year and a lifetime goal…This would show that you are really a serious entity on a mission to deliver your world from its aches!

Even Jesus Christ, the most anointed said in Luke12:49-50 (KJV): “I have come to set fire on the Earth…I have a baptism to be baptized with and now am I stretched until it be accomplished.”  Anyone that desires to have a “global impact” must pay a “global price”!

You cannot have it until you pay its ultimate worth! You cannot have your crown, not until you are done with the cross!

“Every seed of Abraham is a seed with potentials for global impacts (Genesis22:17-18)” “And if ye be Christ’s, ye are Abraham’s seed and according to the promise (Galatians3:29).”

You are here on Earth for global impacts; you are not here for survival! Global Impacts is about being a positive influence all across the world on humanity in your area of calling(s), chosen career(s) or field(s).

I strongly believe that there are readers of this write-up that would manifest greater grace of positive impacts all across the world all to the glory of God Almighty, if they would be willing to pay greater prices than many great men have paid in the past in order to be the “moves” and “waves” of the “movements and trends” and affluence in their generation(s). Until you pay the greater price(s), you cannot generate greater value(s). For whatsoever a man sows, he shall reap!  What is only waiting for you in the future is simply your investment in today! We need to be prepared to at least start aspiring to do a few things we can do, then the grace will flow in on us to do more/greater! It is then we would be able to soar higher than the Eagles because the skies would have simply been transformed into our starting point!

Ultimately, you must discover your area of calling(s) or field(s), so as to be sure that you are no investing in the wrong direction. Your vision must be clearly defined so as to fully understand your mission and then empower yourself for possibilities in that field. According to 2Timothy 2:15 (KJV): “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” Acquire relevant skills, apply the spiritual knowledge and understand the needs of your environment in relation to your “Empowered Zero.”

Your field is the “green pastures” where your flocks feeds through your properly “Empowered Zero” which is harnessed/directed as solutions towards meeting demands, needs of peoples, corporates and nations. Harnessing your “Empowered Zero” is the full-scale methodological applications in a bid to impart your world with the treasures that lies in your earthen vessel!

To empower in this context means to positively influence affect or fuel something or someone or a place to become useful or better towards emerging/fulfilling or serving the real and full purpose of which it was originally created! Having thoroughly studied my Zero to Hero series, a majority across the world have come to understand that no one is indispensable, nothing last forever, change is constant and there is always room for improvement to be able to transit from Zero to Hero. Zero to Hero, in this context, is not limited or restricted to individuals or peoples alone but it touches as well the Corporate world and Nations; illuminating us that we can always be better, come what may!

Empowerment is both a value orientation for working in the community (practical) and a theoretical model for understanding the process and consequences of efforts to exert control and influence over the decision(s) that affect one’s life, organizational functioning, and the quality of Community life; so said Perkins and Zimmerman, 1995; Rappaport,1981; Zimmerman and Warschausky 1998.

The value of the orientation of empowerment suggests goals, aims and strategies for implementing change. Empowerment provides principles and a framework for organizing our knowledge and lifestyle. Robert Adams points to the limitations of any single definition of empowerment “empowerment” and the danger that academic or specialist definitions might take away the wood the connected practices from the very person they are supposed to belong to. Still, he offers a minimal definition of the term: Empowerment as the capacity of individuals, groups and/or communities to take control of their circumstances exercise power and achieve their own goal, and the process by which, individually and collectively, they are able to help themselves and others to maximize the quality of their lives. According to Cornell, Empowerment Group, “it is an intentional, ongoing process centred in the local community involving mutual respect, critical reflection, caring and group participation, through which people lacking an equal share of resources gain greater access to and control over those resources.”

Learn, Apply & Share.

Thank You!

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.

By Joel Popoola

“Governors are the most suspected elected officials. Everyone thinks governors are just thieves… wasting state resources (and) not doing anything.”

The sort of opinion you hear all the time in the queue, and inside danfo – but not something you hear very often from governors themselves. But this week Kaduna State governor, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, publically addressed his and his colleagues’ “very negative image”.

He was right. Nigerians do think all governors are thieves. The statistics prove it.

Research shows 72% of us believe “most politicians are corrupt”.. 57% of Nigerians believe that nothing will ever change, no matter who wins an election.

And other countries agree – that’s why the international Corruption Perception Index ranks us amongst the most corrupt countries on earth. And 80% of Nigerians think that placing is deserved!

Regardless of your politics, no governor has done more to tackle the systemic and structural shortcomings of our democracy than Mr El-Rufai himself.

It was El-Rufai who trialled electronic voting in Kaduna in 2018, deservedly winning praise for his efforts to promote transparency and increase electoral integrity. Voters even reported enjoying going to the polls – which will hopefully encourage them to do so again in the future.

Even more strikingly, four Kaduna elections were won by the opposition rather than the incumbents – a statistical rare occurrence in Nigerian elections. People knew their vote would have an impact. So they voted.

After a recent governorship election in Edo where only one in four voters went to the polls, it is clear our nation needs to incentivise and encourage voters to vote more than ever before.

Its measures like electronic voting – which make vote-rigging and ballot-stuffing significantly harder – are so desperately needed across Nigeria if we are to fix our current democratic deficit.

A coalition of over 70 human rights organisations recently united to raise the alarm about increasing vote buying in Nigerian elections, with convener, Clement Nwankwo, quoted as saying:

“Politicians are increasingly investing money to buy votes with voters appearing to be willing to sell their votes.

“In the Edo State election, this practice was widespread with all of the major political parties engaging in this infringement”.

With only 25% of Edo voters going to the polls, it feels like the only people voting are the people who are being paid to. This is a bleak assessment of Nigerian democracy.

These allegations follow an election which has thankfully been described as “relatively peaceful” and “relatively credible” by the Centre for Democracy and Development.

But we Nigerians should expect more than “relatively credible” and “relatively peaceful” elections. I ask you, would you buy a car which is “relatively safe”? Would you purchase a pet which is “relatively harmless”?

Our democracy faces significant challenges. The first step to tackling them is better communication between electors and elected.

Mr El-Rufai has described the role of a governor as “one of the most difficult jobs in the world”. As both a Nigerian tech entrepreneur and as a digital democracy campaigner, I have seen firsthand how true this is. Local politicians are, for the most part, motivated only by public service and a profound love of their communities. They step up to take the hardest decisions for us, even when they do not like those decisions any more than we do.

But they need to explain themselves better. That’s why the digital democracy campaign I lead created Rate Your Leader, a free app which puts local officials in direct person-to-person contact with the people they serve. It also allows voters to contact them, helping them gain better insight into the needs and wishes of the people who elect them.

If politicians using the app are responsive and authoritative, and explain the decisions they are taking clearly and satisfactorily, their voters can give them a positive rating. If people see that neighbours who have interacted with their local politicians have all rated them highly, that builds trust in our leaders. And that in turn builds trust in our system.

Communication between the authorities and the public has never been more critical. As more and more Nigerian parents see their children returning to school after the disruption of Covid-19 they need to be able to trust institutions as much as they need to be able trust leaders. They also need to be able to receive vital public health messages instantaneously.

But with more Nigerians owning a smartphone than voting, the answer is literally in their hands.

Joel Popoola is a Nigerian tech entrepreneur, digital democracy campaigner and creator of the free Rate Your Leader app. You can follow Joel on Twitter @JOPopoola

The Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, has registered his displeasure with continuous patronage of illegal harbours known as secure anchorage areas.

According to the minister, an individual has sought to exploit the industry by collecting $1,200 daily for secure anchorage in the country from ship owners.

He said this while delivering a virtual keynote address at the 2020 World Maritime Day Celebration which held at Eko Hotel and Suites in Lagos.

The minister said the issue was quite unsettling.

He said, “There is a crisis in the maritime sector. The crisis is on the issue of security.

“Today, we have a single individual partnering with the military that is collecting $1,200 to the detriment of shipping companies.

“That one individual is still managing the business with support of other institutions.”

He accused stakeholders of doing nothing to the individual, stressing that no one other than the minister had the right to step up a secure anchorage area.

The Punch