I AM BLIND

I belong to the category of people who are dreamers. I actually do not mean that in its literal sense. 

But picture an average guy who just lies on a very comfortable bouncing bed, facing the ceilings with the fan blowing cool breeze. Lights on , eyes wide opened but yet has gone farther away from the room.

Its an heightened level of Imaginations, peculiar to blind people.

Only in the dream does a blind man gets to do those things he loves most like driving a car amongst other things.

I have eyes and I can see , although not perfectly because I have myopia . YET I am blind.

Sounds like a confused man right?

Let me share with you some lines about a man that inspires me a lot and have greatly influenced my life.

His name is COBHAMS ASUQUO. He was born blind into a family of six and he happens to be the only one without sight. 

It was however pointed out that his blindness has no known causes, no lineage linkage. Just the reality that he his blind.

Cobhams has never experienced sight so he does not know what it is like to have sight.

Living sightless in a world that is actually designed for sighted People is tough but Cobhams got along and today he his one of the most celebrated music producer in Africa, Nigeria and worldwide.

I will be sharing one of his experiences as I nail the point I am driving at.

When his wife goes shopping, she sometimes or most times manages to bring home some extras. And they are referred to as good deals.

Here is the point; Sight is precious and very important because this world was originally designed for sighted people. But on the other hand, sight could be a Distraction.

Just as she could not go shopping without bringing home the good deals. 

The good deals were never the goals, they only created extra laugage.

She was able to bring home the good deals from the females sporting activity (shopping) , because she got attracted through her sight to them (good deals).

COBHAMS ASUQUO.

On your way to your destination, what you see can also be a distraction from your goal.

Since that very moment, I became conscious of distractions and I realized being blind to them is a valid way to avoid them, I became blind.

So when I say I am blind , I was only referring to the fact that I choose to be blind to distractions.

You must assume blindness to distraction in other to avoid them. In fact it is critical that you don't only assume blindness to distraction, you must be blind to distraction.

That way, your ability to focus on your life goals and aspirations will be made much more easier.

I am blind, we must all be blind to distraction even when we can see with either our two or four eyes.

Lets go a step higher. YES WE CAN.

copy right © 2015 AGBOOLA BIYI

 ALL RIGHT RESERVED

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PLAN B

Its a great war, as symbolic as the world war which off course you and I absolutely have no idea of what it looks like. Except for documentaries we have seen over the years.

The General in Command of the team keeps stressing your importance in his team, always trying to psyche you up and get you battle ready. You are the PLAN A.

But to your astonishing surprise, the general concentrates and dedicates majority of his time, energy and resources into the soldiers on standby, who are currently missing in the frontline.

The General maintains an updated link with the team members on standby. 

They are the PLAN B.

Now while you on the frontline keeps on advancing and all the General keeps doing is communicating with the soldiers on standby , it shows the level of faith the general has in your ability to win the war for him or with him.

How comfortable would you be fighting in such a Generals team?

Or, I should rather ask ,

How comfortable should you be in that frontline ?

Let me make it clearer , as a guy who loves football, how comfortable will you be , playing for a coach who have no faith in the team?

Am sure such a player would be seeking ways to exit the team or continues to play with little or no passion.

Most times in life we have folks who when we relay our dreams and aspirations to, are always more interested in our PLAN B.

They package the PLAN B and makes it look so lucrative that you are tempted to abandon that believe , hope and confidence which was your initial impetus for your PLAN A.

They are never inspired by the PLAN A , they give you over a million reasons why it wont work.

Now here is how to deal with the dream killers, the PLAN B preachers.

kick them in the ASS. 

Never allow their ideologies prevail over your fantastic dreams and aspirations.

Even when possible avoid them. Don't share those dreams with them again.

 Pitch your tent with people who will help find ways of upgrading PLAN A even when it looks too shabby.

DONT allow your dreams to be killed by the PLAN B preachers.

IF YOU CAN CONCIEVE THEM, IT MEANS YOU CAN ACHIEVE THEM.

And moreover the PLAN B preachers have no faith in your PLAN A and so they deserve no PLAN A position in your life.

 They should be in your PLAN B if you ever have one.

I kicked the ass of my PLAN B preachers and am happy to say PLAN A is doing well.

DEAL WITH THEM OR THEY KILL YOUR DREAMS.

Let’s go a step higher....YES WE CAN

AGBOOLA BIYI MICHEAL

     Y.G.C

FACEBOOK : agboola biyi

TWITTER : agboolabiyi

BBM : 5330F104

THE "YOU" IN YOU

The “you” in you, the “me” in me, is a long term research process. 

The process of discovering the “you” is described as being a cumbersome one and some will actually put it as an impossible process.

 They are not to be blame in most cases. This may largely be due to the fact that they are unwilling to push for it. 

Discovering the “you” in you is simply digging deep and bringing out the special features God has deposited in you.

 Special features here is as a result of the fact that each human is made in his/her own special way. Like it is often said, no two individuals are exactly alike.

The yam farmer cultivates the yam but if he refuses to come back in eight months, all his efforts during the first six to seven months becomes wasted. 

Finding the best out of you is the best way to control happenings around you.

 The things you love, things you do with ease, with little or no sweat, things you don’t have to be compelled to do before you take the step, are different versions of you.

One basic and important “you” is your talent.

 Every human is talented in one thing or the other. This is not obvious because we cease to discover that talent.

 Not every musician is talented in music, most of them just do it for the money, not basically because they love it. That is why we have musicians with one hit track and then they become history.

 Discovering “you” is a deep process that involves you digging into what you are made of. Because you are studying/studied a course in the university should not restrict you from letting the “you” grow up. 

That also does not mean you should be slack in your academics.

Every good thing comes with its challenges and heart-aches. 

Discovering “you” may involve you leaving your comfort zone or depriving yourself of things that would normally come easy. Discovering you help reduce the work-load on you. 

There could be stumbling blocks just when you launch the unraveled you. What you need to do is to ensure that wall does not come up again. 

Some may say, a fool falls in a pit twice. But when it comes to “you”, you are not a fool, you are only doing more than you did the previous time.

 Learn from past mistakes and try your best never fall into those very mistake again.

In conclusion, take some time out to discover “you”. 

That may be the turning point of your life and your career.

WRITTEN BY : ORHERHE EJIRO

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOAL

NIGERIA AND THE QUEST FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

Nigeria and the rest of the world on 23rd of September, 2015 at the United Nations General Assembly in New York adopted a post-Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) termed Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) which contains a 17 point action plan geared towards achieving Global Goals by 2030.

But there is a need for us to carefully and critically assess the MDGs so that we can have a clear path in pursuing the SDGs.

The eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) – which range from halving extreme poverty rates to halting the spread of HIV/AIDS and providing universal primary education, all by the target date of 2015- form a blueprint agreed to by all the world’s countries and all the world’s leading development institutions.

Goal 1- Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger

According to 2014 Millennium Development Goals Report of The United Nation, Nigeria sits third in the top five countries with the largest share of the global extreme poor (china- 32.9%, India-35.5%, Nigeria-8.9%, Bangladesh- 5.3%, Democratic Republic of Congo- 4.6%, other countries -35.5%) with about 100million Nigerians living below the poverty threshold (1.25$ per day).

Goal 2- Achieve universal primary education

The net enrolment rate for primary education for Sub-Saharan Africa has increased from 52% in 1990 to 78% in 2012 (2014 MDGs Report of UN) with Nigeria’s literacy rate estimated at 61% (US State Dept.) but the number of illiterates remains high despite rising literacy rates.

Goal 3- Promote gender equality and empower women

According to the 2014 MDGs report on MDGs, gender disparities are more prevalent at higher levels of education with Nigeria and the rest of the Sub-Saharan Africa having a gender parity index of 0.92% in primary education, 0.84% in secondary education and 0.64% in tertiary education.

Also, a 2012 DFID Gender Report suggests that about 80.2 million women and girls in Nigeria have significantly worse life chances than men and also their sisters in comparable societies.

Goal 4- Reduce Child Mortality

According to the 2014 UN report on MDGs, four out of every five deaths of children under age five continue to occur in Nigeria and the rest of Sub-Saharan Africa. Nevertheless, the region has made remarkable progress since 1990, reducing child mortality rates by 45%.

It is worthy to note that preventable diseases are the main causes of under-five deaths, and almost half of under-five deaths occur during the neonatal period and of all the three remaining countries with endemic polio, Nigeria’s last reported case was 24 July, 2012 which prompted the world to remove Nigeria from the list of polio-endemic nations with only Afghanistan and Pakistan left. 

On the contrary, Nigeria is still prone to Measles with a total of 5189 reported cases in 2011(WHO), and it has been estimated that about 1.7 million children in Nigeria are still unprotected from the deadly disease.

Goal 5-Improve Maternal Health

Globally, the maternal mortality rate dropped by 45% between 1990 and 2013 from 380 deaths to 210 deaths per 100,000 live births.

But Nigeria is still among the nations with extreme maternal mortality with 40,000 maternal deaths alone in 2013 (14%). 

Only India has more maternal death than Nigeria with 50,000 maternal deaths (17%).

Most maternal deaths are preventable. There are well-known health-care solutions for the prevention and handling of complications.

Goal 6- Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases

Even though, HIV prevalence is much lower in Nigeria when compared to other Africa countries such as South Africa and Zambia.

 In 2011 alone, approximately 210,000 people died from AIDS in Nigeria. The three main HIV transmission routes in Nigeria are Heterosexual sex, blood transfusion and mother-t-child transmission with an estimated 69,400 children newly infected with HIV in 2011. 

Worldwide, Nigeria has the second highest number of new infections reported each year, and an estimated 3.7% of the population are living with HIV.

 There’s a need to increase HIV prevention in Nigeria through better sex education for young people.

According to Nigeria Malaria Fact Sheet published in 2011 by the US Embassy, malaria is a major public health problem where it accounts for more cases and deaths than any other country in the world. Malaria is the third leading cause of death for children under five years and it is a risk for 97% of Nigeria’s population.

 There are an estimated 100million malaria cases with over 300,000 deaths per year in Nigeria which compares with 215,000deaths per year from HIV/AIDS. 

Therefore, urgent attention must be put in place using the four scientifically proven key interventions to prevent and treat malaria: Insecticide-treated mosquito nets (ITNs), indoor residual spraying (IRS), intermittent preventive treatment for pregnant women (IPT), and diagnosis and treatment.

Goal 7- Ensure Environmental Sustainability

In Lagos alone, 9,000 metric tonnes of waste is generated daily (LAWMA), and about 19000 tonnes of hazardous waste is produced annually in Nigeria and the waste comes mainly from steel, metal processing, pharmaceuticals, textiles, and oil refining industries. 

Also, environmental experts recorded about 125 slum communities.

Although, the Federal ministry of environment said Nigeria is set to reduce emissions and prevent average global temperature from rising above 2 degrees Celsius, still more still need to be done to ensure the environment is safe and clean by adopting more environmental-friendly technologies.

Goal 8- Develop a global partnership for development

In 2012 alone, Nigerian received about $336million in foreign aids from the United States with health aid scooping about $279,431,567 of the total sum.

 Other donor agencies also contributed huge sums of money to the country in the period under review. However, this has not contributed to any meaningful development hence the need for foreign aids to be coordinated and harmonized in Nigeria through administrative framework that has clearly identifiable focal point.

In conclusion, there is the need for relevant government agencies, NGOs, CSOs, private institutions and development partners to analyze critically with a view of correcting the pitfalls of MDGs and rigorously pursuing the SDGs with a renewed hope and tenacity, ensuring that by 2030, Nigeria is free from poverty and hunger. There is decent work and economic growth, reduced inequalities, good health and well being, quality education, gender equality, affordable and clean energy, sustainable cities and communities, responsible consumption and production, and peace, justice and strong institutions.

All these and many more can be achieved with adequate planning, accurate data and proper implementation.

Written by: OLUBODE Olabayonle Simeon

Twitter: Bhordemarz

INDEPENDENCE FLOW ON INDEPENDENCE DAY

Nigeria of our dream.

We slept but our eyes were opened , our imaginations gave us a direction, our desires were clear.

We woke up hoping our imaginations are already a reality, ALAS far from it the spirit whispered from within on the cold night.

Corruption has successfully crippled our Imaginations, Blindfolded the eyes of our supposed Savior and wise men, Hindered the bandwidth of progress and advancement, Hardened the heart of the good Samaritans.

The spirit of our founding fathers keep yelling from the great beyond "children our labor is about to be in vain, the evil you allowed has stolen our foundational dreams and aspirations. "

Our sage keeps telling us our land is blessed with milk and honey,

Yet the honey we have not tasted thereof.

Where is the milk flowing?

where is the honey flowing?

Arise oh Arise!

compatriots you must arise!

let all sleeping giants arise!

Tell it in the NORTH, SOUTH, EAST AND WEST.

ARISE COMPATRIOTS ARISE.

Its the dawn of a new beginning, where the rich and the poor, the sick and the healthy, the prisoner and the free men, the military and the democrats will be proud of the green white green.

The time has come to gladdening the hearts of our founding fathers with resounding assurance of victory, with resounding assurance of commitment, with an incomparable passion to defend our territories.

The times has come when the military and democrat, young and old, male and female will together in one voice fight the monster that has kept us long in bondage.

The time has come to regain the true NIGERIAN spirit.

The time has come when our anthems surely will inspire us to excellence.

The time has come to serve our father land with all our strength.

The time has come to uphold love and unity.

The time has come for the youth the truth to know and defend.

The change we seek for a prosperous Nigeria has come to stay.

The time has come when the youth will birth noble ideas that will catapult NIGERIA to the top sit in the world economy.

The time has come when Nigeria will regain her rightful position as a giant in Africa.

Nigeria will surely be great because dreams come true.

 Nigerians, the destiny of Nigeria is in our hands.

The task of making this world we have borrowed from our unborn generations a better place is work in progress and our actions we must vow will be in concert with our words.

We will not give up till our last breath.

MY DREAM NIGERIA , Where every NIGERIAN will be home anywhere they go.

Lets join hand and make Nigeria GREAT.

 GREATNESS IS IN US.

GOD BLESS NIGERIA.

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY. HAPPY NEW MONTH

AGBOOLA BIYI M.

YOUNGEST GROWTH CONSULTANT