Bola Tinubu is an interesting character.
He makes his detractors & opponents underestimate him on purpose.

He has this demeanour of a dour sleepy Man with half a brain, but he is FAR from that!
He is a very deep thinker & master strategist.
He always KNOWS what he's doing... Do you remember the song, "hand dey shake, leg dey shake, Baba wey no well...🎵"?
The Opposition thought he was going senile!

When he presented the 2025 Budget to the National Assembly, he made a Freudian slip (or so we thought): he called them the 11th National Assembly...

"Hello? Hello?"
"Yes, how are you, Simi?"
"Good morning, Sir! I am NOT fine Sir!"
"Why?"
"They want to impeach me, Sir! Please, help me Sir!"
"Simi! But I wanted to help you before! I brought you & your HOA Members together to talk & you all signed an agreement, remember...?" "Yes Sir! I'm sorry, Sir!"
"Why did you renege on the agreement you signed?"
"It's the Devil, Sir! I am sorry, Sir! Help me, Sir!"
"Ok... So how do you want me to help you? You know I'm not a member of your Party: maybe you should call Atiku to help you, Simi..."
"Ha! That one?"

My friend, @praisefowowe wrote:
"The world is shifting rapidly, & the era of lawless leaders & bullies is upon us.
A GENERATION is being led into CONFUSION, where what is RIGHT is simply what is LOUDEST.

TRUTH is being DROWNED in NOISE & VALUES are being REWRITTEN... By those who serve SELF, not GOD..."

I've not heard or read a more succint statement in a very long time.

Today, the world believes the more NOISE they make, the EASIER it is for their views to be ACCEPTED by others.

Just as AUCTIONS go to the HIGHEST Bidder...

A father went to pick up his 6 year old boy from school.
He was alarmed when he got to the school to meet his son CRYING!!!
"What happened, son?"
"It's him!!!" The son pointed to his classmate, a big, fat boy!

The father was ANGRY!
He immediately went to see the Head Master... "I will NOT accept my son being BULLIED in this school! I DEMAND that bully is PUNISHED!"

Head Master smiled.
"You're getting it wrong, Sir. Your son was NOT bullied. Maybe you should ask him why he's crying, Sir."

Woah!

He turned to his son: "What really happened, Son?"

My sister was posted to a Bank for her Service Year.
She was deployed to the 3rd floor of the Headquarters in Marina, Lagos.

One day her boss sent her on an errand to deliver a letter to one of the Directors on the last floor.

She entered the elevator... Punched in the floor number & went up.
On the 4th floor, some folks came in.
On the 6th floor, the Director she was sent to came in.

Now, she didn't know him, but some of the people in the elevator greeted him.
So she asked, "Are you Mr X?"
"Yes, please?"
"This is for you, Sir!"

HOPE is a very powerful motivation.
It has moved men to scale mountains & cross rivers.

It has put man under tremendous pressure, believing there is light on the other side.

People walked across the Sahara Desert in HOPE they would get into Europe & live better lives... Barren women have clung to HOPE they would become mothers someday.

Indigent students have held on to HOPE they would win scholarships for their education.

Men & women HOPE their lovers would return to them after a break up, even when the lovers are with other people...

Since Creation, there has been one human trait that has been consistent: THE REFUSAL TO ACCEPT BLAME
Man will ALWAYS find someone or something to blame for their shortcomings.

When Adam went against God's instructions in the Garden of Eden, he blamed Eve.
Eve blamed Satan... And that was the beginning of buck passing: it's ALWAYS someone else's fault!
I must confess, I used to be guilty of this too: until I learned a lesson from a Radio Station.

Now, over 30 years ago (1994), Nigeria crashed out of the USA World Cup in the Round of 16 to Italy...

In the last few years, there's been a constant trend in the Country:
Young folks are ANGRY & they ALWAYS look for a way to vent their ANGER.

In the recent past, we had the #EndSars Protests.
Then we had #RevolutionNow.
We also had #BuhariMustGo.
Then #AllEyesOnTheJudiciary... We also had #JusticeForMobad.
Now, it's #FreeDeleFarotimi...

Truth be told there things are not new: we also had #AliMustGo in 1978.
Dr Tai Solarin led the SAP Protest in 1989 when it was rumoured that Babangida's wife was cited as the richest black women by Ebony Magazine...

Some years ago, a friend called me from Lagos.
"Harry, I'll be coming to Abuja for a project I will be supervising (he's a Building Engineer). I'll be around for about 6 months. Can I stay with you, please?"

I was living alone in a 3 bedroom flat, it wasn't a problem for me... So I agreed.
He came over a few days later & I gave him a room to stay.
He'd leave the house early in the morning to the site & return around 8pm.

After a month, he told me his wife would want to come over for a weekend.
Is it ok?
No problem, Bro: she's welcome to visit you...

This reminds me of a situation some years ago.
After Service, some folks wanted to see the Pastor for counselling.
He then asked a few of them to see me so the load on him would reduce.
So, I became an "Emergency Counsellor" that Sunday morning.

The 1st guy sat in front of me...

https://twitter.com/JudahMaiye/status/1851159216725037085

"What is the problem, Sir?"
He told me his story.

When he was done, I told him: "your problem is not a big deal, Sir. I'll give you a simple solution..."
He sat up, eager to hear the solution.
I told him, "Go read the Book of Galatians & let's talk on Wednesday!"

He was MIFFED!

"The lack of CRITICAL THINKING among citizens is scary..."

The average Nigerian is more about EMOTIONS than LOGIC.
We are wired to REACT first and THINK later.

Some days ago I asked a young lady: imagine you are newly married (no kids yet) just you & your husband at home...

https://twitter.com/trafels/status/1849458250149708152

And one Saturday morning, he tells you, "Babe, I want to go watch Arsenal play Chelsea by 4pm in my friend's house".

What will you do?
She replied, "I will be VERY ANGRY with him!"
I asked why.

Why should ANGER be an option?
He just voiced a desire: why should that bring ANGER?

"Imagine all Nigerians relocate to the US & all Americans relocate to Nigeria... What do you think will happen in 10 years?"

Rev'd Sam Adeyemi @sam_adeyemi asked this rhetorical question in Church, @DaystarNG over 20 years ago.

There were several responses to the question... And all agree on ONE thing:
In 10 years, Nigeria would have become a much better place where things work, America would have become a worse place where things don't work anymore.

Rev'd Sam then said: "that tells you that THE MAN MAKES THE PLACE, THE PLACE DOESN'T MAKE THE MAN!"

Social Media is a funny place.
It exposes the GULLIBILITY of the average Nigerian.

Anyone could invent a story, post it on Social Media & people would simply BELIEVE it!

No EVIDENCE.
No PROOF.
NO DATA!
Just mere WORDS.
And people (who you'd deem INTELLIGENT) would BELIEVE... I remember when I was in the University, a classmate had a knack for telling us stories about happenings in the AFRC (Armed Forces Ruling Council, for the younger generation) Meetings.
He'd tell us, "As Babangida enter the Meeting, Abacha ask am, "Where you go yesterday?"...

Once upon a time, there was a Kingdom on this Planet with very interesting citizens.
ALL of them had ONE EYE: it was a genetic disorder.

At some point, they decided to crown themselves a King.
They went through a rigorous process & shortlisted 4 men for the throne... After a keenly contested battle, 1 was picked.
He was crowned King in a very Grand Ceremony.

As soon as he took over the reins of the Kingdom, he appointed his team of Chiefs, Captains & Leaders to help him rule over the people.

But with time, the people got disgruntled...

Nigeria is a Country where the average Citizen IS lawless.
He jumps red lights.
He drives against traffic.
He goes to work LATE.
He will NOT go to work if he can help it: but expects full salary on pay day.
He cheats his workplace of TIME & MONEY.

But he's very RELIGIOUS... He's a Deacon or Elder in a Church.
He prays 5 times a day & strongly advocates for the implementation of Sharia Law all over the Country.
He goes on Holy Pilgrimage to Mecca & Jerusalem.

But that's where his religiousity ends:
He lies & swears like Satan Iscariot...

Kingsley Moghalu was a Deputy Governor of the Central Bank.
He later went into Politics & ran for the Office of the President.

He campaigned and did all he could.
Then his Party (ADC) held a Presidential Primaries Election to pick their Presidential Candidate... To the shock of everybody, a certain Dumebi Kachikwu won!
He defeated Kingsley Moghalu to become the Presidential Candidate of ADC.
Everybody was surprised!

Dumebi WHO???
Who is he?
What's his pedigree?
What are his antecedents?

But that is POLITICS, folks...

In 1994, I had a mentor.
I looked up to him as a Life Guide.
He was a Reverend Gentleman, married with 2 kids.

His wife worked in an Oil Servicing Company, he was a Minister of the Gospel.

Now, his wife saw an opening in SHELL Company and she sent in her application... She didn't want her office to be aware she was job hunting, so she used her husband's address for her correspondences.

After 2 weeks, she got an invitation letter for an interview.
She attended and aced it.

After a week, she was sent an employment letter with conditions...

A friend traveled abroad, leaving his kids at home.
I was in the house with the kids yesterday & they said, "Mr Harry! Please, call Daddy! We want to talk to Daddy!"

So I put a call across to my friend.
"My guy, how far?"
"Harry!"
"I dey your house, your kids wan talk to you..." So I gave the phone to his 12 year old daughter.
"Daddy! How are you?" She laughed, she screamed, she was very excited talking to her Father!
"Daddy, when are you coming back? Daddy, I want you to buy me some things! I will send them through Mr Harry's phone..."

"Calm down! CALM DOWN!"
She was talking too fast, I couldn't understand her.
But I knew she was hurt.
And ANGRY!

She called me that evening, around 7pm.
From the background noise, I knew she was in traffic.
"Please park, let's talk", I advised.
"I'm not driving", she replied... "I'm in my car, in front of Cash & Carry".
I asked her to take a minute to calm down...

My mind went back a few months earlier when she got married to the love of her life.

When I saw her call, I had assumed she wanted to tell me she was pregnant or something...

"She said Africa is different because we are more fetish and diabolical than other continents
She said accepting Jesus and the Holy Spirit is not enough..."

I've heard this submission countless times.
And it's amazing how a lot of Christians believe this NONSENSE...

https://twitter.com/GbengaWemimo/status/1773044753606599167

There's a Nigerian Church that teaches "Sanctification" as a doctrine: when you get Born Again, you still need to be "sanctified" BEFORE you can be baptized in the Holy Spirit, they teach.

Yet, Cornelius & his household got baptized in the Holy Spirit BEFORE they got Born Again!

A couple got married.
After some years, things fell apart & the centre couldn't hold.
So they went to the Court to part ways legally.

Now, the pastor who joined them in Holy Matrimony heard & was aghast!
"No! I have NEVER joined a couple that got divorced! This won't happen!" He was more interested in his reputation as "The Pastor Who Joins Couples That Never Divorce" than the interest & feelings of the couple.

As far as he was concerned, "Stay married & keep my reputation intact!"
Even if the man was going through hell & the wife was running mad...