RiverNaija

The world is a funny place. Some say it is weird. Philosophers and kings have sought to understand how the world runs, all to no avail. It is full of contradictions and gaffes. There is an unseen force, beyond the management or manipulation of mankind, which apportions to every man or woman, a share of fortune or misfortune in a life time. That force is called fate. Theologians and present day preachers interpret it as God. But I don’t quite think it is God. Fate can be cruel, unfair and even punitive. Are those the attributes of God? I will cite some instances that show the helplessness of man in the hands of fate. How many choices is man able to really make concerning himself or herself? The more defining issues of life are governed by the almighty sleight of fate. Beside the claims of science and the so-called breakthroughs of research findings, there are many issues that are beyond us. Take the few cases like our sex. How many of us chose to be men or women at birth? How many of...

A very general mental capability that, among other things, involves the ability to reason, plan, solve problems, think abstractly, comprehend complex ideas, learn quickly and learn from experience. It is not merely book learning, a narrow academic skill, or test-taking smarts. Rather, it reflects a broader and deeper capability for comprehending our surroundings—"catching on," "making sense" of things, or "figuring out" what to do

Did you sell the SAP idea to the Babangida’s government? I was then the Managing Director of Nigerian Merchant Bank. I retired from the civil service, five years earlier as permanent secretary. On January 29, 1986, six weeks after that broadcast, President Babangida appointed me as Secretary to the Federal Government. These clarifications are very necessary because many people thought SAP was brought into the government by me, No! It was introduced and announced by Babangida on December 18, 1985 when I was not even in government. I came into government six weeks later. However, being an economist, a banker and a former director of economic planning for Nigeria and as the SFG, it was often my duty after cabinet meetings, to announce the decisions taken and to explain, where necessary and defend the decisions taken. That was how people saw me as the author of SAP. But because it was in consonance with what me, as a professional economist and banker. I had no difficulty in supporting i...

By Olusegun Adeniyi Agu Imo has been a friend and elder brother for almost two decades now, so when he called about two weeks ago to say there is an old man he wanted me to meet, he knew I couldn’t say no to his request. When he mentioned the name, Rev. Moses Iloh, I was even more enthusiastic since the man remains one of the most respected Christian leaders in Nigeria today. But what Imo said next shocked me: “I want you to meet Rev Iloh because he is now 83 and he is someone with whom I am close and he has some interesting perspectives to share about our country. He is not getting younger and I don’t want him to die without telling his story and, for me, you are the only person who can do justice to his account. You know of course that Rev. Iloh was the head of Red Cross in Biafra…” At that point, my enthusiasm wavered a bit. Biafra? That is one topic I told myself I would avoid and for good reasons. Ever since Professor Chinua Achebe published his memoir, “There Was a Country”, ...

I went from my mentor’s place straight to the bookshop to pick the two books he recommended and I ensured that I read the relevant chapters before my next appointment with him. I was with my mentor the following Saturday. He had left instructions that I join him in his study. Once he sighted me, his first statement was if I had read the books he recommended. When I answered in the affirmative, he then adjusted his seat and started the lesson without wasting any time. I noticed that he had written another scripture on the board which I later confirmed was picked from Mathew 9:17 in the Christian Bible. The scripture reads: “No one puts a piece of unshrunk cloth on a old garment; for the patch pulls away from the garment, and the tear is made worse. Nor do they put new wine into old wineskin, or else the wineskin breaks, the wine is spilled and the wineskin is ruined. But they put new wine into new wineskin, and both are preserved.” “Since you have digested the relevant portion of the...

For many years I worked in palliative care, and my patients were those who had gone home to die. Some incredibly special times were shared and I was with them for the last three to twelve weeks of their lives. People grow a lot when they are faced with their own mortality. I learnt never to underestimate someone’s capacity for growth. Some changes were phenomenal. Each experienced a variety of emotions, as expected, denial, fear, anger, remorse, more denial and eventually acceptance. Every single patient found their peace before they departed though, every one of them. When questioned about any regrets they had or anything they would do differently, common themes surfaced again and again. Here are the most common five: 1. I wish I’d had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me. This was the most common regret of all. When people realize that their life is almost over and look back clearly on it, it is easy to see how many dreams have gone unfulfi...

The Nigerian praying system enthrones a prosperous church while the nation is in a state of backwardness. Some prayer warriors of Nigerian extraction have effectively prayed self out of poverty, lack, sickness, madness, infertility etc while the nation is still backwards, sliding deep into, poverty, insecurity, inequality, injustice and despair. This is the mystery of Nigeria prayer system- some individuals are prosperous while the nation is backward. The earlier article ‘’Hypocrites as prayer warriors: How can God heal Nigeria?1 & 2’’ laid the foundation for the discussion and attempts to distinguish between personal prayers and corporate prayers . The principles of corporate prayers, prayers for nations, cities, villages emphasizes that the prayer warrior must stand on the path of equity. Any prayer against corrupt public officials cannot work if those praying have the same corrupt tendencies exhibited by those they want to replace. A lot of prayer warriors have been given divi...