Honour your roots.
Honour your father.
Honour your mother.
And when they are gone, don’t let the cemetery become the only physical place where their memory lives.
Aside from their burial ground, build a small place of remembrance wherever you are.
It could be a small garden… a tree planted in their name… a quiet corner in your home… or a little space where their names continue to breathe.
Our ancestors understood this.
This was once part of how many of our ancestors understood remembrance, until colonialism and foreign religions taught generations of Africans to fear many ancestral practices.
Our practices were demonized.
People once created spaces where the memory of those who came before them remained present.
In Vietnam, ancestor altars remain an important feature of many homes.
Japan has the butsudan… a household Buddhist altar commonly associated with remembering deceased family members.
Korea has jesa… memorial rites performed for ancestors.
Different forms of ancestral remembrance remain among Chinese communities across Singapore and Southeast Asia, and across parts of Latin America.
A grave marks where someone was laid to rest... A place of remembrance marks where their memory continues to live.
Many of you buried your parents in places you cannot easily travel to whenever you want to give them their flowers, remember them, pour libation or simply sit quietly with their memory.
Give the next generation something physical that connects them to their roots and people who came before them.
Afamefuna…
May my name never be lost.
Let my name not die when I die.
Find your way back to your roots…
You inherited a history in which people came to Africa carrying their own definitions of God, civilisation and culture, and treated what they did not understand as evil.
Not everything our ancestors did was right... But you are old enough now to examine your inheritance for yourself… to know what deserves to remain buried and what deserves to come back to life... Because sometimes what you were taught to run away from is exactly where a missing piece of your identity is waiting for you.
Your power did not begin with you. It came from somewhere.
Know where you come from.
Ki oruko mi ma ku pelu mi.
To succeed at anything in Nigeria, you need the Fearless mind of VeryDarkMan, the shamelessness of Blessing CEO, the hardened, ruthless mind of President Tinubu, and the craziness of Wike!
Until you become this hardened, you can’t really get anything done in Nigeria.
ZOBO DRINK (THE RIGHT WAY)
What you need:
Dried hibiscus petals (zobo leaves).
Fresh ginger.
Cloves.
Lime or lemon.
Cucumber slices.
Clean water.
Steps:
1. Wash the zobo leaves thoroughly to remove sand and dust.
2. Boil water and add the zobo leaves, ginger, and cloves.
3. Let it simmer for 20 to 30 minutes until the water turns deep red.
4. Turn off the heat and add lime juice and cucumber slices as it cools.
5. Strain into a clean jug.
6. Refrigerate and drink cold.
Important:
Do not add sugar.
Do not add pineapple, mango, or any sugary fruit.
The ginger and lime provide all the flavour it needs.
Zobo without sugar can support blood pressure, aid digestion, and provide vitamin C.
The moment you add sugar or sugary fruit, you turn a medicinal drink into a soft drink.
Keep it clean.
If you want more simple food structures like this, reach out on WhatsApp +2349118909688 for a well-structured meal plan. Share and tag your friends.
Don’t do what men do, if you don’t know what they know.
Never confuse confidence with recklessness…
They made their decisions under circumstances that may be completely different from yours... And wisdom is understanding why what they did worked for them.
Every powerful, wealthy man you know was led by something...
This is why two people can make the same move and arrive at completely different destinations.
One was following a path… the other was following a person.
To imitate the move, you must understand what produced it.
Learn what they know & understand what they saw.
Ask the deeper questions… forget what you see on the surface.
The surface is where you see the sweetness… the foundation is where the sacrifice was made AND where something had to die, for something greater to take its place.
You cannot spend your productive hours inside a place of worship asking God to open doors when you should be walking the streets where those doors exist.
Religious leaders need to start preaching this truth.
When people cannot afford food, and other basic necessities, not every problem should be turned into a spiritual battle... 99% of the time, it is simply bad governance.
Teach your congregation to demand a better life from their government instead of taking advantage of the suffering created by that government.
The purpose of spiritual leadership should be to empower people… not manufacture permanent customers.