Take advantage of your theta state to power your physical and emotional state. When you wake up, have a morning routine: seek God before you seek social media. Don't regain consciousness and immediately reach for your phone. You were dead for eight hours of sleep. That you woke up is down to God's Mercy. Reach out your hands and thank your Creator. Then, after seeking God, ensure that you see sunlight before you see social media. That small practice will ensure that you enjoy your day rather than just endure it!
#RenosNuggets
South Africa: Let Us Be Measured In What We Say
Actually, no Nigerian media ought to have given this mindset, depicted in the attached screenshot, any publicity. Saying that "South Africans are very lazy, they don't work. They don't do anything" is not just false, it is an unfair generalisation of a fellow African nation, and all media in Nigeria ought to be aware that Africa is the cornerstone of Nigeria's foreign policy.
No matter what is currently happening, at the end of the day, there must be reconciliation. And there, the media have a role. But they will make such rapprochement difficult if they allow their networks to be used to broadcast such offensive messages.
And I can assure our media that these soundbites will be played in South Africa and will make a bad situation even worse.
The xenophobic rhetoric and actions by some South Africans are regrettable, and it is something that the South African government should look into.
Having said that, there must have been something good about that brother African country and its people for it to have attracted millions of migrants from all over the world, particularly other sister African nations.
The issues surrounding the repatriation of some Nigerians for their own safety are better handled on a government to government basis, and the media should partner with the government by promoting a responsible coverage of this unfortunate incident that is fact driven rather than a reportage led by mass hysteria.
Again, xenophobia is bad. Whether when done to you in a foreign country that you have emigrated to, or presented as tribalism or ethnic prejudice in your own country, when you move from your region of your nation to another area of your land.
But one way to reduce xenophobia is to understand that you are a guest or a visitor in a foreign country, and a resident citizen, rather than a native citizen, in other parts of your country.
When you have such realisations, you understand that you have a duty to be amenable and respectable and to understand the sensibilities of your hosts in the case of a foreign country and the culture of the native citizens of the part of your country that you move to.
One way you demonstrate this is by refusing to pass negative judgment on their way of life and their culture as a people.
Such a mindset will create an awareness that guides your behaviour and makes you feel welcome and cherished by those in the countries and regions you were drawn to.
But when you insist on airing negative judgments of their quotidian lifestyles, feeding ethnic and racial stereotypes that are the result of over generalisations, throwing your weight around, being indifferent to the feelings of those whose ancestral lands you moved to, or looking down on them and taking liberties either by your words, conduct, demeanour or actions, you may trigger resentment, which when built up over time can result in you overstating your contributions to their civilisation and culture, which will lead to you overstaying your welcome.
Whether in our countries or in foreign lands, it is important that, wherever we as Nigerians go, we go to add value to their culture, integrate into their society, and assimilate with them to the extent that we do not lose our own identity in its entirety.
However, when we relocate nationally and internationally, and then want locals and natives to adjust to us, rather than we acculturating to them, we invariably communicate to the indigenes that we are not visitors, partners, and potential long term residents, but invaders who have come to dominate, exploit, and takeover.
And that, naturally, will bring out the worst in our hosts.
Therefore, whatever the case, it always helps to be amenable when we relocate.
Reno Omokri
Ambassador Designate to Mexico
Dear @LarryMadowo,
Thank you for your feedback. I am not sure you are comparing apples to apples here. First of all, I cannot speak for the other nations you mentioned, but the Nigerian Police are well reputed for not using lethal force on peaceful protesters.
The word "executing" is very strong, and you would be advised to be prudent with the use of such weighty words.
For example, in Nigeria, we had the #ResumeorResign protest, which was a rebellion against a sitting President, Muhammadu Buhari, and nobody was killed, injured or maimed during that protest that lasted several days.
But the crux of the matter here is that you are referring to a protest by South African citizens against foreigners, mostly those alleged to be illegal immigrants. The focus of this protest is not the South African government or any of its agencies.
Therefore, it would be a false equivalent to compare how the police in South Africa handled this issue with how police in some of the countries you mentioned in your post handled violent anti-government protests.
If you are going to make comparisons, then let them be reasonable juxtapositions. To do otherwise is to abuse your privileged media position.
The March and March protests were very popular in South Africa, and, rightly or wrongly (I make absolutely no judgments), were seen as a patriotic movement by almost all strata of South African society.
Therefore, I am not sure it would be reasonable to expect that lethal force would be applied to a protester engaged in a popular protest that is not a threat to the government or its agencies, or to South African citizens.
You are a @CNN journalist. Perhaps more is expected of you than using your position to talk misrepresent developing nations, including your own as a Kenyan.
Thanks again, and may God bless you.
Reno Omokri
Ambassador Designate to Mexico
Break your phone addiction so you can acquire wealth addition. Fact-check me: Steve Jobs, the creator of the iPhone, severely restricted goes own children's access to mobile phones. And Elon Musk does not have a television at home. If you Google him and his children, you will mostly find his kids reading, because he wants them to end up leading. Just like drug dealers avoid selling drugs to their own family, captains of industry who create attention-stealing devices do not let their handwork affect their offspring. Intermittent fasting off food is good for your body. Periodic fasting from modern gadgets is good for your mind. Cell phones are stealing your focus, and without attention to detail, you can't fulfil your potential.
#RenosNuggets
Nothing in life has helped me develop a strong will as much as taking very cold showers. It is something your body and brain do not want to do. But if you can wake up daily and your mind can compel your body and brain to immerse themselves in cold water against their will, you strengthen your willpower and develop the superpower to do difficult things that you would normally avoid and which are essential to success.
#RenosNuggets
Forget about narcotics and alcohol, and let the thing that makes you high be achievements. Accomplishments have a similar effect as drugs. You can get addicted to them. When you achieve something, no matter how small, get excited. Celebrate. You are rewiring your brain to start requiring more of that. That is called an addiction. Understand the brain-body connection and use it to your advantage. Wake up in the morning and immediately make your bed and get pumped up about that. That small act will cause your brain to release dopamine and thus ignite a series of more victories throughout the day. And just like that, winning becomes your lifestyle!
#RenosNuggets
Dear Chinonso,
Thank you for your feedback. When, where, how and why I will die are the exclusive preserve of Almighty God. I don't bother about such things. I was not consulted before I was born, nor would the Creator confer with me before permitting my death.
Nobody can do anything to me except what God permits. Therefore, I do not fear death. That is why I have climbed five different mountains upon which people die every year. Death will come for all of us when it comes.
I am too focused on self-development to care when death will come.
Thanks again, Chinonso, and may God bless you.
Reno Omokri
Ambassador Designate to Mexico
Dear Ezebuiro,
Thank you for your feedback. I do sincerely regret the insecurity that some Nigerians are going through. However, I am convinced that the State Police initiative by His Excellency, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, will squarely address insecurity.
Think of the Northwest. You hear of insecurity in every state of the NW. But how often have you heard about insecurity in Kano State? When have you ever heard of banditry in Kano? Or Boko Haram insurgency?
The reason Kano State is more secure than any other state in the Northwest is that it has a State Police in the form of the 10,000-strong Kano State Hisbah Corps.
The Kano State Hisbah Corps not only act as a moral police. They provide community policing, and they insist on knowing new entrants to Kano communities. And the result is that Kano is secure.
President Tinubu has introduced a novel solution. Now it is your duty, Ezebuiro, to insist that your Governor buys into it, and use some of the increased federal allocation they are getting from the Tinubu administration to fund State Police and secure you and your loved ones at a local level, while the Nigerian military can focus on its core duties, which are to secure our territorial integrity, while the federal police can focus on interstate security.
Having said that, in at least one geopolitical zone in Nigeria, which is in the South, available official data shows that the vast majority of kidnappings, abductions, and killings, which are blamed on bandits, are actually perpetrated by locals. In fact, the statistics show that family members and friends are often the main culprits. So, we should also do some sober reflection on how lust for quick money turns us from our brothers' keepers to their abductors.
Thanks again, Ezebuiro, and may God bless you.
Reno Omokri
Ambassador Designate to Mexico
President Tinubu: The Man Making History!
Fuel queue is HISTORY
ASUU strike is HISTORY
Dropping out of university over lack of fees is HISTORY
No Nigerian university on the Times ranking is HISTORY
Trade deficit is HISTORY
Economic recession is HISTORY
Oil theft is HISTORY
Passport booklet scarcity is HISTORY
Closure of land borders is HISTORY
Under maintenance of Abuja is HISTORY
No Nigerian airline with direct UK flights is HISTORY
Backlog of debt owed to foreign airlines is HISTORY
Diplomatic isolation is HISTORY
Optasia's monopoly on airtime credit lending is HISTORY
Multiple Exchange Rates is HISTORY
Capital flight is HISTORY
Ways and Means Overdrafts is HISTORY
Executive/Legislative tensions are HISTORY
Unpaid salaries for civil servants are HISTORY
Underfunded local governments are HISTORY
Low foreign reserves are HISTORY
Commercial aeroplane crashes are HISTORY
And now, with the reality of State Police coming into being through the personal initiative of His Excellency, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, Federal Republic of Nigeria, even insecurity will soon be history in Nigeria.
No other democratically elected President has been able to make such reformative history in such a short time. And that is why President Tinubu is a man of unprecedented HISTORY!
Reno Omokri
Ambassador Designate to Mexico
May God bless Senator Ben Murray-Bruce. If you have a friend like him, God has given you a huge blessing. Four years ago, I was approached by an international firm to provide counsel on an important matter regarding their activities in Nigeria. And stupidly, I said I would do it for free. Why? Because their services benefited Nigeria.
Without telling me, Senator Ben Murray-Bruce, who it was that had first made the connection, went behind my back to them and said I would no longer give the counsel unless I were paid a handsome sum. I was totally oblivious to this. He also gave them my account details.
That same day, I noticed a huge amount of money in my account from that firm and was shocked! I thought it was a mistake, and I reached out to Senator Ben Murray-Bruce, who was a go-between for the firm and me. And he told me what he did.
You see, I did not fully realise my value. I only knew the value of my country. But he did.
The money was not small change. It was what I would describe as 'see and faint' money.
Four years later, and I am still enjoying the benefits of that see and faint money,
May God bless Senator Ben Murray-Bruce, and may God give you friends like him!
Reno Omokri
Ambassador Designate to Mexico