You think I'm happy living abroad?
I have a family I grew up with, whom I love with all of my heart - and the reality keeps dawning on me, on how many times I will see them before I one day turn 60.
People I saw daily, or once a month - I haven't seen in years, and would realistically only see once a year, going forward.
You think I'm happy?
That one day, I might end up having children and my siblings might not have the relationship with them - the relationship I had with my uncles, in my formative years? I remember clearly how they would take us to MrBiggs every Sunday - I am currently reliving the flavour from that meatpie.
How we would go to the family house in Ikeja, every year for Eid. The grandchildren uniforms, the snacks while watching your uncles slaughter rams.
You think I'm happy that I might one day lead a family of children who might not know their version of that?
WTF will I be doing in another man's land, if I did everything they asked me to do from childhood (face your studies, be exceptional, stay away from crime, be hardworking) and opportunities lined up for me to be the best I could, in my motherland? WTF will I be doing here?
Why will I condescend myself to living in a clime where I have to mentally switch from sun burning weather to teeth clenching winter - when I came from a land where I never needed gloves? You think I'm happy?
If I could do honest work, be on my way home and not have to bother about the risk of getting shot by the people meant to protect me, because I have some lines of tattoos on my body - you think I would leave?
If I could trust a justice system to defend me, ensure my rights even though I am a nobody - have trustworthy institutions banking on the highest standards, not have to worry about the bread I eat, the fake drinks from the club or streets, the fake drugs - you think I would leave?
Don't get me wrong. I am grateful for the opportunities this clime has given me, to test my limits - to be everything I thought I could be. But all of these, in replacement for the soul I grew up with?
You know the satisfaction that settled within me when I could wake up on a Saturday morning, stroll to the Iya wanke's place - relish an entire plate, or some ewa agonyin while watching children battle it out, in a 5 v 5 across the streets.
That communal living that relished my soul, is now replaced with silent streets and finely divided sealed terraces.
You walk through the city centres in the evenings - you see friends having an aperitif (they do so every evening), you see grandfathers meeting up with their children, you see entire families with extended families living across the streets, first cousins are even able to use the same gym and you remember what that looked like for you back home?
You think of all your friends scattered across continents, some you might never get to hug again.
For a lot of diasporans, you don't want Nigeria to work more than us. A lot of us want to come home, but what is home? Where is home? When will home feel like home?
I hope to continue living life without lack, in comfort, with accomplished dreams - but I want to do so, with soul. When I die one day, I want to do so - with soul.
THIS IS TALENT...
Fashion designers are doing wonders. This lady need to be on a runway fashion show, showcasing this talent, not here.
Wish fashion brands can see this 🔥
You don't want to make a convicted sex offender uncomfortable because he is your senior colleague or what did she say? You must really think we are stupid. I didn't think I will ever see a rape victim sympathise with a rapist. SHAME!!!!
To kill a monkey - Review
TKAM will impress those who find the least bit of intrigue enticing, but for viewers who crave logic, depth, and layered storytelling, this series will leave you feeling disappointed.
My rating: 4.5/10
Full review below 👇🏽
Have you seen it? Thoughts?
The One Who Wears Big Caps for Little Children.
These are my final thoughts before I hand over my phone to management. The team says I need to sleep.
But before the world goes quiet around me, allow me say a few things…
It’s my second time doing this insane thing of trying to break a world record.
You’d think it would be easier now,after all I’ve done it before. But that’s the thing about impossible things:
The first time, you survive them because you don’t yet understand the cost.
Now that I’m fully aware of the exertion it takes both physically and mentally, I’m equal parts excited and terrified. I embrace both.
Today I’ll tell you why I always wear a cap…
The night before I left Nigeria for this journey, something happened.
It was 9pm on a Tuesday night.
I was at the mall picking up some last-minute items.
Two boys, scruffy and barefoot approached me at the car park.
They were hungry and hadn’t eaten all day.
I asked their names.
“Yusuff,” said one. “Ayomide,” said the other. Both young teenagers.
As I turned to check for cash in the car, the light hit my face and Yusuff immediately recognized me and blurted out “Chess players observe,”
I was stunned.
That was our mantra at Chess in Slums, it was what we taught the kids. I asked how he knew this, he explained that he had seen me months prior at their ghetto.
This made sense as we had spent the entire month of December teaching chess and maths to street children in that ghetto. Yusuff wasn’t part of the training but on the day of the final tournament, he watched from a distance as the other kids chanted “chess players observe”. It stayed with him ever since.
He told me his story.
His mother died during childbirth. His father disappeared.
He lived with his ailing grandmother for sometime but had to leave for the streets to fend for himself. It’s been five years of trying to survive in his own
Five years of growing up too fast…He is 15 years old now.
Then, something surreal happened.
A white Range Rover pulled up beside us.
A woman rolled down the window, “Chess master!” she called out.
She stepped out with her son Jayden.
Impeccably dressed. British accent.
She wanted a photo. Jayden loves chess.
She’s a fan.
So there they stood, Jayden and Yusuff.
Both teenagers.
One in branded sneakers. The other barefoot.
One polished by privilege. The other hardened by survival.
As I asked them to introduce themselves,
Yusuff’s confidence crumbled.
He looked down. His voice faltered.
I took a selfie with Jayden and his Mum, and as they drove off I had my epiphany….
And in that moment, I saw it:
The cruel reality of the world we live in
where a boy like Jayden and a boy like Yusuff would never meet
except by accident or because I happened to stand between them.
But what separated them wasn’t merit or character, It was birth. The arbitrary lottery that decides who gets to dream,
and who must survive.
Jayden will likely go on to attend the best schools, see the world, and live fully. While
Yusuff probably ends up doing the bidding of whoever can promise him his next meal.
An Area boy.
I have met thousands of bright eyed children like Yusuffs in this life, whose pain is invisible, and by no fault of theirs live in a world where their suffering doesn’t matter.
Sometimes, we save them.
Sometimes, we fail.
But I will never stop carrying this burden in my heart.
This is why I wear big caps for little children and wear one my self.
So the world may see them in all their colors, not for the suffering they bear,
but for what I know they can truly become.
I hope have shared this burden with you as honestly as I could.
If you ever believed in me, believe in them.
Cheer for them. Donate. Share. Amplify.
We are trying to build the largest free school in Africa.
A sanctuary for every child like Yusuff
where their dreams won’t die quietly.
I do this so their dreams may find validation in my sacrifice.
I have to go now, big day ahead. Gotta make it count.
"REPENTANCE IS A PRIVILEGE, NOT A RIGHT" [ANIMATED BY @DAD_EKS ON TIKTOK]
ORIGINAL VIDEO:
GODLY REPENTANCE, WHAT GOD WANTS US TO KNOW, PT 1
https://t.co/GiQsvBCmDN
GODLY REPENTANCE, WHAT GOD WANTS US TO KNOW PT 2
https://t.co/tvUrStX2Gb
"A PRAYER FOR THOSE STRUGGLING & DOWNTRODDEN"
In the name of Jesus Christ the merciful I pray for you who are struggling with weakness in your soul gates, weakness in your spirit because of things you have neglected to do to make your inner man stronger, and being overwhelmed because of the constant attacks and trickery of the evil one against the walls of your life.
I pray for those who find themselves now, long before the end of the year, swamped with a very very very LOW SPIRITUAL GAS TANK - because of tiredness, heart-brokenness, the pressures of life, the responsibilities pressing on you from every side, too much required, too little given or available to do it, no help, no love, no helping hand, no listening ear, no attentive spirit nearby to reach out and steady you as you feel you're about to fall.
I speak on behalf of you who are depressed, deprived, drained and distressed and I ask the Lord Jesus now to be your shelter, Helper, mentor, advocate and a strong warrior in your corner to protect you and your spirit from the boulders that the adversary is casting upon you from a very high place. I see enemy spirits and demons casting boulders and rocks down on people who are trying to climb to higher ground, and many are smashed by these rocks and knocked back down many levels while some are even falling and flying off the mountain face for good. Do not be a casualty church of Jesus Christ, IN THE NAME OF JESUS DO NOT BE AN EASY TARGET FOR THE DEVIL WHIMS. WAKE UP TO THE WORKS OF THE DEVIL AROUND YOU AND COME IN OUT OF THE WORLD'S WAYS WHEREIN MANY OF YOU HAVE BEEN SNARED BY TRYING TO HAVE CAKE AND EAT IT TOO. You cannot serve God and the worldly culture of the world today.
I cover you now in the precious blood of Jesus. Lord I pray the angels dress up your saints up in your holy armor, it looks like many of them are naked and without a clue that they are to get dressed in the army of God from Ephesians 6:11-18 every single day before they do anything else or leave the house. I put the helmet of salvation on their heads to protect them from stress, fears, worry, anxiety, manic episodes, depression, obsessive behavior, doubt, indecisiveness, double-mindedness, panic, hopeless feelings or wanting to die or give up in any way. Refresh them Yah with times of refreshing that come from on high in Jesus name. Let the raw power of the Holy Ghost be on these words that whoever reads them will feel filled, washed, cleansed, seen, remembered, and taken to the throne of grace directly in your presence to receive godly help in their time of need. It is never time to give the devil the attention he wants. Nor should we fix our eyes on the problem because that brings HELPLESSNESS AND HOPELESSNESS. Teach us Jesus to fix our eyes on you, only you, to speak you to our dead situation and not speak the dead situations to ourselves.
Teach us to say I CAN DO ALL THINGS IN CHRIST WHICH STRENGTHENETH ME. I am the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. When my flesh fails my God never will. I am not my rescue or salvation, the Lord shall stand at my right hand and preserve my soul in the midst of all my enemies. My mind will not be overrun with thoughts, the peace of Jesus Christ will keep me past all things I can and cannot understand. Lord forgive my sins they are too many but you know them all- help me and wash me in the blood, stand me up that I wont be lost in the swamps of the enemy's schemes against me. They conspire to weaken me with problems and take my life, but YAH MY GOD WILL DEFEND ME. I will live and not die, and declare all the works of the Lord. I am a child of God, the blood is my defense and JESUS is my advocate in all things, in all ways, always. I am safe with you Lord, save me and help me now in Jesus name I pray, amen.
Psalm 118:17, ALL OF PSALM 119, Psalm 51, Psalm 32, Psalm 91, 1 John 1:5-10, 2 Cor. 3:6, Heb. 4:16, Matt 11:28-30, Psalm 37, Psalm 40, Psalm 41, Psalm 103, Psalm 101, Psalm 9
#God #Yah #Jesus #HolySpirit #WORDOFGOD #Bible #TMVPB #Celestial #themastersvoiceprophecyblog #mastersvoiceprophecyblog #endtimes #lastdays #christian #christianity #prophecy #tmvblog #tmv #blog
BLOG: https://t.co/bv1LK9rfwG
YOUTUBE: https://t.co/0x8epdLsxi
What then? Shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid. - Romans 6:15
Stop using the grace of God as an excuse to stay in sin.
Today and always, let us remember that life is a precious gift - a chance to breathe, feel, love, experience and connect.
Let's honor this gift by living with purpose, kindness, and gratitude, making every moment count.
Let us number our days.
#HOW
THE BALANCED GOSPEL
The THREE HEBREWS said they believed that the Lord they were serve COULD DELIVER THEM...so they would not bow to the king's Image..." And if He does not Deliver them,they would still not bow"
Today, SOME Preachers and Motivational Speakers tell us that
(1/3)
It’s a really proud moment for Nigerians right now as @hildabacicooks is in the process of bagging a new @GWR for longest cooking marathon! Here’s my own contribution to the National noise making.
Hilda’s portrait is made using Afang soup, an ode to her Akwa Ibom roots.