The Wheel of Change by Deji Onadeko

Is it just me or this year was pretty fast? As at this time last year, I had rounded up my cool fm gig and was gearing for a more focused 2014  putting nothing but communication in mind. I had decided on some very drastic decisions like a change of school and a more dogged focus on

#MyPrayerThisMorning

My Life in one word - Grace
My Life in another - Favour
My Life in two words - God's Grace
My Life in another - God's Favour...

Just Friends?

With You friendship is a curse ... and I'm afraid to think cause all I think of is You ...
I thought an unfulfilled dream was any man's biggest worry ...
I thought future security was every man's goal ...

But ...

The Territory They Now Call Nigeria by Deji ONADEKO

I'm From a territory the white man called Nigeria ...
I'm From a race the white man called black ...
I sing an anthem cause the white man called it nice ...
I'm only deserving to earn if the white man calls me wise ...

Now I speak a language my fore fathers never heard before...
And I wear cloths my fore fathers never envisaged ...

Now, if you don't speak his language, you are dumb or ambiguously put, uneducated ...
And if you've never visited his country, O' you are unexposed ...

They are the standard by which we live by ...
If he doesn't think its good enough, then it isn't good enough...

I fed on cocoa, groundnunts, cassava and bitter cola ...
I drank palmwine and cooked with my local source, iru, with a smile on my face I did everything in pace ...
And when the disease the white man now calls malaria and chicken pox  killed any of us,
We cried, mourned and paid homeage to our gods and then moved on ...

I told my children our stories, taught them on slabs and rocks,
we loved life and life was good ... only that the white man convinced us that it was not good enough ...

Indeed the white man brought me health and wealth ...
But the richer and healthier we got, slowly from brotherly love we fell ...

So the life he showed me was maybe right,
But it was not without a price ...

The white man showed me oil, black oil, he called it, I thought it was cause he found it in black soil, but it is actually black, I figured ...

He promised me a better life, better than the one I already had ...
Indeed life was better, but also bitter ...
Bitter with strife, greed and anger ...
Now the man or tribe that had more of this black stuff was richer ...

And then, I learnt to war, I killed with the white man's gun, in my tribe, we called it "igi apayan" meaning the stick that kills ...

Then I began to fight against those I once called brother ...
And indeed life got better
But also harder ...

Now the stories my grandfather told me, I'm afraid to tell ...
And even if I did, I should have learnt the white man's history well ...

I read Chinua Achebe and Wole Soyinka but also I have got to read enough of William Shaskespaer before I'm called literally sound ...
And I'm wondering sincerely, how much do they know of here ...

They know we are black and that we were once slaves.
They know about our natural resources, our extra man power and strength ...
They know we are a third world nation, a developing state, a state that needs aid and help from poverty and obscurity ..

But for our history, all they remember is the berlin conference,
And anything before then is unworthy of reverence ...

I have not denied The great deal of good the white man's invasion caused us ...

But I want to know more ...

I want to know what my fore fathers called africa before the white man called it africa ...

I want to know what my grandfather called Nigeria, before it was divided into regions and later called nigeria ...

I want to know what our symbol of unity was, before the green flags and solidarity songs ..

I know enough of the white mans view of my history, the repress and supress that he mildly called colonialism ...


Now I want to hear of before them, the dreams and aspirations my fathers had of now, their imaginations of the future ...

I want to be free but I dont want freedom ...
I want to be independent, but I dont want independence ...
Those words always make my liberty look like a privilege ...
Like a gift from the white mann ...

In all, I want to know this land, not in the view of the white mann ...
But in the view of the black man before he was called black ...

I want to know more about The territory they now call Nigeria before it was called Nigeria ...

Dear Future Wife

And there she stood, doing nothing else that I could see.

Except standing, leaning on her right side,

Holding my universe together.

She had stolen my eyes first, and then… my Heart followed.

Pure beauty and yet all she did was lean.

And in this very moment; beside her,

Every other woman I had met seemed pale.

Dear Future Wife,

I promise to help you love life and to love you fiercely in all your forms.

I promise to listen, knowing that you won’t be happy otherwise, and if you aren’t happy, then I can’t be happy

“I promise to go shopping with you, this way I’ll learn emotional patience, letting you do all the shopping, watching you go around the store looking at items you wouldn’t buy.’’

I’ll dwell with you with knowledge, knowing that it’ll take more than Love to keep us together. When you come seeking solution to a problem; that may not even be a problem, I’ll be a sounding bag on what you want to hear to that event.

Knowing that love’s magic is not in falling in love but in staying in love, I vow that no matter how far apart our differences take us, I’ll always leave bread crumbs to find our way back to each other.

I promise to give you comfort; knowing that you also require financial security, I’ll keep chasing my dreams and help you chase yours making sure that we build an empire.

I promise to give you kids, as many of them as you want. I know they’ll have your smile and it’ll be a blessing to have our kids call me Daddy.

I vow never to raise my voice and hands at you, knowing that with you the only things I’ll hit are the goals I set, nothing else.                     

                                                                                                                                               

And so I woke up to reality!

Seeing that you had only been in my dreams.

Turning around, Sarah had left the bed, she was no longer here.

Who is Sarah? (Isn’t that the question of the day?)

 Well, she’s yet another shadow of you; another reason why I can’t wait to finally meet you, the real YOU.

Dear future Wife, I Love Us.

DAMIAN

                                                                                                                                

Download - Campus Beatz 004 ... 16th/August/2014

Download - Campus Beatz 004 Part 1/3
Download - Campus Beatz 004 Part 2/3
Download - Campus Beatz 004 Part 3/3

for your listening pleasure ... enjoy!!!

POEM TITLE: IN SUMMARY BY OGUNDELE 'KC' KAYODE

My heart left to fight,

It's not time for flight,

I wonder how these became my plight,

It's not pretty my delight...

CHURCH, WAKE UP! BY SEUN FAKOREDE

CHURCH, WAKE UP!

GOD brought to my understanding recently that to complete the Great commission, we must have an immeasurably distinct impact upon the Nations of the earth and not just upon the people in Church.

The Great commission mandate is to go out and disciple Nations. The focus is not particularly the church but also the workings of the Church out there, that the world may be in proper synergy with the intentions of the Creator.

#BringBackOurSelves by Olaolu Oladokun

I call Olaolu one morning and ask if he could write us an article with the tag #BringBackOurSelves. I didn't particularly know how it was going to apply but i knew somehow we needed to call ourselves to order with the uprising caused by the missing Chibok girls. So well, He submits what we have below which I feel just hit the nail directly on the head. 

Olaolu Oladokun is Life Fulfillment Trainer, an amazing singer and as you are about to see, an excellent and prolific writer. It's a pleasure and a privilege having him here.

Enjoy ... 

Yes you read that right; #BringBackOurSelves. In what has become more of a twitter trend than a plight for emancipation, the compass of international affairs points toward Northern Nigeria. Or does it?

I personally had never heard about Chibok community until the whole #BringBackOurGirls saga began.

I don't move around a lot so you can forgive my negligence. But I'm sure a lot of Nigerians from the west or south had never heard of Chibok before as-well.

The circumstances surrounding the publicity of this community, certainly are not desirable. Nobody would want such, and believe me, everyone is making their stance known especially via social media.

I've listened to what some people have to say about the Chibok girls (and if you don't know what I mean by the Chibok girls, you probably must be living under a rock) and all I hear is anger, fear, regret, pity and all sorts that follow that trend.

I ask myself too, what will happen to those families that have lost loved ones to the attacks of the Boko Haram sect when an end is finally put to terrorism? Will they seek revenge, would it lead to the emergence of another terrorist group? Would financial compensation suffice? Would they ever be able to live without fear? Would they move on with their lives?

Questions! Questions! But answers I do not have.

But here's what I have to say. While the natural reaction to occurrences like this would be to get angry at everything that's not working,or chicken out in fear; thinking who could be next, or blaming the government for not handling the situation well, or as I've seen some people do; hold resentment against people from Northern Nigeria.

While we wait to see where this story will end. It is important for us not to lose ourselves to what we see and feel at this moment. Not to lose a sense of priority and what's important. Not to treat the issue as a northern problem, but as something that affects us all.

How do we do this?

I am a strong believer in the fact that there's more to us than our five senses, and a man of Faith. While I'm not hear to rub you in the face with Who I believe in (but seriously you'll be missing a lot), I believe only little can be done by our own means.

The twitter trend in my opinion,made sense when it all started. But right now I see people just using it as a publicity stunt. Everyone's just posing in front of a camera with the #BringBackOurGirls tag.

Well, that's my opinion and only you can tell what your motives are when you take those photos.

Let's do things that affect the situation, and not just add effect to photography and twitter trends.

I'll have to leave here as I believe more can be done when I intercede than can be done when leading protests on the streets and I believe you should do same. We need wisdom to handle these challenges, the kind you can get on your knees (if you know what I mean).

NEW MUSIC: BENITA OKOJIE - JESU N'ABBA

After a brief hiatus, The Child of God cum Woman of God, BENITA OKOJIE comes to the fore with a refreshing Gospel Classic titled JESU N'ABBA.

JESU N'ABBA simply means "Jesus My Father" and as the title suggests, the song is simply about appreciating God for His daily mercies while also asking for continued protection and favour.

JESU N'ABBA is a gospel masterpiece that is spiritually filled and will speak directly to any listener. 

It's epic, it's huge and it's banging ...

Download track here

reach her on twitter - www.twitter.com/Benita_Okojie and on facebook - www.facebook.com/BenitaOkojie

BTL Personality of the Week, Featuring Pastor Dapo Jegede.

My wonderful, consistent and blessed BTLers, today we have an amazing personality gracing the carpets of The BTL personality of the week, am so excited and glad and every bit of the interview was entertaining, also and mostly was a blessing.

And just in-case you wondering what BTL Personality of the week is all about, it’s simply BRINGING A WORD FROM THE CAMP OF SUCCESS. So the personality whose life we zoom on per time makes it down here. So this week, PASTOR DAPO JEGEDE, RESIDENT PASTOR AT KINGSWORD CAMPUS CHURCH, ILE-IFE, OSUN STATE, NIGERIA. Granted us a few of his time so as to bless us through this medium.

ENJOY …

This is not a Love Story - A birthday gift For Osinubi Oluwaseun

Aii peeps, I think this is just too sweet, it could almost cause you diabetes...*lol*...A BTLer calls us this morning to say he wants to gift his beautiful lady a birthday gift, I thought he'll just need us to make a lazy shout out to her but then he had a better idea. A sweet note of Love from his heart and for everyone to share, like I said, I think that's really sweet.
*in serenaded voice,* enjoy:-)

This is not a love story.....

What if we all stopped for a minute? by DAVE OGUDUGU

Hello my dearest readers, A fan and follower of our blog sent in an article I fell in love with at first sight. I fell in love with it's ideology and also it's simplicity. Anyways, I'll just let us enjoy it already before I take away it's cool with my analysis... enjoy

By the way, you can send in your contributions in form of articles, poems, etc to dejionadeko@gmail.com and click here to catch us on twitter. 

LOVE YOU ALL SO DEARLY : )

Growing up as a child. I always thought the greater the propulsion, the faster the speed. Scientifically, that maybe correct. And I stayed faithful to that ideology, no wonder I seemed a little bit ahead of my time...

The Stair Case Principle by Deji Onadeko

A few days ago, I had something to do at my faculty and for some reasons, I had to go to and fro the staircase, up to the second floor and back for at least eight times that day. So for the first few times when I climbed, I climbed in a hurry, I sort of wanted to be quick and get the stress of the stairs over with as quickly as I could, so I’ll rush up the stairs, jumping one or two steps and then finally reach my destination, sweating and panting for some air. I’ll then need a few seconds to catch my breath and dry my sweat so I don’t go into my HOD’s office looking like a sorry case. This is normally how I climb a staircase though, in a hurry...

The President I want' - By Chimamanda Adichie

 I ran into this on Linda's Blog and I loved it, so I thought I share it...

Award winning author Chimamanda Adichie writes on the kind of President she wants. Read below..

Some of my relatives lived for decades in the North, in Kano and Bornu. They spoke fluent Hausa. (One relative taught me, at the age of eight, to count in Hausa.) They made planned visits to Anambra only a few times a year, at Christmas and to attend weddings and funerals. But sometimes, in the wake of violence, they made unplanned visits. I remember the word ‘Maitatsine’ – to my young ears, it had a striking lyricism – and I remember the influx of relatives who had packed a few bags and fled the killings. What struck me about those hasty returns to the East was that my relatives always went back to the North. Until two years ago when my uncle packed up his life of thirty years in Maiduguri and moved to Awka. He was not going back. This time, he felt, was different...

POEM TITLE - IF I HAD A CHOICE...

If I had a choice,

I’ll choose America,

For its presumed ease and health

Or maybe the United Kingdom

For its bliss and wealth

Or maybe Paris or Singapore

Or I’ll just rather be born down south

In Johannesburg...

A POEM: Rusty Welded Edges of Love (Nigeria)

Like a tree in drought,

I'm only more stubborn and angry

But still thirsty and lanky

Like the Egyptian pyramid...

Poem - TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN

TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN

Where’s the love and the peace promised?

Where’s the sanity?

How quickly so, your words turned gibberish.

Now it’s all about you, yourself and your family.

A spec is done,

A log is proclaimed.

A well done,

And a second term is aimed

For what it’s worth and for what it’s not,

For a man half a century old,

Sense we assume he has thus,

But on the contrary, his qualities grew cold.

Am sick of asking when,

When will we look up the Aso Mountains,

And find a Nelson Mandela or a Martin Luther King?

Not the usual, who’s out there for selfish gains

Let the games begin,

Like that’s what they hear when it’s time for elections

Then it becomes a do or die thing,

Hopping around from place to place, nicely, they call it party defection

Twenty years before I showed,

They were all the polity knew.

twenty one years down that road,

Only a few faces are new.

With fear of not been heard,

I fear to speak.

With fear of not been read,

I fear to ink.

But I see a Nigeria,

Flowing with milk and honey indeed.

Not a Nigeria,

Flowing with oil and money of greed.

A Nigeria lead by its head,

And not the other way round.

South, North, East and West,

All in Unity bound.

A Nigeria admired by its peers.

Accorded its due respect,

As Giant of Africa as it bears,

Not in mere words of retrospect.

But until we stand up,

Not necessarily for our rights, but for the rights of others.

But until in we gulp…

Every form of selfishness and every line of borders.

Centuries will pass,

And we would have made the same mistakes,

Generations will pass,

And our children will consider us their mistakes.

So… Arise O’ Compatriots

Nigeria’s call obey

To serve our father land

With love and strength and faith.

Deji Onadeko

Piece from Peace ...

Hello Everybody ...

I hope you still got my back like you always do, forgiving me for my consistent variations :) ...
Well, I have some time in my hands for now and I hope to feed you with inspiring words once again for as long as I can keep up.

For right now, I got some poems that I hope You'll Love. I'll put out one for each day for the next three days but I'll put out two today for a start. 

Enjoy it and please I'll appreciate your feed backs. Thank You, God Bless You and I Love You Dearly.
Check them out below...




...............................................................................................................................

Thoughtless

Sometimes, you feel you are not doing enough, and life is too serious for your serious. What can be worse than a life unlived, a dream unfulfilled, a passion unfelt. What else could take the place of right when everything never comes out right? Big sigh, big stare at the naturals, the skies, the stars and you wish you were just another heavenly body and didn’t have to worry about nothing asides waking up with the sun and going to bed with the stars.

You didn’t have to fear the rain or detest the sun, this time you are the rain or the sun, gently waiting for instructions to fall or to shine, it’s solely the responsibility of the superior heavenly being to do the thinking.

Who would love that? Not me at least. Sometimes I hate that I have to think, I hate that there’s a future to worry about, but that’s the bliss of life, the beauty in its imperfection, the worry and the doubts that finally turn into testaments and history.

The unsafe safety measures, the unguarded guards, the law breaking law makers, the irony that comes all together with life, makes it worth living and worth telling after living. Really, it may not seem right, but that’s what makes it turn out right.

Keep the dream alive, keep living. 

 ........................................................................................................................................................

Prised

How far can you walk, how long can you can talk, would you strip yourself of your smile and let her have it, would you deny yourself of your little to let her have big?

Can you do more than fairy tale talks and be there when it’s most unlikely, unexpected, undeserved, would you really love her despite, would your undying love ever make you die for her if you have too?

These questions go to skies and fall to the laps of those who dear answer. Who dear to nod a positive yes, but my applause goes to those who actually can, and my heart goes out to those who can but never will, because she’ll never let him.

To be loved is to love, to be cared for is to care for someone, and for those who can actually be heroes of love, your heroine is close.