Black Tuesday: 20/10/2020

In 1984, late musician, Sammy Okosun sang as follows; “Which way Nigeria, Which way to go, I love my father land, O yeah, I want to know, Which Nigeria is heading to”. That has been the question on the lips of every Nigerian and the world at large, as yesterday men of the Nigerian Army sent by the Nigerian Government opened fire on unarmed civilians at the Lekki Toll Gate between the hours of 1900 to 2200 with some of the affected civilians flying the Nigerian National Flag while others were singing the National Anthem as they were being shot at. The  Nigerian government has gone lengths to discredit the peaceful protests that has been on since early October this year, from employing some ‘senseless’ hoodlums to destroy properties and harm the peaceful protesters to yesterday’s massacre at Lagos. The notable affected areas are Lekki, Mushin, Alausa. The Genocide was lead by a military officer named Francis Omata, according to a witness, the curfew imposed by the Lagos Government by 1600 was lifted and was later imposed for 1900 and he also said that around 18:55pm the Lekki toll gate was shut down, security cameras were turned off and the electricity around the area was put off then three vans carrying fully kitted Nigerian Army officials alighted and opened fire on the unarmed civilians, video feeds from social media sites like Twiiter and Instagram shows recordings of medics being refused access to the injured and dying with an estimate of not less than 55 lives lost and countless individuals currently receiving treatment for severe injuries in some hospitals, most notable Reddington Hospitals where free treatment was administered.

I call on the international community to stand with us Nigerians as we ask for justice for those massacred yesterday, we also ask for justice for the lives of JIMOH ISIAQ, SLEEK, AYOMIDE TAIWO, PETER OFURUM, CHIKA IBEKU, CHIBUIKE ANAMS, IFEOMA ABUGU, CHRISTIAN ONUIGBO, EMMANUEL EGBO, VICTOR MADUAMAGO, CHIDI ODINAUWA, STEPHEN AGBANYIM, TONY ORUAMA, TIYAMIU KAZEEM, MUS’AB SAMMANI, KOLADE JOHNSON, ONOVO MATTHEW, CHINEDU ANI, PRECIOUS ODUA, RICHAED GORA, CHIJIOKE ILOANYA, LINDA IGWETU, DANIEL TELLA, HARRY ATARIA, JOHNSON NNAEMEKA, FEMI BELLO, CHIMA IKWUNADO, GODGIFT EKERETE, GABRIEL OWOICHO, TINA EZEKWE, MODEBAYO AWOSIKA, LINDA IGWETU, DANIEL ADEWUYI, CHUKWUEMEKA MATTHEW,AZUAMAK MADUEMAGO, RINJI BALA UZZIEL, JOSEPH EIDONOJIE UGBENI, ANITA AKAPSON, CHIBUIKE DANIEL IKEAGUCHI, IFEANYI OZOR, CHINEDU MENIRU, AUGUSTINA AREBU, ANTHONY NWOKIKE, PAULINUS OGBONNA, EKENA ISAAC MEGBE, EMEKA OJINZE, ADEMOLA MOSHOOD, ISMAILA ANYINLA, MIRACLE, SUNDAY, JOY NDUBUEZE and many others who could not be accounted for which have been cut short by rogue SARS operatives.

Join us in this revolution.

#EndPoliceBrutalityinNigeraNOW. #EndBadGoveranceInNigeria. 

Here are some images from yesterday, please note some images might be distrubing

Samuel

On Monday, I lost another friend, a brother, Samuel Ikechukwu Ogbotobo, who was born on the 24th of November 1997 in Delta state. Samuel was a young man, full of strength and energy, he was honest to a fault, he was always straightforward and like me did not like formalities, he preferred to be free with everyone that he communicated with, he was the first person that made me believe that people falling under the anointing is real, Samuel had a melodious voice and he was in quite a number of choirs. I was introduced to Samuel in my 100 level in the university by a close friend, our friendship really kick started in my 200 level just before he went on Industrial Training, as often as possible we checked on each other, Samuel was someone I really admired, when I started my blog, he always supported me, constantly reading my work and commenting to me directly, I find it difficult to open up to people but with Samuel it was easy, he inquires about how I fare spiritually, physically and mentally, he also had an affinity for soccer just like me although he was a Chelsea fan, so he banters me when Maguire does Maguire things and I do not hold back when I am schooling him on Chelsea’s performance. Before his death Samuel created a group, School of Leadership, and there amongst other things he taught us that in every aspect of life that we would need a certain capacity of leadership to be able to move forward. Samuel had camaraderie with some wonderful people, Charles, Robjay, Joe Cole, Jeremiah, Jim Beglin, Michael amongst others.These roommates were as closes as best friends could be, and Samuel usually encouraged us as much as possible to be strong in the faith because he knew that certainly there would be trials. 

Samuel was initially diagnosed with Hyperglycaemia also known as High Blood Sugar, and in one of my recent chats with him he was try to convince me to minimise on junk and start patronising the “fruits with God given sugar” little did I know, he really did not want to bother us, his friends, with his ailment, he was always trying to be available for us despite his condition. Samuel lost the battle but he won the war as I am confident that he is with the Lord now, he was defeated by a bacterial infection in his blood called Septicaemia and by a diabetic complication called diabetic ketoacidosis, and according to research by the College of Medicine, University of Ibadan and others, there are more than 100,000 diabetes ketoacidosis cases a year in Nigeria. He has was managing the diabetes ketoacidosis but it got aggravated by the septicaemia, he went into a coma as the doctors tried to reduce his sugar level and also treat the infection. 42 hours of battle and Samuel surrendered to go to his maker, he left behind an elder sister and brother as well as a cluster of close friends and well wishes. I pray that God grants us the fortitude to bear this loss as we console ourselves with the fact that he is in a better place with no more pain or drugs.

Nigeria at 60...

A Happy Independence Day to Nigeria. The Federal Republic of Nigeria is a richly blessed country on the western side of the continent, Africa. This time 60 years ago, Nigeria was declared and recognised as an independent country from Britain, its Instrument of Independence was received from Princess Alexandra of Kent, a representative of the Queen in the same year. Nigeria had its Civil war in the year 1967, after Lt. Col. Emeka Ojukwu declared the independence of the eastern region of the country as the Republic of Biafra and the civil war ended in the year 1970 with an estimated 3.5 million deaths (most of which were starving children). Nigeria’s main source of income as a country is traced back to the “oil boom” in the early 1980’s. Sixty years on, Nigeria is still marred by the issues from its early years; corruption, a poor Economy, insecurity, ethnic clashes and unemployment amongst others.

  

In terms of elections; violence, disruptions and electoral fraud can be dated back to 1983, during Alhaji Shehu Shagari’s tenure down to recent times in 2019, Giants of Africa as they are called rank a lowly 25th in Africa in regards to Human development as at 2018. Human development is the process of enlarging people’s freedoms and opportunities and improving their general well-being, and I believe that it can only be truly achieved in an honest democratic government, Seychelles is the most developed country in Africa in regards to human development and they operate a “true” democratic system of government. The lowest turnout for an election in Nigeria is under 10% in the year 1997 under the late Gen. Sani Abacha’s tenure, rigging and electoral violence are the major reasons for low electoral turn-outs in the country, most especially electoral violence, numerous footages of individuals being maltreated and harassed at polling centres are enough to discourage any person from coming out to perform their civic rights. Nigeria can conduct free, fair and credible elections by embracing E-Voting, European countries; Switzerland and Estonia introduced e-voting as a means to tackle the problem of decline in turnout, in 2009 Estonia had nearly a quarter of all votes casted online with the use of a special card or a mobile phone ID, this process if implemented now can reduced the potential of any form of electoral crimes to a low 2% by the 2023 presidential elections, as it stands, almost everyone in the country has access to secure internet connections so it cannot be tabled as a hindrance to e-voting. 

Now talking security, Nigeria is cited as the 3rd most insecure country in the world with a GPI (Global Peace Index) of 148 as of 2019, in the year 2009, the Boko Haram insurgency began and has lingered on till date, with the most deaths recorded in the year 2015 but my focus is on the inhuman actions by some unruly officers of the force cited as the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) and quite a large number of Nigerian citizens have a story or two tell about their ordeal with SARS operatives. The SARS operatives seem to have youths as their major targets and currently in Nigeria most youths look over their shoulders in watch for these SARS operative to avoid these inhumane treatments from people who are inaugurated to combat crime. There is no checks and balances for these SARS operatives, even members of the Nigerian Police Force (NPF) are terrified of them, SARS operatives tend to abuse the power vested on them to protect the citizens of the country either they are put on leashes or they should be scrapped in general as they are obviously doing much harm than good.

Nigeria is a home to numerous scholars; Prof. Wole Soyinka, John Dabiri, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, late Prof. Dora Akunyili, Grace Alele-Williams to mention but a few. Currently the illiteracy rate in the country is on the high rise for a country that has seen an increment to its Gross National income for at least 15 years has One-third of its children to have never enrolled in school, Series of lengthy strike actions embarked by the Academic Staff Union of Universities has hinder a lot of students of which most of them fall in the class of those cannot afford to pay the fees at the private universities, in the year 2013, ASUU embarked on a 5 months long strike from July 1st –December 17th 2013, the irregularities in the countries educational system has lead to a large number of drop-outs. Another issue with the Nigerian educational system is their failure to successfully integrated entrepreneurship in to the curriculum, instead more emphasis are laid on more prestigious or “white-collar” occupations, they need to understand that not everyone is meant to be an engineer, doctor or a lawyer, ex-president Olusegun Obasanjo has one of the largest farms in the country, diversification of the country’s economy would be effective if the educational system places equal level of importance on all disciplines.

Nigeria faces a serious case of “Brain drain” in the country’s medical sector as most Nigerian medical personnel seek better work conditions and pay abroad, an estimate of 2,000 medical doctors have left the country Nigeria for countries oversees, the doctors blame their exit on poor working conditions and inadequate infrastructure and it is no big surprise given that only 4% of the Nigeria’s Budget is allocated to the health sector. The annual healthcare threshold per individual in the US is $10,000 and in Nigeria, it’s an incredible lowly $6. A doctor in Nigeria earns averagely N200,000 monthly ($560) which is one of the reasons for their mass exodus, this in turn means that eight of 10 Nigerians are presently receiving substandard or no medical care at all. Middle-class and wealthy Nigerians often travel abroad for healthcare. Even the septuagenarian Nigerian president, Muhammadu Buhari, seeks medical care in London. British, American, South African and Saudi Arabian agencies have taken advantages of this mass exodus to set up shop here in Nigeria to recruit the best doctors, a recent survey shows that 88% of Nigerian doctors seeks jobs abroad. According to the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that one doctor per every 600 person but in Nigeria, is one doctor per every 5,000 person bar the mass exodus, there are 72,000 doctors registered with the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN); over half of these doctors practise outside the country. The government needs to show more care and concern towards the health sector, significant pay rises, provision of standard equipment and infrastructure.

Nigeria is richly blessed with enormous oil, gas, hydro and solar resources and has the potential to generate 12,522 megawatts daily but some days it is only able to produce a lowly 4,000 megawatts which is not enough. 36% of the electricity produced goes to the rural areas, 55% of the electricity produced goes to the urban areas and 9% of the electricity produces does not reach some certain which amount for 20 million of the country’s population. More efforts should be made to gradually move the country to be a solar powered nation as it is both economically and environmentally friendly.

Seven years... And counting

It has been seven years since Manchester United last lifted the English Premier league trophy, since then Manchester City has won it three times, Chelsea has won it twice and Leicester and Liverpool have lifted it once a piece. Since then the red devils have been playing second fiddle to the rest of the pack as the top four grew into the ‘Big six’. 

Between the four clubs that have won the title in those seven years, there are two important aspects that aided their title winning season are; Proper investments and performing against the norms. All four teams bar Leicester made significant investments into the club player and coaches inclusive. In the last five seasons Manchester city, Chelsea , Manchester United, Liverpool and 

Leicester rank 1st, 2nd ,3rd ,7th and 10th respectively on players transfers with Man city leading with 

£818.5M, Chelsea with £656.9M, Man utd  with £611.1M, Liverpool with £470.9M and finally 

Leicester with £381.4M. These are huge transfer outlays and of all the five clubs, only Manchester United has not lifted the EPL title since their last triumph in 2013, their highest position since then is 2nd under the Portuguese Tactician Jose Mourinho in 2018. 

Since Sir Alex Ferguson retired in 2013, Manchester United have had the second highest number of changes to Head coaches amongst the ‘Top four clubs’ having hired four managers in the space of seven years with Chelsea at five above them. One major characteristics of the title winning seasons of these managers is the total support and confidence in the appointed manager  by the board and owners, Jurgen Klopp in 2015 promised to deliver the EPL after five years and he deliver, almost achieving it a  year early and it was possible because of the support that he was given by the club owners, Josep Guardiola was fully backed by the clubs Arab owners when he decided to go on a massive spending spree on just full-backs and it yielded titles, Jose Mourinho has always been backed at Chelsea till waters turned sour but Manchester United kept making Knee-jerk decisions, all made by The Glazers and executive chairman, Ed Woodward. David Moyes, Sir Alex Ferguson’s successor was sacked eight months into his 5 year contract with the club, Louis Van Gaal was sacked on the back of winning the English FA cup in 2016, Jose Mourinho was sacked after winning the clubs first ever Europa League trophy, the EFL cup and the Community Shield, and following recent trends, club legend now manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer looks to be the next unfortunate manager that has a vision to restore Manchester United’s glory days that may fall victim if there is no change. After cutting down ‘deadwood’ players in his first full season as the manager, he was able to sign three players in the summer and two during the winter window, he is still not yet there and the club executives are not helping matters, after Daniel James was confirmed a Man Utd player on the 12th of June, 2019 for £15M and it took another seventeen days before Aaron Wan-bissaka was signed for £45M on the 29th of June, 2019 and another further thirty-six days before Man Utd bought current Captain, Harry Maguire for £80M on the 4th of August, 2019. Under Sir Alex Ferguson, Manchester United signed players in the close season citing Javier Hernandez and Wilfred Zaha’s transfers as examples, it helps to boost team cohesion amongst other things. 

Now, Manchester united signed on Donny Van der Beek on the 2nd of September, 2020, rumours linking the club with English sensation Jadon Sancho started before the window was open but no form of contact with Borussia Dortmund seems to have been made with the supporters growing weary as the days go by as they watch their favourite club stall. Chelsea spent over £200M in this window signing six players  to highlight the most notable investments in the league and with two weeks remaining before the transfer window slams shut Ole Gunnar Solskjaer desperately needs to be supported transfer-wise with the club needing much fire power in order to really challenge for trophies this season as much as they also need to bolster defensively, Wan-Bissaka may have massively improved the defence last season but there are still question marks over the central defence, Harry Maguire and Victor Lindelof have not performed up to standard considering their enormous price tags, from Maguire’s ‘no-look defending’ against Sevilla in the Europa League SemiFinal to Lindelof’s recent error that lead to a penalty on their first match of the new season against 

Crystal Palace, the clubs other options are; Chris Smalling: looks destined to move to AS Roma, Phil 

Jones: He is not even in contention whenever his fit after his horror 45minutes show against Sheffield United last Season, Marcus Rojo: The bug that never goes away, the club has been attempting to get rid of him for the past 3 season, Eric Bailly: Shone under Mourinho until injuries became frequent, a top centre-back if fit, Axel Tuanzebe: Academy product, promising but surprisingly has fitness issues.  Defensively the club is still in a mess. 

Now it is time to talk performance, all Manchester United managers after Sir Alex Ferguson seems to have one thing in common, poor adaptability, each manager has tried their best to bring ‘sexy’ football to  the club but to no avail, against Crystal Palace, a team that sits back, defends and then counters United struggled, the blame could be hung on the lack of pre-season but truly Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s tactical knowledge where really questioned. Currently, Marcus Rashford’s form and fitness has not been all that convincing, most times in the match he looked tired and out of ideas, Daniel  James had a good run with Wales during the international break and would have been a better option on the left than Rashford due to his pace as Crystal palace right back, Ward would definitely have struggled, Mason Greenwood should have been a starter,  Ole Gunnar Solskjaer should have shown faith despite his recent escapades while with the national team, Anthony Martial, Bruno Fernandes and Luke Shaw where the only shining lights but they eventually got frustrated. I believe that no team in the league can match Manchester City in terms of the beautiful Tiki-Taka style of play, as much as it is their style of play, they have alternatives for when it does not seem to work, they improvise, think out of the box and they won back to back titles. During Sir Alex Ferguson’s dynasty, Manchester United where known for this gung-ho style of play, one moment it could be the beautiful synergy between Ronaldo and Rooney or Tevez or someone else or Carrick or Scholes or Beckham playing balls over the top for their every willing forwards to pursue and the result was evident. The many be not be more performances like that against Crystal Palace but the facts remains, for Ole Gunnar Solskjaer to truly win trophies, he has to improve tactically while also letting his players continue to express their creativity as shown during the Project Restart period, the board should also heed to the managers request then any firing can then be justified. Another place to improve is in the crossing department, last season Manchester City’s average crosses per season has gradually increased and they finished 2nd in the league table, they were ranked 1st for attempted crosses, while United were 17th with 635 crosses, league winners, Liverpool came 2nd with 896 crosses. Manchester United needs to start taking into cognisance these minor details and improve the entire team in general and it would not be long before the Theatre of Dreams would get a new trophy. 

 

Evaluating the transfers of the “big clubs” in the English Premier League.

Hi guys, so this is the second edition of the series and I will be focusing on the EPL. I will be giving adept analysis on the big six clubs in the English top flight league concerning the transfers they made, how they fared and possible ways to improve. I will be looking at Liverpool, Manchester United, Manchester City, Chelsea, Arsenal and Tottenham. Your opinions are appreciated so leave them at the comments section.

LIVERPOOL: After winning their first league title since 1990, it was all songs and drinks for the scousers but come next season they will be the team to beat, teams will love to frustrate them next season and steal points off them hence there is a need to continue improving. Having missed out on Timo Werner who has been linked to the club for most of the season it speaks volumes about the Liverpool hierarchy, the decision makers at the club who seem to prefer the trio of Mane, Firmino and Salah with Origi providing cover, but they need to realize that it is a team with quality squad depth that can challenge for trophies all round and all season, take for example the Real Madrid team that won the UCL 3 times on the bounce, so it is important they invest while also promoting their youth players. Clyne has gone, Lallana and Shaqiri are expected to follow suite, Minamino is expected to kick start his Liverpool career fully next season but they still need more. Honestly, I would endorse a return for Coutinho, his skill set would be needed when it comes to unlocking stubborn defenses next season. A replacement for Dejan Lovren is needed and they should promote players, under Klopp this season, their academy players have shown first team promise though they need to be introduced gradually.

MANCHESTER CITY: Attacking-wise they are one of the best in Europe, bar the exit of Leroy Sane and the immenint departure of David Silva they are still explovise going forward, although they should maybe add Valencia's Oliver Torres for depth and Rodri should have wonderful understanding of the league come next season. City just needs a Vincent Kompany figure in the team, a leader, and a total defensive overhaul bar Laporte, Walker and Cancelo. Benjamin Mendy as well as Stones and Otamendi are too culpable to individual mistakes and it is evident that another spending spree to bolster their back line is in the pipeline.

MANCHESTER UNITED: The club that my heart beats for, it would be a delight to see them at the very top of European football once again, one thing Man utd need to do is to spend, but spend wisely. The team is in desperate need for depth, quality ones to be exact. From Attack, Jadon Sancho should be an all in for them no matter the cost except they can find a cheaper option with equal or more talent and drive to play for the club, and strikers should be signed to back up Martial because I don't see Odion Ighalo staying past January. In Midfield, Grealish and Van de Beek should be added, I don't see Lingard and Pereira as players for a title change, Pogba and Bruno won't play all matches that where Grealish comes in, just like with their noisy neighbors have KDB, Bernardo and David Silva, Mahrez, Sterling, Gundogan and Rodri even Fernandinho and any choice made by the manager, the style of play and intensity does change that how to keep it at the top. Matic also needs an understudy, he is the only specialist defensive midfielder at the club as it stands, Fred is too attacking-minded and McTominay seems to also prefer the attacking freedom though due to his physicality he can be retrained as on to save cash. To defence, as it stands only Maguire and Wan-bissaka are guaranteed starters, Lindelof is more of a defensive midfielder than a centre back for me, Bailly and Tuanzebe need to sort out their fitness and Phil Jones is just a meme for social media, Brandon Williams and Diogo Dalot need to really up their games, give them manager a selection nightmare for full backs. I would endorse a move for Nathan Ake to partner Maguire as Bailly can not convince with his fitness levels, Ake is acclimatized to the league and is an aerial threat and is also difficult to bully around. The De Gea and Henderson debate will keep intensifying if performances like the semi-final repeats itself, De Gea needs a break to evaluate himself, convince himself that he is still capable for reclaiming his title as the best in the business. If not I believe a change of scenery is due say PSG and let Dean Henderson have his shot at the number 1.

CHELSEA: They have set the pace for next season transfers by already completing some exciting attacking deals for Ziyech and Timo Werner, hopefully we would get to see more of Mount, Pulisic and Hudson-Odoi, the midfield looks and seems balanced bar any departure but their problems line in their defense, Kepa is no longer convincing as the heir to Petr Cech's throne and Andre Onana has been whispered as a possible replacement. I see Kurt Zouma as an accident just waiting to happen, Rudiger and Christensen have not helped their cause and Tomori is just becoming a regular, against teams with a pacey frontline Azpilicueta struggles and is always targeted, a change of his role to centre back would be welcoming, The sale of Victor Moses is still absurd to me hence a new right back, Alonso and Emerson are both linked back to Italy so and attempt should be made for Ben Chilwell and another centre back should be signed.

ARSENAL: After making what was deemed excellent transfer business in the summer, bringing in David Luiz, Nicolas Pepe, Gabriel Martinelli, Dani Ceballos (on loan), Kieran Tierney while promoting a handful of youngster they seemed ready for the task, but series of managerial error marred with individualistic mistakes mostly by the defenders lead to very poor performances and a poor league position, Unai Emery was sacked, Freddie Ljunberg did a professional job with the four games he was in charge then came the shining light Mikel Artera who returned to the club as a manager and breathed a much needed lease of life to the club. But the errors still surfaced, Luiz and Mustafi culpable for most and the ostracization of Matteo Guendouzi have seen Arsenal still struggle. Come next season, Artera needs to show the balls of a manager of a big club, keeping Aubameyang most be priority and clearing out as much deadwood as possible while bringing in players with the desire to win.


TOTTENHAM: After signing only Lucas Moura in the past 24 months the coys finally got an injection of new bloods, on the back of a UCL final defeat and the opening of their refurbished stadium big money was spent to bring Tanguay Ndombele, Ryan Sessegnon, Giovanni Lo Celso and Jack Clarke in the summer with Steven Bergwijn coming in the winter window. The last 24 months eventually started telling on everyone at the club, uncertainty about the future of key players like Christian Eriksen amongst others coupled with fatigued performances lead to their Argentine manager being dismissed. Jose Mourinho was surprisingly appointed as his successor, he brought a level of stability which they would need to build on next season. More funds need to be invested in the squad, players like Ndombele and Danny Rose need to prove their commitment or be sold because Mourinho does not manage players with a 'chicken-hearted' approach and the creativity that Eriksen brought to the team needs to be replaced urgently. The over dependence on Harry Kane and Son hueng min should also be reduced. 

The King is Coming

                                                                   
Growing up, we were taught the importance of reading the bible as it holds God’s directions and instructions for our life, but of all the chapters (books) of the Bible I found the Book of Revelations to be scary, I think I read it just once while growing up, this was due to the fact that like most readers we imagine the things we read and those in the Book of Revelation I assure you are horrific to think about. This brings me to the topic, THE KING IS COMING. I am trying to create awareness about the second coming of Jesus Christ. All my Bible readings are from the new living translation (NLT).
“Jesus Christ is coming soon” is a well-known statement all over the earth, it is been said and acknowledge by both believers and most times unbelievers. What we all need to know that first of all no one knows when that day would come for the world, 1 Thessalonians 5:2 says “For you know quite well that the day of the Lord will come unexpectedly, like a thief in the night”. Many people thus have a very wrong perception about this, the day of the Lord is not like a planned event like the UCL Final or Final year exams etcetera, the day of the Lord comes at different times for most humans, the day the Lord for both believers and unbelievers is that faithful day when the mortal body dies, that is why that day is unknown and unexpected because no one can predict correctly the day they die.
The Bible speaks further about the individualist nature of the Lord’s Day, In Hebrews 9:27,”And just as it is destined that each person dies only once and after that comes judgment”.  It then depends on where you stand with God based on how your lived your life here on earth. At death, believers leave the body to be with Christ. Apostle Paul refers to it as being away from the body and at home with the Lord  (2 Corinthians 5:8). The mortal body “sleeps” the sleep of death, but not the spirit which at death goes immediately to heaven to be judged. The Books of Hebrews refers to “the spirits of righteous men made perfect” in heaven (Hebrews 12:23). When the Lord returns, we will receive a new spiritual body-“It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body”, (1 Corinthians 15:44) - to be joined without redeemed spirits. United in spirit and in body, we shall ever be with the Lord. Another confirmation of the Judgment after death is cited by the bible in Luke 16:19-31.
In the book of Matthew 16:26, it says “And how do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your soul in the process? Is anything worth more than your soul?” It is also repeated in the books of Mark 8:36 and Luke 9:25. That is the million dollar question, is anything worth more than the soul? Knowing fully well that the soul lives on even after death, Revelation 20:14-15 clearly points out what would happen to those who had valued their lives here on earth over their soul, it says “And death and the grave were thrown in the lake of fire, this is the second death”, it goes further to say that “Anyone whose name is not found recorded in the book of life was also thrown into the lake of fire”, this fire is eternal and also has tormentors that torment the inhabitants (see Revelation 14:9-11).
It then brings forth the important question, after knowing not the day when we would die and after being made aware of the two routes after death, how are we living our lives, some people spend their money as they earning it, without thinking about the next day, I believe that that is how a godly life should be lived, every day should be lived like God would take you the next moment, be overly conscious about your life, Psalms 139:23-24 also highlights it (Ps. 139:23: “Search me, O God and Know my heart, test me and know my thoughts, 24: “Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life” ). It is important that this is done daily do reaffirm our stand with God. We may think or believe that because we are from bible reading homes or church going families that we know God , the most important thing is for God to know you in Matthew 7:22-23, God denied who did miracles in his name because they were done with our his permission,  it is not because you answered that altar call that immediately secures your salvation, you don’t win league title or cups by winning just one match, same with the heavenly race, it is a process and surrendering your life to Jesus is just the first step, and every necessary step is written in the bible, God desperately wants us to succeed in this race and his has done quite enough frankly for us to win the race, he sacrificed his only son for our sins,( both the ones committed and yet to be committed, both for the living and the ones yet to be born) and he also provided the holy spirit as a guide for us, to help navigate us through the treacherous paths of this life, it is just like in an exam, the questioner spends a teacher to assist all the students who are sitting for the exam in order for them to succeed in the examination, that is what the holy spirit is like for us and even much more and all we need to do is just to claim what has already been purchased for us by our lord Jesus Christ, we just need to honestly come to God in humility (not putting up a show, come in sincerity, because God checks the motive of everything we do) and say just say this short prayer, Lord come into my heart, be the lord of my life, I accept that Jesus Christ, you son died for my sins and I am ready to accept him as my Lord and personal savior. Then start changing your ways, treat people better and equally, doing the commandments that the Lord has spoken about in the Bible and that which he gives through revelations and keep pray daily without ceasing for his mercies and grace because we cannot win this race by our own power alone.   Also find a Bible believing church to attend because your spirit man needs to be feed just as your mortal body eats, if you are in Enugu state, Nigeria, you can join me and worship @ 154 Zik Avenue, or any Chrismatic Renewal Ministries (CRM) close to you. 

Evaluating The Transfers of The 'big clubs' : Italian Serie A.

The prolonged 2019/2020 season is finally coming to an end in most countries, so I decided to write about how the big teams in the top five leagues, fared transfer-wise hence this series about completed transfers and how the players have had an impact or who should have been bought instead. This is my opinion on these, if you have an opinion that is contrary, please make use of the comments section. I will be focusing on Juventus, Inter Milan, A.C. Milan, A.S. Roma, Napoli and Lazio.

JUVENTUS : With Cristiano Ronaldo in his second year at Turin, Juve were strong favorites to retain the scudetto(Serie A league title), but their main target was obviously the UEFA Champions League, many believe that was the main reason behind CR7'S transfer. They appointed Maurizio Sarri to replace M. Allegri. Sarri signed Aaron Ramsey and Adrien Rabiot on free transfers, Matthijs De Ligt from Ajax, Danilo from Manchester City, Dejan Kulusevski from Atalanta and now Arthur Melo from FC Barcelona. The Old Lady New transfer approach was excellent benefitting from Arsenal and PSG's sluggishness, stealing the centre back revelation from Barcelona's grasp, and also signing more players for the future. In my opinion the Danilo and Cancelo swap was not so convincing Champions League-wise. It was like swapping a Ferrari for a not so super car. But were their transfer genius was evident was in the Arthur Melo transfer, Miralem Pjanic in his 30's for Arthur Melo in his mid 20's was genius, and not to undermine Pjanic's excellent abilities but I think this was a steal. They are gradually chopping off the 'old logs', as a manager I would relish the dilemma choosing from a midfield that includes Bernadeschi, Bentancur, Arthur, Rabiot, Ramsey, Matiudi, Kulusevski. Another area Juve needs to address is their defence most especially the left back position, Alex Sandro needs competition, whenever he is injured and unnatural left backs are used Juve tends to suffer. Raiding Chelsea for either Marcus Alonso or Emerson would be a nice idea will also grooming someone from the youth ranks.

INTER MILAN: The club after my heart in Italy, the glory days of Diego Milito, Wesley Sneidjer, Samuel Eto'o, Javier Zanetti, Maicon seemed to be long gone till Luciano Spaletti and now Antonio Conte. Spaletti performed pretty well after Jose Mourinho, he is the 3rd best manager of Inter Milan since 2009. Antonio Conte, fresh from a sabbatical, was out to redeem his name after his dismissal from Chelsea. He signed Romelu Lukaku from Manchester United, Stefano Sensi on loan with an option to buy, Nico Barella, Christian Eriksen, Victor Moses and Ashley Young in January and more impressively Achaf Hakimi whose goal all but knocked Inter down to the Europa League. Lukaku was an instant hit, scoring on his debut, important goals and assists like against AC Milan, he was looking like the 'hungry beast' Mourinho signed for Manchester United, Ashley Young is a good short term fix to the left wing back position, Eriksen would settle soon enough and join the likes of evergreen Candreva and Co. in supplying Lukaku and Martinez the balls to score, For all Mauro Icardi's achievements, Inter seems to have moved on well and fast too, their early season form was a delight to the fans till the exhausting from working under Conte cut up with them at the vital moments, but not withstand, next season holds much more promise, If they can keep hold of Lautaro Martinez, keep their midfield fit and with Hakimi coming they would be a force to reckon with.

NAPOLI: This season also held much promise for the guys from Naples but it all went wrong due to a lack of reinforcements, Ancelotti got his man in Hirving Lozano but it was not enough to push for the scudetto and coupled with the sacking of Carlo Ancelotti, rumors linking Koulibaly and Fabian Ruiz to transfer elsewhere and the imment departure of Jose Callejon, Napoli look set for a spell with out European football with the likes of Inter, Lazio, Atalanta and AS Roma failing to slack.

A.S. Roma: THE 2019/2020 season was a relatively good one for A.S. Roma, they had some very impressive performances during the season but to be honest they do not have the funds or pull power to sign players to help them secure the scudetto, if they fail to sign Chris Smalling and Mhkitaryan permanently it would mean another building process which shifts the scudetto farther away from them. While I expect them to qualify for Europe next season, they would need to be smart as well as lucky both on and off the pitch.

Lazio: As one of the major entertainers of the league like Atalanta, they should look back on their season and smile and takes courage that the summit is in their sights. Going by their business game by game until Inter Milan started to slip up, they grabbed the opportunity and climbed up to 2nd. If they can keep the core of this current team, then next season would be one to look forward to with relish.

A.C. Milan: The major issue with A.C. Milan in the 2019/2020 season had to come from above, I understand their expectations for the team in which they invested quite a large amount but making knee-jerk decisions does not help matters either, From Club icon Maldini resigning to the premature announcement of a new coach. Although their problems started before all these dramas, it could be narrowed down to the slow gelling process of the new signings like Ante Rebic. It wasn't until after the return of Zlatan Ibrahimovic and the Corona virus break did the team start to reap fruits take for instance their spirited comeback against Champions Juve. Next season holds another rebuilding process for the Rosseneris but ultimately a top four finish for them next season still looks quite impossible. 

THE PLIGHT OF NIGERIAN WIDOWS

 

   Hey guys, How are you all doing, hope you all are keeping safe and taking all necessary precautions in combating the covid-19, well I am back, just like soccer 🙌🙌🙌🙌🙌. I have not posted for quite a while, juggling the boredom of being locked up in one place, online courses, YouTube videos, playing games and the rest, I forgot my blog and my wonderful readers 😭😭😭😭. Well, I apologize, forgive me and keep reading, more would come.

As the International Day for widows draws near on the 23rd of June, we draw attention to some of the acts of injustice on some of the widows around the world. Widows in the world as at 2018 totalled at 260M with 585M kids left fatherless. Widows suffer all manner of ill-treatments rooted in cultural and traditional practices that dehumanise them. In many underdeveloped and developing countries of the world like Nigeria, widows are treated with little or no respect. Most of them also suffer social exclusion, hunger and poverty along with their children. Moreover, many are driven to suicide as they are made to see widowhood as a death sentence. However, their counterparts in Western countries are quite fortunate as they are more secure and often have their own sources of income. In Kenya, there are lots of opportunities that encourage volunteers and Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) to help widows and their kids get their lives back. While there is no statistics of widows in Nigeria, the country has more than its own fair share of the population of widows and fatherless children. The situation has been compounded by the security challenges in different parts of the country, especially the Boko Haram terror war in the North-east axis that has raged for close to a decade now, throwing up countless numbers of widows and fatherless kids. Findings reveal that the majority of these widows are middle aged, between 35 and 55 years of age, with little or no chance of remarriage. Almost half of them had only primary education and are of low professional status; 48% of them earn very low salary, and had a high parity, having 5 or more children.

Widows in Nigeria are besmirched, abused and even traduced. They are seen as the prime suspects in their husbands’ demise bar those widowed by conflicts. Those who lose their spouses through natural causes or accidents are not spared. They are oftentimes accused of witchcraft. They are also subjected to harmful practices, one of which is forcing them to drink the water their husbands were bathed with even after embalmment to prove their innocence, shaving of their hair and demanding they put on black clothing while mourning the death of their loved one for more or less a year.

Most widows tend to develop health issues as a result of the ill treatment conjured with the pains of loss. When that happens, the family members of the deceased breadwinners throw their arms into the air and exclaim: “This is exactly what we have been saying!” Indeed, the Nigerian environment is very hostile to widows. Besides subjecting them to inhuman and other degrading practices, most victims are dispossessed of their husbands’ belongings such as houses, cars and businesses, they are then thrown into the streets empty handed, not caring a hoot about the welfare and future of their fatherless kids.

Some remedies to the widows plight include encouragement of female education, enhancement of women, economic empowerment, improving availability and effective utilization of family planning services and encouraging men to write their wills early in marriage. Also, through advocacy and public health awareness campaigns, to enlighten the masses about the plight of the widows, in order to eliminate the dehumanizing traditional practices to which Nigerian widows are often subjected.

Losing Someone

There is a saying that Death's hunger is insatiable, the more it kills, the more it wants to kill. Obviously, Death is inevitable, the Bible says in Gen. 3:19
"In the sweat of your face you shall eat bread
Till you return to the ground
For out of it you were taken
For dust you are
And to dust you shall return.”
Death comes in different forms, but no matter the manner of the Death, the pain is not easily relieved, the sense of loss and emptiness takes time to pass away, and in some cases it never does.
Recently people close to me have been losing their loved ones, it takes immense courage and strength to pass through this stage of life and come out victorious but I know a lot of people who have succeeded and I know that they shall also overcome. I can not say that I know how they feel, no, I have not lost anyone either close to me or distant and I am grateful to God for that, I can only imagine the pain and sorrow that they were experiencing at that moment but I try my very best to be of support as much as possible.
No one wants to lose any one, we all want to live on but it is not possible; thanks Adam and Eve👏; most of the times it takes the death of people to bring an awareness of their importance to all and sundry; which is very wrong; I enjoin all my readers to value and treasure the people around them now that they are alive, to avoid regrets at their death.
There are various ways to deal with death and in all of the ways, it is always important that you are feeling loved when in such situations.
There are the strong ones, people who accept that it was the appointed time and God willed it, they tend to move on very fast, though it is not a trait that is common, that leads us to the "grievers".
In some traditions, after the death of the husband, the wife is expected to mourn him for a year, wearing black apparel throughout, I am not condemning the need to mourn but the obligation, if the woman is one of the strong ones, she is been deprived of her right to move on with her life. There are also people who do not even need any tradition to obligate them to mourn for long, usually they find it hard to process the death, it might be losing your only child after being barren for 25years or losing a spouse etc., many a times they shut themselves from the world, which is very wrong, I know you need to mourn, but don't mourn alone, it could lead to depression and possibly suicide.
There are people that the death of someone sparks a revolution in them, it gives them extra incentive to honor the memory of the person, take Nigerian Striker playing for Manchester United, Odion Ighalo, he lost his sister last December, he always wears her obituary shirt under his jersey and promised to dedicate every goal he scores to her, but depending on the circumstances of the death, the revolution may be negative, there was a man that lost his wife while they were being robbed and after that he became a vigilante, hunting down criminals and killing them, taking the law into his hands, some people the death of someone helps them in discovery, most especially if the person dies from an illness.
There are people that the death of someone sends them spiraling down the wrong path, they indulge in despicable acts, do drugs and take alcohol excessively most of the time it is because the person they lost probably served as a moral compass or something to that effect. The death of someone can threaten your faith big time, it is paramount that you surround yourself with loved ones to help you process the loss faster and I pray that God grants you the fortitude to bear the loss. So today, I want you all to take out time to tell that sibling, spouse, friend etc., how much they mean to you.
Ciao.

New Month, Same God

Hi guys, happy new month🏄, we have already seen "part to what" the month holds for us(yesterday Liverpool finally lost a game after going 44 games unbeaten), today is also Sunday an ample day to worship and reverence God Almighty, today also happens to be the birthday of one of my beautiful cousin 😎, happy birthday Ozichi Okoronkwo. This blog post is serving as a remembrance of what the Lord did for me 5 years ago and to say I am still grateful to him for the love that he has shown to me and my family.
The second week in the month of August in the year 2015 was a week of big events, my birthday was on the first day of the week, Monday 10th, two days later my elderest sister was going to write her post utme exams @ the prestigious University of Nigeria, Nsukka(UNN) so it was a week full of promise.
My birthday went as normal, no much fuss, we had a trip planned for the next day, my dad as the early bird he is insisted we travel a day before the exam(very smart idea) so we could have time to see my other sister in Akwa as well as some friends and family over in Enugu and so my other sister writing her post utme would be acclimatized with the environment, we prepared for the journey, cooked coconut rice and fried chicken for my sister, bought drinks and table water, my dad also added 50litres of petrol in the trunk for our travels.
By 6:15 we began the journey from Warri to Nsukka(my dad likes traveling early set awon first bus geng), it was a cool morning, drizzling a bit more as we progressed until we reached Ozoro, we were on the highway heading towards the Niger Bridge, for some reason best known to my dad had earlier asked me to check his speed on the speedometer as we drove on the bridge, so still on the Ozoro highway suddenly my dad needed his phone, he did a quick body search and he could not find it(we don go half the journey to turn back go be yawa), so he asked me to help him look for it, I took off my seatbeat(I was riding shot-gun, been riding there all my life) and searched every possible that hands can reach in a moving vehicle but I do not see it. Normally my dad hates when no one knows the location of things he needs, so he joined the search for the phone, one hand on the steering wheel and another searching for the phone(not the smartest idea though).
My sister called his attention with panic in her voice that we were swerving off the road, we stopped the search (p.s the search was very short, lasted10sec) and My dad tried swerving back to the highway(wet road+speed+and instant change in direction=

We stumbled and landed on the concrete separating the two sides on the highway, with our tyres facing skyward, meanwhile, as the whole event was unfolding, this Bible verse was just repeating in my head keeping me calm, "fear not, for I am with you", the impact point with the road was the shot-gun where I was, so I was stuck, my sister got out of the car first, came to my side of the car found me stuck, went over to my dad's side, we unlocked the door manually and came out unscrathed.
As God would have it, the food items and some of the drinks in the trunk were damaged and littered on the highway but the 50litres of petrol was still secured, obviously such a scene would attract people so they flipped the car back to its normal position and lo and behold, the phone laying undisturbed under my dad's seat(a place that was checked 😡), a good Samaritan(I legit saved his number with that) put us in his car, drove us to his house to wash up and dropped us in the nearest park going to Awka.
My sister @ Awka was happy to see us, we spent some time with her and then continued to Nsukka, to cut long story short, my elderest sister pasted the post utme, matriculated(we attended it with the car, it had been fixed by that time) and now by the grace of God is a certified Microbiologist for UNN.
Any time I think about the incident I am convinced that no matter how prepared we were are for any thing, life would still be life, but it is different when you have God Almighty watching you, as we move on with our daily activities in this new month, I hope we show appreciation to God for the things he has done no matter how little we think it is, because the more we appreciate, the more he would do for us. Ciao👋

Go Shawty, It's your Birthday 🎊🎊🎊

As the lyrics go;Go shawty it's your birthday, we gon' party like it's yo birthday, we gon' sip bacardi like it's your birthday.
This blog post is write to celebrate the life of a very beautiful friend, Benita Iyeli, who was born on this day, February 28th some decades ago(I would not reveal her age).
Benita is an Urhobo girl from the every awesome Delta State in Nigeria, she is a student of BELLS UNIVERSITY, CEO @riiwowlashes, a make-up artist, YouTube content creator.
I met Benita in the prestigious Seat of Wisdom Model Schools, Ekpan, it was the first day of Grade five(Primary Five), as fate would have it, her seat was just behind mine, young Benita was full of life, outspoken, fun-loving, smart(she amazingly still has all this good features).
Initially, we did not hit off as 100% of my friends then were boys, our friendship started because of my appreciation for music, I was singing a certain song by some popular kids at that time, halfway into the song a sweet voice joined, I turned back and it was Benita, we sang more songs from the album(p.s we were no Ed Sheeran and Beyonce).
The next morning after assembly she smiled as she greeted me, I replied back with a smile too, we grew closer day by day, she was the cousin to my best friend then(Fega Eruse), we chatted when possible(because then it seemed like there was this huge magnetic field separating boys from girls, if you are seen talking to a girl you would be termed 'woman wrapper'), three terms went as fast as the waters on a fall, after our common entrance examination she left to Faith Academy to start JSS1(Junior Secondary School 1).
We lost contact till my SS1(when I finally got a phone that could '2go'), I was glad to have a friend back, we reminisced on past memories and she promised to come see me in Seat of Wisdom, I looked forward to the day and I didn't not take too long, she came at our closing hours and we met, I had to admit Benita had grown(well they say girls grow faster than boys at a young age) three years away had done good wonders, I was shy for a bit, but it wore off. We continued seeing each though not frequent.
Time pasted, boys became men😎 and girls started slaying 👸. We are now further up the ladder in our university, so we are a lot more busy and we have some stuffs on our plate, but we still keep contact as friends should do. Of all the changes that come with growth, Benita still retained her ability to be naturally(behind all the make up is still that sweet Urhobo girl). I am grateful to God for bringing her so far and I pray for strength in all her endeavors. Once again, Happy Birthday Benita 🎂

The Super Hero: A Mother

Hi there, this blog post is dedicated to the awesome and super human mothers all over the earth, though today is not mother's day, I feel the need to celebrate mothers.
A mother is not just someone who can bear children and breastfeed her offspring, A mother is a lioness, she is a friend, a disciplinarian, a comforter, a good listener, an amazing cook, a pillar in the family, a hustler and so on. These are some legit high standards set by no one in particular, but that is how the margins of success is judged as far as motherhood is concerned.
Every female has the ability to bring forth children no matter how late, but it does not end there, after birth, the ability to care and provide for her child/children with or without a spouse is what qualifies her as a mother.
Many girls have aborted future presidents of nations due to circumstances or mostly because of their believed inability to cater for the child. It takes the special grace of God Almighty and some good effort to be a mother.
I strongly believe that motherhood does not start the moment a female conceives, I believe motherhood starts at a very tender age.
From age 5 when all your senses should be working, how you treat and care for your siblings both younger and older forms a basic foundation for motherhood.
At age 11-13, puberty is coming like an avalanche, how you process the body changes, how you respond to hormones and feelings of love, how you take the increasing responsibility you are getting at home, this plots the path of your motherhood journey.
At age 18-25, you are now a small madam, you are in the university, how do you treat your fellow females, the younger children at home, which example are you setting for them, how are you handling your relationship with that boy, hope your mum is still not doing major of the chores at home. You are a step closer to being a mother at this stage.
At age 30-infinity, by now the children are coming, how close are you to your God, how are you convincing your spouse that this cute would not take all your attention, how do you adapt to the needs of the baby(banish those thoughts of raining hell on the person that wakes the baby,after you cooed him/her to sleep five minutes ago), how do you adapt to the rapid growth of your children, give them the necessary love, encouragement, discipline needed, how to govern your family( a good woman builds her family, a bad woman tears it down herself), can you make unbelievable sacrifices for your children and family?, how much of your knowledge on parenting have you passed on to your children
There is no handbook on "how to be a good mother", How good a mother you are is judged based on your offspring( how trained they are morally, culinarily etc), how organized your home is and testimonies from other people
So this blog post is giving a pat on the back of all the mothers in the world, don't relent, the world hinges on it, as for the ones who still struggling, I pray God Almighty gives you the strength and passion to be a good mother to you children and also to children that needs mothers when the need arises

A LETTER TO MY LOVE

Every time I see your face it makes me glad,
Every time I see you smile it melts my soul,

My love for you is intoxicating,
My feelings make me psychotic,

You are so small and fragile yet fiery,
You pretend not to care but you’re a mother of the year,

I want to be there in your good and bad times,
I want to be there in your time of joy and weeping,

I long to wake to the sight of you next to me daily,
I long to see you play with our children,

I hope to relieve you after a stressful day at work, 
I promise to listen to the office gossip with the same enthusiasm as you tell me, 

I wait patiently for your pregnancy appetite, 
I am ready to be scratched and punched while you put to birth, 

I look forward to terrorizing our daughter's boyfriend, 
I anticipate the day I would walk our daughter down the aisle, 

I hope we share our old age together,
I long to tell our grandchildren tales jointly,

I promise to be yours forever, to be your soul mate,
Till death, I vow to be by you side. 

The long awaited debut

Hey, 👋 how is your day going? Well mine is going fine (as everyone would say). So this is my first blog post, the idea was initiated late October last year and some procrastination because of the academic delayed this blog, well now I have 6months free from school work so here I am, writing. 
This blog is all about an introvert expressing himself as his heart and mind perform their functions (the thoughts that run in my head is enough concept for a blockbuster movie). 
Usually, I get my inspiration from the things that happen around me, or after reminiscing past experiences, but a big shout out to dh_arnie and cocopops, you guys inspire me in a whole lot of ways, some days stories would be told, other days poems would be written, so just bless me with all the criticism and applause necessary.
Ciao👋