A Person Of Character

A Person Of Character

Tuesday, 30 August 2016 /

Written by Michael Josephson @Josephson0

Let's face it, it's not easy to become a person of character. It takes a good heart, but it also requires wisdom to know right from wrong and the discipline to do right even when it's costly, inconvenient or difficult.

Becoming a person of character is a lifelong quest to be better.

A person of character values honesty and integrity and pays whatever price is needed to be worthy of trust, earning the pride of family and friends and self-respect.

A person of character plays fair even when others don't and values no achievement unless it was attained with honor.

A person of character has strong convictions, yet avoids self-righteousness.

A person of character believes in the inherent dignity of all people and treats everyone with respect, even those whose ideas and ideologies evoke strong disagreement.

A person of character deals with criticism constructively and is self-confident enough to take good advice, admit and learn from mistakes, feel and express genuine remorse and apologize graciously.

A person of character knows what's important, sacrifices the now for later, is in control of attitudes and actions, overcomes negative impulses and makes the best of every situation.

A person of character willingly faces fears and tackles unpleasant tasks.

A person of character is consistently and self-consciously kind and empathetic, giving generously without concern for reward.

A person of character feels and expresses gratitude freely and frequently.

A person of character is not defeated by failure or dissuaded by disappointment.

A person of character seeks true happiness in living a life of purpose and meaning, placing a higher value on significance than success.

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Fuel Attendant Turns Celebrity For Her Sincerity

Fuel Attendant Turns Celebrity For Her Sincerity

Monday, 29 August 2016 /

Esther , the fuel attendant

 A female fuel attendant working with Mobil filling station in Abuja few weeks found and returned NGN30,000 (About $85.6) belonging to a customer who had bought fuel from the afore mentioned filling station.

The elated man who was suprised by the rare gesture, took to his facebook page to share the news. He wrote:

The facebook post

"Some weeks ago I drove into the Mobil filling station on Teaching Hospital rd Gwagwalada Abuja to get fuel. Unknown to me 30k dropped off the car when I opened the door. When I got to my next stop to pick some things I discovered the money way missing.

After driving around for about 30mins I decided to check the filling station. When I asked Esther the fuel attendant about the money. She just stepped into their office and brought my 30 thousand. She could have denied seeing the money and I couldn't have suspected her. But she brought the money out. 30k is her two months salary but she rose above it.

So when next you're in Gwagwalada Abuja and your fuel is running low. Stop by at Mobil filling station on Teaching hospital rd. Ask of Esther and give her a good tip."

Meanwhile, in a bid to repay her good deed, the customer Mr. Efe Okposio has launched a campaign to get Esther (The fuel attendant) a better paying job and had equally put up her phone numbers on his facebook profile to get helpers and well wishers to contact the good young lady.

Esther earns N15,000 (About $42.8) as salary.

We do hope someone rewards Esther for her examplery act. She deserves it.

Sincerity sure pays.

The post asking people to help Esther out

On Singles,Youths And Pre-Marital Sex

On Singles,Youths And Pre-Marital Sex

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A couple

 Written by Sopuruchukwu Egbodo @SopuruEgbodo

What's this pre-marital sex craze among unmarried people?

I have spoken one on one with many young people on the issue of pre-marital sex and chastity. They get very surprised when I share my chastity story with them, and majority never stop to ask, "How do you do that?"

Many of them speak with burning concerns how they cannot do without pre-marital sex, like it is there life.

Of course the possibility of contracting STDs have long lost it's scary touch on those involved.

If you can hold a pressing need to visit the loo until you see a toilet, then you can wait till marriage for copulation.

Trust me, I do feel the urge too, but I have learnt to conquer "Me" and put him under my control and with time he has no choice than become my servant in matters like this.

Aside God's grace, it takes a disciplining of the mind to conquer your urges. But 99.9% of the work is on you not on God.

Sex is worth waiting for.

Good morning.

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Surulere: Take Things Easy

Surulere: Take Things Easy

Friday, 26 August 2016 /

Written by Sopuruchukwu Egbodo @SopuruEgbodo

Early this week a Nigerian woman dropped a suicide for her family, before vanishing without trace. She cited the recent economic hardship in Nigeria as her reason.

Truely since the arrival of Nigeria's man of steel as the president, things have taken a bad shape for ordinary Nigerians.

The price of goods continue to soar daily, the cost of doing business continues to rise, and job loss is on a regular.The promised change is on the negative.

Things are hard, life in Nigeria is hell presently, but it takes the strong in mind to keep afloat in the ocean of sorrows.

No matter what problem you see today, there is always a (Positive) solution to it. Dig deep.

Be patient not with the confused government, but with yourself.

Surulere, it shall be well.

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Placing A Value On Your Person

Placing A Value On Your Person

Thursday, 25 August 2016 /

The official movie poster

Written by Sopuruchukwu Egbodo @SopuruEgbodo

Chidera season 5 and 6, The flute boy, De one million boys, Brotherhood, Crossing the battle line. Those are some of the titles on movie posters pasted on a wall on my path to church. The posters were so well positioned that short-sighted passers-by can see them.

But being a fan of "Quality-Nolly", one poster attracted my attention  the most. An instant attraction that elicited a yearning to watch the movie in question.

The movie title is, The Mirror Boy and Genevieve Nnaji was reason for the attraction.

I know what you may be thinking and yes, Genevieve is my crush, but that is not an issue here.

She rarely features in movies, but whenever she does, the movie and storyline must be top notch. And I heard she earns more in one movie appearance than most Nigerian artists earn in ten.

The poster I saw

If you like hate her, but she has defined her worth. By deciding not to appear in any movie of crappie quality, she simply said, "I am quality and if you need me, get ready to pay". As simple as that.

A person of value is a person of principles, dictating what is acceptable to him or her and not compromising on the quality of such no matter the temptation.

Until you define and stick to your values, nobody will accord you your due respect.

Each time I see a movie poster bearing the face of Genevieve Nnaji, I am pretty sure the movie will be good and of top quality.

What are your values?

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The Japanese Promise And The Arisen Matters On Integrity

The Japanese Promise And The Arisen Matters On Integrity

Wednesday, 24 August 2016 /

Written by Sopuruchukwu Egbodo @SopuruEgbodo

I believe you have heard the news that Dr. Katsuya Takasu the Japanese surgeon has fulfilled his pledge to reward a cash sapped Nigerian male Olympic football team, if they win any medal in the just concluded Rio Olympics.

I equally believe you know that some of our home-made billionaires have failed to fulfil the pledge they made to the super eagles' African Cup of Nations winning team since 2013!

The Japanese and his Nigerian counterparts share a characteristic, they are billionaires, but as clearly seen here, the Nigerians were generous with their mouth only.

Without recourse to their reasons for not paying up their promises, many of us do fall into the same mistake.-Oral promising that lacks fulfilment.

The number of times you have promised and failed, determines your worth in the measurement of integrity, and also says how much one can be trusted.

A lack of integrity generates a total lack of trust for the one involved.

Just to let you know.

Good morning.

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Minding Your Mind

Minding Your Mind

Tuesday, 23 August 2016 /

Written by Sopuruchukwu Egbodo @SopuruEgbodo

Out of the abundance of the mind, the mouth speaks. So says the holy writ.

My interpretation of that portion of the Holy writ ended at the mouth speaking, and I had to learn the hard way.

Within the past weekend, I was involved in a lot of brain-energy sapping activities, which affected my mind a great deal. But those could not stop me from going for my driving lessons yesterday morning.

Very confident of my past exploits at training, I hopped into the car hoping to replicate success as usual. Lo and behold, the car jerked to a halt each of the four times I tried lifting my left leg from the clutch.

My mind was buoyed down and I couldn't just function optimally.

That's the level of power the mind wields over us. It affects the whole being and determines the whole output of man, not just the speech.

It regulates a being to success, but equally dooms same to failure.

Finally, the mind is the engine room of your life. Whatever it is fed, it reproduces overtly. 

Therefore, feeding the mind always with positivity should not be an option.

No wonder another part of the same holy writ admonishes, "Guard your heart with all diligence".

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We Remember The Sacrifice: Respect To Stella

We Remember The Sacrifice: Respect To Stella

Friday, 19 August 2016 /

Written by Sopuruchukwu Egbodo @SopuruEgbodo

Today is world humanitarian day, and co-incidentally it was exactly today 2 years ago that Doctor Mrs. Stella Adedevoh of the First Consultant Medical Centre Obalende, Lagos passed on due to ebola related complications.

Doctor Adedevoh was one of the first persons to come into contact with Patrick Sawyer, the infamous Liberian-American national that brought ebola to Nigeria on the July of 2014.

Even though she was not the only victim of Mr. Sawyer and Liberian government's calamitous decision, the late doctor is today remembered for her role in curbing the wider spread of the deadly disease in Nigeria by placing Mr. Sawyer on quarantine, despite pressures from the Liberian government.

The singular decision to quarantine the man on a mission of death, goes to show that doctor Stella may have suspected him of being a carrier of the deadly disease. She was already infected, but she tried to forestall a further spread. She and her colleagues, that majority of Nigerians may live. They sacrificed their lives for us.

The Nigerian government may choose to ignore her today (as they usually do), but we and posterity will never forget a name like hers and that of all those who have genuinely sacrificed that others might gain.

Continue to rest in peace madam Stella, you are well spoken of.

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On Tolerance

On Tolerance

Thursday, 18 August 2016 /

Written by Sopuruchukwu Egbodo @SopuruEgbodo

The most beautiful sight I have beheld in the city of Lagos, Nigeria is not a babe nor a sky scrapper in Lekki, Ajah, Ikoyi, Victoria Island or Ikeja.

It is the sight of those four moslem kids singing Christian songs, but replacing God with Allah in places where he was mentioned.

You may believe it's a sign of competition, and you'll be totally correct.

After all, the *Masalaci (Mosque) in my street which strictly starts early morning prayers by 5:30am (done with a noisy public address system), only breaks the time protocol whenever a Christian preacher begins morning cry by 4:00am.

But come also to think of this, "Their Moslem parents allowed them to mingle with Christian kids or family that made them learn those songs". That's tolerance.

Tolerance simply means respect for and accommodation of individual differences.

Respect for individual differences makes a husband be kind to his wife, no matter how shitty her opinions seldom sound. It means you accept the fact that even though you hate smoking, that your next door neighbour is entitled to his cigar.

It means that, even though you are a jim jim  brother (or sister) in Christ, pending when they "See the light", those old men in your village are entitled to worshiping their *Amadioha. It equally means that you respect other people's right to life, even though they despise Mecca.

It's time to change the man in the mirror.

Word meanings
*Masalaci - Mosque in hausa language
*Jim jim- Very strong christian or born again christian
*Amadioha- An idol in Igbo land

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Rio Olympics, Nigeria's Dream Team 6 And You

Rio Olympics, Nigeria's Dream Team 6 And You

Sunday, 14 August 2016 /

Written by Sopuruchukwu Egbodo @SopuruEgbodo

In the early hours of friday August 5th, 2016 the Nigerian men's Olympic football team, the dream team 6, beat their Japanese counterparts 5-4 to top the Group B of the men's football event. Nigerians including the men at the top who could not release funds for the team's welfare were happy. They said it's victory for Nigeria.

(Up till now) these guys and their coaches are being owed allowances, the Nigerian minister of sports denied them. Motivation level is zero.

Once I have experienced a travel by air, and came so down with jet lag for days that I couldn't do nothing than just sleep, but these guys owing to ill preparations by Nigerian authorities arrived Brazil late and had to play the Japanese with the same jet lag 6 hours later. I hope you now understand what these guys went through? Wickedness was their case.

As it is with the dream team, so it is in life.

Life is full of many people who do not care to identify with your pains, but try to navigate their ways into your life once you achieve success.

It is filled with individuals who would pretend to help you but secretly (and sometimes openly) wish that you fail.

Life is filled with people who would like to take advantage of you.Those who instead of helping you, would put stumbling blocs on your way to success.

You should learn to stay above the hate, above the obstacles, above the pains, above the shame.

Let your future be your muse and motivation, because those who quit the race to destiny do not end up successful.

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Holiness By Analog

Holiness By Analog

Tuesday, 9 August 2016 /

The Holy Bible

Written by Sopuruchukwu Egbodo @SopuruEgbodo

Having to attend fellowship from the shop that particular Tuesday evening, with my bag already loaded, I decided to exclude the (Analog) Holy Bible and use the Bible app in my phone instead, so as to avoid creating more discomfort for myself.

As I sat in the gathering of brethren that evening enjoying the dividends of my decision, little did I know that a sister with the zeal of Phinehas, son of Eleazar and the grandson of Aaron the priest, of Numbers 25:7-9 was monitoring proceedings from her end.

So at the end of fellowship, she had summoned me to caution on the dangers of using a digital bible over the analog one.

        “It means you are either not sure of your salvation or you are not born again”, she had said.

I went cool on her, even though I know she had blabbed.

Something she and many others like her has failed to understand is that, the same God who had created and given us redemption through his son, has equally given some people the mind to invent certain things to alleviate our sufferings as men in the world.

She had failed to realize that carrying a Bible as huge as Olumo rock all around Nigeria (But living a life of sin) cannot save one on the day of reckoning. That holiness is not a show, but a lifestyle for those who believe.

We all do need to do away with toxic thought processes to successfully navigate this side of the universe

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