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Your gift will make a way for you.

Posted by Dan WebNutritionist/Motivator on January 7, 2011 at 10:10pm

Proverbs 18:16 (King James Version) :A man’s gift maketh room for him, and bringeth him before great men.

Proverbs 18:16 (Contemporary English Version):A gift will get you in to see anyone.

Proverbs 18:16 (Young’s Literal Translation):The gift of a man maketh room for him, And before the great it leadeth him.

Proverbs 18:16 (The Message Version):A gift gets attention; it buys the attention of eminent people.

For a long time I had read this verse of scripture. And most preachers I listened to implied that the “gift” was referring to inborn talent. I disagreed because it was obvious to me that the verse was written in the context of the “gift” being a present or some form of offering given to a person of higher status.

The more I heard Preachers emphasize the first interpretation, the more the conflict grew within. I just couldn’t accept that translation of the scripture. Until something happened…

And what was that thing that changed mind? Simple. Michael Jackson died!

I am sure you’re wondering. What does a secular artist like Michael Jackson have to do with something as spiritual as a bible verse right? Well, Michael Jackson’s life achievements and the way he was celebrated even in death, proved to me the authenticity of the pastoral interpretation I had resisted for many years.

How does one of the youngest sons of a steelmill worker born into a less than affluent family, become the world’s most celebrated entertainer, outselling any other artist in his whole career? How is it that his burial ceremony received a greater worldwide attention than any past world leader? It could only have been through the expression of his gifts -his inborn talent.

From the age of five Michael Jackson did nothing else but express his God-given talents (we could argue that he never honored God with his talents but I am not about to get into that debate). He could have lived for something else but he chose to entertain the world with dancing and singing. And that brought him before kings and earned him all the wealth and honor during and after his lifetime.

This was enough evidence to prove that truly ones gifts/inborn talents are certain to make a way for him/her. We can see similar evidence of these in the lives of Bill Gates, Billy Graham, Martin Luther King Jr, The Wright Brothers, Nelson Mandela, King Solomon and Moses. Their lives were a sum total of their commitment to a life of expressing their gifts. And this made them great and brought them before other great men.

My message to you today is start focusing on developing and expressing your god-given talents. For therein lie your wealth, honour and the fulfillment of your purpose! Your gift will make a way for you!

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Editorial: Yaradua Syndrome, The great cover-up of the "I no dey kampe "

Posted by 9jabook.com on January 10, 2010 at 8:54pm
Kudos must be given to Next Newspapers for thier Exclusive Explosion on the "vegetative" state of The President.This had been predicted by medical practitioners as far back as a week after his departure Read Post by Medical Director posted on the internet in December a few days after the President jetted off to Saudi Never to be seen or heard from until now.With a comment by Prof Bolaji Aluko It has turned out to be one of the biggest cover-ups in the history of Nigeria. And some of the most powerful persons in the country are responsible for it. An uncoordinated combination of silence, half-truths, and outright lies peddled by these men and women have formed an inscrutable web around President Umaru Yar'Adua, who, forty nine days ago, left Nigeria for Saudi Arabia in search of medical attention, for what his spokesperson described, in a press statement, as "pericarditis", an inflammation of the lining of the heart. Since then, the days have turned into weeks, and the bogus claims from the corridors of power have grown even more ambitious. The loquacious Leading the pack is the country's attorney general and minister for justice, Michael Aondoakaa. His outrageous comments have attracted wide condemnation from public commentators. Defending the president's decision to travel abroad without handing over to his vice, he said: "There is no evidence that he is not exercising his powers as president. He has his vice-president and his ministers whom he delegates power and functions to. He does not have to be in the country before he can exercise his power. He can do that anywhere. The president can delegate his power to anyone and he can even give instruction anywhere in the world, even on his sick bed." Speaking through a spokesperson days after the president travelled, he referred to the trip as a "medical check-up and short vacation." The chief economic adviser to the president, touted to be a leading member of the president's kitchen cabinet, was also quoted by a Nigerian daily as saying that the president had placed calls to the vice president, Goodluck Jonathan; the senate president, David Mark; and the speaker of the House of Representatives, Dimeji Bankole, on the night of Tuesday January 5, 2010. "The president's health condition has substantially improved. In the last week, I have spoken to him on telephone countless number of times," Mr. Yakubu is reported to have said. "Our conversations every time lasted more than five minutes." The accomplices The vice president has appeared particularly eager to convince Nigerians of his relevance, against a backdrop of rumours that he has effectively been sidelined in the affairs of the country. This desperation has made him an accomplice in the perpetuation of falsehoods regarding communication with the president. Days after the president's departure, Vice President Jonathan, while receiving Sallah visitors on behalf of his principal, said: "This morning, I personally conveyed Mr. President's personal greetings. We spoke yesterday and even this morning. After this, I will even speak with him again. He asked me to convey his personal greetings to all Nigerians." On January 6, at the end of the weekly Federal Executive Council meeting, the minister for information and communication, Dora Akunyili, told journalists that the vice president had confirmed to the council that he indeed spoke with the president, as disclosed by Mr. Yakubu. Also deeply implicated in the charade is Bukola Saraki, the chairman of the Governor's Forum, which comprises all the 36 state governors. He has been one of the most vocal defenders of the president. In early December, newspapers widely reported that Mr. Saraki led a delegation to Saudi Arabia, ostensibly to visit Mr. Yar'Adua in hospital. It is highly unlikely that they even sighted him, as NEXT's investigations reveal that the president was already brain-dead at the time they were supposed to have met with him. Castigating the "anti-democratic individuals" behind the reports of the president's dismal state of health, Mr. Saraki told reporters, at the end of a meeting of the Governor's Forum last Wednesday, that the president "has now spoken with some people. We are happy to say that he is improving very well." On his own part, the senate president, David Mark, has stuck to a religious theme since the president's disappearance. On the 30th of November, 2009, he asked Nigerians to embark on a Novena prayer for the President. The Novena prayer is a nine hour or nine-day Catholic prayer. Two weeks later, speaking at a thanksgiving service at the St. Mulumba Catholic Chapel in Abuja, he repeated his calls for prayers. Under his watch, the senate has also been unambiguous about its unwillingness to do anything to resolve the constitutional crisis caused by the president's absence. The speaker of the House of Representatives has also clearly been helpless in the face of the president's refusal to hand over to his deputy. On 15 December, 2009 he overruled an attempt by a member of the House to raise a debate regarding the impropriety of the president's refusal to hand over, and then announced a January 12 date for the resumption of the House. Also, through his spokesperson, he, like the vice president, also affirmed that he received a call from the president on the night of January 5. The silent Former President Olusegun Obasanjo who, in 2006, in the wake of a failed third term bid, chose President Yar'Adua as his successor, and, despite being aware of his health challenges, vigorously campaigned for him, falls into the class of those conspicuous by their silence. He has severally declined comments on his successor's health. Ditto former military president Ibrahim Babangida, whose name has consistently come up in the series of permutations regarding the identity of the person who will succeed Vice President Jonathan, if or when Jonathan is sworn in as President. A number of the leading contenders for the position are deeply linked to Mr. Babangida. Muhammed Gusau and Murtala Nyako, both former military officers, served in the Babangida administration as Chief of Army Staff and Chief of Naval Staff respectively. A third candidate, Jubril Aminu, served Mr. Babangida first as minister of education and later as minister of petroleum and mineral resources. Messrs Obasanjo and Babangida, apart from being retired military men and former rulers of Nigeria, are both influential members of the ruling Peoples' Democratic Party (PDP). Mr. Obasanjo currently heads the PDP's Board of Trustees, which is the highest decision-making organ of the party. ‘Umaru, are you dead?' The dubious resort to claims of telephone conversations with the president recalls the phone call placed publicly (and televised) by the then President Olusegun Obasanjo, on March 7, 2007, to Mr. Yar'Adua, who was conspicuously absent from the PDP residential campaign rally in Abeokuta. At the time, Mr. Yar'Adua was receiving treatment in Germany. With the line in speakerphone mode, President Obasanjo famously asked the then presidential aspirant, "Umaru, are you dead?", to which he replied "I am alive." This time around, the country waits desperately to hear the president himself dispel the news (exclusively reported by NEXT, in its Sunday, January 10, 2010 edition) that he is in a vegetative state and thus permanently unable to function as the president. Until then, the rulership of the country appears to lie in the hands of the un-elected Federal Executive Council, supervised by the vice president. Later this week (Friday, January 14), an Abuja High Court will resume hearing in a suit filed by constitutional lawyer, Femi Falana, seeking a declaration by the court "that the meetings of the Federal Executive Council held since November 23 2009 till date and the decisions taken there at are illegal and unconstitutional as they violate Section 148(2) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999." Additional reporting by Ifedayo Adebayo, Elor Nkereuwem and Nicholas Ibekwe
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Pay it Forward : Trickle-Up Economics

Posted by 9jabook.com on October 5, 2009 at 9:06pm
It is the month of August, a resort town sits next to the shores of a lake. It is raining, and the little town looks totally deserted. It is tough times, everybody is in debt, and everybody lives on credit. Suddenly, a rich tourist comes to town. He enters the only hotel, lays a 100 Euro note on the reception counter, and goes to inspect the rooms upstairs in order to pick one. The hotel proprietor takes the 100 Euro note and runs to pay his debt to the butcher. The Butcher takes the 100 Euro note, and runs to pay his debt to the pig raiser. The pig raiser takes the 100 Euro note, and runs to pay his debt to the supplier of his feed and fuel. The supplier of feed and fuel takes the 100 Euro note and runs to pay his debt to the town's prostitute that in these hard times, gave her services" on credit. The hooker runs to the hotel, and pays off her debt with the 100 Euro note to the hotel proprietor to pay for the rooms that she rented when she brought her clients there. The hotel proprietor then lays the 100 Euro note back on the counter so that the rich tourist will not suspect anything. At that moment, the rich tourist comes down after inspecting the rooms, and takes his 100 Euro note, after saying that he did not like any of the rooms, and leaves town. No one earned anything. However, the whole town is now without debt, and looks to the future with a lot of optimism. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how the Irish Government is doing business today.We hope naija can cash in on this strategy ! This is the only way to Economic recovery, bailing out all those FAT CATS up-stream does not guarantee that it will flow down-stream. Trickle-Economics will definitely flow up-stream, although it defies Sir Isaac Newton's law of universal gravitation. Have a great day Thanks to Osamuyi Paul Ogbebor for sending in this one !
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REBRANDING NIGERIA

Posted by Odofin Caleb on March 20, 2009 at 10:45am

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So many controversies has erupted on this issue of rebranding Nigeria Project by the new information minister, Prof. Dora Akunyili. Many have said it is a mere waste of money, many said, it is a wrong thing to do now, many said it is a move to discredit all the good works done by the minister while she was the DG of NAFDAC. Amidst all these, allegations, comments and complaint, the Rebranding Nigeria Project has been launched today, 17th of March, 2009 and a total sum of N150M has been set aside for this project. The new brand is “NIGERIA, GOOD PEOPLE, GREAT NATION”.Before I continue, I will just like you to know what branding and rebranding is. A brand is simply something that has become an identity of a particular product or service or company in simple language. When you think about a particular characteristic, you remember that company, for example when you think about yellow, you remember MTN, when you think about noodles, in fact you call it Indomie, talk of washing up detergent, we call it Omo, when you think about inconsistency, we remember NEPA, when you talk about NEWS, we remember Channels TV or CNN (thinking globally), when we talk about entertainment TV in Nigeria, STV comes to mind. This is a simple explanation of branding.Rebranding is now a situation where a particular company or entity wants to change what it stands for in the mind of people and many things are set in place to do this, it could be a simple change of Colour, Change of Logo (Like intercontinental bank did), change of use ( Omo rebrands with “dirt is good”). These changes are advertised until the new brand is impressed in the heart of the populace.The Brand Nigeria has been known for scam, fraudulence, unsafe business terraine, power problem and so on. This has made Nigeria to be disadvantaged in so many area globally. A Nigerian will not be allowed to arrive a country without a thorough security search which will even follow him about till he leaves that country; Nigerians will not be accepted by Paypal or Clickbank, the largest Payment processor and Digital Product bank respectively on the internet. Nigerians have been branded as corrupt and dangerous.Prof. Akunyili now decided to initiate Rebranding Nigeria Project which is aimed at branding Nigeria with a positive image. Many Nigerians have kicked against this move saying that, it is out of place for now, that concentration should be more on prevailing on the government to intensify its power project, intensify its fight against corruption, develop the economy and provide employment for the youths and food for the masses.I want to say, all what the people are clamouring for is correct and also the Rebranding Nigeria Project is also not out of place. Rebranding Nigeria Project is an external affair program, while development and fight against corruption is internal.The question we should ask ourselves as Nigerians is:Are there no honest people in Nigeria ? There are honest people in Nigeria.Are there no places in Nigeria that is safe for business? There are plenty of places in Nigeria that is safe for businessAre there no honest Nigerian Internet marketers and Information marketers? In fact, we are many!Are we not good people in Nigeria? We are good people in Nigeria.Are there no other countries that are having corruption problems in high places? Most nations do!Should we continue to be discriminated and deprived globally? No, we shouldn’t.This is the work of the Information minister to do, she will not be the one to fight corruption, she will not be the one to threat the power problem.I encourage Nigerians especially youths to support the Rebranding Nigeria Project. I believe in Nigeria, I believe in a new Nigeria. We are beginning to see it unfold. When it becomes good, we need a global acceptance to make Nigeria reach its full potential. So, let us REBRAND NIGERIA. To Non- Nigerians reading this post, if you have not met honest Nigerians, it means you are looking in the wrong places. You have at least met one here on this site.NIGERIA IS BEAUTIFUL!!!NIGERIA, GOOD PEOPLE, GREAT NATIONCheersOdofin Caleb www.youthsbusiness.com
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