Lunchtime Dilemma-Part 2

"Pass the salt please."
Tim swore he could never have understood that Ohrft was acually referring to salt but his gesticulation rather than his words did the job. Nice one, he thought, that's a new rule he must add to the growing list. He wished there was a rule to help him pronounce the weird and often cumbersome names he has been encountering recently. Not that he had not thought of making a new law, he actually was in the final stage of perfecting the testing of it before filing it as a law. Mouth it first until you feel every syllable of it, that was going to be the name-pronoucing law. Until he met Ohrft. He had known immediately it was going to be impossible to pronounce such alien name with his thickened African tongue. Faced with such name it wasn't too hard for him to discard the golden rule. Perhaps he should list the name as an exception, that's a thought for another day. Now he needs to embrace the immediate challenge, the rainbow on his plate.
A casual glance around and he knew he had another exception for one other law. If he's concerned with watching first before eating he'd end up throwing up. Only diseased stool in his home country is permitted to look so pathetic.
"So, Tom..."
"Tim, please" He quickly corrected the alien before he too was a weird name. Who knows how it had started with Ohrft, maybe it was a human name that became so badly mutated. "As in Timothy."
"O asso! I now understand." No one else was talking so it became easy for all eyes to engage on Mr Alien as he cleared his throat to speak.
"So Tim, what's your country like?" He asked. Tim felt like he had been called to draw comparisons against Germany. His first impulse was to start extolling the beautiful foods that different ethnic groups had to offer. But he quickly decided against that, he would only appear like a preacher of a strange concept equipped with a strange language. Or how could they possibly understand what a yam is, or what foofoo is? And eba, and amala, and egusi...Tim smiled to himself, when the list got to amala. Amala. He smiled again. All eyes were on him now.
"Well, we sure have got a splendid climate," What he didn't say was how milllions would be willing to give up its splendidness on the platter of nothing "alternating rainy and dry seasons. The Sun is always out." He could almost feel them fantasize about the Sun part. Who wouldn't with the consistently grey cloud and freezing draft.
Comments passed around the table mostly in curious combiination of English and Deustch, with some French flavour now and then. They were all pleased with the knowledge that there some part of the globe with clear blue sky. Just the same way he too had longed for the cold climes while still in Nigeria. The talk soon drifted to another topic and another topic and then another. Everyone was smiling, he too was smiling quite forgetting the misery he was going through. Then noticed Lee look casually at him almost with a question plastered on his gentle face. What?, he thought to himself. Just then he discovered why, an ugly scowl attended every swallow that he took. Shit! That's not good, he shouldn't let them know what he's passing through eating this plate temptation. For the first time he is entire life he understood that eating could actually be a punishment, and in his case self-inflicted.
Then his stomach rumbled. "I'm now in deep shit." He looked around. "I didn't just say that, did I?" The look of amusement in the faces looking at him confirmed his fear. His stomach's throaty murmur has now been replaced with several serious of dragging hiss.
"Are you okay?" Claire looked concerned He was relieved none had heard the tirade from his bowel. "Yes I am, it's just some ugly incident that I just remembered" He lied. He quicky surveyed the cavernous dining wishing some strange genious had instructed the architect to build a toilet, a fat toilet in aseptic looking dining. I am not okay, now I am not. He tried to quickly shovel in the remaining so as to be able to excuse himself.
"I am in trouble, huge fat trouble!" Everone around the table burst out with laughter and of course except Tim who tried hard to replace the depressing scowl on his face with a smile. His face partitioned into two, the forehead and the jaws were trying to frown while the lips were told to smile. It was an order from above.
"It must have been an interesting recollection." Claire said as she reclined back of the flimsy chair. "You mind sharing it...with us?" They all readjusted their sitting position waiting for a feast of laughters.
He felt like crying. There's no story guys, can't you see I'm suffering here! But he mustn't say that. He started racking his brain for a good joke as his stomach continued with its accusations which gratefully were low-keyed.

RE:say a word of prayer

@Tokunbo.
"...we have a lot to do to our mindset as a people, if this was America they will rally round their president and show him love at least even though they may not agree with him, Nigerians need to be ashamed of themselves they way they are handling this matter".

Although I agree with and support the exhortation to pray for the President I still have to tell you that your words (quoted above) are both off the mark and completely untrue. If he was American president with all his history of near non-performance they wouldn't just wish him ill they would have done worse than that. It's either that you are unaware of the history of American presidency or that you have totally ignored this in a bid to make Nigerians feel shame.

You know what Nigerians need? It's not being ashamed of themselves, what we need is the right to be governed justly in a fair system that aids each person's aspirations. You know what we need? We need people not to use religiosity to cover what is true and right; we have a right to be governed by a physiologically fit person. I do not support the wish for anything bad to happen to the President but at the same time I understand why people are fed up. This is a perennial ailment, the one that was there long before he was smuggled into Aso Rock.

Nigerians are good and sympathetic people, but sympathy alone does not address the case on ground. We pray for him as a person, a creation made by God in His own image, we pray for him as the President of the country. But at the same time we need to have a leader who is fit and that can, without any severe repercussion to his own health, lead this country.

I am not a politician like you, but I am a Nigerian and that's all I need to deserve a capable leadership. So please don't bring America and Americans into this; they are not our role model. We are Nigerians and this is Nigeria.

Jide Olubiyi 03.12.09

Lunchtime Dilemma-Part 1

They entered the hall and it was already filled with several employees at different stages of taking lunch. It was a big hall with two entrances that were immediately visible and available for the research institute worker. Some other much smaller doors and without the modern automatically opening and closing of the two doors were available for the cooks. Tim took the entrance closer too his department; well that's what the other mates whom he followed took. They went through the rituals of checking and putting money on their magnetic cards with which they would later pay for the lunch. There were three self-service machines installed to accomplish this and they weren't much different from the ones spotting the streets of Juelich except that these were not white and did not dispense cigarette.
Tim was going to panic. He did not so much like making a fool of himself; not that it's a crime to appear new in a new environment, but more than every other visiting scientists in the four-thousand staff-strong institute he had a right to be self-conscious. He was black.
"Just slow down," he told himself as he joined the queue his mates had joined, "and do what everyone is doing." He learnt that technique in England. But then there were no roadside cigarette dispensing robots in England and every other sign of civilisation he had come in contact there were mostly modern versions of the rudimentary ones he had been used to in Nigeria. Of course save for the vehicles driving on the left.
The queue dragged on, but then he noticed his card was different. Don't panic. He wondered why they wouldn't just take the damn cash from him. That's what's done in every civilised society. Apart from credit and debit cards.
"You'll have to buy a visitor's lunch card, it's £4."
"That's ok." He heaved a sigh and wish he could hug Claire for coming to his rescue. When they had all paid the five of them moved towards the inner hall past another file of people holding trays and ready to place them on a moving carrier.
"White sausage, interesting! We don't get this every day" Steffen walked past the sausages down the long table to inspect the displayed menu. The other members in the group were already busy discussing white sausages. Ohrft was saying something about cheese and in the same breath...barbaria. Tim doubted he heard correctly but he wasn't about to lose his mental focus on that. He suddenly felt like quitting, drop the tray he was holding and walked out. His stomach had stopped feeling hungry not with the different types of food on display. There were about thirty different types white rice and potato fry being redundant of each of the six long tables.
Rice. No stew or soup, not even gravvy he had come to relish in London especially Indian curry. Just plain rice, white and frightening. Apart from the rice and the fries every other thing was strange to him. Sausage? No way, someone had mentioned cheese and Tim was allergic to dairies.
The five had by now separated with everyone chasing different table. Claire was moving towards a table topped mostly with fries and red sausages and some sauce. When he saw what she was scooping onto the fries in her plate, he quickly changed his mind and followed Lee and started to imitate his choice without appearing too obvious. Remember, watch and do. He took some rice, some fish fillet pieces.
"You seem to like rice". He tried to open conversion with the diploma guy. He knew he was lying because the Chinese guy appeared out of his elements in the midst of the confusion on the tables.
Lee smiled and told him yes that they like rice a lot in China. He seemed to have mastered the dilemma of the lunch time after all he had been here a while. They chatted as they went through the treacherous process of deciding what could be real food for them. Neither of them voiced his thinking but they both understand what the other was going through. Lee said something about rice and having transparent noodles inside the soup but Tim wouldn't bother to rationalize why anyone would but noodles inside a soup. Perhaps it was something else he said but the chinese accent did not allow the English to sound like English. But Tim had heard the two words, rice and soup, very clearly.
He was already scooping a dangerously looking paste onto his rice before he realized his mistake. He notice he had also put fries on the rice. He looked at the plate on his tray and felt like crying. He also felt like punching Lee or at least giving him a knock on the head. His place was now looking terrible, worse than white rice alone. He looked at Lee and saw him look back as if to say, "that's the trick bro, you just have to pick at random". Lee's plate looked like he had nake his choice of food based on colour spectrun for all colours were represented. Except red.
Lee moved towards one of too small tables on which were positioned some manually operated pumps, about four per table. He squeezed one and a red paste flew onto his plate. Now it's complete. Tim thought to himself as he moved towards the small table to put ketchup on his plate too. He gathered salad from several options into a small bowl. Onion, cucumber, olive, tomato, some disgusting cream...Then he just picked and stopped thinking about what or why he picked it.
"I am now in trouble." He looked at his plate and and knew he had right to panic. The other three members of the group had finished picking theirs and were by now waiting for the two of them by a tall stainless table on which they put their trays. Both Tim and Lee took some soft drink and proceeded through the payment and collection of cutleries. Considering the spectrum of organic matter on the trays it made sense to pick spoon and fork and knife. You never know which one would be relevant.

Comment on The Nigerian Goverment's Reaction Soyinka's opinion on Obama's non-visit

I could wish we had more sense in our leadership...It beats me to understand where they got the initiative to question Wole Soyinka\'s position on Obama\'s non-visit to Nigeria. We have skeleton in our cupboard in Nigeria; the stark ugliness of the Niger-Delta case and the lack of direction of policies are better kept inside. It\'s going to be a prudent decision for Obama to stay away from Nigerian government and not to allow their shameless corruption and failed democracy to besmirch him...If Yar\'adua and co want the likes of Soyinka to say something good about them and the country, they should spare us too the embarrassment and shame of reading about their incompetence and administrative ineptitude on the world scene. The ones that call a spade a spade are the true Nigerians, not the ones that follow unquestioningly the aimlessly drifting executive robe of the government.
Thanks Prof Soyinka.
Jide Olubiyi
ThisDay Online
 (05.24.2009 07:13)

A Reply to A Fellow Citizen

Re: Good people, Great nation
Hi Deola,
I have always enjoyed reading your write-ups since joining this group. I am a Nigerian but presently in the UK. I could recollect the feeling of anger, of shame, of frustration , and of disappointment and betrayal that assailed me when I first entered London airspace. The disorder of the Nigerian experience of governance suddenly became tangible to me standing judged by the order I was seeing even before landing. I felt betrayed. That our leaders have gone far and near, have seen that the greatness of a people necessarily consisted in the leadership…and yet we’re still where we are in the squalour of political mismanagement that has left many raped of their natural sense of patriotism.
I have severally wondered, how can a nation possessing such rich culture, history and religions remain so long in this abyss? I really wish I could pretend brilliance and give a one-cure-all solution to that. I wish our shared situation was this simple requiring just a single answer-renovate governance. And I wish all muscles of effort would not be geared towards replacing leadership only to find out that a new set of individuals that have long waited to ascend the ‘throne’ for selfish gains have just come…
I was once in a taxi ( I think in 2007) in Osogbo and some middle-aged women at the back were as usual running a baleful commentary on our leadership problems. They lamented how bad and evil it was for someone in governance to abuse the office to his/her own selfish advantage. And then one of them rounded-off by saying a prayer, that her children too would get there and would have the opportunity to so dishonestly enrich his/her folks.
Sad huh? Well while this singular experience may not represent every well-meaning individuals I believe not many people will find it difficult to believe that there is a dearth of the  stuff leaders are made of even in the governed. But reading people like you and listening to people like Tobi Oluwatola and some other friends  have suggested that quality still resides in some hearts.
I have come to realise that corruption and abuse of nationhood thrives where the ‘good’ people are silent. A near-holy hush still resides in many towards the affairs of our leaders; this results from a thoroughly suppressive military regime. This is a grave neglect and betrayal of our national duty-this decorum. Leaders are nothing but a mere reflection of the followers, after all that’s how democracy has been aptly qualified…a government of the people by the people… Our dailies and media are filled with publicity of gross under-performance…A governor donating bags of rice to fire victims, the Federal goverment increasing NYSC ‘allowy’ to N26,000, another government commissioning a one-kilometre road that’ll soon be swept away by rain the next season. And what do we do? We either shrug and say,”At least he’s better than last one” while some people actually come out dancing to meet the prodigal son that we have elected.
But where are the very people to call these men we voted in to accounts? Where is the insistent voice that publicly demands an answer from a government that seems comfortable with the pomp of giving rice bags to fire victims instead of providing a vibrant fire service that should have stymed the disaster in the first place? Where are the people that should ask the Federal Government why he’s increasing Corpers ‘allowing’ just days after our promising youths were murdered in Jos in the trust of the very people that should host and protect them for a year?
Really the failure of the government belongs more to us, for where the ‘good’ man will not talk then evil will go unchecked in the leadership.
We are the check.A corrupt goverment is like a cancer cell, it only becomes damaging and lethal while healthy cells fail to call it to order.
We are the goverment, the healthy cells needed to maintain sanity.
We should together destroy this evil culture of decorum. All is not yet well. Let us explore means to speak up, to question how we are being governed…It’s our business, after all we are the governed the direct recipient of all actions and inactions of the governing. Speaking up needn’t be so costly, and if it is we should understand that the journey of a thousand miles needn’t start with a step but with a decision.
Thanks Deola Kayode. I pray we’ll see in our time the Nigeria that we desire, the Nigeria that we deserve. And if not many people reckon this vision as pertinent let the few people who see the light at the end of the tunnel make their voice strong for there is yet hope. With time by God’s grace others will wake up too. In any case the night is long over it’s time to wake.
We will.
Count me in.
Jide Olubiyi
London.
(Written March, 2009)

All these years!

I was in a discussion with a childhood friend of mine calling from the US yesternight and he made a statement. He said man might be able to remove another from the mud but that it's only God that's capable of removing mud from a man's life. How true especially in matters of our walk with God and religion. How very true!

Many times we take conscious steps to remove us from the mud of religion to be able to see clearly the blazing light of the life of our Lord. But we end up entrapped in our own personally contrived religion. How true that we can make all the efforts we want, we can even be very radical and oppose the religious practices around us but then it takes a definite baptism of the Lord to rid us from the mud within. No wonder it was prophesied that the coming Lord would baptise us not just with the Holy Ghost, but also with fire. I'd for long wondered, why the fire? Sometimes the truth would flittingly filter into my heart but then it would lift again and give way to the creed of my life, of my daily life.

I do not pretend to offer a revelation or deep truth here. This is more a diary of my thoughts written to me, that in days come-I pray-will be a mileage in my walk in the baptism fire of my Lord...

I looked at the years I've known the Lord and I trembled to think all these might have been a walk of blindness. Maybe you too reading my thoughts have been in this shoe. I had been called unto the Lord and I have come to behold the beauty of His ways. I have learnt He's my sufficiency and so have I experienced but then I still have come short of walking in this fire. This ravaging fire of Heaven that handles a man and consumes the mud of religion. How I wish You would walk me through Your words, through Your blazing words! How often have I come by my strength distracted by my need to be holy and righteous for You and so lost sight of the feast of the holiness You have prepared before me. How often have I counted myself as a citizen of this world and subject of the law of creation and forgotten who I am. How often have I these years overlooked the grace of Your name, the exceeding great value of Your shared flesh and shed blood. How often have I let slip those seemingly simple truths that have delivered my soul and affection unto You from the enemy that held me bound...Every time I sinned I had overlooked the eternal truth of Your death and resurrection saying sin no more has dominion over me. Each time I have gone defeated I have attested to it that I was a sloppy soldier, and ignorant heir of these great heritage we have in You.

Now this is my prayer that You will walk me by Yourself, by Your Spirit, again through Your word. That by the fire with which You baptise You will take the mud of religion out of my heart and life and make me behold You as You are. Be my Church O Son of David, and Your Spirit the Minister. Let my walk henceforth be purified by Your fire and by Your Spirit. When I knee down to pray, or stand or sit to do so, whether with a shout or by the silent voice of my heart, Jesus Christ let it be that with You I speak Eternal Father and let me hear the listening of Your ears by faith and the response of Your lips. As for my heart and me, we have made no other choice that to walk with You and make every remaining day a feast of love and obedience to You.
Purify me and mine by Your word, Your word is true,

A Conversation with Seyi

seyi alagbe:  villager how are you?

me:              i am fine

seyi alagbe:  how was Abagboro, Oke Ake etc

me:              fine o

seyi alagbe: how was sunday service, last time i read your comments on tithes; so what do u think about it?

me:             that comment was meant to get your comment and not mine,

thanks for bringing it up now

so, i'm all ears

seyi alagbe: to me i believe their is no big deal about it, it was instituted in the old testament but not mentioned in the new testament by the apostles. for new testament i believe God is not only asking for 10% but the right of ownership, remember it is God who gives power to make wealth. So for people that agree with tithes i have nothing against them i only think everyone should let Holy Spirit guide as to giving. but the problem is how many people are opened to such leading

me:           i wish you would separate giving from tithe

you still there?

seyi alagbe:i think for now we should pay attention to giving in areas of meeting needs of saints, ministers of God and even others around us and as occasion may call for.if we can allow God help us to give as we should we can forget about tithe

me:             that's alright, but my question is, are we under obligation as believers to pay tithe?

seyi alagbe: no

me:             so why do ministers stick to that one verse of the scripture and keep heaping moral/psychological burden on christians?

seyi alagbe: what verse are you referring to?

me:              Mal 3:10

and co

seyi alagbe: actually if we really want to look at old testament we would have to follow all the instructions God gave and not single out some. the only problem is the fear of people not giving because we are not under the obligation and thats where maturity and yielding to the leading of the Spirit come to play

me:             and that's exactly where the motives of many men of God stand questionable

some do not know better but others do

i started getting curious while in Ife

when i read some precepts about tithing

i did some study and could not substantiate a new testament relevance of it

i stopped paying it at first but i later continued so as to avoid argument to no profit

and because it helped with the village work

seyi alagbe:  that's why Paul's prayer that all should come to the full measure of the stature of Christ is important. for those who know and still insist may be they do not want to appear to be preaching heresy

me:               maybe

how come tithe would be the only practice that should suffer the upheaval work of Christ?

fault was found with the first covenant and so it was removed

all of it

seyi alagbe:   actually i pay it atimes to my local church but i don't it see as tithe because personally I decided not to give below what was required in the old testament

me:               even then the concept of it still remains in your mind though couched in personal financial commitment

come to think of it

there were 3 ways tithe was paid in the old testament...

seyi alagbe: Jesus died and rose so that He would purchase us for Himself because Eni to l'eru lo l'eru

me:              the first, you and your family eat it

the second given to destitute etc

the third goes to the priest

in our days it's the third (paid every 3rd year in the old testament)

that's popular

even then our pastors are not 'priests' ordained after the order of the old precept

and so have no spiritual stand to receive tithe;

to continue paying tithe you'd need to resurrect the priestly worship

meaning you'd have to reverse the work of Christ

No wonder it was never mentioned after Christ died and resurrected

seyi alagbe:     actually they have a better calling and should eat of the altar but not tithe

me:                that's where I am going

the fellowship of saints was designed to be a family

where the surplus of some flows to filling the needs of the others...

seyi alagbe:    lets just pray that the church should see this light so that we can enjoy real koinonia

me:                 and with this excellent spirit of fellowship tithe is so trivial

but we somehow lost it

the church we have inherited is no more than a public place...

seyi alagbe:     Jide you are really making me think about my church at home

me:                  where we need to play psychological games on peoples' mind before they give

i do not blame the pastors or any one, we are all victims of this age

and it saddens to know that within a church, within one room

we have believers that are extremely wealthy

and we have those who must trust God to get the next morsel of bread

seyi alagbe:     the probem actually started long time ago when political influence affected the church and the devil took away the fellowship and replaced it with religious frivolities

me:                 now i ask,"What has happened to us?"

but we needn't continue in this deceit

if we want the fellowship of the Lord returned we must be ready to do more than pray

seyi alagbe:     it's disheartening and i know Jesus is still pleading with the father for a major revival in His body

me:                 I'd rather be a sinner and a full-time sinner than uphold a fake faith

seyi alagbe:     you are right and i think that's why some of us have this understanding so that we can humbly and fearlessly defend the truth by communicating it in our sphere of influence

me:                 the answer to the problems of our days cannot be gotten from the church with the way we have mixed clay with gold

seyi alagbe:     so what do you think is the way out?

me:                  Science is asking questions, sinners are, but we have no inkling what the answers are

Seyi, the way is not far at all

we all know it

but we do not act on it

seyi alagbe:     so share with me

me:                  it's simple whatever the Word/Spirit says, do it just exactly without fear what people will think

Look at this too...

I do not know the answer, but I know we already know it

He said we have received an anointing that teaches us all things

so it's either that He is not teaching us or we are ignoring His teachings

seyi alagbe:       i agree but if the message is to reach all we have to share with those who do not see this way

me:                  I'm tired of leaving one church for another

just to discover the same things are there too

seyi alagbe:     he taught us and He cannot deny himself

thats is another issue because that perfect church that provides real fellowship and uphold the wholesome teachings of Christ seems not to exist

me:                  true

so the answer is not in starting a new church

God gave to us a family of saints and see what we have become!

it's now so bad that the moment someone comes to you in God's name you start being on your guard

We started from giving...

how many times have those monies given been channeled to meeting the believers needs?

seyi alagbe:      Jide but would you agree with me that God will still do a work on the Church Jesus is coming to take up

me:                  I have not for once believed that Christ will look away from His church for a second

if He has to stand outside at the door knocking He will till we listen and open to Him

seyi alagbe:     you know why Jesus actually completed everything but see what's happening

thats mean we have to return to Him fully and let Him have His way

me:                  how I wish we'll live the way He wants us to

that my wealth and needs will be my brothers' too and not just mine

that we can have true love taught again by the Church of Jesus and not by Hollywood

that I be not careful to share my joy with brethren without fear they will envy me

or my pains and failings without fear they will judge me

seyi alagbe:    its true that will be too much for the devil to handle

that's when Jesus's prayer of John 17 will really manifest

me:                   I am going to try and upload this conversation onto my blog if you don't mind

seyi alagbe:     what happens on your blog?

me:                  i just started it yesterday to put up articles and poetries etc

seyi alagbe:      no problem

me:                  it has been encouraging talking with you.

When love wearies

I was going to make this a poem but then I changed my mind.

Three days ago a friend told me his fiancee said she's no longer interested in the relationship. I was shocked because this was a couple I could easily choose as model couple. Though it had subconsciously been pestering me before this incident, now more than before I have had to ask, "Does love tire?"

Countless number of books are published each year on this subject and funnily each year breakups and divorce reinforce their status as legitimate relational status. Funny, but sadly so. So what has happened to the counseling sessions, the books read, the precautions taken? And more importantly how did love weary?

If you've ever been in a relationship of love you could testify how it was near sacrilegious to entertain the thought of a breakup...But then the tide shifted and you asked, "how did I get here?"

Hmm! I have not the answer, but perhaps it will help to realise that love never stands on its own. It's always propped on supports like trust, security and forgiveness. When these break, love tires of tottering, it falls and only rises with the next suitor in line.

A Suitor's song

Someday I no longer shall search
The night for a trace of the Sun
For on some morning,
When the hours hatch their hope,
My heart shall consummate its patience and
Coalesced our love shall bloom casting
Us both into a frame...

Then this Sun, our Sun, will stand still unwearied by
The cold sweats of the sky.