Do you have content or you are contented with no content?

Young, vigorous, creative and bold men and women are on the rise. They are taking the world by storm and turning traditions on their heads. Traditional thinking has for too long held our nation in the shackles of motion without progress, restricting the spate of invention and innovation.

A few weeks ago, I was at the 11th Annual Conference of the Nigerian Bar Association-Section on Business Law, there were various sessions handled by many speakers both from within and outside the legal profession. The speakers had a very great impression on the audience. Many of us wished the Conference would not end soon. In actual fact, the ones who made the greatest impression were the young lawyers who are just about 2-4 years at the bar. These young lawyers, standing on the elevated platform to speak to some juniors, few mates and countless seniors at the other divide, held the audience spellbound, spewing wisdom, truth and drawing more attention to the disruptive and/or enabling work they do.

In my usual reflective state, I pondered on what earned these young and vibrant men and women the enviable stage they were sharing with men and women of the highest pedigree in the profession. They were not stuttering. They were not intimidated. They were assured. They had content! 

Yes! That’s it! They had content. They had one of the primary requirements for relevance in the present-day society: the depth of content.
I’ve seen many young people direly crave prominence and relevance but are not ready to build the requisite content for such a level.

viajesmundus.com

In whatever field or career, content is a crown. Musicians with no depth of content fade away like puff of smoke. We know them already. They are the ones who take a walk into obscurity after one hit single. At other times, they share similarities with ‘abiku‘. A doctor with no content is called a quack. Lawyers with no content, empty barrels look up to them.

So, there is a need for each person to tarry in the place of learning and building. There is a need for filling and refilling till your cups are full enough to share quality quantity with others. How so?

1. Learn the ropes of your craft: Be diligent. Learn the workings of your chosen field. Be competent. Competence makes people look like superhumans.

2. Exposure: Be curious. Explore. Broaden your horizon. Go out of your normal and daily habitat. Mix with people of opposing views and divergent professions.

3. Association: Associate yourself with the right people. Be challenged. Be pushed out of your comfort zone. If you isolate yourself when you ought to associate yourself, you would limit yourself.

4. Personal and professional development: Daily, strive to be better. Go to conferences. Take courses that make you better. Be forward looking at all times. There’s no ceiling on the sky.

5. Your mind food: Feed your mind properly. Read great books. Watch great videos. Listen to relevant audio clips necessary for your growth. What you feed your mind with is important.

Do you have content or you are contented with no content? Remember, content is a crown. Those who have it are Kings! Well, everybody cannot be a King. Some are meant to be towncriers.

OF LINES AND RHYMES

For brothers in muse…

When I started writing poems some years back, I was literarily drunk in rhymes. For each line, words must entwine like the stems of a vine.

However, along the line, my interest in rhymes faded and I discovered that I could even write better and finer without rhymes. Lending credence to this, I have seen great poets and poems focusing less on rhymes and the results are masterpieces.

Unfortunately, I have seen and read many budding poets and poems chasing rhymes to a fault. Many lose their message in the needless pursuits of rhymes; forced rhymes at that. These days, unconsciously, I only skim through rhythmic poems trying to discover the patterns rather than uncover the message.
So, this is my one cent to upcoming poets, ditch the rhymes, if they are not flowing. Allow your mind and muse the latitude to wander and discover the beauty of words weaved together like braids on an African woman’s head. 

Festive euphoria; how plans fade with it!

Over the years, I have discovered that I have become more reserved in celebration, most especially in festive periods as this. Rather than jump up and down, I, with a straight face but deeply engaged mind, ponder on the mistakes and breakthroughs of the past, the challenges and prospects of the unfolding days, and of course, with a heart of gratitude.

It’s a season of euphoria that brings with it plethora of ‘news’ – “new me“, “new life“, and the common “new year resolutions” – many of which turn out to be fickle. As the euphoria dwindles, the fickleness becomes conspicuous.

However, in my reserved state, I’ve come to the realization that in making giant strides in a new year, it’s beyond some deceptive spur-of-the-moment decisions that will simmer down with the euphoria. You have to be intentional. You know when someone tells you that “you did it intentionally“, it means there’s a sense of deliberateness.

So, you have to be deliberate about every one of your plans. Every one! Be daring and raring to go at each one, not because the atmosphere is electrifying but because you’re charged from within to become a better person; not because it’s a new year but because the breaking of each day demands a better you.

BE DELIBERATE. Write down your ideas as they come. Write them! Ponder on them before you launch. Consult extensively. Strategize. Re-strategize. Execute.

 It’s not going to be easy. That’s why you also should not find it easy to fade with the festive euphoria.

Happy new year!
Fadipe S.O.J.

If Arsenal Were A Woman…

For more times than I can remember, I’ve wondered, albeit silently, how I became an Arsenal fan. The recurrent heartbreaks; the usual weekend headaches; the dashed hopes; the too many promising footballing seasons that ended up in our customary league position ( you all know it).

The Invincibles

Captain Vieira lifting the EPL Trophy won in 2003/2004 season

However, things have not always been like this. This club was once the toast of English football; this club at one point in time went a whole season without losing to any team. Yes! The team lost no match during a whole season and racked up 49 games unbeaten. A feat even the arguably greatest team to have ever played the game, Barcelona, have not been able to achieve. This club is the record holder of the English FA Cup, though this was recently achieved.

Several other feats have accrued to the badge of this club. But unfortunately, they all seem to be overwhelmed by the failure of the team in the past few years. As many predicted, this season is on the verge of going down the same lane. One of the most, if not the most promising seasons for the club in recent times is already faltering, failing and falling like a pack of dominoes. The team is about to break our hearts in a grand style again and this is the inspiration behind the title of this piece, “if Arsenal were a woman…”

Relationship experts have held that the cliché, “opposites attract” do not really apply to relationships. So sincerely, if Arsenal were to be a woman, with her flashy colours and adornments, I wouldn’t have been moved and attracted. I have a reservation for flashy women. I prefer the conservative third colour of the blue side of London. But we may be friends, just friends. Definitely not more than friends. No intimacy.

If Arsenal were a woman, with her conspicuous attitude of being too demanding; overly demanding more than every other woman in the neighborhood, trust me, we would not even be friends. No one likes a woman who knows no boundary in making demands, especially pecuniary. No one does. No one. (Arsenal match tickets are the costliest in England)

However, if despite her gaudy and needy nature, the untamed man in me still went ahead to win her heart,
she would have long returned to her father’s house, maybe with bruises and swollen face, for no heart deserves to be broken incessantly like Arsenal does ours.

If Arsenal were a woman, breaking hearts as if they are plastic, no man, not even the most patient and callous of men, would hear of her professionalism in heartbreaking and still be interested.

Listless performances when a win matters the most; the too many outings that suggest lack of belief from the team; the many humiliating results in the hands of both big and small teams. The list is endless. The heartbreak seems ceaseless.

But, like a woman enduring an abusive relationship without an explanation, we are here to stay. This love is unshakeable. We’ve been battered and bruised but we remain allegiant. It might be inconceivable to others why we are so obstinate, but WE ARE THE ARSENAL and this is our team!

However, my only prayer is that I may find a woman to love like Arsenal. That despite her too many shortcomings and inconsistencies,  I’d remain faithful and loyal to her till my last breath.

So, if Arsenal were a woman, with this kind of love oozing in my heart for her, her mistakes are forgiven, even before they are made, and my loyalty to her will be unflinching.

May I find her, like I found Arsenal!

Will You?

Photo by premiumwoman.com

He is back.

He left you in tears of distrust and from disdain without even looking back. But now he is back. Your mama told you “trust no man with a sugar-coated tongue.” They are like lawyers who snakes refuse to bite for professional courtesy. Snakes do not bite snakes*. But you did. Mother Theresa said you should do anyway.

“He is different“. You do not follow the derisible mantra of those foolish females who have had a nibble at every species of masculinity and concluded, “All men are the same.” Your man is different. He was cut from a discrete fabric. You had TTP* but you dealt with it because of him. He deserved it. Well, you thought so.

You were responsible, brought up from a decent and godly background. You never fooled around. The movies were your best friend. You admired how Stefan jealously protected Elena from his brother and other vampires. You coveted that but you were not desperate.

Then, like Heaven sent, he came. He made you feel the way no other person could. He caressed your heart with finely and aptly brewed locution that made you speechless and thoughtless. You had your well-defined boundaries. As a gentleman, he respected them all. He never for once zeroed in on your unders. He treated you like a princess. You said he was raised by a queen. At least, his surname begins with “Ade”*.

They say time heals all wounds. Well, it weakens all walls too. With each ticking of the clock, your boundaries became like my Tecno batteries. I charge more than I use. You started giving little; then small; few; a little bit more. And finally, you gave all. You never held back from then. It was too late. You both explored like the polar explorers of the early 20th century. You enjoyed it. At least, you were heading for the altar, or so he told you. “Happily ever after” in view.

Then one day, like a man possessed of the underworld, he said, “Mi o se mo*”. “What? Se kini?*” “Let’s call it quit.” You were thunderstruck and confounded. At first, it was as if it rained heavily on your starched garment. Everything came down before your very eyes. After that, it was if as the sun really shone on your starched garment. You were puffed with rage. But he had left. He left you in tears of distrust and from disdain without even looking back. Your whole life came crashing down before your eyes. Where would you run to? Who would you tell your story? Where would you start from?

But now, he is back!

He is back weeping and pleading profusely. He is sorry for the agony he made you go through. He has realized his misdeeds. “It was the devil”. “It won’t happen again”.
Now that you are already getting healed, the man you once gave your all to is back seeking restitution. He wants you to take him back.

Will you?

_____________________________________________________________________
+This is probably my first piece of fictional writing that I really do not understand why I wrote it and the message I intend to pass. But I hope you get something from this.

*A quote by Adelakun Adunni Abimbola

*TTP means “Trouble Trusting People”

* “Ade” is a Yoruba word that means “crown”

* Literally, “mi o se mo” means “I’m not doing again”

* “Se kini?” –  “Do what?”

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